Page 80 of Royal Flush

“Don’t underestimate your father either. He is a very smart man, calculating how he’s going to win the election. Unfortunately, it would seem he’s lost sight of what’s important in life. Then again, I think I did as well.”

The epiphany wasn’t something I’d usually admit but with all the money coming into my account on silver platters, and the toys that only money could buy, I’d managed to lose sight of what I’d determined was important in life.

“There’s one major difference in the two of you, Braxton,” she said with such sadness.

“What’s that?”

“You’re a good man. My father isn’t.”

At some point, I’d disappoint her.

CHAPTER 21

Jasmine

“You scared me, little koala bear. You ran. I don’t know why but what I do know is that we’re not finished talking about this yet. You will get one stern spanking.”

“I didn’t mean to,” I whispered. As I stared into the small mirror, I sensed I was still in some kind of horror. I was covered in dried blood.

He was behind me, reaching around to wet down a soft cloth. When he turned me around, the look in his eyes came close to tearing me apart. He gently wiped my face, every so often rinsing the red substance under the faucet. I slanted my eyes so I could watch the ruddy color swirl in water, slowly trickling its way into the drain.

“Look at me,” he commanded.

I couldn’t react, couldn’t breathe. How could anyone who’d been through such a horrible ordeal possibly be able to just shove visions and memories aside?

Exhaling, Braxton lifted my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. “Everything is going to be okay. Do you hear me?”

“How?”

“Because I never back down from anything.” He continued wiping my face and neck, his gentleness no longer surprising.

I had no defiance left inside of me, none of my typical rebellious nature that I’d shown him countless times before. I was drained and still scared, trying to make heads or tails of what had occurred. But the overwhelming need for him remained. I rose onto my tiptoes, lightly brushing my lips across his.

I’d expected him to push me away. When he gathered me into his arms, his breathing as labored as mine, I clung to him as I’d done so many times before, but for an entirely different reason.

The chivalrous man had become my lifeline.

He crushed my mouth as he’d done before but the rush of sensations and emotions wasn’t about sexual tension needing to be fed. The electricity shared between us was more about worry and need, the feeling that one or both of us could have died.

For a few precious seconds, as he swept his tongue inside, tossing the cloth and cupping my face, I allowed myself to feel like a princess who’d just been rescued from the castle.

It would be so easy to fall in love with him, but I wasn’t that kind of girl.

No, I wasn’t that kind of girl at all, or so I’d told myself my entire adult life. Maybe that’s why my relationships had consistently failed over the years.

The realization made me laugh even as the memory of the heated kiss sent a trickle of desire down my spine. I pressed two fingers against my lips, wanting them to be sore instead of every muscle and bone in my body. I’d been told by the resort’s doctor that the aches and pains would get worse before they got better because of the crash.

That was the single reason Braxton hadn’t carried through with his promise of punishment. I was certain of it.

He’d made the statement regarding his disciplinary intentions with both massive hands on my arms, peering down at me from his tall perch as if providing discipline was just a normal part of life.

My response?

I’d been stupid enough to tell him I was a good girl. Obviously, I’d still been delirious after the kiss. He’d laughed, given me a chaste kiss on the forehead and had told me to rest up.

And the man I craved, the gorgeous Braxton had settled near the group of men to handle business. Okay, so he’d only been a few feet away, but I’d felt so alone.

Blood.

---