Page 44 of Undisputed Player
ry this. Tell me if you like it.”
The gesture was so intimate that I froze like a deer in headlights. "I can feed myself," I protested weakly, even as my mouth watered at the rich, buttery scent.
His blue eyes held mine, patient but unyielding, and they seemed to glow in the harsh kitchen lighting, like sapphires lit from within. "I know you can. But tonight, you don't have to."
The fork remained steady between us, loaded with pink flesh that I couldn’t imagine the price of. "Open."
The command was soft but absolute, and my lips parted before I could think to resist. The salmon melted on my tongue, rich and decadent and unlike anything I'd ever tasted before.
I closed my eyes involuntarily, savoring the explosion of flavor, and when I opened them, Jax was watching me with an expression that made me clench my thighs together.
"Good girl," he praised, voice pitched for my ears alone, all praiseand possession. "You like it?"
I nodded, unable to speak around the way my stomach was twisting with want and confusion, too close to surrender. No one had ever fed me like this. No one had ever wanted to.
No one had ever made me feel precious enough to deserve it.
When I tried to reach for my wine glass, his hand covered mine, large fingers engulfing my smaller ones. I looked up at him, confused.
"Let me," he said again, lifting the glass to my lips himself.
“No—”
"Shh."
The sound was gentle but firm. "Just let me take care of you. Both of you."
And against all logic, I did. I sat there like some sort of pampered princess while he made sure my plate never emptied, my glass never ran dry, and Leo felt like the most important person in the room.
He talked to Leo about school and dinosaurs and Avery's endless hugs, but his attention kept returning to me, checking if I needed anything, making sure I was eating, watching me intensely.
Every movement was poetry in motion, his back muscles flowing like water beneath golden skin. He served food and cleaned surfaces with efficient grace, something someone like him should not have been able to do.
Is this what being cherished felt like? When someone wanted to take care of you just because they could?
When I tried to clear the plates after dinner, Jax caught my wrist before I could stand, his grip firm but gentle. His gaze fixed me, and my breath hitched as if I were caught doing something wrong.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"To clean up," I said slowly, confused by the question. "The dishes won't wash themselves."
His thumb traced across my pulse point, and I wondered if he could feel how fast my heart was beating.
"The dishes can wait. Sit."
"But they?—”
"Estelle." The authority in his voice made something deep in my core clench with want. "What did I say about letting me take care of things tonight?"
I stared up at him, caught between a lifetime of self-reliance andthe growing need to surrender to his strength. "You don't understand. I always?—"
"I understand perfectly." His free hand cupped my cheek, thumb brushing across my cheekbone with devastating gentleness. "You're used to carrying everything, handling everything, being responsible for everything. But not tonight, princess. Tonight, you're mine to take care of."
Mine.The strange possessiveness in his voice sent heat spiraling through me that settled like liquid fire. No one had ever wanted the responsibility of my well-being.
I sank back into my chair,again, without conscious thought, some stupid part of me responding to the command in his voice. He smiled before pressing a kiss to my forehead that felt more like a brand of ownership.
"That's my good girl," he murmured against my skin, and my entire nervous system short-circuited.
