Page 87 of Taming Liberty

My heart jumped into my throat.

His lips pulled into a sinister grin. “Got your attention, didn’t it?”

I crept backward a step but forced my eyes to narrow. “You’re a monster.”

“Yes, I know. Do you think your boyfriend would stop me if I wanted to have some more fun with April? Should we find out?”

“Don’t hurt her.”

“Is that a command?”

I knew better than to answer that. He came up next to me as I heard someone getting close. His hot breath against my ear as he leaned in made me conscious of every inch of my exposed skin. Angel appeared in my view just as Jasper’s lips started to move.

“I liked her screams, but I bet I’d enjoy yours more.”

A whimper escapes as he slides his hand into the front of my yoga pants, and I press my back into the ground to keep the shard from shifting.

“Do you know how badly you pissed me off that day? I thought about slitting your friend’s throat for a week.”

“Don’t hurt her,” I whine.

He digs his fingers beneath my panties and finds my sex. I clench my eyes shut and don’t move, afraid of incurring his wrath again.

He chuckles. “For once, you have nothing to worry about.” His finger thrusts inside of me, and I wince, acid creeping up my throat. I get the feeling he’s testing me, pushing to see if I’ll protest.

Not yet.

“I doubt I’ll ever go back to that insufferable place,” he scoffs. “It’s as much a cage for the predators as it is for the prey. If you knew how bored I’ve been, you would understand why I’m about to do what I’m about to do.” A moment passes as he moves in and out of me. “Of course, I do owe you some. You did me a real favor, talking Ramos into bringing you here. It might’ve cut my time on the island bymonths.”

I open my eyes and look at him. He slows his intrusion, clearly enjoying my confusion more than my discomfort at the moment.

“What are you talking about?”

He sighs like he’s disappointed, but he obviously isn’t. He loves this. “I’d really hoped Ramos was smart enough to figure this out. I’ve always respected the man, but I’m beginning to think he’s as stupid as you are. The fact that helet you go…” Jasper shakes his head disapprovingly.

“Why were you on the island?” I ask, unsure if I care about the answer. If it keeps him distracted, then great. It’s certainly shifted his attention away from violating me, and with the way his face lights up, I think he wants to tell me how cleverly evil he is.

“Foryou, beautiful. Sawyer was convinced you were going to somehow corrupt your boyfriend, and he wanted me to intervene. I thought he wasinsanefor it. I mean, do you know who Ramos is? You turned a rock-hard man into a soft teddy bear. Well done, sweetheart. You almost made it out alive.”

“Sawyer sent you here?” I ask, feigning surprise. I should’ve known immediately what this was.

He nods. “Yes, apparently, he isn’t the spineless moron I’ve always pegged him as. Well,” he tilts his head from side to side. “Still spineless, but not a moron.”

I tuck my hand underneath me as slyly as I can and finger the piece of glass. Jasper smiles, and I stiffen. Panic spears through me, thinking I’m caught, but he looks up at the sky and sighs dreamily.

“God, it’s beautiful here.” He looks down at me and pulls his hand from my pants. The glass pushes against my fingers, and when Jasper climbs on top of me, straddling my thighs, I grasp it and slide it from my waistband. I slip my hand out from under me and hold the glass against my side, praying he doesn’t notice.

He pins my right elbow—thus the hand holding the shard—to the ground and wraps his hand around my neck. Again, I think I’ve been caught, but he says nothing about the glass.

He squeezes until my air supply is cut off, and I struggle against him. I jerk my arm, but it barely budges with him holding it down.

He lowers himself to my face, peering into my eyes like he’s drinking up my terror. His eyes close as he takes a long, savoring breath. Meanwhile, I try to pry him off me with the one free hand I have, but he shoves that arm out of the way and pins it beneath a forearm he uses to brace himself.

He licks my parted lips then runs his tongue up the bridge of my nose to my forehead. I’m too concerned with the lack of oxygen to care.

The moment he releases his hold on my right arm, I grip the shard tight and use the last burst of strength I have to shove it toward his neck. If I had the ability to growl right now, it’d be barreling out of me like a lion. I truly think I’ve got him.

But then, at the last possible moment, he grips my wrist, the glass a centimeter from his neck. He smiles and pulls his hand away from my throat.

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