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Authors: Marian Tee

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BOOK: JASON and KEANNE
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Chapter Six
 

 

Keanne stomped her foot in frustration as Jason Christakos finally reached her side. Dressed in a gray buttoned shirt partially open to reveal a golden expanse of chest and tight-fitting jeans, Jason looked so much hotter than she remembered, causing her to swallow.

  It was her first time to see him again after their unholy pact at the auditorium four nights ago. Every night, she had tossed and turned, wondering what would happen next. She had imagined all sorts of things, but none of it came close to the truth.

Jason bent down to kiss her cheek, and she automatically raised her head to meet him halfway like she always did. It was not, however, his usual kind of kiss, and Keanne’s breath caught in her throat at the way his lips seductively lingered on her cheek.

His scent teased her, but she did not let his nearness and sheer attractiveness make her forget the most important thing.

“You made me wait,” she accused him. He was supposed to be at her house thirty minutes ago.

  Jason’s eyes flashed, the scorching-hot emotion in it making Keanne’s toes curl. An arrogant smirk then formed on his lips as he said simply, “Yes. I did. In more ways than one, do you not agree?” The way he was looking at her left no doubt to the message in his words.

  He was not just admitting that he had deliberately made her wait for him to drive her to Christopoulos University.

  He was also admitting to making her wait for his kiss, his touch, his possession.

  The way he was looking at her now told Keanne that he believed she had been frustrated when he made her wait.

  And damn it, he was right!

  She choked, unable to believe that Jason was being so…so
wicked.

 
As Keanne visibly tried to recover from the shock of his words – and he had no problems admitting that he had intended to shock her – Jason took his sweet time studying her. She was so vibrantly beautiful, with her shining golden hair cascading down her back, her eyes shooting silver fire at him, and her curvy little body barely covered in a white dress with spaghetti straps.

  His face hardened, a fierce rush of dislike rising inside him at the thought of having other men see so much of Keanne’s body. It was a strange feeling to feel so possessive towards his little dove. When she had grown out of her shell, turning from a broken duckling into a strong and beautiful swan, Keanne had captured hearts wherever she went. She had always been a provocative witch, dressing herself in the sexiest outfits that somehow always felt more playful than garish.

  Then, it had not bothered him. Then, he had only been amused at the way she took all the admiring glances in stride.

  Now, it did not amuse him. Now it bothered him – a lot.

  “You need to change your clothes.”

  “No, I don’t,” she rejected without hesitation.

  His teeth clenched together as he snapped, “Do you want every boy staring at you?”

  An impish smile appeared on her lips, and at that moment he was reminded of the fact that Keanne was just as good as he was at teasing. “Not really,” she told him demurely. “I only just want one
man
staring at me, and that’s you.”

  “Troublemaker.”

  “Tyrant.”

  “Change your fucking clothes, Keanne.”

  “Only if you say I’m your girlfriend.” The words came out before she could stop them, and Keanne could have kicked herself as she saw the flirtatious look in his eyes disappear, replaced by something bleak.

  “It’s not that easy, Keanne.”

 
Actually, it was.
But she knew better than to say it aloud. She loved Jason, and therefore she knew him better than he realized.

  Even though her heart ached, Keanne made herself say lightly, “Shall we go? I don’t want to be late for my first day.”

  The ride to Christopoulos University was spent in nerve-wracking silence, Keanne cursing herself all the time. This was her fault. When, oh when would she learn to think before she spoke? She was so terribly impatient it was just not funny. If she wanted Jason to fall in love with her, she had to remember to be more strategic and not keep pushing him.

 
Say I’m your girlfriend.

 
The words played in his mind as he drove. Even though he did not want to, he found himself comparing Keanne to Lilac.

Lilac would never have said something like that. It was just not in her nature to do so. If anyone had spoken the words, she would have sounded pathetic and desperate to be Jason’s girlfriend. But when Keanne said it, the words did not seem to make her less any proud. If anything, it made her seem prouder, someone so wonderfully courageous and confident that she had no problems wearing her heart on her sleeve.

  When they reached her school, Jason had no problems finding a vacant spot. One was already reserved for him since he was friends with Derek Christopoulos, whose family owned the university.

  When he opened the car door for her and took her hand, it was cold and clammy. “
Dio!
You feel as cold as death!”

  Keanne glared at him, but her lips were bloodless with fear.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head.

  “Answer me!”

  Keanne looked away as she confessed hoarsely, “I’m terrified.” She tried to pull her hand away from his. He didn’t let go, and she was secretly glad that he didn’t.

  “Tell me why.”

  She said in a shamed whisper, “I’m worried that there’d be people from my old school here. And that they’d tell everyone about---” Her words were cut off when Jason’s arms went around her and Keanne suddenly found herself pressed against his chest.

  She was stiff with shock, unable to believe that he was embracing her in such a public place. They had always been affectionate with each other, but not like this – not in such a blatantly open environment.

  Even without looking around her, she could feel all gazes on her – on them, and those gazes did not feel friendly.

  “Jason, let go of me,” she said unconvincingly.

  His arms only tightened. “In a moment.”

  She looked up at him, bewildered.

  “I want everyone here to see that you are mine.” His voice became chilly. “And so anyone who hurts you…hurts me.”

  It was a great line, enough to make her want to cry, which she didn’t want to do in a public place. And so she said almost waspishly, “You sound like a bad actor playing the role of a Mafia lord.”

  He slowly loosened his hold, just enough for him to step back so Keanne could see him smirk. “And I know you well enough to understand those words are merely your way of not wanting to appear weak in front of these idiots.”

  Her fingers curled against his chest. “Tell me it will be okay.”

  Her words wiped the amusement from his lips. She was truly afraid, and it hit him raw. He didn’t want her to be afraid of anything. He couldn’t bear seeing it. He needed her to be strong.

  “Remember your promise, Keanne?”

  Her eyes shot up to him. “Y-yes?”

  “Then I command you to
not
be afraid.” His voice was again that strange and irresistible mixture of steel and silk, a velvety order that promised the sweetest pain and the most agonizing pleasure.

  Finally, the word came to her.

 
Dom.

 
Oh my God, Jason Christakos was a Dom.

  When Jason saw her eyes widening in surprise, her fear completely forgotten at the realization that hit her, he answered the questions in her gaze with a razor-sharp smile, one that did not promise gentleness or tenderness. No, his smile promised Keanne everything of him – every damn possessive and dominant cell that made up the real Jason Christakos, the one he kept ruthlessly hidden beneath his charming and easygoing persona.

  She swallowed convulsively. “You’re…” Oh my God, she just couldn’t believe it.

  He answered silkily, “Yes.”

  Her mouth opened and closed several times.

  “You said you loved me, Keanne.”

  His purring voice made her wet, embarrassingly so. They were in the middle of a public parking lot, surrounded by hundreds of college students – most of whom probably recognized both of them. And yet somehow none of it made any difference to her.

 
Merde.

 
Jason Christakos. A Dom. It was so freakishly sexy she could barely contain herself just thinking about what that meant.

  “Do you? Do you love me, Keanne?”

  “You know I do,” she whispered.

  “Then you will do what I ask you to?”

  “Yes.”

  “You will no longer be afraid.”

  “Yes.”

  “You will only think of me if you start to feel fear crawling back into your heart, and you will not be afraid anymore. You have
me
in your corner, Keanne.” He was not being boastful and she knew it. He was Jason Christakos, after all. If she had him in her corner – and it did seem she had – then there really was nothing to be afraid of.

  “Do you understand, Keanne?”

  “Yes,” she whispered again. The way Jason was staring at her with such blatant possessiveness made her feel faint. She knew he wasn’t in love with her yet – or at least he didn’t think he was. But even so, there was something in his gaze that made her hope. He had never looked at her this way in the past – like he wanted to own her and keep Keanne under lock and key forever.

  Oh, if only.

  “Later,” he said quietly, “I will fetch you.”

  “Yes.”

  “I will take you home.
My home
.” He paused, his eyes holding hers captive, brilliant blue eyes demanding acquiescence from her, and she surrendered to him without a struggle.

  She said simply, “I will do anything you want, Jason.
I love you
.”

Chapter Seven
 

 

Merde. Did he really mean this?

 
She gazed at Jason’s message in consternation. What kind of idiotic game was he playing?

Keanne: Do you really mean this?

Jason: Yes.

  His curt answer made Keanne want to strangle him. She was pretty sure it was deliberate, too. Jason had always been like that, acting like it was his God-given mission to pull her down a peg or two and make sure her feet were firmly on the ground.

 
Silly old man,
Keanne thought. Didn’t he know that his indifference to her love all these years had always kept her humble? It was hard to be proud when the man you loved didn’t really see you as a woman.

  Her finger moved down the screen of her phone to pull up Jason’s earlier messages. She knew what he had written, but she just found it too incredible that she needed to read it again.

Jason: Choose a man that you are attracted to and you believe I will approve of. Ask him out. Today.

  A painful twinge hit her in the heart, and it kept aching as she re-read his message. Before she knew it, she was already typing a reply.

Keanne: Why?

Jason: Because you need to realize that there are better men than me for you.

  Keanne almost threw her phone away in frustration at his reply. How was it that he could make her love and hate him at the same time?
Merde.
He was so damn complex! She almost wished he was an ordinary man – it would have been so much easier to make him love her. But she did not really wish it because she knew an ordinary man would not have been able to protect her and make her strong the way Jason Christakos did.

  A fist rapped on her table and she looked up, blinking in confusion.

  The guy seated next to her said impatiently, “The professor’s calling you.”

  Oh.

  Keanne’s head swung back to the professor, a middle-aged bespectacled man with a frown on his face. The frown did not terrify her. She knew his type. She was willing to bet he was just a big softie inside.

  Pulling out all the stops with her smile, she apologized sweetly, “I’m sorry, Professor.”

  The smile did it, and the professor mumbled something incoherently. Yes, he really was a big softie inside.

  When she plopped back down on her seat, the guy next to her remarked, “You’re good.”

  She looked at him again, and this time she really looked at him. He was extremely good looking. He was probably her age since this was a first-year class, but his dark green eyes were too knowledgeable and experienced.

  “Like what you see?” he drawled, startling her.

  She almost blushed but managed not to. Even so, the way he smirked told Keanne that he was perfectly aware he had succeeded in discomfiting her.

  She said baldly, “I see you’re just as good. Maybe even better.”

  Her honest words took him by surprise, causing a smile to slowly form on his lips. “You are not what I expected to find on my first day,” he said.

  “You are not what I expected to find either.”

  The way he looked at her made Keanne feel self-conscious, his gaze telling her that he was interested in finding out more things about her – preferably those that were hidden by her clothes.

  “You’re practically undressing me.” She knew she should be insulted, but for some reason she was not.

  “Yes.”

  That almost had her choking. “You’re unreal,” she said laughingly as she bent her head down on her iPad like the rest of the class, which was busy taking note of the instructions for their first assignment.

  “Just as you seem unreal to me,” he returned.

  His voice was low and throaty, yet another silent invitation for her to prove to him she was of flesh and blood.
Let me touch you. Let me feel your body so I know you’re real.

  She shook her head. “Unreal,” she muttered to herself.

  And the realization hit her.

  Not wanting to give herself more time to figure things out, Keanne said in a rush, “Would you like to go out with me?”

  “Would it mean getting to kiss you?”

  That had her head jerking up. It was such an unexpected question for a first date.

  A sardonic smile was on his lips now, but his voice was gentle when he said, “You do not seem to be the type to let a guy kiss you on your first date.”

  She laughed bitterly. “You’d be surprised at what I can do.”

  “Let me qualify,” he said smoothly. “What I meant was that you are not the type to let a guy you do not care about kiss you on your first date.”

  This time she gave him an incredulous look. “Do I look like some shy wallflower to you?”

  He looked at her, his gaze intense enough to cause Keanne to fidget in her seat. And then he said quietly, “I don’t think now is the right time to tell you how I see you.”

  One moment they were flirting, the next moment it had deepened into something more and Keanne felt like she had been thrown in the deep end without a clue about where she was or how she would get out alive.

  “You’re so
intense.
” It was the lamest thing to say, but it perfectly explained what she felt at the moment.

  He only nodded, and the mysterious smile that played on his lips oddly made her feel nervous. “Yes,” he said instead, startling her. “I’ll go out with you.”

  She suddenly wished she hadn’t asked him. She felt like she had bitten off more than she could chew.

  “Regretting asking me out?”

  “Of course not.” She was too proud to tell him the truth. But inside, she was already panicking.
Silly old man.
She cursed Jason fluidly in her mind. Look at what he had gotten her into.

  When the bell rang, she was the first to get to her feet. Maybe she could tell him that she suddenly remembered she had a meeting. Maybe she could---

  Long hard fingers curled around her wrist.

  Oh, damn.

  Keanne looked down.

  He looked up at her. He was still seated, his long denim-encased legs stretched before him. His dark green eyes mocked her, and she flushed.

  “My name is Gabriel, by the way.”

  The color in her cheeks deepened.
Merde.
She had asked him out but had forgotten to get his name.

  “I can take a rain check on the date, too.” He slowly released her. “I don’t think you are ready for me yet.”

  “I’m---”

  He raised a brow. “You’ve changed your mind?”

  Had she?

  “You’re confusing me,” she accused him.

  “Good.” Satisfaction purred in his voice. “If I date a woman, I want her to be thinking only of me…and not Jason Christakos.”

  And then he was walking away, leaving her gawking at him.

  When she realized he was about to leave the room and go God knew where, she grabbed her bag and hurried after him as quickly as she could. “Wait!” It was hard running in heels, but she did her best.

  He didn’t turn around, and any moment now he would be lost in the crowd of first-year students milling the hallway.

  “Wait!”

  He still didn’t turn.

 
Merde.

 
“Gabriel, wait!”

  He stopped then slowly turned, a smirk on his lips once more. He did not make any move to meet her halfway, and as Keanne closed the distance between them, she felt like a slave running to her master.

  Most of the students were looking at them now. She repressed a sigh. There went her plan to play it low key and exist under the radar. Now, everyone would know that Keanne Summers was enrolled in this university. It was only a matter of time before people would start talking about her again.

  When she reached Gabriel, she suddenly realized how much taller he was – like Jason. Even in her high heels, she was still dwarfed by his powerful form, not even reaching his shoulders.

  “What do you know about Jason Christakos?” she demanded.

  “You and Christakos get photographed together all the time,” was all that he said. It was a plausible answer, but somehow she felt there was more to it.

  “So you know who I am?”

  “Yes. I know who you are.” The sober way he said it made her take a step back.

  Oh.

  He knew her that way.

  “You know me,” she said dully. To think she actually thought---

  “Keanne, stop.” He grasped her wrist and made her face him again just as she was about to turn away.

  The fact that he knew her name made her flinch.

  “You misunderstood. I know what happened. I can’t help it. We lived in the same town once. But I went to a different school.”

  “It doesn’t matter. You probably think I’m a slut---”

  “I never thought that. And now that I’ve officially met you, I know you won’t ever be that.”

  “Stop lying,” she hissed.

  “I’m not. Look at me, Keanne. Look at me.”

  She slowly raised her gaze to his.

  The truth in his eyes was undeniable.

  Her lips parted in shock. He really didn’t think she was a slut. He had not judged her for what happened between her and…him.

  “Do you still want to go out today?”

  She didn’t know what to say.

  His lips twisted. “I had a feeling there was something to it when you asked me out so suddenly. May I at least ask why you asked me out?”

  “It’s h-hard to explain.”

  A short pause and then he asked, “Then how about what you want to achieve by asking me out?”

  “I…” Keanne looked away. “Nothing.”

  “Please. Tell me.”

  A plea and a command.

  She heard herself saying, “I needed to find someone I was attracted to – someone who could rival Jason Christakos.”

  “Ah.” Fingers cupped her chin and she looked up at him questioningly. Before she knew what he was planning, his head had already lowered to hers, his lips brushing against her lips.

  She stumbled back. “Wh---”

  “I think you’ve found what you’re looking for.”

  “Y-you---”

  “Until tomorrow, Keanne.”

  And again, he left her gaping behind him.

  She touched her lips, a part of her wanting to rub it clean. It had not been an unpleasant kiss, and that was mostly the problem. She did not need this kind of complication in her life. Life was already more complicated than it should be, thank you very much.

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