Burning Wild

by Feehan, Christine

  Emma wanted to pull away, but there was something so compelling and assured about Jake, she found it impossible to move.

  He bent his head to hers. “Come on, honey, I’ll take you home.” His hand pressed into the small of her back, down low, his fingers brushing her butt as if he had every right, guiding her around the hood of the Jeep to the passenger side. He gently handed her in and waited in silence until she’d snapped her seat belt in place.

  Jake slid behind the wheel, lifted his hand in recognition to the two men and turned the Jeep around.

  “I don’t want to go back,” Emma said in a low, mutinous tone. She glanced at his set jaw and then looked down at her hands. “I need time to think. You’re everywhere in that house.” His personality was too powerful, too overwhelming and dominating. She had decisions to make and she needed a clear head to make them.

  He abruptly turned the wheel, spinning the Jeep in another direction, taking them away from the main ranch house and deeper into the property. “I know you’re frightened of everything changing, Emma, but it isn’t going to be changing that much.”

  “I couldn’t get out through the gates, Jake. I’d say that things are already changing a lot.”

  His gaze swept over her, taking in the defiant set to her chin and her trembling mouth. “You shouldn’t have been able to get through the gates without my knowing before, Emma. That was a mistake on Jerico’s and Drake’s part. They know better now. I have enemies and I’ll be damned if something happens to you because of their carelessness.”

  She swept her hair up and started to clip it, more from nerves and the need to do something with her hands than anything else.

  “Leave it down.”

  Her eyes widened. “See. Right there. You’re already telling me what to do. I can’t have you ordering me around all the time, controlling my every move. I can’t breathe right now, Jake. I need space. I need to know what’s happening to me. You just take people over. I’ve seen you do it, and now you’re doing it with me. You humiliated me. Deliberately humiliated me.” There was a catch in her voice and she turned her face away from him to stare out the window into the darkness.

  “How? Why would I want to humiliate you?”

  Emma glanced at him again, trying not to hear that hypnotic note in his voice that always had such an effect on her. “You know very well how. You could have come in my mouth.” She blushed when she said it, avoiding his eyes, but he heard the hurt in her voice as if he’d rejected her. “Instead you came all over me. That was not making love. That was not respect. That was like some porn film and I was the receptacle.”

  “That was me making love, Emma. That was me showing more than respect. That was me claiming you for my own.” He slammed on the brakes and brought the Jeep skidding to a halt. “Did you think you weren’t pleasing me somehow? Fuck, Emma. I’ve never had a night like tonight in my life. I’ve never felt that way with anyone. Not anyone. I don’t tell you lies.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that, so she remained silent, hugging herself, rocking a little, trying not to feel so inexperienced and awkward. Something had possessed her when she’d been with Jake. She hadn’t known how to do all those things. He’d taught her in minutes, and she’d wanted to please him so much she’d followed his every instruction.

  “I know that with you I’m a demanding lover. I’d like to say it won’t happen again, but it will. I’m primal, I have certain needs, and sex is intense with you. That’s such an insipid word for what sex is with you.”

  The way he said it, with such stark honesty, would have sounded ridiculous with anyone else, but he was telling her the truth and she shivered, her body reacting to the sensual undertone.

  “I won’t be able to keep my hands off you, and I have every confidence that I can make you want me.” He refused to look away from her, refused to let her look away. “I can be rough and animalistic and I know I’ll be demanding things from you that may scare you, but, Emma, I would never harm you, or humiliate you or treat you without respect. If there is one person on the face of the earth that I respect above all others, it’s you.”

  Her heart pounded so hard it hurt. He was no longer discussing what had happened between them; he was talking about a future together. She could see it in the lines of his face, the intensity only Jake had, the iron will and determination that made him relentless. He was in pursuit and she was his prey.

  “I’m not comfortable with the kind of sex we had.”

  His hand slid over her hair, sweeping down the heavy, silken fall. “I know you’re not, honey, but I also know you enjoyed it. I’ll always make certain you’ll enjoy it.”

  She couldn’t deny she’d enjoyed sex with him. Jake made her feel as if he had to have her, that he couldn’t wait another moment. He’d given her more pleasure than she’d ever experienced in her life.

  “I don’t do one-night stands or flings. Do you have any idea what’s going to happen when we break up? We have children. This is my home. It’s your home.”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw. His eyes went diamond-hard. “I have no intention of allowing us to break up.”

  “Women don’t keep you satisfied for very long, Jake, and then you move on to the next one. Rough, exciting sex only goes so far, but what happens when the newness wears off and I’m old hat to you? Then what do we do? I’m not the type of woman you’re used to. I don’t share.”

  His hands tightened around the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. “Then we find ways to spice things up between us, although I can’t imagine we’d ever run into that problem. What the hell do other couples do? I don’t want another woman in my life. I don’t want you to have another man in yours.”

  Emma sighed and looked down at her hands. She still held the hair clip. She hadn’t put her hair up. Why? She held the clip up. “Look at this. I did what you told me to do and I don’t even know why.” But she did, and it scared her. She wanted to please him. She wanted to be the one to take the pain from his eyes.

  “What’s wrong with doing something that matters to me when it doesn’t matter so much to you?” He took the clip from her hand and tossed it onto the floor.

  “The point is, I seem to lose myself in you and I can’t afford to do that. I’ll fall in love with you. I already am a little bit.” A lot.

  His gaze sharpened, almost as if he could read her mind.

  “And you’ll break my heart. You won’t want to, you won’t set out to do it, but you will.”

  He pushed down the satisfaction that welled up inside him. Emma was being brutally honest, putting herself on the line for him. If anyone was really capable of love, it was Emma. “I would never break your heart. I told you, you’re safe with me.”

  “Not intentionally, but womanizers don’t change, Jake,” she said quietly, with regret. “You need sex all the time. What happens when you’re in your downtown office and I’m on the ranch, or worse, when you’re on a business trip?”

  His smile was faint, no amusement, only a show of white teeth. “If I’m in my downtown office and I need you that bad, I’ll send a limo for you. If I’m out of town and you can’t go, I think I have enough restraint to last a few days. I don’t indulge myself over every little thing I want. It’s called discipline, and I have more than most people. If I give you my word, Emma, you can take it to the bank and you know that.”

  “What happens if I get pregnant and have to go on bed rest again and they tell us we can’t have sex? That could happen, you know.”

  “Then I’ll keep that talented little mouth of yours very busy, won’t I?” he retaliated.

  Her blush spread over her entire body. His gaze dropped to her mouth and his thumb slid over her bottom lip, to the corner, stroking caresses that sent little fingers of arousal tingling over her breasts and straight to her groin.

  Emma drew in a ragged breath. “What are we talking about here, Jake? Where do you see this heading?”

  “You. Me. Marriage. I want it al
l. We can negotiate whatever you want right here and now, and I’m not talking money. I know you don’t care one way or the other but there will be no prenuptial because I’ll warn you straight up—and hear me when I say this, because this is nonnegotiable. I do not believe in divorce. If you marry me, you’ll stay with me. When you don’t like something you’ll trust me enough to come to me and tell me so I can fix it.”

  “Marriage?” The idea of being Jake’s wife was terrifying. He was too intense for anyone to handle on a daily basis, yet, of course, it was exactly what she’d dreamt of, the fantasy of it, never the reality. “I couldn’t keep up with you and you know it.”

  “I know you’re afraid.”

  “Your parents, the people in your circle, would never accept me . . .”

  “Fuck them. They aren’t part of my life. You are. The kids are. Don’t let fear stop you from doing something you know is right. I’ll make it work, Emma. You know me. I’ll help you. Tell me what you want.”

  “I don’t know.” She swept her hand through her hair in agitation. “I want you to care about me. I don’t want to be just anyone to you.”

  Suddenly the Jeep was too confined. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think clearly. He was doing it again, keeping her off balance, overpowering her, not letting her work things out. She pulled off the seat belt and banged open the door, leaping out of the vehicle and walking out into the night. The cool air helped with the burning heat of her skin.

  Jake slid out, stretching his muscles, his stomach settling a little. She was scared, more scared than he’d ever seen her, but she wasn’t running from him. He believed he could make her happy and he was relentless when he wanted something. He wanted Emma more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. He knew how to negotiate and come out on top; he’d been doing it all of his life. And he knew he was about to close the deal.

  “Emma, you know damn well I care about you. You aren’t blind. I’ve never in my life needed or wanted to mark a woman the way I marked you. I had a primitive urge to get my scent all over you so every man who came near you would know you were taken—that you belong to me. I’m thirty-five years old. I’ve never wanted to marry until now. I may not be gentle or romantic, but you know you’ll have my unswerving loyalty and my absolute protection and care. And along with that, I’ll make certain you’re satisfied every day of your life.”

  He hadn’t said love, but then, Jake wouldn’t. He wouldn’t have believed it of himself and he would have been lying if he’d used the word. He never even said he loved Kyle or Andraya, yet she’d seen evidence of it. Was she strong enough to take him the way he was? She didn’t know. If she didn’t love him, it wouldn’t have been as hard. But she did. She couldn’t look at him without wanting him happy. She knew herself, knew she’d give too much. She was an all-or-nothing woman. She loved Jake and she’d give him everything she was.

  “Define loyalty. Does that mean you’ll go out, have sex with other women and then always come back to me? Or does that mean a completely monogamous relationship?”

  “I’d use my bare hands to break the neck of any man who dared to touch you, Emma. I don’t expect less of myself than I do of you. When I say loyalty, that’s complete fidelity. I expect it of you, and if I cheated, I wouldn’t be worth keeping, nor would you.”

  She took a deep breath. She had the feeling he was more than capable of breaking someone’s neck, and that he would if provoked. There was a lot of violence in Jake. She suspected his past was one of abuse, but he’d never told her. She saw his scars. He referred to his parents as his enemies and he was never trusting, not at all.

  “Let’s dispense with some of your other concerns, honey. That might help. What are you thinking about right now? There’s fear in your eyes.”

  Her gaze shifted from his and then jumped back to his face as if expecting him to be upset with her. “When you loom over me I feel threatened, physically threatened. You can be very frightening, Jake. Yell all you want, but no hitting. Ever.”

  He started to agree, then stopped. “We need to talk about this. If I ever hit you or the children in anger, Emma, I want you to take the children and go straight to Drake and Joshua. Tell them what happened and have them help you leave. And don’t come back. Don’t ever take me back. I want you to promise me you’ll do that. Drake and Joshua will have orders to help you. They’ll take you somewhere safe where I can’t get to you.”

  She looked up at him, her gaze searching his. She nodded.

  “But . . .” His smile turned sensual and her gaze turned wary. “There are things we can do in the bedroom that aren’t done in anger. Things that can be very erotic.”

  She looked outraged and a little curious. “Hitting is not erotic under any circumstances.”

  “No, but a spanking can be. And there are other things. I don’t want us to rule them out until you try them with me. If you don’t like something, we won’t do it again, but there will be no lying to me or to you. If you’re finding pleasure but you’re scared, we’ll be continuing. When you tell me no, you make damn sure that hot little body of yours isn’t wet.”

  “That’s not fair, Jake,” Emma protested. “You always make me wet, even when you terrify me.” Like now. The words were unspoken but she blushed a dark crimson, afraid she might have said them aloud.

  He framed her face with his hands and kissed her again, teasing at her reluctant mouth with tugging teeth and a dancing tongue until she opened for him. He was a phenomenal kisser, and she lost herself in him, giving herself up completely. He lifted his face first and traced her cheekbones with the pads of his fingertips.

  “I like you wet for me. Don’t ever be embarrassed because you want me.” His hand dropped casually to the thick erection bulging in the front of his jeans. “I have the hard-on from hell and I’m not embarrassed. Isn’t it better that you’re a little in lust with the man you’re going to marry?”

  “It doesn’t seem normal,” she confessed in a small voice. “We just . . .” Her voice trailed off and she made a face. “I’m still upset with you.”

  “There’s no reason to be upset, Emma. You misread what I was doing. I can understand, after our earlier conversation, why you thought that, but never think it again. You’re mine, and I would never want you for my own if I didn’t respect you.”

  He pulled a small box from his jeans. “This is for you. I had it made for you and if you put it on your finger, Emma, there’s no taking it back.”

  He opened the box. The ring was unusual; brilliant golden diamonds shone up at her. They looked like a cat’s eye, the way they were shaped.

  She sucked in her breath and put both hands behind her back to keep from reaching for it. “Jake.” She shook her head. “If I do this, you know you’ll be worse. You control everything, you can’t help yourself, and that’s a serious red flag for me.”

  “I know I’m different, Emma,” Jake said, his voice low. It held that same hypnotic note she found so sexy. He leaned toward her, cupping her chin in his hand and bringing her face around to look at him. “Is it so bad having me be in control?”

  The question was so soft, so low, his voice moving through her body like a thick, molten lava. She felt her body’s reaction and it frightened her—frightened her that she wanted to say no when she knew better.

  “Have these last two years really been so difficult? Anytime you’ve come to me with a problem or a complaint, haven’t I acted on it immediately?”

  “What about the gate, Jake? I couldn’t leave tonight. What about that?” She hated that she had a pleading note in her voice. She knew him. She knew he couldn’t be any different, that control was a huge issue to him. Even if he promised her, how could he be anything but what he was?

  “I should have explained to you, but I didn’t want to scare you, Emma. That was wrong of me, but you’ve never wanted to leave the ranch before. When you did, you always told me well in advance and I could arrange for protection both for you and the children. I have ene
mies and they would hurt you and they’d take our children.”

  “What enemies? Are you certain you’re just not being paranoid? You don’t trust anyone at all, Jake.”

  “With good reason. No, I’m not paranoid. I wish I were. I’ve had to step up security over these last few months because evidence has come to my attention that someone plans to strike at me through you and the children.”

  She frowned. “Why would they try to use me to get to you?”

  He sighed, his thumb rubbing across her lips as if to erase her frown. “You’re the only person who would have to ask me that question. Aside from the children, Emma, who else do I care about? Everyone sees it but you.”

  “Jake.” She looked at the ring. He just held it out there as if it were his heart. He looked so lonely. But . . .

  “I need you far more than someone like Greg Patterson or even Andrew needs you. Look at me, Emma. I need you. I’ve never said that to another human being. It won’t be easy. I have a high sex drive and I won’t leave you alone. I’m protective and dominating—okay, controlling—and I don’t have social skills. I can’t promise you I won’t be hell to live with, but I can promise you I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy.”

  He took the ring out off the velvet and slipped the box back into his pocket. “Marry me. Spend your life with me. I’ll spend my life making you happy.”

  He was putting the ring on her finger. She could feel the weight of it. He had been the one to take off Andrew’s ring when she lay in bed and her hands were swelling and she was afraid they’d have to cut it off. He’d been careful and he’d wrapped it up and put it in her top drawer. He was just as gentle when he slipped his ring on her finger.

  “Jake, are you certain this is what you want?” She reached up to his face and pressed her fingers against his warm skin. It was cold outside, but, as always, he was hot. It was as if his core temperature was so much hotter than anybody else’s.