My heart thuds against my rib cage, drowning out everything except Jasper’s words, echoing again and again in my head. Get down on your knees. Get down on your knees. Get down on your knees.

This is what I’ve been fantasizing about since last Friday, even if I’ll never, ever admit it to anyone. And now that the moment has arrived, it’s like I’ve discovered at the last minute that instead of jumping off the side of the pool, I’m going to be skydiving. I don’t even have the safety of my purse to hold anymore.

My muscles are tensed, and I suck in a breath, trying to steady myself. If this is what it’s going to take to save my mother’s home, then I shouldn’t waste any more time. I should do it. And deep down, in the darkest part of my mind, I want this. I’ve wanted it since the moment the energy between Jasper and me crackled through the air in his office and struck me like a bolt of lightning. Another thing I’ll never admit out loud.

I need to get down on my knees. I can feel how plush the carpeting is even through my heels. It’s not going to hurt anything, except maybe the last remnants of pride I’m still clinging to. And why? The idea of this has kept me wet and hot and bothered for a week.

I guess it’s different when it’s actually happening.

I look into Jasper’s eyes for another heartbeat. His jaw, which may as well be chiseled straight out of a flawless piece of marble, is set in a commanding line. I get the impression that he could wait all day for me to obey him. 

He might expect me to linger over this, to hesitate, to balk at the last second.

No. I can’t have that.

I lower my eyes to the carpet and sink to my knees in front of him, my heart pulsing even louder, rolling thunder in my head. The carpet gives under my bare legs. It’s more luxurious than some of the nicer beds I’ve slept on since Gabriel Luxe took off.

“Good.” The single word from his lips sends satisfaction spreading through my chest, and I don’t even know why. I haven’t needed anyone’s praise in a long time. It looks like we’re through the looking glass. “You look gorgeous, on your knees like that.”

I open my mouth, but I’m not sure what to say. I don’t know the rules of a game like this, so I’ll let Jasper lead the way. I have the sense that I should keep my gaze lowered, so I do, right up until—

“Look at me,” he commands. I tip my head back, meeting Jasper’s eyes. An arresting blue, burning with lust, and a strange smile quirks the corner of his mouth. He thinks he’s won. He hasn’t won. I might want his hands on my body, but I haven’t forgotten the end goal—to take him for all he’s worth, and my mother’s building besides. No matter how molten hot my core is right now, I can’t ever forget that. And I never will.

Behind the blazing need lighting up his eyes is something darker, something without limits, without boundaries, but it doesn’t scare me. In fact, it makes me straighten my back. I have no idea what’s going to happen next. I have no idea if Jasper has some kind of sex dungeon in his penthouse, or if he’s going to take me right here in the entryway and send me back out. Things could get really kinky. The pulse in my throat gets stronger. Am I going to stroke out from the anticipation? Wouldn’t that be a pretty way to burn this deal to the ground. My body trembles in my struggle to keep from leaping to my feet and throwing my arms around his neck. I don’t know whether I want to kiss him or slap him for making me feel this way, making me feel so torn.

“You’re mine now,” he says it casually, like he’s reminding me to take an umbrella in case it rains.

“Yes.” I can’t look away from him, and I can’t say nothing—it’s not as if he’s commanded me to stay silent, or anything. Now the grin on his face turns wicked before it flickers back into a serious expression.

“There’s so much we could do.”

I swallow hard, another cascade of images tumbling through my mind, another burst of wetness between my legs. “Yes.” He’s got to be testing me, to see what will make me snap, make me laugh, make me say no. I don’t do any of those things. Yet.

“And here you are, kneeling in my entryway in your pretty dress, looking up at me with color in your cheeks…does this turn you on, Isabella?”

Not that we’ve gone over every detail, but part of this has to be honesty. Otherwise the entire thing is going to crumble under the weight of wildly mismatched expectations. I haven’t been in the habit of lying to Jasper—or anyone else—no matter how we might be dancing around each other, pushing each other’s buttons. So I go with the truth, the only embellishment a little more shame in my tone than I actually feel. “Yes.”

That smile, that wide, smoldering smile, spreads across his face. “Good. That’s exactly how I want you to feel when you’re with me.” He steps closer, and I can’t catch my breath. It’s going to start, and it’s going to start right now. I press my hands against my thighs. What is he going to tell me to do next? I have a feeling that no matter what it is, I’ll do it. Hesitating is making me so wound up I’m cutting off the air supply to my own brain.

Jasper reaches down and strokes my cheek with the back of his knuckles, his touch feather-light but leaving a trail of burning skin behind it. He traces all the way around to the back of my head, where my neck is bare, and draws one finger down my spine toward the neckline of my dress. Goosebumps rise along the skin there, trailing all the way down to the base of my spine. 

He toys with the zipper.

Holy shit. My cheeks are so hot they must be beet red. Is he going to strip me down right here in the entryway? It’s not as if I didn’t wear a lacy bra and matching panties, bought today at a boutique down the block from my headquarters. I’d expected…I don’t know, a bedroom.

Then he steps to my side, and the next thing I register is his hand extended down toward me, palm up. “Come with me.”

I put my hand in his and get carefully to my feet, trying to ignore the little wobble in my knees.

Jasper steps forward, into the penthouse and I take a deep breath.

Don’t hesitate. Not even a little.