Page 39 of Toy No More

My body still barely listens to me, and yet when he says it—his voice so sharp and demanding—it’s like it responds on some basic biological level. Like Ineedto obey him.

Gulping, I shift on my feet, staring at him with an expression that asks if he’s serious. “You want to check that—?”

Jasper’s patience runs out. He reaches for me and turns me around, harshly pushing me against the kitchen island with my ass out toward him. I’m too stunned to even react. I let him push my dress up and yank down my underwear while I stare ahead, mouth open, inhale stuck in my throat.

He spreads out my cheeks and forces a finger in, making me flinch in pain and shock. As the shame and fear whirl inside me, another feeling towers over them. One I should reject and ignore…

Anger.

I can’t help but feel…insulted. Not for what he’s doing to me right now, not for the brute way he does it, but at the mere thought that he can’t even fathom the idea of me not being the bottom. Not being the one taking it and instead being the one in control.

I groan once he pulls his finger out and sharply turn at him. No matter how degrading it feels, Jasper seems…satisfied with the answer he found—my hole being tight and clean. I didn’t get fucked, which means I didn’t lie.

Placing his hands on my hips, now gently as if nothing happened, he keeps them there for a moment before sliding them down and eventually pulling me back up.

“What you did, even if that was all you did, was against the rules we set,” he says in a calmer, more controlled tone. Suddenly, he sounds like I’m some child who did wrong and he’s the sensible one for explaining it to me.

I swallow the bitterness bubbling inside my throat and instead look down obediently.

“I’m sorry, I…” Closing my eyes, I sigh. “I was angry. I was angry that you…gave your permission, but then you kept finding excuses for it to not work out. Youknowyou did,” I say, looking back up at him in a brave gesture. Surprisingly, Jasper continues watching me without a negative response, so I continue. “Every time I was supposed to go out with Kobe, you’d make it so it couldn’t happen. You’d ignore me or be too preoccupied to confirm it. And I know you’re busy…”

Pausing, I reach for his hands, and he lets me. The fact that he’s calmed down enough makes me feel safer, so I step toward him.

“A lot has been going on, I get that. But you did that, even thoughyousleep with other people and don’t tell me half the time anymore. And that’s fine! I-I’m fine with it. I know you do it to…appease the other groups and make good with important people. I know that’s how things work. But what you did made me frustrated. That you were stopping me from getting this one thing I wanted to do for myself for once.”

When I finish, I watch him for a reaction, anxiously holding a breath inside my lungs.

Jasper glides his thumbs against my hand as we hold them together, making a humming sound while he tilts his head. “I guess you’re right,” he mutters, looking down on our joined hands, voice low. “I did do that. You never asked to step out before, so it felt…irritating. Coupled with everything else that’s been going on, I didn’t know how to deal with it.”

My heart feels like it’s being crushed in a fist.

He was just jealous.Troubled. Isn’t that natural? The same way I was after we became exclusive and he breached the subject of sleeping with others to sway them to benefit the business. I hated it. I thought I finally found a man who needed and wanted onlyme, only for him to rip that away, even if I had no damn right to feel entitled to it, anyway. How could someone like me be so hypocritical?

That pain is the last thing I want him to feel. But Jasper met me as a prostitute and encouraged me to keep working even after we got together, so I figured he was the type of person to not be bothered by these things.

“If you don’t want me doing it, I won’t see him anymore,” I say firmly, despite the tinge of bitter disappointment passing through me as I do.

He looks up at me, those blue eyes staring right into my soul. When he smiles, the tense muscles in my body ease up, and I smile back. “No, doll,” he whispers, reaching for my chin. He pushes my hair out of my face with his other hand, studying me like it’s his first time this close. “You can enjoy yourself with your omega plaything as much as you want.” With those words, his grip on my chin tightens. Jasper pulls me in, resting his forehead against mine. “But do noteverlie to me again, you understand?”

The way his voice changes sends shivers down my back. All the warmth is gone. Suddenly, it’s not my lover speaking to me, but a dangerous man who could end my life if he wanted to.

Gulping, I give a shaky nod, trying to hide the fear he brings out in me.

“Good,” he says, planting a quick kiss on my forehead before pulling away. He turns around, heading to the bedroom. “It’s late. Come to bed,” he shouts without turning at me.

Using the kitchen island behind me for balance, I let out a trembling breath.

“C-Coming, baby,” I say back, barely keeping my voice steady.

It’s fine.He’s well within his right to be angry. There’s no trust without honesty.

Closing my eyes, I inhale slowly, pushing the negative emotions out of my mind. Jasper loves me and I love him. He takes care of me the way no one ever has. He hasn’t gotten sick of me or fed up with me like so many would and have done…

That’s all that matters.

That’s all I’ve got.

Chapter 13

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