"O'Connor best be in another state," I growl. It's ridiculous, I know, but the thought of any man touching Piper makes me unreasonably jealous. In light of what I did to her earlier this evening, it's downright idiotic.

"We're on the sofa, numbnuts," she says on a yawn. "Seth's in the recliner watching Cupcake Wars."

"I'll come get her."

"She might not want you to," Rowan says.

Uneasiness and shame wash over me before settling into my soul. I hate that my sister knows what went down between Piper and me, no matter how much I'm trying to save her heartache and pain.

"Doesn't matter. Her home is with me."

"Too bad you couldn't have said that to her at dinner."

"I was trying to save her some heartache."

"Uh-huh. Maybe you were trying to save yourself from heartache."

"Not going there, Ro." I begin to jog to Rowan and Seth's house. It's not that far away from mine and I'll be able to drive Piper's car back...with her in it, of course.

"Whatever. Just don't hurt my girl again, or I'll forget you're my brother," she says.

Only a woman worth being with could inspire such loyalty in her best friend. "Be there in five minutes."

- Seth greets me at the door. His black hair is cut severely short and his dog tags are hanging over his shirt. Even before he was a Marine veteran, he was the only guy I'd ever let get close to Rowan. Now that they're getting married-well, let's just say that I'm having visions of kids calling me Uncle Jase. My sister is finally getting the happiness she deserves with a man who knows exactly how much she's worth. Rowan is fucking priceless in my eyes-his, too.

Always has been, always will be.

"Shit, it's a little late for a social call," he says by way of greeting.

"Come to take my girl home."

"Which girl?" Seth opens the screen door and I walk inside. "Your sister Rowan or your sister Piper?" he asks with no small amount of amusement in his voice.

"Fuck you," I mutter, striding to the living room.

"Rowan passed out after talking to you. She said to tell you that Piper carries on conversations in her sleep and she can sleep through a nuclear bomb going off, so good luck with all that," he says.

Piper's asleep, her long dark hair spreads out over a pillow while a light blanket covers her. She looks so damn beautiful and innocent lying there that my heart kicks against my chest.

You threw away the chance to be with her.

No, I was trying to prevent her from wasting her life on me. Now I'm not so sure I did the right thing.

I liked you better when you were all about pussy.

Yeah, well, I liked me better when I didn't mind-fuck myself thanks to Yoda Emmett.

Kneeling, I scoop her up in my arms. The scent of Cacharel Anas Anas washes over me. On impulse, I had saved up all my extra money and I bought it to give to Piper on her sixteenth birthday. After all these years, I can't believe she still wears the same scent.

"So fucking sweet," I murmur, pressing my lips in her silky hair.

"Driving or walking?" Seth asks.

If I drive, then I won't have her in my arms anymore, and I fucking love the feel of her.

Seth rolls his eyes. "I'll get her purse, and drive y'all home. God forbid you put her down for the minute it would take to get there."

Piper snuggles into me and lets out a little sigh. "Jase?" Her lashes flutter open.

"I'm here to take you home, kitten."

"Okay." Immediately, her eyes close. She is so trusting that my heart actually begins to ache. Unfortunately, the feel of her makes other parts of me begin to ache, too.

"Ready to go?" I ask, impatient to get her home. Having her this close is almost unbearable.

"Dude, I have to get my shoes on. The gravel hurts like a motherfucker," he says.

Who knew that a big bad Marine could be so sensitive about his feet? Then again, it is Seth and he's attuned to his feminine side, which is why my sister is a goner for him.

He listens to what I have to say, she likes to tell me over and over again. Like really listens, not just listens so he can get some.

"Move your ass, solider," I say, just to piss him off. Marines fucking hate being called soldiers, but I'm the closest thing Rowan has for a dad, so I consider it my duty to give Seth a hard time whenever I can.

"Say that on base, motherfucker," Seth warns.

"You sure are sensitive."

"You're a pain in my ass."

"Aw, you missing your battle buddy?" I ask with a smirk. Yeah, it is my patriotic duty to give him a hard time.

Seth rolls his eyes. "Let's go."

It takes less than two minutes to get to my house. Piper doesn't wake up during the ride and I don't let her out of my arms. I figure self-inflicted punishment is what I need in order to pay penance for hurting her today.

Seth loops the strap of her purse over my head. "Don't forget this. Her meds are in there."

"Thanks." I manage to open the door and get out of Seth's truck without much trouble and then head inside, but not before pressing in a code to the keypad I had installed a few months back.

When I first got out of prison, I went on a bender of sex, drugs, and alcohol as I tried to fit seven years of abstinence into a space of two months. Luckily, I got my shit together and my head on straight-thanks in part to my parole officer and Emmett. Manwhore with questionable morals he might be, but the dude is legit serious about getting and staying clean.

In any case, things had gotten so bad with me that I was letting anyone roam in and out of my house at all hours. Some shit had gotten stolen and that had pissed me the hell off, so I'd asked another buddy of mine to help me out. Now that Piper's living with me, I feel even better about my decision to keep out the riffraff.

Slightly adjusting her in my arms, I carefully make my way upstairs and to her bedroom. It already smells like her and I smile. Moonlight shines through the beveled glass at the top of the windows, illuminating the room, so I don't bother turning on the lights.

Gently, I lay her down in bed and take her purse off from around my neck, placing it on the nightstand. "Night, baby."

She rolls to one side and suddenly sits up. "Where am I?" she asks.

"In your bed," I say, attempting to edge away from her and go to my room.

She slumps over, not saying another word.

"Piper?" Panic grips me and I grab her shoulders, shaking her lightly. "Baby, are you okay?"

Her head lolls to one side. "Stop shaking me," she orders and I let go long enough for her to flop back on the bed. "Get in bed, Rowan. Mother doesn't know you're here, by the way. I'll tell her in the morning."

"I'm not-"

"Please. I hate it when you sleep on the floor." She sticks out her bottom lip, pouting. "It hurts my feelings."

My sister slept on the floor at Piper's? That's odd.

"If you don't, then I'll be forced to join you again."

"Piper, honey-"

"Shut up and get in bed, or no new shoes for you," she says in the bossiest, most adorable voice I've ever heard. "I'll tell your brother about you and Seth, too, if you don't."

The thought of sleeping with her is so tempting that I can taste it. Of their own accord my legs and feet move me closer to her.

"Pretty please. You know I have bad dreams after Mother and I argue," she pleads.

Her admission is my undoing. Unlacing my boots, I toe them and my socks off, before pulling my shirt up and over my head. Automatically, my fingers go to the button fly of my jeans, working at the opening. I get the fly half open before my hands freeze. I can't climb into bed with Piper wearing only boxer briefs, even if she's fully dressed.

She thinks I'm Rowan, for God's sake.

Piper rolls to one side again, drawing her shapely legs up. Her skirt rides up nearly to her waist, exposing rather modest white panties that stretch over the most perfect ass I've ever seen. My dick gets hard, so hard that I have to squeeze it to get rid of the pressure.

I let out an inaudible groan.

Yeah...I'm keeping my pants on.

Slowly, I climb into bed with the woman of my dreams and lay carefully beside her. That seems to settle her down, until she rolls to my side of the bed and slaps me in the face with her arm. Then she kicks me in the thigh and tries to dig her toes into my skin through the material of my jeans.

No damn wonder my sister didn't sleep with her. Piper is a menace while she sleeps. Another punch to the side and I grunt, then take action. Grabbing Piper around the waist, I pull her into me and throw one of my legs over hers, effectively trapping her in one place.

I wait another minute or two to see if she settles down. First sign of discomfort or struggle, and I'm out of there-bad dreams or not.

Finally, she exhales, her hair puffing out with the movement. I smile and brush the long strands out of her face before skimming my hand along her jaw. Diamonds the size of my pinky fingernail sparkle in her ear. Pretty sure they're real-a sixteenth birthday present from her parents, if I remember correctly.

Too rich for my blood.

Yet she's never treated Rowan and me like we're beneath her.

Then you know-you have to know-that I care about you, too...So much, Jase. I always have. Her words echo in my brain. I won't ever forget them. Best present anyone ever gave me.

My eyes grow heavy as her warmth seeps into me. She's soft in all the right places and fits against me just right. Her ass is tucked into my groin; my now semi-hard dick is nestled against her cheeks.

Fucking perfect.

Though I'm turned on, a sense of rightness and peace invades my senses, much like her perfume. It's subtle and at first I barely notice it, but as the minutes tick by, they overpower me and I allow my eyes to finally close.

Chapter 6.

Piper

The next morning I wake up in my bed, completely mystified as to how I got there. I know I fell asleep at Rowan's house and, despite the fact that I can have coherent conversations while fully asleep, I'm pretty freaking sure I do not sleep drive.

Maybe I'm still dreaming.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I attempt to flop over in my bed and end up hitting the wall. A warm wall. My heart races as my eyes snap open.

"Morning," Jase says, leaning up on one arm.

I gasp, then shove away from him. "What are you doing in my bed?"

"Funny thing about that-you ordered me to sleep with you." He yawns, stretching his large, perfectly honed body. Muscles and tattoos ripple in the morning sunlight. His ripped lower abs have the most tempting happy trail that leads directly under the waist band of his jeans.

He slept in his jeans? That seems very un-Jase-like. I would have pegged him for a commando type of guy at night.

I swear I stare at him for a full minute before I'm able to talk.

"Why would I order you of all people to sleep with me?"

"You thought I was Rowan."

What in the world did I say to him? "And you let me think that?"

"You're very persuasive." He grins and I'm confused by that grin. Just yesterday, he'd made it very clear how he felt about me. Clarity returns with my next breath. That's why he had no problem sleeping with me last night. Heck, we both have the majority of our clothes on, and he wasn't copping a feel when I woke up. In fact, he wasn't scooted up to me at all.

"Not to mention you insisted you had bad dreams."

"You slept with me out of pity?" Lovely. I frown. This morning is going downhill fast.

Jase laughs. His blue eyes are as wicked as ever as he runs them up and down my body. "If anyone should be pitied, it's me."