Ruthless Noble by Alley Ciz

CHAPTER 35

Broken is nota word I would ever have associated with Savvy, but the way she’s shut down on me, stone silent, vacant stare, practically unmoving, I’m worried that is what has happened. What’s worse is I’m not sure how to fix it.

She cried.

She begged. My girl begged.

I brought her to the one person who was supposed to make her better, and it backfired in spectacular fashion.

That’s how we ended up outside my dormitory at BA. Bringing her here is most likely a mistake, but what else was I supposed to do? When I tried to put her in Tessa’s Jeep, thinking being with her best friend would be best, she only clung to me like a baby koala.

The cold night air bites at my skin, but things like worrying about forgetting my jacket back at the St. James seem insignificant in comparison.

“Brother.” Duke is at my side the second he’s parked his G Wagon, eyes tracking to my Ferrari then back to me. He doesn’t need to say it.

I shouldn’t have brought her here.

We could be spotted together. Pictures could be taken. While we haven’t gotten confirmation, we have a pretty good idea who’s been sending photos to our parents. After the day at The Barracks, all the pieces started to come together. The timing of them is too suspect for it to be anybody else.

Do I give a fuck? Not a single one.

I move to go around Duke, but he puts a hand up to stop me. I give him the bruh eyebrow, his hesitation bringing me up short more than the physical barrier.

“Dad called.”

I jolt backward, my back slamming against my Ferrari. “When?”

“Just now.” Again his gaze goes to my car, or more importantly, the passenger still inside it.

“What did he say?”

“Well…” Duke rocks back on his heels. “He was surprised to find us gone given what I asked him to talk to Mitchell about.”

Wow. With everything else that happened, I completely forgot that while we had our own mission to help Savvy against Natalie, Duke had sat down with his dad about the engagement.

A rock forms in my gut, and my muscles tense in preparation. The outcome of that dinner could very well render the threats on my end null and void. Why is it I’m more anxious about getting Savvy inside than I am about learning what happened?

“I didn’t get a chance to ask how dinner went before Mitchell was taking the phone and demanding to know where Savvy was, if she was okay, and if she had her inhaler with her.”

They must have gone into his office once they noticed we were gone. It would only take a few seconds for him to realize someone had been in there and what they learned. It was also an easy connection to who that someone was. My respect for Savvy’s stepdad—well, I guess dad, biologically at least—goes up a few notches due to his concern for her health.

“What did you say?” I need to know if I’m going to have to shield Savvy from another family member tonight. While it’s obvious Mitchell’s heart is in the right place, I don’t think Savvy is in the right headspace to be faced with the man himself so close on the heels of learning the truth about him.

“I told him the truth.” His eyes meet mine, worried he did the wrong thing. I shake my head, because of course not. “I said she’s with us, that you did make her use her inhaler but her asthma seems to be under control now, but I also thought it was best to give her the night away to not trigger her worse.”

I’m nodding. Okay, this is good. At least I know we have until tomorrow to regroup. I still have no clue how to help, but I’ll figure it out.

“For what it’s worth—” Again, Duke reaches out for me to stop, and again I do. “It seems like Mitchell actually gives a shit about your girl.”

Again…I nod but don’t say anything. Things didn’t go at all like I expected at Carter’s. I’ll reserve the right to pass judgment for now.

With a jerk of my chin, I give the order to move out.

I don’t bother trying to coax Savvy out of my car. I just scoop her into my arms and carry her to where Duke and Banks wait to hold the door open for us.

Thankfully the dormitory seems quiet, and we don’t pass any other students on our way up to our floor.

Once inside our suite, I bid a silent good night to my guys and head straight for my bedroom.

If I wasn’t already aware how out of it Savvy is, her lack of comment about the fireplace and man cave–like setup of our common room would have done it.

I kick my door shut with my heel and reach back to turn the lock before sitting on the edge of my bed with Savvy settled in my lap. I’m not the only one who forewent a jacket—hell, she doesn’t even have shoes on, and her skin is chilly to the touch. Quickly toeing off my sneakers, I pull back the covers on the bed and slip us both beneath them.

Extending an arm behind Savvy’s head, I maneuver her around so she’s snuggled tight to my side, rubbing a hand back and forth over the clingy cotton of her long-sleeved shirt.

She molds herself to me more, the tip of her cold nose bumping my throat, her arm banding around my middle when I move on to rub at her back, my hand slipping beneath the cropped hem of her shirt as I do my best to share my body heat.

Even her toes have an icy edge to them inside her socks when her legs tangle with mine. It all adds up to yet another way I failed my girl tonight.

I’m not sure how much time has passed, but it’s enough for a little cocoon of heat to have formed beneath the blankets when she finally whispers, “He knew.” The small, broken way the statement comes out hits me like a crosscheck. “He knew, and he didn’t tell me.”

I band my arms around her like a vise, her body rocking into mine. “There had to be a reason, baby.” I may not know…pretty much anything about Carter King outside of his reputation, but still, I know with complete certainty that he puts no one above his sister. If he held off telling Savvy about her bio dad, there most certainly was a reason for it.

“It hurts.” She sobs, and another knife of pain slides between my ribs.

“We’ll get through it,” I promise. It’s another in a long line of them I’ve been making to her, but fuck if I don’t mean every single one.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. At first, it was slow, so slow I didn’t even realize it was happening, but the moment I decided Savvy was mine and only mine, something elemental changed inside me.

Fuck the consequences.

Fuck anyone who tries to break us apart.

We can face and conquer any obstacle that gets in our way because we have each other. I used to think caring for others was a weakness. It wasn’t until I met Savvy that I saw that those same people, those same strings you tie yourself with could also be your greatest strength.

“Make me forget.”

The unexpected plea causes my brain to stutter. “What?”

One of her legs comes up, a foot hooking over my hip, and tugs, shifting my weight enough to roll me onto my side and partially over her as Savvy falls to her back. “I…can’t…” Her elbows dig into the tops of my shoulders, her forearms flattening to the back of my head, her hands spearing into my hair, tugging on the strands. “If I think about this any more, I’ll go insane. Make me forget.”

“Savvy…” She can’t mean what I think she means, can she?

Lips press to the underside of my jaw, and a bolt of heat shoots down my spine, drawing my balls up tight. “Jasper.”

Fuck me.When she says my name…

Laying a forearm on the pillow beside her head, I balance myself while I shift my weight, her legs automatically falling open to create more space for me. The grind I do against her center is almost involuntary.

“Only you…” Both her legs wrap around my waist, her feet locking at the small of my back, and now it’s her body undulating against mine. “…make me forget anything that’s not you inside me.”

That’s it. I’m done. The last of my control disappears like it never even existed. A part of me feels like I’m taking advantage of her at what is probably her most vulnerable, but fuck if I can deny her. Besides…this is Savvy King we’re talking about. If I’m taking advantage, who better to put me in my place than her?

Despite the animalistic urge to plunder and claim, I gently lay a hand on the side of her face, curling my fingers around her head and angling it before sealing my mouth over hers.

Our kiss is languid but ardent. The tip of my tongue traces the seam of her lips and slips inside when they open automatically for me. There’s the slight saltiness from her tears, and I do everything in my power to replace it with the taste of me.

She may have asked me to help her forget, but my girl never has been, nor will she ever be a passive lover and gives as good as she gets.

Both her clothes and mine get discarded on the floor.

Her hands are back to yanking on my hair as her wet pussy glides along my bare cock.

“Fuck, Princess.” I hiss, barely restraining myself from thrusting inside her as another roll of her hips has the ridge of my dick’s head bumping along the swollen nub of her clit.

“Please, Jasper.”

Smoothing a hand up the back of her thigh, I grab on and anchor her to me for another grind, gritting my teeth against the wet heat coating my length. “Are you sure?”

Her hair brushes my cheek with her nod. “I need you.”

The automatic way she answered eases the last of my doubts, and I stretch an arm out to fumble inside my bedside drawer for a condom. Once that’s taken care of, I return my hold to her leg, hiking it higher on my hip, and grip her at the nape with my other hand, bringing my forehead to hers.

I wait.

A deep inhalation brings that familiar scent of lime I’ve come to crave, and I wait for another beat until finally, her eyes meet mine. Then and only then do I ease my length inside her tight sheath.

For the first time ever, we take our time with each other. Not one thing is hurried despite the emotional maelstrom that was the lead-up to it.

Our bodies are perfectly in sync.

Our breaths controlled and even, gradually building to a crescendo of panting gasps.

The rhythms of our hearts match from a steady beat to a thumping pulse.

Sweat slicks our skin as we cling to each other.

At one point, I pull one of her hands from my hair and link it with mine, my fingers threaded with hers as I extend her arm overhead and hold on.

One pump turns to two, which turns to three, and soon enough, what was once a smooth cadence evolves into us chasing release.

Over and over, I rock into Savvy, her legs squeezing around me at the same time as her pussy walls contract around my length.

In and out and in and out.

I bury my face in the curve of her neck and groan as her orgasm triggers mine.

I’m filling the condom close to bursting, licking up the vein pulsing at the side of her neck, dragging the ball of my piercing along it, grinning at her gasp before another clench of her cunt renders me too stupid to do anything but love her body the way she needs.

Her eyes are heavy when I pull out of her, already falling closed as she turns into my pillow when I get up to take care of the condom.

Tying off the latex, I dump it in the garbage can near my desk and pull on a pair of boxer briefs so I don’t have to freeball it to the bathroom for a wet washcloth.

Savvy barely stirs when I return and use the cloth to help clean her. Absentmindedly, I toss it aside and climb back in bed beside her. The way her body automatically molds to mine as she curls into me has a smile touching my lips, but not as much as the softly murmured “I love you” as she drifts off completely.

“I love you, too,” I say into her hair before kissing the top of her head.

When I woke up this morning, I knew our relationship would change; I just never expected how much.