Page 36 of Taming Liberty

I look over my shoulder. “I wouldn’t say that. She’s plenty brave,” I reply in an attempt to simmer the anger I feel coming off Lib.

“Oh, no, I can tell a difference,” Jasper retorts. “I can see how you’d have a natural ability at breaking slaves. You have a commanding demeanor.” He chuckles. “EvenI’mafraid of you sometimes.”

“Obviously not enough,” I spit back.

“I’m not fucking broken.” Lib spins around.

I turn to look at her. “He’s baiting you. Just ignore him.”

Funny, it’s much easier for me to say it than to do it.

Lib pushes past me, but I grab her arm before she can take another step toward Jasper. “And I’m not hisslave.”

“Oh?” Jasper asks with a mockingly quizzical expression. “Is that true, Angel?”

Of course she is.

Lib looks at me while she waits for my response. The fact that this is even up for debate is irritating, but the way she silently begs me not to humiliate her makes me want to choose my words carefully.

“She is,” I say. “But a very special one.”

Her face slowly falls, and her jaw tightens as she swallows.

She blinks a few times before her anger returns, her nostrils flaring. “Excuse me,” she mutters, stepping past me back toward the cliff.

“Liberty…”

She stands a few feet from Jasper and rips her shirt over her head before tossing it to the rock. She slips off her shoes and socks and shrugs out of her pants next, not looking back at either of us. Jealousy roars inside me, having her this exposed in front of Jasper, and it doesn’t help when I remember all the times she danced for him, wearing less than her current bra and panties.

“I’ll follow after you,” Jasper tells her. “Just to make sure you’re okay. You don’t look like a strong swimmer.”

Her gaze snaps to him, and I wish I could shake her for letting him get under her skin so easily. This must be the same irritation Sawyer feels.

“You know, I think I’ll be okay.”

“Are you sure?” he asks, sounding skeptical.

She gives him a thin-lipped smile and steps toward him. Too close.

“You know what, I have an idea.” Her smile widens. “How about we both jump off at the same time and see who can make it across the pool faster?” She points to the boulder Sawyer and I were sitting on. “We’ll race to the big rock. What do you say?”

He laughs, humor mixed with malicious intent that has me wishing I’d stopped this. “And what do I get if I win?”

She shrugs. “What do you want?”

He glances at me, then back to her. “There’s nothing you can give without your master’s permission.”

A rosy tint colors her cheeks, and her shoulders square. “Then tellhim.”

Jasper looks my way. “What do you think, Angel?”

“I think you should probably stand down. She’s a better swimmer than you’re bargaining for.” I move my gaze to Lib, and her face softens some, a tiny, grateful smile on her gorgeous face.

“Well then the stakes are high.” Jasper rubs his hands together and looks pointedly at Lib. “If I win, I want a night with her.”

No.

Absolutely not.

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