Jasper eyed the room one last time before following Vincent back to the door to grab the bags.
Vincent continued into the kitchen. Zach had sent pictures of the grocery delivery and confirmed everything had arrived, so he grabbed one of the packages of chicken and some broccoli from the fridge to start on a quick stir-fry. He’d barely gotten the chicken opened when a loud “Holy fuck!” came from the loft.
He stepped out of the kitchen to find Jasper clutching the railing at the top of the stairs. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s a giant spider on the bed.”
Vincent grimaced and made a note to strangle Zach. “It’s probably fake,” he said and sighed when Jasper turned an incredulous look on him.
“Why would it be fake?”
“Because Zach is an asshole and knows I hate spiders.”
“Makes sense you’d be friends,” Jasper murmured.
Vincent ignored that and went back to cooking. It wasn’t until he’d finished up that he noticed Jasper hadn’t joined him. He set the skillet aside to keep warm and went in search of his wayward brat, only to find him sitting on the edge of the bed with a familiar manila envelope in his hands.
When Vincent sat next to him, he tensed. “I wasn’t snooping,” he said quickly. “I was trying to find my charger.”
“I didn’t think you were,” Vincent said, holding his hand out and taking the papers when Jasper offered them. He hadn’t opened either envelope when they first arrived, and he hadn’tdoubted Jasper when he said he was clean, but it was a relief to see it verified. He wasn’t worried about his own so he opened the other envelope, quickly glanced over it to make sure it said the same, and handed it to Jasper.
When he stayed silent, Vincent took the papers back and slipped them into their respective envelopes. “Like I said before, this changes nothing unless you want it to.”
Jasper gripped the covers on either side of his legs. “I don’t know….”
“Then it changes nothing,” Vincent said firmly, turning to face Jasper directly and stifling a sigh at his dubious expression. He grasped Jasper’s chin to tilt his head up and force him to meet his eye. “We’ll continue using protection until you say otherwise.” Then he pressed Jasper back to lie down.
Jasper huffed as his back hit the bed, but he lifted his arms to rest above his head as if by habit. Vincent let out a soft hum of approval and stretched out over him, sliding his hand up Jasper’s chest before tipping his head back and indulging in a kiss. He took his time with it, kissing Jasper until his breaths came faster and soft pleading moans escaped. When he pulled back, Jasper whined.
“You’re not going to fuck me now, are you?”
Vincent laughed. “No.”
“Whyyyy?”
He slipped a hand under Jasper’s shirt and slid along warm skin until he found a nipple, pitching his voice lower as he answered. “We have two weeks, and I intend to make the most of it.” Then he pulled his hand away and stood. “And I have a list of options for how to spend our time here that you need to go through. Which can wait until after we eat.”
He pulled away and headed back to the kitchen, snorting softly when Jasper whined and grumbled behind him. They hadtwo weeks. No way was he going to rush or skip the planning. Besides, Jasper enjoyed the teasing as much as he did.
He dished up the stir-fry and passed a plate to Jasper, and if they ate a bit quicker than usual, he pretended not to notice.
When they headed back to the loft, he lifted the suitcase onto the dresser, found his notebook, and flipped to the page with what he’d listed out before handing it to Jasper. A pen was tucked into the spiral. “Circle the ones you’re most interested in. Cross out the ones that are limits. Would you prefer to look them over alone?”
Jasper stared at the page for long enough that Vincent worried he’d broken him, but he finally croaked, “You can stay.” He stretched out on the bed and rolled to his stomach as he snatched a pillow to lie on.
Vincent settled beside him, nudging Jasper’s shirt up enough to rest a hand at the small of his back while he nuzzled against Jasper’s neck.
“You’re distracting me,” Jasper said, his eye roll audible.
Vincent answered with a bite against his shoulder. “Good.”
Jasper huffed, but he gamely focused on the notebook, crossing a few options out as he obviously did a quick skim. It wasn’t until he started circling things that Vincent focused more on the notebook and Jasper’s answers than on distracting his brat.
Chapter 6
JASPER READthe list several times as he slowly marked things off. It wasn’t until the fourth time he circled something that he noticed how Vincent’s fingers flexed against his hip when he did so. He side-eyed Vincent as a small thrill of power went through him. Knowing Vincent was interested in everything on the paper he was tempted to circle all of it, but he had to remind himself that wasn’t what Vincent wanted.
Still, it was a heady sensation. He was still finding his footing with the knowledge that so much of what they did together started and ended with Jasper’s choices, but this was a blatant reminder of how much power he truly held in the relationship.
