Page 127 of Entangled

Jasper grips my wrist. Hard. “Your cock belongs only to me, brat. You touch yourself without permission again and there will be consequences.”

The casual cruelty of him almost has me coming in my pants, so it takes a moment for his meaning to filter through.

Onlyto me, he said.

Eden.

Through the maelstrom of emotions of the last half hour, my brain finally catches up.

“What do you meanonly?”

Jasper takes one look at my face and sobers, pulling back enough that I can stand again. It’s hard to look at him now, especially rumpled and in my uniform. I ache for him—I always ache for him. But I ache for her now too, and I can’t separate them.

“It was Eden’s decision, Lucien,” he says quietly.

“What was? I need you to explain that part. Because it sounds like I get you only if I lose her, is that right?”

No. No! She doesn’t get to make decisions about me.Forme. I’ve had enough of that already. I can’t do this again.

Jasper gives a single shake of his head. “I wouldn’t make you choose, Lucien. I told you—I don’t want to cause you any more hurt, and the two of you are more overdue for happiness than anyone I’ve met. But once she figured out how we felt, Eden thought it best to give us space.”

“Permanent space?” I demand.

He remains silent, and I know it’s true. That’s it. That’s what she was saying, that she’s leaving me.

“Breathe, Lucien.” Jasper touches my shoulder, but I shake him off. I shake him off because I need to think, and I can’t damn well do it with himtouchingme.

“I can’t do it, Jasper. I love her,” I say.

“I know you’re fond of her, but?—”

I turn, my hand in my hair. “No, I’m not fond of her. I love her. It might have taken you seven years to work that out, but I got there faster.”

I don’t miss his almost imperceptible flinch. I know it’s an asshole thing to say, but it’s also true.

“I’ll talk to her. I’ll make her understand. It can’t just be one, Jasper. I need you both.”

Should I go after her now? Or is it better to give her some time to rest? I can’t mess this up.

I can’t lose her again.

Jasper regards me with a somber expression. “You might want to prepare yourself, Lucien. She seemed quite set in her decision.”

“Why are you speaking about her like you don’t want her too?” I snap. Fear and worry snarl through me, knotting me up. “You might fool the rest of them, but not me. If anyone knows what it looks like when you’re holding yourself back from someone, it’s me. And Iknowshe wants you.”

He always has his mask on around her. He’s always careful, always polite. With Dom and Beau, even Jaykob, he’s elegant but relaxed, and I can read him fine—his annoyance, his amusement. With me, he was always marble, and it was impossible to chip away at the facade. For years I thought he didn’t like me, just for that reason. I know better now. He controls himself so tightly when he’s closest to losing it.

He looks at her the same way.

A chill ices over his features. “I won’t explain this again to you. If you can convince her to be with you also, then I wish you the best, but even if I were sure she wanted me—and I am certainlynot—I would destroy that girl. Particularly now, after what she has been through. She is hanging by a thread, and the last thing she needs is a sadist unleashing violence she does not want against her.”

That takes the hot air out of me.

“Jayk has been fucking her,” I argue helplessly. “You know what he’s like. He probably hunted her, roughed her up. If she’s fine with that, then why not you?”

“Please.” Jasper rubs his temple with one long finger. “Do not compare my methods to Jaykob’s. You might as well compare a butcher’s yard to an operating table.”

“But—”

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