His lip curled. I dont think so.
He was looking at her mouth, and the throb of her pulse alarmed her more than the taunting arousal of his body. She tasted that dark rhythm in her throat. And elsewhere. I dont want this.
You know, I dont think you ever lied to me before you married me.
Shed been wrong. She had seen a hardness like this in Jacks eyes beforewhen he was competing. Jack was easygoing most of the time, but there was a buried edge to him that surfaced when he set himself to win, and she had become a challenge to him. Something to be won.
Im going to kiss you, Annie.
No, she thought. But she didnt move. No, she stood there, stiff and trapped by his hands and the hammer of her pulse. Maybe if I let him kiss me, he can stop trying to win. Maybe then hed let her go.
His head loweredbut he didnt kiss her. Instead, the tip of his tongue painted one long, sweet sweep of temptation on her lower lip. She jerked her head back, but his hands on her shoulders tightened, holding her in place. Her breath hitched as he used his tongue to tickle along the line of her throat.
She pushed at his chest. Dammit, Jack, dont do this. Dont play with me.
Who said Im playing? This time his mouth didnt tease. It claimed. Hot, hard, ruthless, it asked nothing of her and demanded everything.
Heaven help her, she wanted to give him all that he demanded, and more.
There was heat, a rich current of heat urging her to let go of common sense and heed the clamor of her senses. There was taste, the heady taste of Jack, a shock of familiarity in spite of the time that had passed since shed learned it on the night he married her. Just before he left her.
She shuddered and managed to wrench her head back. Jack She shoved at his chest. He didnt move. His body was hard and urgent against hers, his scent filling her nostrils until she wanted to howl with the unfairness of it all. This isnt right.
Its right. His eyes were hard, his voice soft. Let me show you how right it can be with us, Annie.
What the hell is going on here? a deep, gravelly voice demanded from behind her.
Annie closed her eyes. Great. The only thing worse than having her brother walk in on a clinch between her and Jack would be if Jack
Not much, Ben, Jack said, his eyes never leaving Annies face. Im just saying hello to my wife.
Yep. That was it. Now her day was complete.
The storm had passed, leaving the air still and cold, the sky crowded with stars, and the porch swing wet. Annie ignored the dampness seeping through the seat of her jeans and pushed gently with her feet, listening to the creak of the chain and trying not to think. There were no good thoughts to keep her company tonight, none at all.
But she did have company from the one member of her household who wasnt upset with her. Twenty pounds of cat sprawled warmly across her lap. Samsons version of offering comfort meant allowing her to minister to his pleasure by lifting his chin so she could scratch underneath. As she did, his inaudible purr vibrated beneath her fingertips.
Ben always said the animal was too blasted lazy to purr out loud.
She sighed. Her oldest brother was barely speaking to her. Charlie had actually yelled at heran event almost as rare as for Samson to purr out loudand Jackwell, if Jack didnt exactly hate her, he sure didnt like her very much right now. Everyone she cared about was angry and hurt, and she was to blame.
Not that Jack didnt share some of that blame. Hed dropped his bombshell as casually as if he were talking about the weather, knowing full well what the effect would be. Hed done it that way on purpose, to get back at her, and that hurt. In all the years shed known him, Jack had never set out to hurt her.
But everything was different now, wasnt it?
Was taking her to bed supposed to pay her back, too? It would be a tidy sort of revenge, she supposed, to claim the wedding night shed denied him and then be off to Timbuktuthis time without inviting her along for the ride.
Until that afternoon, Annie would have said Jack wasnt capable of using sex as a weapon. Now she wasnt sure.
So what else is new? she muttered at Samson. It had been so long since shed been sure of anything
that shed forgotten what it felt like. Not since she quit her job and married her best friend. Of course, she hadnt originally intended to marry Jack. At first shed tried to get away from him. Then shed decided to go to bed with him.
How had she managed to accomplish what she hadnt set out to do, and failed at what she thought she wanted?
Jack, she thought. Jack was what had happened to her plans. Of course, theyd been pretty screwy to start with.
Denver, last July
Annie pulled the last of the books down and set Early Childhood Development in the box with the others. She straightened, grimacing. Her ribs were still sore. She wouldnt be able to carry any of the boxes she was busy filling, but her brothers would be down in a couple of days to help.
She looked around at the clutter of boxes and clothes filling her formerly tidy apartment. So many dreams were being packed away along with her textbooks. But she was still going to teach, she assured herself. Just because Denver hadnt worked out didnt mean she couldnt still be a teacher. It was all shed ever wanted.