Free Me (Caged Hearts Book 1) (2 page)

Chapter 2

“Well, this is me.” Kait pulled up outside the apartment building where she lived. Lights glowed within numerous windows.

“Nice,” Jasper gave a brief nod of approval before climbing out of the car. Kait noticed how he wrapped an arm around his chest and winced slightly as he moved.

“I’m on the third floor,” she told him apologetically. “And the lift is out.”

Jasper tightened his jaw and gave another brief nod.

“No problem.”

Kait used her key fob to open the main doors to the building. It was too warm inside. Kait felt hot before she’d even reached the internal staircase. Her landlord clearly still hadn’t fixed the issue with the heating within the building, yet another reason why she was desperate to leave her apartment and buy a house of her own where if there was a problem with anything, she’d fix it in a prompt and timely manner.

“Jeeze, it’s sure hot in here,” Jasper commented as he followed her up the stairs, his footsteps slightly laboured.

“I’m sorry,” Kait turned back to face him as she reached the first floor. “The heating has been broken for months. There are currently just two settings: Mediterranean or arctic.”

“Sounds…intense.”

Kait moved purposefully up the staircase, passed the second floor, and carried on towards her own floor. Jasper continued to flank her, his breathing steadily growing heavier.

“Okay, we’re here,” Kait fumbled nervously for her keys as she pushed open the door to the third floor. Running a hand through her golden hair, she tried to appear casual as she approached her apartment, but in her mind she was aware that it had been quite some time since she’d let a man cross the threshold, yet here she was inviting a relative stranger inside. A stranger who had saved her life though. A stranger with deep, dreamy eyes and bulging biceps…

Shaking herself back to her senses, Kait put the key in the door and opened it up. The heat from the hallway continued through to her immaculate apartment. The décor was minimalist, and everything was tidy. The few pictures which were scattered about were of Kait and her mother.

“You keep your place nice,” Jasper commented politely as he followed her inside.

“Thank you.” Kait just hoped he wouldn’t clock the over flowing laundry basket residing near the kitchen area.

“You live alone?” Jasper asked casually as he looked around. Kait felt her heart skip a beat. Was he asking if she were single? Did he care? Or was he just making polite conversation? With a disappointed sigh, she decided it was probably the latter.

“Yeah, it’s just me,” she admitted as she kicked off her shoes and approached the kitchenette which was adjoined to her living and dining area.

“I’ve got a first aid kit somewhere,” she mumbled to herself as she began opening cupboards. “Can I get you a tea? Or coffee?”

“Tea please.” Jasper smiled at her as he nervously sat down on her pristine cream couch with carefully placed turquoise scatter cushions. The curtains in a matching rich shade were open, revealing the lit up apartment building on the other side of the parking lot. It was hardly a scenic view. Yet another reason for Kait’s eagerness to move. She yearned to open up her curtains in a morning and see rolling green hills and vast open skies instead of endless cars and street lamps.

Kait smiled lightly to herself at Jasper’s request. For some reason, she had him pinned as a coffee man. Tea seemed more…refined a choice. She liked that he was able to surprise her.

As the kettle boiled, she found the first aid box. It hadn’t been opened since she’d grabbed it at a supermarket several years earlier. Breaking the seal, she peered inside. There was some gauze, bandages, sterile wipes, and anti-bacterial hand gel. Not much of use really, but it was all she had.

Kait made them both a tea and carried the mugs over to where Jasper was sitting, the first aid box nestled beneath her arm.

“I still think you should consider going to hospital,” she told him cautiously as she handed him the hot drink. “This is all I have.” She perched on the coffee table across from him and showed him the plastic first aid box.

“That’ll do,” Jasper shrugged casually and began removing his t-shirt. Kait tensed as she spotted the sculpted ripples on his chest. The man was like a living, breathing piece of art. With his t-shirt removed, the cut across his perfect chest was glaringly obvious. The sight of blood snapped Kait back in to the moment.

“I can’t believe they stabbed you,” she muttered as she began rummaging nervously through the contents of the first aid box. 

“Seriously, they only grazed me,” Jasper insisted bravely. “I’ve suffered far worse injuries than this.”

Kait eyed the wound and wondered what sort of injuries Jasper had suffered before. This one looked pretty nasty, though thankfully, on further inspection didn’t appear too deep. Ripping open a sterile wipe packet, Kait tentatively came and sat beside Jasper. His chest was rising and falling with each breath he took.

“This might sting a little,” she warned.

“I’ll do my best not to scream,” Jasper smiled teasingly at her.

Kait pressed the wipe against his strong chest and saw his jaw clench and his eyes glisten. But he didn’t cry out. Carefully, she wiped away the blood and cleaned the cut. Then she went back to the first aid box and sourced a sterile bandage large enough to adequately cover it.

“Here,” she pressed the bandage across the wound. He was so irresistibly warm beneath her touch.

“This should do you for a day or two, but then you’ll need to change the dressing.”

Kait lingered beside him a moment too long. He smelt amazing like cinnamon and strawberries. She wanted to stay beside him, soaking in his scent. But she remembered herself and went to lean back, but Jasper’s hand was suddenly above hers, holding it in place.

“I - ” Kait looked up in to his dark eyes which still glistened, but the tension in his jaw was gone. She felt like she could easily get lost in his gaze. Jasper moved towards her, and Kait let her instincts take over. He kissed her, and an explosion of fireworks was released in Kait’s body, causing her to tremble with desire.

As the kiss intensified, he expertly parted his lips and pressed his tongue against hers. Kait forgot all about her sore ribs and his wound as she let him guide her on to his lap where she straddled him. They kissed as Jasper’s strong hands ran up and down her body. Kait pressed herself against him, desperate to take things further. Jasper understood and responded. He scooped her up in his powerful arms and walked her towards the door which led to Kait’s bedroom. Her heart was pounding madly as they continued to passionately kiss.

With a sexy flourish, Jasper threw her down on the bed. Kait hurriedly removed her stockings and pulled down the zipper on her dress. She’d never felt this sexy or alive. Her whole body felt heated with desire, every nerve alert and on fire.

With her dress removed and in just her underwear, Jasper pressed his body against hers, letting her legs tangle around him as they kissed. The voice of reason in Kait’s mind which would scream that they were taking things too fast couldn’t compete with the heated intensity of the moment. Her concerns were drowned out by her own passion.

Jasper’s lips landed upon her neck, and Kait groaned and writhed beneath him. She could feel how hard he was through his jeans. Leaning back, Jasper stepped out of his jeans and came back to her. They kissed some more before she gasped in delicious delight as he entered her.

They made love three times that night. Kait had never experienced anything like it. Jasper was so strong that they were able to create any position imaginable. He easily held her in his strong arms making Kait feel wonderfully light and graceful. He was a powerful yet considerate lover. As the clock eased past midnight and they eventually untangled from one another, Kait did something she rarely did. She fell straight asleep. She didn’t lie awake worrying about the previous day and the day still to come. Her mind was contentedly free from anxiety, so she just rolled up against Jasper’s broad chest, closed her eyes, and drifted away.

Chapter 3

The sharp shrill of her alarm clock jolted Kait awake. Bleary eyed, she groaned and sat up in bed, waiting for the world to come in to focus. Her chest ached from the kick she’d received the previous evening. When she’d been attacked.

Kait’s eyes flew open as the memories of the night before came flooding back. She’d been assaulted in the parking lot and then saved by Jasper. Jasper! He was here in her apartment, in her bed. Kait hastily ran her fingers through her hair to make herself presentable before glancing across to the other side of her double bed. But there was no one lying there beside her; the bed was empty. The sheets were crinkled and disturbed, but were without an inhabitant. Perhaps he was already up and showering.

Pulling on a nearby robe, Kait stepped lightly from her bed and opened the door to the rest of her apartment. Dense silence greeted her. Flicking on lights, she looked for some sign of Jasper. The bathroom was empty, as was the main living area. Kait felt her heart plummet from her chest down to her feet. He was gone. The man she had so willingly given herself to, the man who had saved her, had disappeared from her apartment before dawn. Was he ashamed about what had happened between them? Or worse, did he have a girlfriend, or heaven forbid a wife he needed to slink back to?

Kait suddenly felt overcome with shame. She rushed towards the shower, needing to wash the feeling away. She furiously scrubbed at her hair and her skin which still carried the intoxicating scent of him. The water from the shower blended with the tears she cried as she stood there washing. She’d been a fool to allow herself to get swept up in the moment. Clearly, Jasper just saw her as a one night stand.

But it had been more than that for Kait. She knew it as she stepped out in to the steam filled bathroom and bundled her hair in a towel. With Jasper she’d had the best sex of her life. She’d climaxed several times which was unheard of for her. Normally she was so uptight she could never relax during sex. But with Jasper, it felt easy and natural.

Drying herself off, Kait tried to console herself that yes, perhaps it had been a one night stand for Jasper ,but for her it had been something more: an intense connection she was powerless to resist.

Her heart still ached as she sat on her bed, blow drying her long hair. She wondered if he’d lingered beside her bed before leaving, contemplating waking her. Did he have any intention of reaching out to her again, or would he now just be gone from her life for good? The thought of never seeing Jasper again made Kait’s hands shake as they held up the blow dryer. She had to see him again, if only to get closure. She’d spent an amazing, life-affirming night with this man. Maybe it meant nothing to him, but it did to her, and she felt she deserved to at least get a goodbye from him. But all she knew was his name, Jasper Duboix. He’d mentioned that he was coming back from the gym, but that didn’t give her much to go on.

By the time Kait’s hair was dry, she’d resolved to do her best to put Jasper out of her mind. She needed to focus on work, on getting the promotion she’d so desperately worked for. Her feelings over Jasper would have to wait. And why dwell on those feelings when they clearly weren’t reciprocated?

Chapter 4

Kait struggled to focus at work. Her mind kept drifting away from her desk, back to the heat of her apartment and the night she’d shared with Jasper. That was several days ago, and he had simply vanished. Each time she walked over to the parking lot after work, her heart raced, not from fear of being attacked, but from the possibility that she might find Jasper waiting for her, his arms extended with an apology. She’d crash against him like a wave, and they’d resume where they left off. But he never showed up. Had he managed to move on from her so easily?

Angrily tapping her pen against her desk, Kait ignored the mounting emails in her inbox on her computer screen. Each time she tried to focus, she thought of him. Thought of his strong chest, of his tender yet passionate kisses.

The sound of her office phone ringing made Kait jump. She took a few moments to collect herself before picking up.

“Good afternoon. Kait Stewart speaking.” Her voice was formal and polite.

“Good afternoon, this is Kait’s BFF looking for her MIA drinking buddy,” came the caller’s response, mimicking her tone.

“Anna!” Kait’s tense expression bled out in to a warm smile.

“Hey, so you are still alive!” Anna scolded lovingly. “It’s been literally weeks since I last saw you. I was worried you’d fallen down a hole or something.”

“I’m sorry,” Kait said as she played with the pen in her free hand. “Work has just been…intense lately.”

Work and the man she now couldn’t get out of her mind.

“Sounds like you need a night of liver abuse to clear your head!”

Kait bit her lip. Whenever Anna suggested going out for drinks, she always made an excuse not to go. She’d say she had to work late or had an important meeting the next day, but Anna remained a loyal and determined friend, constantly trying to pull Kait out of her relentless routine.

“Okay,” Kait nodded, her mouth accepting the offer before her brain had chance to catch up. She reasoned that a night out with her friend and some cocktails could be just what she needed to help her get over Jasper.

“Okay?” Anna was clearly shocked by her response. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Kait laughed. “I could actually use a night out.”

“Man troubles?” Anna asked mischievously. Kait could just imagine her blue eyed friend pressing herself tightly against her phone, her mouth held in a cheeky line.

“No, no man troubles.” Kait lied convincingly.

“Course not, you’re all career career career. There’s no men in your life; you’re basically celibate. I honestly don’t know how you do it.”

Kait smiled knowingly to herself. For once, she hadn’t pushed a man aside in favour of her career. She’d let a man into her apartment, into her bed, and it had been wonderful. The smile faltered. And then he’d gone. They’d spent a fantastic night together, but before the sun could even rise he’d gone, slinking away beneath the cover of darkness as if ashamed about what had happened between them.

“So I’ll pick you up at eight?” Anna asked brightly.

“Yep, sounds good. I’ll see you then.”