JASON and KEANNE Read Online Free Page B

carved cheek, the skin silky soft over the hard panes of his cheekbones. She expected him to stir at her touch, but he did not and for some reason her heart sped up at that.
      She had the strangest and strongest urge to trace his lips, but she couldn’t draw up enough courage to do it. So instead, Keanne indulged in a sillier urge, one that was as strong as the other but just as dangerous – perhaps even more so.
      She whispered, “I love you.”
      Jason’s eyes shot open.
      Keanne ceased to breathe, unable to fathom how her world had changed in that one second she had succumbed to her weakness.  
      His piercing blue eyes arrested Keanne in place, its vivid shade marred with not a single ounce of inebriation. And his voice, when he spoke, was distinctly clear and terrifyingly expressionless.
      “What did you just say?”

Chapter Two
     
     
    Without thinking, Keanne pressed her hands against Jason’s eyes, willing it to close and stay closed. Maybe he was still half-drunk, half-unconscious, and she could pass this off as a dream. “Sleep.”
      He pushed her hand away. “Marie Keanne,” he growled.
      Merde!
      She was in for it now. Jason only used her complete name when she was in trouble – big trouble. 
      Keanne did the next best thing. Or at least she tried to, twisting to run away, but Jason being Jason – he had her in his grip in a second and pulled her back. She fell on top of the bed and as Keanne scrambled to a sitting position, so did Jason, pushing himself up without letting her go.
      The sleep-tousled hair, blazing blue eyes, and naked chest were a terrible combination for her lungs, which felt like they were about to explode for some reason.
      I love you.
      Merde, merde, merde.
      How could she have let those stupid words slip past her lips?
      “Look at me, ma petite. ” His voice was gentle.
      Oh no, she would not. Keanne shook her head.
      Jason said again, in a harder voice, “Look at me.”
      It was the sun god talking, and the sun god she couldn’t help but obey because she owed him everything. Reluctantly, Keanne twisted her head to face Jason. His beautiful face was still expressionless, but his gaze was ruthless and it made her wince.
      “What did you say?”
      “Well,” she stalled.
      “Did I hear you say you love me?”
      He spoke it dispassionately, but because she knew Jason inside and out, she knew it meant that he felt strongly – too strongly about the words.
      “Answer me.”
      She jumped at the harshness of his tone. Trying for a breezy tone, she said, “I said I like you---”
      “Last time, ma petite. Did you say you love me?”
      Again, it was the sun god who spoke, and again she could not lie. One just did not lie to the sun because it would be like inviting a curse of endlessly dark days.
      Swallowing, Keanne whispered, “Yes.”
      A look of shock fell over Jason’s face as he said hoarsely, “You fucking did?”
    Merde! He hadn’t been sure? She should have just lied to the sun, dammit. Clearing her throat, Keanne began, “Actually---”
    Jason shook his head, easily seeing right through her. “Enough.”
    Keanne, his sweet little doe, thought she was in love with him. It took him completely by surprise, and for once in his life he had no fucking plan to deal with it. He always had a plan, one to back up a plan that had failed in backing up another plan – the cycle went on, the planning did not stop, and that was how Jason liked his life because he never wanted to be trapped by the unseen again.
    And yet, somehow, he had failed to have a plan for this.
    Why?
    How?
    Jason’s silence started out as unnerving, but gradually Keanne realized that she was beginning to feel a little bit irritated. He was Jason Christakos. Was it too much of a surprise to find out that she had fallen in love with him? Everyone needed a little sun in their lives. It just so happened she wanted that sun to spend longer hours in