Page 89 of Yes & I Love You (Say Everything 1)

That got her attention. “What? Whatever one just crossed your mind, tell me.”

He groaned. “God, this one is pretty gross. Iwould judge me for this one.”

Her eyebrows lifted and she glanced at his face. “Now, I’m really intrigued.”

He cringed and closed his eyes. “So Imayhave this fantasy of a woman getting my name tattooed some place on her body that only I would see. Something that marked her as mine.”

Hollyn’s lips parted.

He cracked an eyelid open, peeking at her. “It’s so obnoxiously egotistical and misogynistic, I know. But there it is. The thought makes me hard. That’s definitely something I wouldn’t tell anyone else. You can now proceed to blackmail me.”

She stared at him, processing that.Marking her as mine.That sent a shiver of heat through her. “Isn’t that like a kink thing? Like putting a collar or brand on someone or whatever?”

She hadn’t done kink, but she’d certainly read about it.

He wet his lips. “Maybe? But that really isn’t my scene. It’s more. I don’t know. I can’t really explain it. But like, the thought of making love to a woman and seeing my name on her shoulder or something like that. Something permanent.” His cock jumped against her hand, the fantasy clearly sending his blood pumping. “It just does it for me.”

The words settled over Hollyn, turning over in her head, as she decided how she felt about that. Maybe Jasper’s ego really was off the charts. But then, something clicked into place. Why he might like that idea. She’d bet everything she had that the fantasy wasn’t about ownership for him. It was thepermanence. A tattoo wasn’t going anywhere. A ring could be tossed. A foster kid could be moved. Jasper hadn’t ever had anything that was one hundred percent his. He probably had never been able to even write his name on a toy until he was adopted. Everything was always temporary or shared. Transient.

She looked at him, saw vulnerability flash through his eyes.

“You think I’m a complete egomaniac,” he said with a laugh. “Or a sociopath. I promise I’m not here to serial-kill you.”

She smiled, an idea sparking. She moved her hand away from him for a moment and twisted toward her nightstand. She pulled open the drawer and rifled around inside. When she found what she was looking for, she grabbed it and turned back to him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, trying to see what she’d gotten.

She lifted up a black Sharpie to show him and then handed him the marker. “It’s not a tattoo, but it’s going to take a few days to come off.”

His brows dipped. “What?”

She sat up. “I’m going to explore you. Andyou, you’re going to sign your name anywhere you want on me.”

His eyes widened, his gaze turning almost black. “Hollyn.”

She pulled her T-shirt over her head, loving the way he watched her every move, and straddled him. “You can even touch it up or replace it whenever we’re together. Your name will be on me. Marking me as just for you, at least for a little while.”

He closed his eyes and his body shuddered beneath her thighs. “You’re going to fucking kill me.”

The pleasure that rushed through her at his response warmed her through and through. She could make this man shudder and twitch beneath her. She couldn’t make him fall in love with her, but she could unravel him in bed. That was something. “You game, Jasper Deares?”

He opened his eyes, his gaze colliding with hers. Her nipples hardened at the intense stare, the feel of his warm, bare abdomen beneath her spread legs. “You have no idea.”

He clamped the marker between his teeth and then grabbed her by the waist and rolled her onto her back. She gasped at the sudden movement, her body hitting the mattress with a bounce.

He stared down at her, his gaze hungry, his lips in a half smile. “You better not be bluffing.”

She inhaled deeply, feeling a rush of confidence, and cupped her breasts, offering them to him. “Not bluffing. Mark me.”

Jasper’s teeth pressed into his bottom lip, making him look feral, but he shook his head at her offering. He leaned down and flicked his tongue over her nipples before sucking each briefly into his mouth and making her whimper with the erotic circling of his tongue. But just when her body started to rev, he released her flesh with a soft pop. “Not there,” he said, his breath hot against her sensitive breasts. He shifted down and kissed along her belly, making her toes curl with the tendrils of sensation snaking out from the contact. “Not here either.”

She arched beneath him, her body going restless and overly hot. She needed him to touch her, to taste her, to dosomethingto relieve the growing ache between her thighs.

He reached the waistband of her panties and tugged at them with his teeth. The little snap of elastic against her skin made her tip her head back, her clit now throbbing for his touch.

He kissed down the front of her panties, pressing his tongue against the already damp fabric, making her moan.

“Not here,” he whispered.

---