Chapter Seven

And They All Came Tumbling After

Edward's POV

Four days later, at the FBI Headquarters in Washington D.C...

"He hasn't said a thing except for profanities in Russian...that and the occasional light for another cigarette..." Assistant Director Carlisle Cullen spoke to me sternly through a bit of a sigh, his hands folded cordially behind his back as I stood at his side, peering through the two-way mirror into the next room, where Jasper was seated in the single chair, his hands cuffed together in his lap.

I remained silent, both of us just watching as the blonde-haired Russian lifted both of his bound hands to his mouth and took another long drag from the cigarette burning in between two of his fingers, his gorgeous eyes uncaring and unfocused as they remained lowered.

"Let me talk to him, sir..."I requested, turning sharply towards my older superior who regarded me professionally, peering his forever calculating eyes directly into my own, as he weighed my words.

"Very well, Masen. You have five minutes," Cullen agreed as he stepped aside and allowed me to pass by him so I may enter through the dark-colored door to Jasper's interrogation room.

My breathing felt fleeting inside my lungs, my palms a bit moist, as I urgently reigned in my churning nerves so that I may have some kind of composure before facing Jasper once more, having barely seen him since our arrival in the Unites States.

I took a deep breath as I let myself into the bright room, softly closing the door behind me.

I could feel his eyes on me in an instant, damn near penetrating deep within me from their harnessed intensity, as I turned back towards him and began slowly padding over to where he sat.

Jasper narrowed his cobalt eyes as I boldly approached him, his hands hiding most of his face for a moment while he sucked more smoke into his lungs, letting a few wisps of the curling, grey smoke just about escape his mouth before inhaling it all and then blowing a steady stream out from in between his luscious, petal-soft lips.

I gulped at Jasper's effortless sensuality, the effect of it being practically mind-warping to me even now whilst we were inside my strict place of work, as I stood directly in front of his spread legs and seemingly bored stare.

"...I really am sorry about all of this...I wish...I just wish everything was different," I began lamenting to the seated Russian before me as I crouched down so that I could be a little more at eye-level with him, my hands folding together on top of my thighs as I unconsciously tried to present myself as less of a threat to him as possible.

Jasper let his finished cigarette drop to the polished, tiled floor, before leaning forward in his chair so that he and I were closer to one another, my green eyes widening at once at the heart-stopping prospect of Jasper actually wishing for my company and desiring to be physically close to me.

"...I know what you mean," Jasper remarked dryly, his thickly accented voice still hitting me squarely in my chest, taking a hold of everything inside of me with its somber smoothness that spoke to me of his admittedly appealing foreign heritage, as he cast his startling sapphire gaze down into my own.

Being this close to Jasper again was mesmerizing, my sense of smell able to pick up faint traces of his natural cinnamon zest, and I immediately recognized that I craved more of it...I craved to be rid of even the smallest of space between us, because I craved him.

Suddenly, without truly thinking my actions through, I seized Jasper's hands inside my own and hoisted him up from his chair whilst I stood to my full height, registering his shock only for a fraction of a second, while I pressed our bodies completely together, feeling his fingers press into my stomach before they roughly gripped at the fabric of my black suit jacket.

I lifted my hands to his face, my eyes tracing lovingly over each of his porcelain features that I had longed to touch for days now, before I slammed my lips against his own, claiming him forcefully as a man made desperate and starving would, and I felt all of my internal strife and struggling vastly disappear from within me.

Jasper hummed into our satisfyingly rushed, fire-laden kiss, him being unable to deny our resilient attraction to one another as his fingers latched onto the front of my jacket, pulling me even harder against him, before the both of us tore our lips away from each other, the knowledge that we could be watched weighing heavily inside our minds in spite of the way I fearlessly kept the Russian terrorist close to me.

"Jasper, you need to say something to the agents here...anything that would help us in our investigation...or they're going to send you to a federal prison...don't you understand...?" I whispered to my own personal angel, my hands still cradling either side of his jaw as I urged him to maintain eye contact with me, needing for him to comprehend just how serious of a situation this was for both him and me.

Jasper licked at his alluring lips in thought, his ocean-blue eyes never drifting away from my heated gaze, as he obviously processed what I had just informed him, but then sighed broodingly as he began leaning away from my hands and form.

"I know this...but..." Jasper began softly, for only me to hear and not anyone on the other side of the glass behind me, as I felt his fingers loosen in their clinging hold on me, as he steeled his jaw and lifted his chin, "...I cannot disobey my family."

"...family...the Faction..." the significant revelation passed through my brain, the meaning of which making my own features harden a bit as I understood exactly what Jasper was telling me.

He would rather reside in prison, take whatever form of torture we could dole out, than betray those who were in that terrorist group with him.

It sickened me to think that just because that bastard Aro told this beautiful man to do something, no matter what it was and even if it knowingly endangered his life, Jasper would do it.

I swallowed down some spit that had collected at the back of my throat, my eyebrows knitting together as my mind's eye vividly recalled Jasper's tattoos, all of them now hidden from me as he and I stood so achingly close together, but I could still recall every one of them that I had seen that one, perfect evening in Nizhny Novgorod.

"Jasper..." I began with careful words, words that I knew would reach passed his guarded barriers and speak directly to the values which he was gripping onto so tightly at this moment while speaking with me, "...I could be your family...me...not them...not anymore. Let me be the one to take care of you..."

The blue-eyed Russian visibly hesitated, his lips parted as he let his gaze search mine over and over again, trying to spot any ill-will or deceit, but finding absolutely no trace of the sort, and I knew I had just rendered him speechless with my proposition.

I slid my hands down either of his arms, feeling his whipcord muscles underneath his long-sleeved shirt, until I lightly closed my fingers around his own, our silence being of a whole, different nature than when I had first entered the room.

Now, the air currently surrounding him and me felt lighter, sparkling quietly with our whispers of iron-clad promises and meaningful looks that the other male simply adored, as I mindlessly caressed the tops of his shackled hands with my thumbs, holding his gaze for as long as he needed while I waited for my lovely Russian to speak once more.

"Edward..." Jasper began tentatively, using my real first name, I noticed, as he broke our connection by tearing his gaze away from me, slowly sliding his hands out of my own, as he continued his pain-riddled words, "...you don't know what you are asking...you don't know what you want. You need to...do what you think is right...and I will do the same."

My words of protest jumbled inside my head in an instant, my thoughts being wholly unable to comprehend the extent of Jasper's reluctant worry about us together as well as his steadfast determination to see his prison sentence through - his words truly telling me that my being away from him would be better for me and my career, and I hastily opened my mouth to speak my opposition to such critical ideas.

I needed for him to know that, right now as I looked upon his breathtaking features and felt his warmth and could still taste his sweet taste on my lips, my job at this place meant nothing, absolutely nothing to me in comparison to knowing him.

"Masen...your time is up," spoke a monotonous voice from the door I had not realized had been opened, as I only briefly flashed my eyes away from Jasper's silently troubled gaze and towards said direction, seeing the face of an unknown agent dressed in a plain blue suit.

I nodded curtly at the agent before peering my emerald orbs back into the wondrous haven of Jasper's cool, cobalt gaze, my features stern even though my eyes remained soft towards solely him, as I spoke to him once more before taking my leave.

"This isn't over..."

And with my declaration left curiously but subliminally vague, filling the otherwise silent room and hopefully Jasper's thoughts, I forced myself to turn away from the blonde-haired Russian and walk towards the waiting agent still holding the door open.

"Damnit...I was close...so fucking close to telling him...I don't know what the hell I'm waiting for..." my thoughts raced angrily inside my mind, reprimanding me of sorts as I felt my heart grow heavier and more fragile with every step I took that separated my Jasper and I, and I could feel something shift within myself as I seamlessly made a decision right then and there, "...I can't fucking take it anymore...to hell with everything...the next time I see him, I'm going to tell him exactly how I feel about him...all of it...and then...I just might have to do something crazy..."

Author's Note: I would have had this up yesterday (Saturday), but a friend and I went to a club and got pretty drunk. These things happen lol. BUT HERE it is, and the next chapter is on the way! Please continue to leave your comments because I truly do appreciate all of your opinions and thoughts about my little story here. XD