Page 69 of Unbound Boxset
Her eyes widened. “Give me what? My reward?” Her face changed. Pure feminine temper burned from dark eyes, flew from her pores, and twisted her mouth. “Did you actually think you’d proudly announce you’re rich and make this whole charade go away?”
Jack pulled her against her chest and ignored the warning signs. “I can give you the Cliff House. You can keep your promise to your father, and we can have each other. Damnit, Julianna, we can have it all!”
Like a cat dropped in water, she literally spat and hissed. “We have nothing! We have sex and lies. I fell in love with Jack Wolfe, a man who worked with his hands, and made me laugh, and gave me orgasms night after night. A man who quoted poetry and burned with righteous pride when I told him I needed money.”
“I’m the same man. The man I wanted to be when I came here. The real me.”
“I don’t know the real you, Jack.” The fight went out of her and she grew limp in his arms. “I don’t know anything anymore except I can’t be with you. Did you really think you could make an entire existence disappear because you wanted it to happen? Or I’d drop to my knees, grateful I’d get the money as a bonus prize because I passed your test?”
The fragile thread holding his own temper frayed. “You’re not making any sense. You’re upset and overwhelmed and need some time.”
“Yes,” she said woodenly. “I need lots of time. Everything I believed in was a lie. You. Bryce. Dear God, I was going to marry a man tomorrow I thought was sweet and kind, and he’s in jail for doing these terrible things to women. For murder!” She shuddered. “I feel dirty, and stupid, and used.”
“You’re in shock. If I had any idea you were in danger, I would’ve told you the truth from the beginning.”
“Gee, thanks, that makes everything ok.”
“Julianna—”
“Go home, Jack. Go back to England where you belong and leave me alone.”
“Not without you.”
Her laugh held no humor. “There is no us. I won’t be your bride because the clock is ticking. I won’t give up my life for the promise of something that may not make me happy. You taught me that.”
“Maybe I need to remind you another way.”
His mouth took hers. She fought with fists and nails, teeth and feet, but he managed to drag her to the cabin and pin her to the bed. He used his tongue to pleasure, while his hands ripped at her clothes, under her panties, and plunged into wet, pulsing heat. She arched into his hand while she cursed him, yet beneath the rage was a sexual firestorm that seared flesh and pushed away all civil boundaries. He rubbed her clit with his thumb and hit her g-spot with pounding fingers. She clenched around him and climaxed, while he tore off her shorts, unbuckled his pants, and thrust into her. She cried out his name as he drove into her, over and over, leaving her nothing left to hide or a shred of untruth between them. They both peaked together and held on as the shock waves attacked mercilessly. When Jack was finally able to lift his head, he looked into her face.
A face he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
Her skin glowed with pleasure, her eyes dreamily half-closed, swollen lips emitting breathless gasps as she returned to sanity. Their gazes locked, and he drowned deep in a pool of inky blackness, touched her soul, and was changed forever.
“I love you, Jack.” Her words were whisper soft in the dimly lit room. “But I can’t do this anymore. I need time to figure out what I want on my own terms now. And not on anyone else’s agenda.”
She got up from the bed, straightened her clothes, and walked away.
Jack let her. Once again, he had given her everything, and it still wasn’t enough. He watched her go without a word and wondered if his heart would ever be whole again.
