Chapter Ten

The driver stopped outside my building. Peter got out to go and check the perimeter. Jasper was beside me. I looked over, expecting him to be groggy with a frustrated look on his face that said, "I want to see my bed so I can get some sleep," but not Jasper. I know that's how I would have looked. Not my bodyguard though. Jasper was alert and looking around for potential danger while we waited on Peter to signal it was safe to get out of the vehicle.

When Peter got back and opened my door, I looked over in time to see Jasper opening his own door and getting out. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he started barking orders to his security team.

He turned and glared at me, I almost squirmed under his hard gaze if I wasn't so fucking turned on by it, and ordered me to walk in front of him. Another guy was sent to walk ahead of me. His job was to open all doors and enter every building ahead of me. Basically he was supposed to take my invisible bullet. Jasper wasn't taking any chances.

I felt proud of my GI Joe. And I felt safe.

"So, what are we doing first?" I asked as we stepped inside my penthouse. It felt good to be home, and having Jasper here with me.

A week ago I wanted nothing more than to get him out of my life. Now I wanted him to stay. For how long, I didn't know. I just knew I wanted his ass in my bed. Literally. I wanted that incredible looking ass in my bed. He looked fit. I wondered how good he was in bed?

Scout came running, distracting me from thinking about a naked and horny Jasper writhing on my sheets, and I got down on a knee to let him have his fun wallowing in my face. I missed him. Scout was family and a really good buddy. It wasn't surprising when he left me and moved to Jasper, welcoming him back as well. Looking at things through new eyes, the ones that wanted Jasper in my bed, I wasn't so annoyed with my dog for liking him. I liked my hottie from Texas with the sexy ass and honey blonde hair too.

"What do you mean?" Jasper asked as he walked by me with Scout trailing behind him while looking back for me. "Yeah, I was coming." I thought as I trailed behind them. I felt like we were both following our master around. And I was so into Jasper, it didn't even bother me that he had just chosen to answer my question now. Furthermore, he chose to answer it with a question of his own. I usually hated when people did that to me. It irritated the fuck out of me. But when Jasper did it? Oh I was cool. In fact, following him around like he was my master was kind of appealing. I liked it. It made me wonder if Jasper was into that shit. Did he like a little D/s relationship on the side to keep things spicy?

I was game if he was.

I could be the naughty servant in need of a lesson from my sexy master or a private who couldn't get my orders straight and needed strong instructions from a certain Major. I was down for any game he wanted to play.

"Edward!" He shouted, making me jump. Yeah, if we were going to play, it would definitely be the Private and Major fantasy. The way he barked, damn! It did things to me.

"Yeah!" I nearly jumped a foot high.

"What do you mean?" he said, pressing me to tell him what I meant.

"I mean, do you want to eat, sleep or…" Jasper was looking at me so I waggled my eyebrows at him. "I'm up for anything."

I was indeed. I mean I was hard as rock and hoping I was hiding that shit well by shifting around while we headed upstairs. And that was challenging in itself since it wasn't easy watching his ass move as he walked ahead of me. The man was a walking torture for my dick.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Edward…I'm not in the mood for games. I'm exhausted and I…" He stopped at the top of the stairs to say and I interrupted.

"Good! Sleep it is!" I said with enthusiasm. I wasn't going to let him finish whatever fucked up rejection he was trying to lay on me. I wasn't having it. Edward Cullen got what he wanted and that was that. Jasper Whitlock was going to learn that lesson. It was simple.

I wanted him and I was going to have him. Fuck everything else.

I walked pass him, swiftly moving to his new bedroom. He had been staying in the bedroom down the hall from mine so I had his things moved to the one directly across from my bedroom while he was in the hospital. It was genius on my part. But when I opened the door and Jasper saw all his things in there, he looked annoyed but walked in anyways.

"Well, boo hoo." I thought as I followed him into the room, shutting the door behind us. Jasper should already know I didn't give a fuck. I was a pushy fucker, and he was just being stubborn. He already knew how annoyingly persistent I could be so why fight?

I knew why but I wasn't going to be understanding about some motherfucker who wasn't me. I wouldn't drop his ass like that. I would be a man about it. With the history it sounded like they had, if it were me in fucked up asshole Ethan's shoes, I would have been less of a dick about ending things with Jasper.

But I had a sneaky feeling that the son of a bitch was an attention seeking punk who thrived on leaving people hung up on his ass. He adored the undivided interest he got from those around him. Jasper wasn't the love of his life as he was for Jasper. Jasper was his victim. Jasper was just the one who wasn't privy to that knowledge.

"What did you do?" He asked, looking around the room.

The bedroom was as big as mine and decorated in a blue shade I always liked. The king sized bed was to the far right of the room facing the bay windows I had instructed to be fitted with dark blue drapes. I suspected Jasper wanted it that way. He liked inconspicuous. There was a small office like area closer to the windows on the left of the room and the entertainment centre was facing the bed with the huge walk-in closet's door beside it. There was also an adjoining bath with a shower, bath and sink. I had his bathroom things moved in there too with fresh towels.

I sat on his bed, making myself comfortable, as he examined the room.

I could be sincere with my answer but where was the fun in that. And fuck, it just wouldn't be me. Jasper knew I was a dick so why change? I wanted him to be comfortable with the asshole I could be.

"I like having you close," I said with a wink.

"Why?" he said with sarcasm and a smirk on his face I wanted to kiss right off it.

Fuck, I could remember the soft feel of his lips when I had kissed him while he was in the hospital. I wanted them against my mouth right now but I had to tread carefully at the moment. Pissed me right the fuck off, having to do it, but this was what I had to do to get him to trust me enough to let me in. I knew I wouldn't hurt him. Not like Ethan. I don't know how I knew that because I had never done anything like this before, but for some strange reason, I trusted myself when it came to Jasper and I knew I would never hurt him so bad he would lose a piece of himself.

"Where are you?" he asked with concern.

I ignored that for a minute. "I…" I started, but Jasper interrupted. "Tell me first and then we can get back to the banter."

God! How did he do it? Know exactly what to say? I have seen Dad do this with Mom. When something was bothering her, even though she tried to evade telling him, Dad didn't stop bugging her until she shared whatever was troubling her.

"I trust myself with you. I trust myself not to hurt you like Ethan did and I don't know why since I have never been in a relationship before."

"This isn't a relationship," Jasper said in a dismissive tone.

"Shut up. I'm being serious. Stop kidding around."

Jasper actually laughed. "You think I'm kidding? I told you in the hospital, Edward. This has to stay professional."

I looked at him long and hard. I wanted him to read everything he saw on my face.

Jasper smiled and said, "And you have no intention of letting that happen, do you? You're going to continue your ridiculous pursuit of me, aren't you?"

"Until there's something better to do," I answered. "Although I don't see anything interesting me as much as you do in the foreseeable future, Mr. Whitlock." I smirked and watched him squirm a little under my gaze before he moved away. He headed over to the desk in the corner, giving some documents on there his attention while he kept his back to me.

"I think you need me around cause you'll stay alive longer," he said.

"If lying to yourself makes you feel better, then that's on you, Whitlock. I know what I want. I have never been the type of guy to deny myself of something I want," I tell him as I got up and made my way over to him. He was aware of me. I doubt anyone could sneak up on Jasper. I walked slowly, giving him time to get away. I smiled to myself when he didn't move as I stepped up behind him. He wanted this as much as I did. He was just protecting himself from being hurt again.

My body was close enough for him to feel the effect he had on me, and if I was asleep and this was the sweetest dream I was having of him, then I was wide fucking awake when I pushed against Jasper and felt him push back. I leaned into his ear, breathing him in. I kissed and gently bit the shell of it while he busied himself on his desk with whatever he was looking at. Aside from pushing back against me a second ago, he has kept his composure and I didn't know or care how he did it. I just enjoyed being this close to him.

"I do need you around, but not just to keep me safe," I said as I gently ran my hand down his side and moved it to the front of his jeans. I groped him and felt my entire body vibrate when I heard him groan. It was the sexiest thing I have ever heard. It was a deep and throaty sound that went straight to my cock. "I want you here long enough for me to play with your…" I rubbed him through his jeans, loving what I felt. I pushed against him again and he stopped looking at the document, hung his head and groaned the deep, throaty sound I wanted to hear.

"Edward…" He whispered. It was a plead for what I hoped he wanted too. "Edward…"

"I want to, Jasper. I want to play with your pretty dic…"

"Don't finish that sentence!" He was gone before I could breathe right. He had breezed pass me and was on the other side of the room by his bed. I sat on the edge of his desk and adjusted myself, while watching him watching my hand. I ran my hand over my crotch and smirked when he quickly looked up and into my eyes.

"Fuck! You're so infuriating!"

I smiled. "You'll grow to like it," I said with confidence as I got up and walked back to his bed. I made sure to brush up against him before throwing myself down on the bed.

"Why don't you go to your room?" he asked.

"Trying to get rid of me, Jasper?" I said in an innocent tone. "Want to go take care of a big problem I can help you with?" I said, licking my lips.

He looked like he wanted to strangle me. He was turned on. I knew he was. He was breathing heavily and it looked like his mind was going a mile a minute. He closed his eyes and found his composure and when he opened them back to me, the robot was back.

I wasn't having it.

"Have you noticed your room is across the hall from mine?"

"How convenient for you," he said in a snarky tone.

I ignored it. "Oh! You noticed!" I said with a wink. "I like the idea of what the close proximity presents. Do you?"

He rolled his eyes at me in annoyance. "Stop thinking with your dick, Edward. Just know that I sleep armed."

"How can I stop thinking with it? You're standing in front of me," I countered. "Beside I think your cock would be worth getting shot over."

"Try to stop. And nothing is worth getting shot over," Jasper said in a stern tone. In a way, he sounded serious about the getting shot part so I stopped the jokes there. Besides, I could see his frustration. Maybe I had pushed him too far. Yet, I liked him responding to me. I liked being able to see something other than the robot. Though his walls were up now, I could still get enough snarky comments out of him to know he cared. To know the Jasper I wanted to know was in there somewhere.

"Don't wanna. I might not take the risk of you shooting me because I'm sure you have considered it, but I like seeing you like this."

"Like what?" Jasper asked as he stepped closer me on the bed. There was a look in his eyes. I couldn't read it. I think it was interest or horniness. I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Frustrated," I said. I got up and sat on my knees. He was close enough to touch. If I wanted to, I could reach out and pull him to me.

"What are you going to do about it?" His voice was deep and husky. Was I hearing right? Was this an invitation? I looked in his eyes, looking for indecision and found nothing but a calm expression gazing back. He was waiting on me to make a move so I did. I reached out and pulled him into me. His soft breath fanned my face. His eyes gazed into mine as I thought about nothing but kissing him. I wanted his lips on mine so bad I was going to scream if he pulled away. I wrapped an arm around his waist and heard something rumble in the back of his throat. Our lips were merely an inch away when we heard it. Jasper moved away so fast, I fell back on his bed in shock, frustration and fucking rage.

I was going to kill my friend.

Caius burst into Jasper's room, his eyes landing on Jasper who was across the room at the desk in the corner. He had opened his laptop and was looking at something on the screen. I was baffled and speechless at how fast this injured man moved. I was pissed I hadn't gotten to kiss him. And I was ready to kill Caius for taking the fucking opportunity away from me. This wasn't like the times Jasper had cockblocked me. I was going to fucking murder Cas!

"What do you want?" I asked as I laid back and threw an arm over my eyes while taking calming breaths. Great! Now I was the one who was frustrated.

"Why are you in here?" Caius asked. He sounded like he was pissed about it.

I didn't even bother to look. "Because it's my fucking place and I can go wherever I damn well please." It wasn't a question. It was a fucking rule. This was my penthouse and I could do what I wanted.

He didn't answer me. "Did you want something, Cas?" I looked at him then. I even got up. The moment was gone anyway. Even if I ran Cas out, I was beginning to know Jasper. I could practically feel him. And his titanium walls were up and ready to protect him from everything happy in the world.

I stomped to the door. I didn't even look back as I said to Jasper, "If I'm heading out, I'll let you know."

I beckoned for Caius to walk out ahead of me and then I slammed the door behind me and stomped over to my room. Cas smiled when we walked in there. He looked happy to be away from Jasper. I couldn't say the same.

"Well, that was awkward," Caius said. "Why were you in there? Was he being an asshole again and trying to order you around?" He didn't wait on an answer. He just kept firing questions at me. "Is he trying to sabotage your Milan trip in two weeks? I'll speak to your dad." I was trying to drown out his voice. I hated it when he talked fast. It sounded like a fucking rat squealing in my ear. Gave me headaches. But when I heard, "I'll speak to your dad." I gave him my full attention. And as he went on, completely unaware of the fury he was about to have rein down on him, I listened. "I can talk to Carlisle and have Jasper out of here. I mean, he's injured," Caius chuckled. "It's not like he can protect you anymore!" He laughed.

I took a seat on my bed. "What do you mean?"

Caius laughed. "Come on, the guy was hit by a car!"

"Because of me."

"Because he wasn't doing his job," he argued. There was something in his eyes. I couldn't place it but I wasn't about to let him talk about Jasper like this. I didn't give a damn what he was thinking. Jasper stayed.

I tried to stay calm. I reminded myself to breathe. If I didn't, I was going to choke my friend. "He was doing his job, Cas."

"Edward…"

"No!" I screamed at my friend. "Jasper was doing his job. In fact, all the shit I pulled, I was the one who was wrong. The guy is here to keep me alive. Dad wouldn't have hired him if he wasn't the best. So you're going to drop this and I'm going to do what it takes, even if I've got to deal with Jasper's ridiculous rules, to stay alive!"

"Edward, I…" Caius said in a calm tone. "I can see you feel strongly about this, but…"

"Enough!" I shouted. "We're not going to talk about this again. Jasper stays!"

I didn't even realize I had gotten up from my bed and towered over him. We stared at each other for a long while. "I'll go, Edward. We'll talk about this again when you're calm."

"No, we won't. Jasper stays and that's final," I said to him. Caius liked to dismiss people's anger toward him. He thought others thoughts didn't matter. No wonder his girlfriend and him were having problems. He only thought about his feelings. Fuck what everyone else thought. I guess it was why we were friends. We were selfish fucks. But it was never too late to learn a new way to do things and I felt like I was doing that but Caius wanted me to go back to being the old me. I couldn't. I saw something I wanted and it was outside my typical bullshit.

Caius couldn't know the truth though. I had to let him see what he wanted to see. The asshole that was Edward Cullen. "Have you forgotten who I am, Cas? I'm Edward fucking Cullen and nobody gets to tell me what they think is good for me!"

He chuckled and then sneered at me. "Yet, you're letting your little bodyguard do just that! What is it? Do you want him? Is that what this is? Some misplaced feelings you're having because he saved your life so you want him in your bed?" If I wasn't thinking straight, I could have sworn my friend sounded like a jealous boyfriend. But I was. So I ignored him and thought about what he had just said because there it was. The million dollar question I wasn't ready to answer. I wanted to keep Jasper to myself before I had to share him with anyone else. I didn't want the world to know about me feeling something other than lust for someone. The selfishness in me felt like if they knew they would steal Jasper away from me and I had to prevent that.

So I gave Caius what he wanted to hear. I let him hear the self righteous, arrogant prick of a bastard I could be while looking at Jasper standing behind Caius at my door with Peter flanking him. From the look on his face, I knew he heard Caius' question and he was waiting for my answer. I would have to apologize for what I was about to say.

I laughed at my friend. "Are you crazy, Cas? What am I doing with him?" I pointed at Jasper and Caius looked around at him and then back at me. "Didn't I just tell you I'm Edward fucking Cullen? I can do better than that!" I waved my hand dismissively in Jasper's direction as if he was garbage.

Caius was satisfied with my answer. "I have to go. I'll see you later since you have time off."

"You say it like it's a bad thing," I countered, making him smile as he walked out, avoiding Jasper as much as he could when he had to pass him at the door.

Peter and Jasper were whispering and then Peter left behind Caius. I wanted to pretend like I hadn't just insulted Jasper and go back to being the usual bastard I was, but I couldn't. I looked at him and he was watching me so I just staggered back to my bed and plopped down on it. He wasn't saying anything and the silence was fucking unnerving.

"I'm sorry!" I blurted out. "I had to say something to him. Had to tell him what he wanted to hear because I know you two hate each other!" I continued while Jasper just stood there, staring at me. "Would you quit staring at me? You're freaking me out!"

He smiled a genuine smile. It looked good on him. "We can't be anything, Edward. No matter what you're thinking. We can't be. Having to explain yourself or lie about what we are to each other is going to break you. You're a young guy. You're having fun. You should be focused on that. Not on tying yourself down in a relationship with a cold hearted bastard like me. I've got nothing to offer you."

"You're what I want!" I got up and argued. "I don't give a shit what you say. I know I might be an asshole, and maybe I'm not your type. If so, tell me."

"I never said that," he said with a light chuckle.

"Good. Well, I want you and I'm not going to stop because Caius thinks it's a bad idea to have you here and wants to get you fired. I won't let it happen. I'm not letting you go." I got up and went to him. He casually leaned back against the wall and I stepped close enough to grab the edge of his white t-shirt, playing with it. "I know I'm a bastard but I'm brave enough to ask you to consider me. To consider an us." I didn't give him time to speak, I moved in and kissed him sound on his lips. I expected him to push me away and reprimand me for what I was doing but he held me close, moving his mouth against mine. I moaned when he opened my mouth with his, letting his tongue massage my own. The kiss was deep and sensual. It curled my toes and left me aching as he pulled away and gently pushed me back so he could go.

I was standing there waiting on an answer so he turned and looked at me. "I'm not promising you anything," he whispered.

"Life is short," I said with a smirk.

He smiled. "I know, so I'll think about it."

He walked away and I went back to my bed, throwing myself across with a smile on my face. It wasn't everything I wanted, but it would be enough for now. Jasper thinking about the possibility of us left me with time to scheme my way into his heart.

Was it where I wanted to be?

Hell fucking yes.

Like I said, I was Edward fucking Cullen and I got what I want. And what I want was Jasper Whitlock.