CHAPTER 11
Briony curled up into a tight little ball in Jack’s big bed. She could smell his masculine scent everywhere. The hot shower had taken some of the stiffness from her body, but the dread inside of her grew until her heart seemed to be in her throat choking her. She couldn’t get away from him. She drew him into her body with every breath she took. It might have been okay if it had just been her body betraying her, but her emotions felt raw and she couldn’t stop thinking about how gentle his hands were when he touched her.
She would not get caught in that trap again. It wasn’t real-it would never be real. Jack had made his feelings clear and she had to respect that. He was a man who, in spite of his roughness, treated women gently, and she was simply more susceptible because her hormones were running wild. Emotional and sexual at the same time. It was a difficult combination to cope with.
If you came to challenge me to a duel because I f**ked your sister, Jebediah, you’re a hell of a lot stupider than I gave you credit for. Briony felt her cheeks grow hot remembering Jack’s accusation. Damn it all. She’d already fallen into his seductive trap. He just looked at her, touched her, and she practically threw herself into his arms. What was wrong with her? Didn’t she have any pride? How was she ever going to be able to stay in his home-his bedroom-with the scent of him driving her into some kind of mindless heat?
She sighed, flung off the covers, and padded barefoot to the window to shove it open and lean out to inhale the night, trying to clear her head. The air was far cooler than she was used to, but it felt good on her hot skin. She sat on the windowsill and watched the trees dancing in the wind, ignored the tears that streamed down her face. She was so emotional lately someone should just put her out of her misery. She blinked until she brought the landscape back into focus. The branches swayed and bowed, leaves glittering silver in the moonlight. Sitting quietly, she saw several deer wander into the yard, and something larger, almost horse-size, much farther off.
Curious, Briony climbed out the window and padded barefoot across the porch to the railing, leaning out to get a better view. She didn’t dare go wandering around the property until she knew where any alarms or traps were hidden, but she was intrigued with the large animal foraging in the forest so close to the house. She’d never seen an elk wandering free before, and she was fairly certain she was looking at a herd of them. For the first time in what seemed like weeks, she could breathe again, not have her mind in a whirling chaos of emotions. Out in the night air, there was no scent of Jack and no reminders that she was so susceptible to him.
Hand to her throat, she walked softly along the wraparound porch, keeping pace with the herd, following them around the large house, determined to think of something other than Jack-other than her situation. The covered porch was wide and the railing high enough that, holding on to one of the support columns, she was certain she could push off, swing up to the roof, and get an even better view, without disturbing anyone. She climbed up on the railing, keeping one eye on the huge animals, afraid they’d retreat farther into the forest before she could get a good look at them.
She wrapped her arm around the pole and judged the distance to the roof. It wasn’t very far for someone as enhanced as she was, but she’d have to swing out and flip her body up to get above the overhang. She leapt and caught the edge of the roof.
Two hands bit into her waist and yanked her back down, pulling her tight against one very hard body. Jack’s eyes glittered like twin diamonds, slashing at her angrily. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The man was built of iron, no give in his body, and where she was cold, he was hot, heat radiating off his skin. Her heart immediately went into overdrive. Worse, her body reacted, br**sts full and aching and her womb clenching. She tasted him in her mouth, felt him in her body. The memory was instantly vivid and alive. Just like that-so simple for him to reduce her to nothing but need. Desperate to escape her own reaction to his scent, Briony struggled to break his grip, but even with her enhanced strength, he didn’t budge.
“I wanted to see the herd of elk-at least I think they were elk. Thanks to you, I didn’t get a good look at them. Let go, Jack.” He was the last person she wanted to see. She needed to be alone-and she wasn’t sleeping in his room-or in his bed, where his scent was everywhere. She wanted to weep with frustration. She wanted to strike out at someone. This was a totally impossible situation. She wasn’t strong enough to be around him and not want him. And why was he always touching her?
“Anyone creeping around my house is liable to be killed.”
“I’m not a prisoner, am I? If I want to look at some animals in the forest, I don’t think that’s a killing offense. Go back to bed. I’m fine out here alone.” Because she couldn’t lie in that bed and not want him with every cell of her body. If you came to challenge me to a duel because I f**ked your sister… Deliberately she repeated the words in her mind, needing something to keep her from being an even bigger fool than she already was.
“It’s cold, Briony, go in the house.”
She pressed two fingers just above her eyes, feeling humiliation that she couldn’t control her own physical needs. He had to get away from her, had to stop touching her body. “Go to hell. I have every right to be out here if I prefer it.”
He tipped his head to one side to study her furious expression. “Why are you trying to pick a fight with me?”
“I don’t like being told what to do.” Because he was all she thought about, and he had already made it clear he didn’t want her. Because he’d said… fucked your sister. She shouldn’t want a man who’d been programmed to sleep with her. It was utterly humiliating. A man who wanted nothing but a cheap, mindless f**k.
Damn it all to hell. That’s not true. That was never true. Jack stepped close, and Briony backed away from him, throwing up one hand to ward him off.
“Don’t!” She said it sharply, terrified she’d burst into tears. Already her eyes were burning and she felt a lump rising in her throat. “Just don’t say anything more about it.”
Jack reached for her anyway, not giving her personal space, but crowding her body so that the heat of his skin seeped into the ice of hers. “You’re shaking like a leaf.” He ran his hands up and down her arms in an effort to warm her. He forced gentleness into his voice. Why the hell had he ever said such a stupid thing to her brother? “Your body is freezing and you aren’t even aware of it. What were you going to do? Get up on the roof?”