I almost roll my eyes, but manage to muscle down the reaction. Hades and Meg fuck other people, but the only loyalty they seem to hold is to each other. When it comes to the shit that matters, they are a unified front. I’ve never actually seen them play together in public, but if they aren’t fucking behind closed doors, I’ll be shocked.
“Sit, sit. You don’t have to stand there all formally.” He waves a languid hand to the chairs situated on either side of us. I take the left one and pull Jasmine down into my lap. She tenses for half a second and then relaxes into me. I wish I could say that I’m doing this to send a clear message to Hades, but the truth is that I know she’s still shaken and I don’t want her to feel untethered.
And, fuck, yes, I want to mark her as mine in front of the king of this place. She doesn’t wear my collar, but that’s a mere formality at this point.
Hades lifts his brows again, but before he can say something sure to piss me off, Meg walks back into the room. A short nod from her and he turns back to us, all seriousness. “My apologies. We have rules and Ali didn’t follow them. It won’t happen again. His membership will be rescinded.”
And no doubt Hades would take payment for the infraction.
“Thank you.” I urge Jasmine to her feet and stand. “See you around, Hades.”
“No doubt you will.”
I don’t hustle Jasmine out of The Underworld, but I set a pace that doesn’t invite lingering. Even with Hades’s assurances that it won’t happen again, I want to get her home.
Safe.
Chapter 14
Jasmine
Jafar doesn’t stop touching me the entire ride back to his penthouse. It’s not sexual in nature, which I can’t decide if I find a relief or a disappointment. Sex would drive away my concern over the interaction with Ali, over the threat he offers that no one saw fit to tell me about until an hour ago, but it won’t fix things. I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that nothing will fix my current situation.
He offered to give me my trust.
I might laugh if the gesture didn’t make me want to cry. Whether Jafar did it to be cruel or because he honestly thought I’d be able to take it really doesn’t matter. Growing up, I had dreams. Dreams of traveling, of moving through the world and experiencing all the things denied me while I remained under my father’s thumb. Of carving out a space that was mine and mine alone.
All it took was one night out to lock me up and send panic fluttering in my throat. How can I face the entire world if I can’t handle a single club?
Jafar takes my hand and ushers me out of the car. It’s not until we leave the elevator into his penthouse that he pulls me to a stop. “Jasmine … Baby girl … Let me take care of you for a little bit.”
Take care of me.
I know he doesn’t mean it the same way an owner takes care of a pet, but I’m so raw, I can’t differentiate between the two truths. If I was stronger, I’d tell him to fuck off and find my balance on my own without needing to lean on another person.
I’m not stronger.
I nod slowly. “Okay.”
Jafar doesn’t hesitate. He lifts me into his arms. He always seems to be carrying me, and another time I’ll have to lay down some ground rules about that, but right now I simply don’t have it in me. I let him carry me back to his room and pull the borrowed clothes from my body. He undresses to the waist but no lower, setting the tone for this interaction. No fucking, then.
Again, that flicker between relief and disappointment. I’m so tangled up, I don’t know which way I’m supposed to go, how I’m supposed to react.
We end up on the bed, me tucked in his lap with the blankets wrapped around both of us. Jafar’s body warms me as much as the blankets do and I finally, finally manage to relax into him.
“There,” he murmurs. “I’ve got you.” His big hand smooths down my back and up again, soothing me.
I let my eyes drift shut. Easier to sink into this experience, to let his presence overwhelm my earlier fear. My despair.
Ali is resourceful. I know enough about him to know that. The man didn’t get to be where he’s at now without having a skillset that lends itself to ill deeds. He can frame his narrative as a rescue all he wants, conveniently forgetting that he purchased me from my father, but I know the truth.
Not that the truth matters here. It certainly won’t stop Ali from trying for me again. “He’s not going to stop.”