Billionaire Unmasked: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Jason

by J. S. Scott

  “Just my leg,” he repeated, annoyed. “Hope could probably be bleeding to death and she wouldn’t admit it.”

  The thought of her being injured had him immediately on his ass, swinging himself around and clambering down the canyon wall. The rock had crevices, making it less difficult to climb, but going down was a challenge. It was harder to see his hand and foot holds. However, he was getting to Hope now. There was no way he was going all the way around and down to find the opening.

  He heard her scream his name in horror as he descended as fast as he possibly could.

  Hope screamed Jason’s name, trying to stop him from climbing down the rock wall. It was too high, too dangerous, and he didn’t even have a safety rope. It was mad for anyone to attempt a free climb down this rock face. Yet Jason was doing it, and accomplishing the task quickly.

  Now she didn’t dare make a sound as she watched, horrified, as he steadily made his way down the cliff. One distraction could get him killed.

  Oh, God. Please let him get down safe. And then I can kill him.

  Hope watched breathlessly as Jason reached the halfway point and just kept going. His powerful body took on the rock wall with determination and strength.

  He’s doing this for me, risking his life for me. For nothing. He could have hiked around. I could have waited.

  Cursing herself quietly for crawling back to the canyon, her eyes never left Jason. She’d made it outside the canyon and into the woods. Then, she’d heard a helicopter, flying low, and she had been fairly certain a search had begun for her. Unfortunately, she’d been on her hands and knees, moving slowly. The copter had been gone before she could get clear from the cover of the trees. Sadly, she wore a green t-shirt that didn’t help her stand out for anyone searching overhead. Rather than try to move on, she’d used any energy she had left to get back to the canyon and placed herself in the middle to wait for the helicopter to fly over again. She’d be visible; she’d be rescued the next time the aircraft made a pass over the canyon. It had been hot, and she was desperately thirsty, but it had been her only real choice. She didn’t have the strength to make it back to the main path. Returning to the canyon, knowing they were looking for her from the air, had been the logical choice.

  Hope’s breath hitched as Jason’s foot skidded before it found a hold as he rapidly came down the remaining part of the vertical slope. Finally, his boots hit the floor of the canyon, and Hope released her breath in a whoosh. She panted and trembled in the aftermath of watching him only one faulty step away from death.

  He sprinted toward her and dropped to his knees by her side. “What happened? Where do you hurt? Jesus! Tell me you’re really okay,” he rumbled frantically, his face tormented.

  Was everything that happened between you two a deception?

  Tate’s words haunted her. Risking his life for her was no deception on Jason’s part. His expression was anguished, and that was no lie. He was terrified for her, put her well-being before his own. “I just hurt my ankle. I can’t walk.” She punched him in the shoulder. “Dammit! Don’t ever do something like that to me again. You just took at least twenty years off my life. You could have killed yourself.”

  “I’m always going to take the fastest route to you.” He lifted her leg onto his lap as he sat in the dirt and grass. “Fuck. This ankle is the size of a melon. What the hell did you do?”

  Hope bit her lip as he gently flexed her foot. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. I fell.”

  “Can you move it on your own?” he asked sharply.

  “Barely. I can’t bear weight on it.” She wriggled her toes and slowly rotated her ankle with a gasp of pain.

  “Stop. You need x-rays. Tate’s on his way.” He gave her look of both relief and anxiety, and pushed her bedraggled hair from her face. “I should have brought water, but I wanted to travel as quickly as possible.”

  “I’ll live.” Hope watched his volatile expression. She could wait until Tate arrived. “Please don’t ever risk your life that way again. Promise me,” she begged, her voice tremulous.

  “I can’t promise you that, sweetheart. I take my promises seriously, and I’d do it over and over again if I needed to get to you,” he said huskily.

  “You’re crazy,” she told him, bemused by his stubbornness. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she looked at Jason Sutherland, as bedraggled as she’d ever seen him. He looked as if he’d been drug through the dirt, and then hung out in the hot sun for hours.

  “You made me that way,” he answered hoarsely. “I used to be perfectly sane,” he added mildly.

  Hope heard the sound of an approaching helicopter, and they both went silent as they watched the aircraft land expertly, not far away from the spot where they sat.

  Jason picked her up and jogged toward the helicopter, waited until the blades stopped spinning and the pilot waved them in to open the door behind the pilot seat. He placed her up on the seat and pulled himself up behind her. After he closed the door, he quickly lifted her onto his lap. “Go. She needs to get to the hospital. She injured her ankle and it could be broken. It’s swollen up really bad.”

  The pilot removed his headphones, turned around and handed Jason a jug of water. “You look like you need this.”

  Not surprisingly, Tate was the pilot, and he grinned at her. “Rescued you again, H.L. Sinclair. You gonna hug me now?” He fired up the helicopter.

  Hope gave him a weak smile. “Maybe next time,” she answered sassily.

  “You’ll touch her over my dead body,” Jason answered irritably.

  “That can be arranged,” Tate shot back with a brash smile.

  “Hospital, Colter. Let’s move,” Jason growled. He handed Hope the water first and helped her tip it up. When she’d had her fill, Jason chugged part of the bottle before he put it on the seat next to him.

  “I’m going. Jeeezus! Mission accomplished, Sutherland. Chill out,” Tate answered calmly as he turned around and put his headphones back on.

  Tate had the bird in motion quickly, rising up so fast that Hope felt as if she’d left her stomach on the ground.

  “Fuck. He flies like a bat out of hell,” Jason complained loudly.

  “You asked for it.” Hope laid her head on his shoulder, her mouth near his ear so he could hear her over the noise of the helicopter. “I’ve been with him in a helicopter before.”

  Hope still remembered the harrowing flight to safety Tate had made after they’d rescued her. Tate didn’t do anything slow. He was meticulous, fast, and probably very deadly. She’d never seen him that way, but she didn’t doubt that he could be lethal underneath that cocky smile and teasing demeanor.

  “During your rescue?” Jason asked coarsely, his body tense.

  “Yeah. He always seems to push everything to the limit. He flew the same way when he was in Special Forces. He’s good.”

  “He’s an asshole sometimes,” Jason retorted tightly.

  “He saved my life. I think he saved a lot of lives. I can give him a pass on being arrogant just because of that,” Hope said soberly.

  “What was that shit about hugging him?” Jason asked heatedly.

  Hope shrugged. “I hugged him because I was so happy to see him and I was grateful to him. He thinks he’s irresistible.” She had to admit, Tate was breathtakingly gorgeous, and that small dimple did make him totally fascinating and alluring. Understandably, his aura of danger and mystery added to his personality would make him an unholy temptation to most women. But Hope wasn’t most women, and the only chemistry she felt was with the man who held her lovingly, protectively, the guy who had literally scaled a mountain to help her.

  Jason.

  “No more hugging men unless it’s me,” Jason demanded.

  Hope smiled against his shoulder. “I do have brothers.”

  “Fine. Just them.”

  “He did pick us up, and he is taking us to the hospital at warp speed,” Hope said teasingly. “Maybe I could just give him a small peck on the cheek
later?” She poked at the tiger, and she knew it, but she couldn’t help herself. The more possessive Jason became, the more secure she felt. Right now, she needed that reassurance. She was sick from the heat and hurting. It took her mind off her bodily pain.

  “You want to kiss him?” Jason sounded appalled and disgruntled.

  “Please. Just to say thank you,” she spurred him on.

  “No. I don’t want your lips or body anywhere near Colter in the future,” he argued fiercely. His arms tightened around her waist greedily. “All he’d have to do is smell your intoxicating scent and he’d try to steal you away.”

  Smirking against his shoulder because he seemed to be under the impression that she was irresistible to any man, she answered, “Right now, I stink.”

  “You’re still not kissing him,” he answered adamantly.

  “We’ll see,” she answered mysteriously. The helicopter descended for a landing.

  He grunted, annoyed, but he answered, “At the moment, all I care about is you. It looks like we’re at the hospital. Are you still hurting?”

  She nodded hesitantly. Her ankle throbbed agonizingly, but she didn’t want Jason to know how badly she hurt. “I’ll be fine.”

  “I’m so sorry, Hope. You’ll never know how much,” he replied huskily, his voice emanating regret and remorse.

  She opened her mouth to reply, to try to alleviate some of his self-castigation, but the door to the helicopter flew open. Helping hands assisted her to a gurney that had been brought out to the helicopter pad.

  Once situated, several bodies pushed the gurney toward the entrance to the ER. One older man asked rapid-fire questions and forced her to turn her attention away from Jason to answer him.

  They sent her to x-ray almost immediately. Jason waited in the room for her with a discontented, worried expression.

  Hope smiled at him as they wheeled her away, to reassure him she’d be fine. Maybe she would make him grovel, but there was no doubt in her mind that Jason Sutherland loved her. His heart-stopping scramble down the sheer mountain cliff had been more than enough to convince her, and she’d thought about everything that had happened between the two of them since they’d arrived here in Rocky Springs. Yes, he’d been wrong. Yes, he’d sometimes been an asshole. But his concern had always been there, and his tenderness wrenched her heart.

  She was in the ER for hours, but once she’d returned from x-ray, Jason had been waiting for her, and he never left her side again.

  The next day, Hope got a phone call from each one of her brothers, all of them angry as hell at Jason. By the time she got to Grady’s call, the last brother to contact her, she was done hearing all of them beat up Jason verbally.

  She was back in her bed at the guesthouse, her ankle elevated. It wasn’t broken, but it was badly sprained. The swelling was already down from ice and anti-inflammatory medication, and the pain was almost nonexistent unless she tried to bear weight on her right foot. She’d be up and around shortly. The ankle just needed some time to heal.

  Jason had waited on her hand and foot, stayed with her constantly, and fetched anything she wanted or needed. He stood at the foot of the bed and frowned as she talked to Grady on the phone.

  “I swear I’m going to put his balls into his throat when I see him. Emily’s packing right now. We’re on our way,” Grady told her gruffly.

  Hope sighed. She’d already explained to every one of her brothers that Jason was taking very good care of her, and she didn’t want for anything. She’d be fine as soon as she was up and around.

  Grady proved to be the most stubborn, probably because he was closest to Jason, and felt betrayed. “You’re not going to touch his balls,” Hope told Grady calmly. “I like them exactly where they are.”

  “He lied to you,” Grady said furiously. “He manipulated you.”

  “I lied to him, too, Grady.” Her eyes met Jason’s as she held her cell phone to her ear, her back against the headboard. They hadn’t had a chance to discuss anything yet, Jason making his priority just taking care of her. “I’m not happy about how everything happened.” Jason’s expression turned to one of regret. “But the problem is…I love him. I love him so much that I want this marriage to last forever, no matter how it happened.”

  Jason’s head jerked up higher; his eyes narrowed on her face.

  “Yeah, he said he loved you, too. But I don’t like the way he went about getting you to marry him,” Grady’s voice grumbled through the phone line.

  “He said that?” Hope’s heart thundered as she looked at Jason and he nodded his head, his eyes bright and intense.

  “He did,” Grady affirmed. “I’m worried, Hope. I just want you to be happy.”

  “I am happy.” A tear trickled down her cheek. All of her brothers had expressed their concern, and it was genuine. She might not have been able to be really close to them, but she wanted that to change. “I love you, Grady. I’m so glad you have Emily. I’m going to be as happy with Jason as you are with Em,” she told him reassuringly.

  “You’re my baby sister. It’s my job to worry,” Grady replied, his voice graveled and emotional. “And I love you, too, Hope. I don’t want you to be married to the wrong guy.”

  “I’m not. I married the perfect man for me. I know you’re upset with Jason, but you know him. You know what kind of person he is. He risked his life by descending a rock wall that no climber should be climbing down without safety equipment just to get to me. And all I had was a sprained ankle. Do you really think he’d hurt me intentionally? I like to think that he lied because he was so out of his mind with lust that he would do anything to have me,” she told her brother teasingly.

  Jason nodded again, emphatically this time, his eyes fixated on hers.

  “Please. I don’t want to hear about one of my best friend’s and my baby sister’s sex life, although I do know exactly what he was feeling,” Grady said hastily. “Just tell me one more time, honestly, that you’re okay.”

  “I’m more than okay,” she told him softly. “I’m in love with Jason.”

  Jason gaped at her, as though he were awed to hear her say it again.

  “Tell him he’s lucky we don’t all kick his ass,” Grady grunted.

  “I wouldn’t let you lay a hand on him. I like his handsome face and hot backside exactly the way it is—thank you very much,” she flipped back at Grady.

  “Spare me the details,” Grady begged.

  Hope laughed, a delighted chuckle because her brother seemed to be completely grossed out by hearing anything sexual about her and Jason. “Give my love to Emily,” Hope requested.

  “I can definitely do that,” her brother answered. “Call me tomorrow. I want to hear from you every day or I’ll come there to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I’ll call.” She disconnected the phone after they had said their goodbyes.

  Jason came forward slowly, took the phone from her hand and sank to his knees beside the bed. “Did you mean it?” he asked hesitantly, vulnerably.

  “Yes.” She looked him straight in the eyes. The tears continued to flow down her face. “Did you?”

  “I love you more than I love anything or anyone else in this world, Hope.” He grasped her hand and entwined their fingers together. “I’d take back how our marriage happened in a heartbeat if I could, but I can’t make myself regret being married to you. I want it too much. I love you too much.” His voice cracked with emotion as he squeezed her fingers. “Can you forgive me?”

  Remembering that she was going to make him grovel, she asked, “How badly do you want my forgiveness?” She’d already forgiven him the moment he’d risked his life for her, maybe even before that, but she wasn’t quite ready to tell him that yet.

  “I want it bad enough to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. You’ll always come first in my life, sweetheart. And I’ll never lie to you again.”

  “Why did you do it?”

  Jason grimaced. “For the exact reason that you told
Grady you were hoping for on the phone. I was out of my mind for you, and when I heard that you were getting married, I couldn’t let you marry anyone else but me.”

  “Were you ever going to tell me?” she asked curiously, not wanting to think that he’d never planned to tell her the truth.

  “Yes. I couldn’t live with myself or you if I didn’t. I was planning on telling you as soon as I got back from town. Hence, the flowers.” Jason nodded at the large bouquet that now sat on the dresser for her to enjoy. “And a few other things I picked up.”

  “You were trying to bribe me to forgive you?” Her lips twitched to keep from smiling. Jason looked so forlorn that she didn’t want him to think she was laughing at him.

  “No. I wanted to make you happy,” he said earnestly.

  Hope swiped at her tears. Honestly, Jason’s sadness killed her. “The flowers are beautiful. Thank you.”

  Jason looked at her hopefully. “I got a couple of other little things, too.” He got up and hastened to the closet, coming back with a large bag. He pulled out a small box first. “I hope you like this.”

  Hope took it from him; it was from the same store where he’d bought their rings. As she popped the lid, the necklace on the red velvet of the box left her stunned. It wasn’t ostentatious, but it was gorgeous, the heart a lovely symbol of love. “It’s incredible,” she told him breathlessly. He hadn’t bought her the biggest or the showiest of jewels, although she knew it was costly. Jason had given her his heart symbolically, and it was beautiful.

  He helped her put it on, and he got a mirror so she could see how it looked. “I wanted you to be able to wear this every day, carry my heart with you all the time. The emerald reminds me of the color of your eyes. I’ll get something bigger later,” he told her hesitantly.

  “Don’t you dare.” She grabbed his hand urgently. “I love this. I’ll never take it off. I don’t want anything else.”

  “We’ll see,” Jason shot back noncommittally, giving her own words back to her with a mischievous smile. He handed her the bag. “I hope this will work for you.”