She drew him toward her.
Once again, he tried for restraint. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he rasped.
With a laugh, she climbed on top of him, her tight femininity wrapping him in a silky cloak. She rode him, hard and fast and so furious he could no longer think. Only feel, only experience, and he knew in a flash of brilliance that it was her, only her. The one he should have waited for, the one he’d always want.
With a cry, he let loose. Opening his eyes, he saw a look in hers so conflicted, so full of desire and need and self-loathing, he nearly paused.
But he was too far gone to stop now and, as his essence poured into her, he could have sworn he heard a howl.
Chapter 11
The instant his body stopped quaking, she rolled off him, pushing him away when he reached out to hold her.
“No.”
“Jewel, I—”
Pain and sadness mingled with fury in her expressive eyes.
“Thank you.” She gave him a mocking smile, utterly false and breaking his heart. “We shouldn’t have—”
“Don’t.” When he reached for her again, she dodged, climbing from the bed to stand, arms crossed, glaring.
“I haven’t been so thoroughly used since—”
Shoving himself up, he grabbed her and wrapped his arms around her. “Shhh. You know better than that.”
“Do I?” She held herself stiffly, finally moving away. “I’m not sure who I hate most,” she said. “Myself or you.”
With that, she stalked off, not bothering to put on her clothes.
He followed. “What’s wrong with you?”
“As if you didn’t know.”
“I don’t know. We just made love and, as far as I can tell, both enjoyed it.”
“Made love? Is that what you’re calling it now?”
He sighed. “You know as well as I do that we’ve got something special between us.”
“Do we?” One delicate brow arched. “I don’t think so. That was lust. Raw lust. We scratched an itch. Nothing more. And I always feel like dirt afterwards.”
He went still, searching her face. “Was that all this meant to you?”
“Does it ever mean anything else?” Her voice was bleak.
The tightness in his chest eased. “This isn’t your past, you know. This is your future.” Aching to hold her, he settled for reaching to tuck a strand of wayward hair behind her ear. She flinched away as if she thought he meant to hurt her, making him bite back a curse.
“What did he do to you?”
She shook her head, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “Don’t touch me. Not right now.”
“I won’t.” He kept his voice even, controlled, showing no sign of the inner ache. “Jewel, if you really feel that way, why’d you initiate it?”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“Maybe you didn’t listen.” Her mouth a tight line, she wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I told you, I can’t control myself.”
“Control what?”
“My need.” Her laugh sounded hollow, bitter. “Leo loved that about me. I swear he tried to make me…”
“If Leo were here right now, I’d kill him.”
“So would I.”
He waited for her to finish. Then, when it became apparent she had no plans to, he pushed. “What happened there, on the floor of your room? And out in the woods, before. Whatever happens to you at those times? Whatever it is, it makes you want to have sex, doesn’t it? It was the same thing all those other times, wasn’t it?”
Blanching, she jerked her head in a nod. “You’ve finally got it. I tried to tell you. Now are you happy? I’ve just given you something you can use to control me.”
“Control you? I’m not Leo, remember.” Holding himself utterly still, he willed her to look at him, to read his expression, to somehow discern the depth of his feelings for her.
She didn’t.
“I don’t want to control you.”
“All men relish control. They thrive on it. You’re no different.”
“I’m not all men. No matter what, know this. What we just shared was more than sex, more than lust.”
Now her brilliant green gaze flew to his. “Don’t.”
She reminded him of a furious, terrified bird with a badly broken wing. The question was could he heal her? Did he want to?
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t try to pretty it up. Call a spade a spade.”
“I am. We have something between us. Something special. You know that.”
“Special?” She snorted. “Even Leo didn’t—”
“I told you, I’m not Leo,” he roared, then lowered his voice. “Don’t compare me to that son of a bitch. Not ever again.”
Gazes locked, they stared each other down. After a moment, she gave a slow nod. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted.” He took a deep breath, knowing he must continue to push until she gave him the truth. “You’re not ill, are you?”
“Not in the way you mean. But yes, I am.”
Could she be any more ambiguous? This time he was having none of it. “Don’t lie to me, Jewel. Not now.”
“You’re better off not knowing. Believe me.”
How often in the past had he heard that? Though he knew both he and Jewel carried way too much baggage from their pasts, if he’d learned one thing from his experiences, he’d learned to despise lies.
“I want to know, damn it. I want the truth.”
Silent, she pressed her lips together and said nothing.
His stomach knotted. He should have known better. That’s what he got for thinking with the wrong part of his body. Taking a deep breath, he gave her one last chance.
“I’m trying to help you, Jewel. Is it too much to ask for you to respect me enough to tell me the truth?”
“Truth? You wouldn’t know it if it bit you in the ass.” Her voice vibrated with rage.
“What?”
“I met your girlfriend today, saw what you did to her. You’re a monster.” Her stone face crumpled. “And I had sex with you. What does that make me?”
“Girlfriend?” Impatient, he shook his head. “I don’t have a girlfriend. What the hell are you talking about?”
“Bettina?” Her furious glare scorched him. “Does the name ring a bell?”
“Not at all. Who’s Bettina?”
She searched his face. “Either you’re one of the most accomplished liars I’ve ever met, or you’re serious.”
Moving closer, he shook his head. “I don’t know anyone named Bettina, nor do I have a girlfriend. I’ve been alone since my daughter died.” He didn’t understand where they were going with this, but sensed he should follow her lead. Eventually, they had to come to truth, when they hit the rock bottom.
He watched the emotions play across her face. First and foremost, he saw hope, before her features went blank as she shut her feelings down. She seemed to do that a lot, whenever she got something she didn’t want to face.
“Whatever,” she said, shrugging as if she didn’t care.
She began to pace, her movements jerky, agitated.
He followed. “Explain, please. Where did you get this false information?”
“I met her.”
“Met…Bettina?”
“Yes. Reba introduced me to her. She said I needed to know what kind of man I was living with.”
He couldn’t have been more astounded. “Reba? I’ve known her for years. She should know better than to believe this woman’s story without checking with me first.”
“Right now, Reba thinks you’re a monster.”
Words stuck in his throat. He’d done a lot of wrong things in his lifetime, made his own share of mistakes, but he’d never hurt anything or anyone smaller or weaker than himself. “Why wouldn’t Reba come to me?”
“Something like this is a touchy issue,” Jewel reminded him. “Especially when a woman is batter
ed as badly as Bettina was.”
Battered. He closed his eyes. “What about the police? Did she fill out a report? Of course she didn’t. No one’s notified me, or even asked me any questions.”
“No.” She watched him closely. “I asked her that too. She said she couldn’t go to the police. She was afraid you might kill her.”
“Kill her?” He shook his head. “I don’t even know her.”
“There’s more. Your friend Roy backed Bettina up.”
“Roy?” Dragging a hand through his hair, he tried to make sense of her words. “My former coworker from Houston? That Roy? What’s he got to do with any of this?”
“Remember I told you Reba was seeing someone?”
He nodded. “Roy?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand.” He felt as if he’d been kicked in the gut. When she told him Roy had not only corroborated Bettina’s story, but made accusations of infidelity during his marriage, Colton could barely hang on to his rapidly vanishing self-control.
Flipping open his cell phone, he paged through the stored numbers, looking for Reba’s real estate office.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m calling Reba first, then Roy. I want to get this straightened out once and for all.” Clenching his teeth, he punched in the number. After a few rings, Reba’s voice mail picked up. He left a terse message, then tried Roy. Again he got voice mail; again he left a message. Done, he closed his phone, the movement carefully controlled.
Eyes narrowed, Jewel crossed her arms. “You’re seriously pissed, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am. I’ve never hit a woman in my life.”
The breath seemed to go out of her in a rush. “You know, I believe you.”
Breathing deeply, he forced his teeth to unclench. He was absurdly grateful. “I don’t understand. Why would anyone, especially a total stranger, then a guy I’ve known for years, accuse me of such a thing? What would they have to gain?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
The thought occurred to them both at the same time.
“Me,” Jewel said. “This has something to do with me.”
“Someone wants to make you distrust me.” Now it all made sense. “I’m your only ally. If they could turn you against me, once again you’d be on your own.”
“Not someone. Quit talking about him as though he’s anonymous. It’s Leo. Even in prison, he’s keeping his promise to come after me.”
Though it was the only thing that made sense, he still had to caution her. “But how? That’s what we need to find out.”
Though she nodded, he knew she was afraid. Not of him, thank God. He never wanted her to fear him. Ever. “I want to talk to Reba and Roy, face-to-face. Then you and I need to go confront this Bettina in person.”
“I agree.”
“Good.” Frustration coiled low in his belly, he dialed Reba’s number again, disconnecting when her voice mail came on. “Still no answer. I’m going to run by her place, see if she’s there.”
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” For a moment, she appeared about to say something else.
“I do.” Frustrated, Colton shoved his hand through his hair. “Come with me.”
She appeared torn. “I…No. I’m actually not feeling too well. I’ll wait here.”
“Reba or no Reba, I’ve got to check in at the office.” Quietly, he watched her. If she meant to leave, he could do nothing to stop her. “I’ll be gone a couple of hours. We’ll talk again when I get back.”
If she was still there.
On the way to town, he cruised by Reba’s house, just in case. Her Mustang wasn’t parked in the driveway, nor was it at the real-estate building.
He drove on in to work.
Once inside the newspaper office, Colton tried to call Reba again. Again, her voice mail picked up. This time, he left another message and organized his desk, pretended to be working on his story about Jewel. If he published it, he knew she’d never forgive him, but if he didn’t, Floyd would have a fit. Either way didn’t look good.
Right now he didn’t much care. He wanted to find Reba and to confront this Bettina person. A woman he’d never even met, making such accusations, had better have a damn good reason.
And then Roy. That rankled even more. The man had just offered him a job, for Chrissakes.
To distract himself, he tried to focus on the job he’d been asked to do. Write the story. About Jewel. Maybe if he could find a different angle, do more research. For example, he’d like to find out what those sparkly lights surrounding her had been.
Psychic phenomena? He kicked back in his chair, hands behind his head, and tried to come up with an explanation.
But all he could think of was Jewel, and how well they’d fit together. He felt like a lovesick fool, obsessed with the wrong woman. Again.
“Colt!” Floyd came running, his large stomach bouncing. “Have you heard the news? How quickly can you have your story ready?”
“News?” Colton blinked. “What news? Which story?”
“The big story, the one on Jewel. Look what just came over the wire!” Floyd shoved a crumpled piece of paper under Colton’s nose.
Colton read it once, heart sinking. He read it again, and pushed back his chair so hard it crashed into the wall behind him. Crap.
“Here.” He tossed the paper back at Floyd. “I’ve got to go.”
“Go?” Floyd goggled at him. “Hell, no. You’ll stay and write your story. This is perfect timing. We’ll sell a ton of papers. Get busy finishing it up. I’m putting it on the front page.”
But Colton ignored him. He ran for the parking lot, keys in hand. He had to warn Jewel, see what she wanted to do.
Leo was out. He’d escaped from prison the night before. Despite a massive manhunt, he hadn’t yet been found.
“Out? Are you sure?” Jewel dragged her hand through her disheveled hair for the tenth time. She paced, her long-legged stride eating up the distance quickly, before she pivoted and headed back toward him. Leo’s escape had taken precedence over their other issues, now temporarily tabled by mutual silent agreement.
They were in Colton’s kitchen, with the bright sunlight streaming in from the window, and the lake sparkling with dancing whitecaps.
A perfect summer day, if one wanted to fish or ski. A day to enjoy, if one’s powerful and psychotic ex-husband weren’t on the loose.
“Are you really sure?” Jewel asked again.
“Positive. The news release came over the wire from the AP.” He snatched the remote from the countertop and punched the television on. “I’m sure it’s all over the news.”
And it was. Special broadcast. Updates every hour. No, Leo Licciardoni had not been caught. Both federal and state police were looking for him. All the New York and surrounding airports had been locked down and they were watching both the highways leaving the state and the ports.
“Authorities feel confident he will be caught quickly and returned to prison,” the newscaster said.
A pounding on the door made them both jump.
“What the—?” He and Jewel exchanged startled glances.
Hand to her throat, she shook her head. “Leo wouldn’t knock.”
“I know.” Still, he crossed the room quietly, checking through the peephole. What he saw stunned him, though he shouldn’t have been surprised.
“Who is it?” Jewel stopped her pacing long enough to stare.
“There are five, maybe six news vans outside. I should have seen this coming.”
She groaned. “They all know Leo swore to kill me. They’re probably hoping to capture the event on live TV.”
He didn’t laugh at her joke. She was more accurate than she realized.
“What I don’t understand is why the police aren’t here offering protection.”
Her rueful smile was tinged with a hint of fear. “I ditched the FederalWitness Protection people. They only offer help once. After th
at, you’re on your own.”
His cell phone rang. Checking the caller ID, Colton saw it was Floyd. No doubt furious and about to fire him.
He didn’t answer.
“What am I going to do?” Jewel mused, almost to herself, still making her furious trek around his kitchen island, from the laundry room to the back door.
He shook his head, started to speak, took one look at her pinched and worried face and decided to go for it.
“We’re leaving town,” he said. “Now.”
Eyes wide, she went still, reminding him of a wild animal caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. “We?”
“Yes. The two of us.” He waved a hand, not daring to touch her, knowing he’d be lost if he did. “Grab whatever you want to take with you. There’s no time to waste.”
She stared at him, her eyes were huge and very, very green. “Why?”
He could think of several reasons. He could say none of them. “Let’s just say guys like your ex-husband should never win.”
After a moment’s silence, she nodded, accepting his explanation, which told him how desperate she was. “Thank you. But where can we go?”
He thought for a moment. “My hunting lease.”
“What?”
“I have a place I lease for hunting. It’s northwest of here, close to Possum Kingdom Lake. It’s accessible only by a single dirt road which winds up the bluff. You can see someone coming for miles.”
She moved restlessly, pushing her hair back from her face. “I don’t know.”
“I do. There’s no place better.”
“I was thinking more like another country. Canada or—” she swallowed “—Mexico.”
“They can hire guns there, too.”
He grabbed her arm, feeling that shock zing through him as it always did when he touched her. “Come on. We can talk in the car.”
“What about them?” She jerked her head toward the front yard. “How are we going to get away from them? We can’t drive away—they’ll follow us.”
The only other way was by boat. But then what?
Theodore at the marina had been trying to sell his old Jeep for months.
“We’ll take the boat.” He felt a sense of rightness flood him.
“And then what?”
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