by Jess Dee
He paused for a maybe a second to breath, to look to the skies and thank God. The sun broke through the clouds, spilling its rays through the massive windows, catching her hair in its glow.
He would have thrown his head back and laughed, or maybe howled—the dominant alpha claiming his female. Would have, but didn’t. Not if it meant foregoing a second kiss. Never. He was never releasing her mouth again. Never letting her go. He ducked in for another kiss.
The shackles of her past had finally been unlocked, releasing her. There was no longer anything keeping them apart.
Uh, yeah, there is.
Fucking reality! Garreth didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t want to acknowledge it.
Real good, Halt. Deny it. Deny the existence of her boyfriend so neither of you need deal with the fact there’s another man in her life. Deny the truth about your actions this weekend because you know if she knows you slept with her best friend—at the same time as her brother did—she’ll walk away.
He couldn’t hide the truth. He had to say something. But how could he explain? How could she ever understand why he’d done what he’d done?
Her kiss grew more urgent, her hands moved, found the hem of his sweater, pushed underneath. Her icy fingers sent shock waves careening over his back. Her bare hands swept over his exposed skin.
Chills raced up his spine, down again. Her touch drove him wild. Made him crazy. He thrust his hips against hers, pushed his erection against her pussy, cursing the clothes that separated her heat from his aching stiffness.
Jenna pulled away, stared into his eyes. Her lids were heavy, her pupils enormous, the blue of her irises a thin rim around deep black holes. Desire seeped from her gaze. She licked swollen, cherry-red lips and climbed down his legs.
“Make love to me, Garreth. Make me yours. I’ve been such an idiot. Made us wait too long for this. Don’t wanna wait any longer. Please. Love me.” She unbuttoned her cardigan, dropped it on the floor. Pulled her matching shirt over her head and unhooked her white satin and lace bra, leaving her upper body beautifully naked.
Garreth stared in awe. Her breasts were small, not even a handful. But pert, with beautiful nipples. His mouth watered.
His response was guttural. “I do love you, Jenn. Always have.” Didn’t she know that? Hadn’t he told her, over and over?
“Prove it. Show me I’m not too late.” She fiddled with her zip and button, opened her jeans, slid them down her legs and kicked them off.
Fuck, she’s gonna give me a heart attack.
When she tugged at her tiny white g-string, Garreth had to close his eyes and grit his teeth, forcing down the urge to explode. His nuts tightened into hard balls.
“Touch me, Garreth. I need to know I haven’t lost you, haven’t pushed you away.”
She had pushed him away. Every day for months. Every fucking day. Didn’t mean he’d stopped loving her. Christ, could he ever stop loving her? This fragile doll whom he’d only ever wanted to protect. This lethal woman who could bring him to his knees with just a look. This friend whom he’d laughed with, cried with, lusted over, reluctantly walked away from.
She stepped back into his arms, pressed her naked body against him.
Planets exploded. Stars collided.
“Make love to me,” she whispered and nipped his ear. “Please.”
God, yes.
Fuck, no.
The muscles in his back went rigid. He couldn’t do this. Couldn’t give her what she demanded without explaining what he’d done this weekend—and why.
“Garreth,” her voice was urgent. “I need you.” She rocked against him, driving logic from his head. Driving everything out of his head but the need to take her.
This was a side to Jenna he’d never seen before. The woman who controlled her every move and considered her every word, had vanished. This Jenna acted purely on instinct, and her open hunger for him fed his greed.
If she carried on like this, he wouldn’t get a chance to make love to her. He’d come in his freaking pants.
She dug her nails into his back, pressed her breasts into his chest. “Fuck me, Garreth.”
He let out a snarling breath. Another planet exploded. Jenna swearing? Christ, she was killing him. He’d always suspected that the façade she presented to the world was just that. A façade. Beneath it all lurked a fiery, passionate woman who’d repressed her true nature for too long.
A musky scent filled the air, so very different from the pungent smell of eucalyptus that permeated the hotel. Her musky scent—of sex and desire. All hers. Made for him.
She scrabbled at his waist, forcing his belt open, tearing at his zip. Her mouth claimed his again, kissing him, screwing with his logic.
Remind her about Sam. Tell her what happened last night. And the night before. Don’t let her do this without knowing the whole truth. She’ll never forgive herself. Or you.
He would. He definitely would. When this kiss ended.
He tunneled his fingers in her hair, massaged her head, and she groaned, the sound sending fresh ripples of yearning undulating over his skin.
Soon. Christ, he had to take her soon.
Garreth lifted his face. “Jenn?”
She raised her beautiful blue eyes to his, looked at him with so much heat and longing he shuddered.
“I love you,” he said. “I have from the instant Jack introduced us, and I will until the day I die. Never, ever doubt my word on that.”
She blinked. Confusion slid into her gaze. “W-why would I doubt it?”
“Because I need to tell you something, and you’re not going to like it.” Something? He needed to tell her so many things. Remind her about Sam. Expose the truth about Rachel and Jackson. And himself.
How the fuck could he remind her about her boyfriend at a time like this? Or tell her he’d slept with her closest friend?
Her reaction was instantaneous. She withdrew from him, pulling back, breaking any contact. He loosened his hold around her, knowing she’d need the space.
Fuck. To think he had her naked in his arms and was letting her go. Insane. Desire raged in his blood, a hunger so fierce he suspected a year in bed with her wouldn’t quell it.
A ripple of tension flexed the muscles in her shoulders. “What do you need to tell me?”
He didn’t want to do this. Didn’t want to bring this up. “I want to make love to you, so damn much it hurts. But I can’t, Jenn. Not while you’re seeing someone else. Not without you knowing…”
Her expression silenced him.
She peered at him blankly before her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open. The color drained from her face. She slapped a hand over her mouth and gasped in horror.
“Dear God,” she groaned. “Sam.” She looked appalled. And disgusted. “I forgot all about him. Have to find him. Have to apologize.”
“Jenn—”
“No, don’t talk to me. Don’t even look at me. I shouldn’t be here. Shouldn’t have done this. Not while Sam’s sleeping in my bed.”
Garreth’s fingers curled into a fist. He wanted to hit someone. Hard. Yeah, he needed to fess up, tell her the truth, but he could deal with just one crisis at a time. And right now, Jenna’s relationship with Sam took precedence over him telling her about Rachel. “You should be here. You should have been here all along. In my room. In my bed. In my life. Not his.”
“M-maybe. But being here now is wrong. So terribly, terribly wrong.” Her body shook, guilt assailing her from the inside no doubt.
She scrambled for her clothes, dressed hurriedly. Wouldn’t look him in the eye.
“You’re going back to him?” Say no. Please say no.
She nodded.
Garreth couldn’t breath. “Forever?”
“To apologize. To make things right.”
“Forever?” he asked again, not wanting to know the answer.
She hesitated, still wouldn’t meet his eyes. “To end things,” she said at last. “I want to come back. To you.�
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“Thank God.” Garreth closed his eyes, let the breath he’d been holding out in slow gasps.
When he opened his eyes, Jenna was at the door, about to open it.
“Wait!” Shit. He hadn’t told her everything.
“There’s something else?” Her desperate look spoke a thousand words. What could he say that was more shocking than reminding her she had a boyfriend?
He nodded. “It’s about last night.”
Her breath caught. “Wh-what about last night.”
How did he say this without breaking any trust Jenna might have in him? There was just no easy way. Perhaps give her the plain truth first, and then follow it up with the whole convoluted explanation of why he’d done it?
“I slept with Rachel.”
Jenna blinked. “Pardon?”
“I slept with Rachel. Last night.”
Her eyes went blank. “Huh?”
Uh oh. He didn’t like her expression. He had to explain. Fast. Before he lost her. “I met her. Two nights ago. Before you arrived at the hotel.”
She stared at him, blinked again. Didn’t speak.
“We got talking. One thing led to another…”
“And you slept with her?” Her voice sounded even enough. It gave him not a clue as to the way she was feeling. Not a hint. Her face was void of expression.
Garreth nodded as his blood ran cold. Inside, his gut churned and his ribs constricted, making breathing close to impossible. Jenna had just cut him off. In less than a heartbeat, she’d erected a wall between them. A sky-high, impenetrable wall. The fiery, passionate woman of moments ago was gone. In her place stood an icy, stoic stranger.
He recognized her though. This was Jenna at her most defended, her most emotionally aloof. She’d distanced herself from him and his words and adopted an I-don’t-care façade. And it was this emotional detachment that told Garreth he’d caused Jenna profound pain, hurt her more deeply than he’d ever imagined possible.
“I see. Did you know who she was?” she asked in a voice as barren as a wasteland.
Shattered by her lack of reaction, he nodded again. “I did.” How could he not have known? Rachel was Jenna’s best friend, and the love of his roommate’s life.
“Does Jackson know?”
Another nod. Of course Jackson knew. He was there, with them, the second time Garreth and Rachel slept together.
“Ah. It all makes sense now. That’s what forced Jackson to realize he couldn’t live without Rachel.” She nodded. That was all. Just nodded. As if to say, I now have the facts, I don’t need anything else. “Right then. I’ll be off.”
Garreth’s heart dropped. He knew, with uncanny instinct, that when Jenna left the room to return to her own, she would not be coming back. He reached for her, tried to stop her from leaving. She hadn’t heard the full story. Didn’t yet know why he’d done what he’d done. She needed the details. He needed her to believe he wasn’t a heartless bastard. “Jenna—”
She took a step backwards, out of his room. “Please, don’t touch me.” Her impassive voice tore a hole in her chest.
He walked towards her. “I love you. I need you to understand—”
“Not another step.” She held her hand up, stopping him. The hand didn’t even quiver. Jenna was in full control again. “Please don’t come closer. Please don’t speak. Please don’t look at me.” Another step back. “Ever again.”
And with that, she turned around and walked away, leaving Garreth even emptier than he had been before she’d barreled into him.
Chapter Two
Brisbane, One week later
Well, this was unexpected. A somewhat surprising change of tempo to say the least. What had begun as a weekend steeped in misery and heartbreak had swiftly turned into a…
Jenna shook her head in stunned disbelief. How on earth did she describe what her weekend had turned into? An abduction? A kidnapping? A joke?
All of the above?
What label did she give to her best friend breaking into her apartment, holding a so-called gun to her head, binding her hands, bundling her into a car and driving to this unknown destination?
Jenna would have blinked in incredulity, but the blindfold Rachel had fitted snugly around her eyes before leading her inside and tying her to a chair—with her arms behind her back—made that impossible.
Really? Tying her up was necessary?
Why?
And what on earth had Jenna been thinking, allowing her friend to abduct her? It had been amusing at first—right up to the point she realized Rachel had done altogether too good a job with the ropes.
She was trapped.
Ooh, when she got free, Rachel was in so much trouble.
Jenna spent a moment planning her revenge, plotting all the ways she could torture her friend when this was over. It was almost a refreshing break from obsessing about Garreth.
What was Rach doing in Brisbane anyway? Wasn’t she supposed to be back in Sydney? How on earth had she managed to get Jenna from her place to wherever they were now—all while holding that gun?
At least the ties weren’t cutting off Jenna’s circulation. She could rotate her wrists and her ankles, she just couldn’t free them. Which was fortunate for Rachel, Jenna mused. If the rope gave her any leeway, she’d kick her friend in the shins. Or maybe even trip her.
It’d serve her right for tying Jenna up in the first place.
Huh.
As if Jenna hadn’t been feeling rotten enough before Rachel had picked the lock to her front door. Now she had to deal with her friend’s sudden descent into insanity too.
Jenna had spent the last six days in hell, reeling from Garreth’s confession.
So close. She’d come so close to being with him. Finally. And then he’d gone and slept with…with…the very woman who’d just abducted her.
Hurt assailed her once again, as fresh and deep as it had been last Sunday. Pain cut through her defenses and tears threatened the back of her eyes. For the briefest second she appreciated the blindfold. It made crying virtually impossible—and the last thing she wanted was for Rachel to see her break down. Yes, Rachel might be one of only two people with whom she shared her emotions and thoughts, but this was too personal, too painful to share, even with her best friend.
She didn’t want a soul to know about what happened with Garreth. If it killed her, she’d present a brave veneer to the world—even if she was bound helplessly to a chair.
Something scraped against the floor, maybe two meters away from her. Shuffling sounds, a bump. A thud. A man swore. A muffled curse, but a curse for sure.
Inexplicable shivers ran up her spine.
Where was she?
Why had Rachel snatched her?
Jenna considered yelling, blasting her friend all the way back to New South Wales for forcing her off her couch, where she’d been unhappily wallowing in the pits of misery.
In the end she didn’t. Maybe she was too emotionally overloaded to consider it an option. Still so overwrought about Garreth and the fact he’d slept with Rachel that her ability to think straight was all messed up? Or maybe just the opposite—maybe Garreth’s betrayal had left her emotionally void?
Nope, it wasn’t Garreth who’d left her void. It was her determination not to show anyone her broken heart. Not to show anyone anything about herself. She needed to be strong. Stoic. Because if she wasn’t, she’d fall apart, and no one—no matter how close—would be able to help her pick up the pieces.
She’d fallen apart once before, and recovering had not been pretty. She doubted she’d ever be strong enough to recover a second time.
Jenna withheld a sigh. Maybe, just maybe, she decided against screaming because Rachel had stuck her lips together with masking tape.
“Ready?”
Jenna jerked her head up at the sound of a second voice. A voice she knew altogether too well. Hah. Exactly like she’d suspected. Rachel wasn’t in this alone.
“Ready,” Rachel answe
red, and seconds later Jenna’s blindfold was removed.
She blinked against the wintry, late afternoon sun—and found herself staring down the barrel of a gun. The same gun Rachel had pointed at her not forty minutes ago when she’d let herself into Jenna’s flat.
“I’m going to remove the gag, Jenn,” Rachel said. “Just please, don’t scream, or I’ll be forced to shoot.”
Disbelief and perhaps a bit of stunned amazement almost blinded her again. Scream? Oh, no, Jenna wasn’t going to scream. She was going to kill someone. Two someones actually.
Rachel ripped the tape from her mouth, making Jenna yelp at the ensuing sting.
“Sorry,” Rachel said with a wince. “I tried to do that as gently as I could.”
To be fair, Rachel did look contrite. Unfortunately, Jenna wasn’t much in the mood for being fair anymore. “An apology?” she snapped, flexing her lips. “You have got to be kidding me.”
The gun was waved in front of her face. “Calm down.”
“Calm down?” Jenna yelled. She yanked at the rope, desperately trying to free her hands. “You kidnap me, tie me up and then tell me to calm down. I don’t think so.”
Too late, she realized she’d done exactly what Rachel had told her not to do. Screamed.
It happened in slow motion. Rachel’s finger tightened on the trigger of the gun. Her arm trembled, the gun jerked and…
Bam!
A stream of icy water hit Jenna square on the cheek. It dribbled down her neck, leaving a cold, wet trail as it slid beneath her blouse.
The shock of the attack left her breathless.
“You shot me,” she uttered seconds later, incredulous.
Rachel snorted. “You screamed.”
“I told you in my flat I’d come with you willingly—if you’d just quit squirting me.” Her hair was still damp from Rachel’s initial attack. The woman had stepped into her unit, guns blazing. Literally.
“Oops.” Rachel’s eyes twinkled. “I forgot.”
“Forgot, my foot.” Jenna stared daggers at Rachel. “Where are we anyway?”
She couldn’t see much, since Rachel blocked her view, but a quick glance to her left revealed part of a massive bed. The pillow still held the imprint of someone’s head.
