Page 14 of Plain Jade

He tutted. “I know.”

She stared at her wine glass. Even though she had tried not to think about him, and in fact had spent a great deal of time trying to think of anything else, she couldn’t help but wonder what she should do. Should she yell? Slap him across the face? Ignore him? Treat him like the asshole he was?

All she felt was … hurt. He’d left her.

Pressing her lips together, she tried to focus on the wine and the fact she wanted to forget him.

Yet, here he was. She frowned. How did he know where she was?

She turned toward him. “Are you following me?”

He didn’t answer.

“You are, aren’t you? It is the only way you’d know where I was at all times.” She gritted her teeth, and then stood.

She didn’t need to drink the rest of the wine. She needed to leave, go back to her apartment, as far away from him as possible. He didn’t deserve her time or attention. She didn’t owe him anything.

He did save you.

But then, he did leave after taking her virginity and that didn’t give him the right to anything.

Jade couldn’t even remember why she’d come down to this bar in the first place. It wasn’t like she intended to pick up a man. After already having someone take her virginity, there was no way she’d go with another man.

With her drink already paid for, she left the last of her wine, grabbed her jacket, which she’d placed over her lap, and stood. She didn’t even look back at her mystery man. All she wanted to do was go home.

He followed her. She felt his palm at the base of her back as she walked down the street. There was no one around, which she hated. She also hated the fact that she felt so safe with him close by.

This was insane. There was no other word for it. She must be insane to be comforted by a man who left her after sex. He didn’t even complete, not for either of them.

Just outside the entrance of her apartment door, she stopped and spun around. “Will you stop!” She wanted to slam her foot to the ground, to show him she meant business, but she kept her body rooted to the spot. “I don’t want you coming into my apartment. You made your choice and I want you to leave me alone.”

He took a step toward her.

Was he going to kiss her? Tell her goodbye? She couldn’t quite read him or his expression.

Jade didn’t like the uncomfortable feeling that started to swirl inside her body at the thought of never seeing him again. This was stupid, because she didn’t want to see him again. Never.

And yet, shedidwant to see him again.

“No,” he said.

What the hell did that mean?

****

Braxton was used to causing a great deal of pain. He did so on a weekly, if not daily, basis. When it came to Jade, he couldn’t stand the pain he’d caused her. In that moment, he had felt like a true monster. He knew in his life he’d done many monstrous things, but none of them equaled what he felt like he’d done to Jade. He’d not expected her to be a virgin.

Even though he had all the information on her, nothing indicated that she’d never been with a man. Yes, it did tell him she wasn’t lucky when it came to dating. There were dates and from what he could ascertain, they didn’t end well. He liked that because the very thought of another man touching her filled him with a killing rage. He would hunt any man who tried to touch her. She now belonged to him.

Her virginity and the blood he’d spilled between her thighs had startled him. He left and vowed to never return. Whenever he made a vow in the past, nothing could get him to break it, but it would seem Jade could. He had no strength when it came to her.

She was an obsession and need he couldn’t deny. Even as he promised himself he would no longer check in on her, or see how she was doing, he felt drawn to her, like he just couldn’t help himself.

He knew he’d startled and confused her by telling her no, but he didn’t give a fuck. There was no way he was leaving, and there was something he had to do to make it up to her. Without any warning, be bent down, put his shoulder toward her stomach, and then lifted her up. He gave a little grunt as he lifted her off the ground. He already knew the code to her apartment.

“What are you doing? Put me down.” She slapped his ass, but he didn’t care about her little swats.

He walked straight into the elevator. No one was around, and he continued to hold her in his arms.

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