Burning Wild

by Feehan, Christine

  The man who interested him the most was Bernard Williams, a lawyer for the firm known to represent his old enemy, Josiah Trent. Williams knew Jake was poised to take over Trent’s business. One false move and everything would come tumbling down. Yet here the man sat, prepared to sell Jake out and make him an enemy for life, over what? What did they know that he didn’t?

  The small real estate chain hadn’t turned a profit in three years. Jake intended to keep it that way. He could afford the loss, but it shouldn’t have garnered any real attention, not from men like those seated around him, and certainly not the kind of offer they’d made. Hopkins must have discovered his plans and sold him out, or maybe he was a pawn. That was the question. Who had betrayed him? To find out, he would endure sitting through this boring charade, because once he found the man, he would destroy him . . .

  Slightly bored, he glanced around the beautiful, elegant restaurant. A couple came through the door, catching his eye. For a moment time actually stood still, every muscle in his body paralyzed so that he was completely motionless. His heart seemed to stop beating. His breath stilled in his lungs until he couldn’t breathe.

  Emma. His Emma. For two long years, he’d waited patiently for her to come alive. And now she had, but for another man. Not for him. Emma dressed up for another man; not for him. Emma smiling up at a perfect stranger and draping her sweater over the back of her chair. There was no possible way to concentrate on what was being said at his all-important meeting, so Jake didn’t bother to try. Who gave a damn about a few million dollars and a traitor when his life had just gone up in flames?

  Emma looked beautiful. When he wrapped his hands around her throat, he’d be sure to tell her that. He’d come to catch a traitor, and the biggest one of all was the person he’d come to trust above all others.

  He was going to fire every damn bodyguard he had working for him. How dared they allow her off the ranch without a guard? Who was the son of a bitch who was trespassing on his territory anyway? Jake recognized the bastard as the man who’d come to his ranch and worked on the phones. He’d probably seduced Emma in Jake’s own office. The image of her on his desk—naked—rose up to taunt him, and he felt the shift inside, the leopard snarling and fighting for supremacy. For one terrible moment he wanted to give the leopard freedom, wanted him to feel his enemy’s throat torn and bleeding beneath the crush of his jaws.

  He rose, a fluid rippling of muscles, causing a sudden hush among his business associates. Without a word of explanation, he stalked across the room, carelessly loosening his tie, his eyes glittering gold, fixed on his prey. Emma glanced up, and her velvet eyes widened in surprise. Jake couldn’t detect the littlest bit of guilt. His fingers itched to punish her. Instead, he toed a chair around and very deliberately wedged it between theirs.

  With casual ease he bent his dark head to her silky red one to brush a lingering and very possessive kiss on her shocked mouth. He made certain he used tongue, lots of tongue, one hand anchoring in her hair, forcing her head up so he could take his time making his statement. A blatant brand of ownership.

  Color rose in Emma’s face and her eyes went emerald green, but she had sense enough not to pull away from him or fight. He let her feel the edge of his teeth on her soft lower lip before dropping into the chair, his mouth smiling, his amber eyes diamond hard. He extended his hand to the man. “Jake Bannaconni. I don’t believe we’ve met.” He remembered everyone, but he wasn’t about to let a rival believe himself memorable.

  “Greg Patterson.” The man was totally flabbergasted, his face pale beneath his tan. “We met the other day in your office.”

  Jake leaned back, stretched his arm casually around Emma’s chair. His fingers found the nape of her neck, began a slow, intimate massage. “So who’s at home with the kids, baby?” He spoke to Emma but his eyes were measuring the width of Greg Patterson’s hands against the marks on her skin.

  “Susan.” Involuntarily, Emma placed her hand over the smudges on her arm. Damn, the man saw everything. And his fingers were inducing a spreading heat in her body, one that she couldn’t possibly ignore.

  “You think she’s old enough to handle them?” There was a soft intimacy in his voice, one that excluded all others and wrapped them together.

  “She’s sixteen, Jake,” Emma reminded.

  Jake rubbed his knuckles along her jaw before turning his attention to Greg. “Where’d you two go tonight?” Jake’s voice was perfectly pitched, friendly, interested, filled with urban sophistication. The golden eyes were merciless, slashing, a cold, bleak, brilliant challenge as they settled in an unblinking stare on Patterson’s face.

  Patterson squirmed uncomfortably. “The movies.”

  Jake threaded his fingers through Emma’s, brought her palm to the warmth of his mouth, his eyes meeting hers. “Did you enjoy it, honey? You know you never should have left the ranch unescorted.” With absolute deliberation he bit down into the center of the palm. His eyes dared her to make a scene. She gasped, but he refused to relinquish her hand when she tugged. Instead, his tongue swirled over the bite, soothing the sting.

  Retaining possession of her hand, he tucked their laced fingers comfortably, intimately, under his chin, and turned his attention back to Patterson. “It isn’t safe for Emma to be out without a bodyguard. I have enemies and they know they can get to me through her.”

  He rubbed her knuckles along his blue-shadowed jaw, back and forth, a lazy, sexy movement. Every now and then, he brought her hand to the warmth of his mouth to nibble almost seductively at her fingertips.

  “Of course, I’d kill anyone who tried to take her away from me.” He made the statement matter-of-factly in a low, velvet-soft voice, looking Patterson directly in the eye, meaning every word.

  Greg paled visibly and a shiver of apprehension went down Emma’s spine. Her gaze jumped to Jake’s face. He smiled at her but his eyes glittered with promise until she looked down.

  “Don’t worry,” Emma murmured. “We weren’t exactly alone.” She could barely stammer the words out.

  Jake was doing all kinds of things to her body with his absentminded ministrations. Although he was acting so seductive and loving, she knew he was angry with her. Jake was at his most dangerous, acting possessive and skimming far too close to the edge of his control. She’d never been on the receiving end of his anger. Her pulse had sky-rocketed and every nerve ending sizzled with heat. A little desperately, she tried to pull her hand away, but Jake didn’t seem to notice. If anything he tightened his hold. Her heart began to beat faster.

  “We weren’t?” Greg sat up straight, aware he was in deadly peril. No one could call Bannaconni subtle, and he had the kind of power that could make men disappear.

  “Drake and Joshua were seated two rows behind us. Joshua really enjoyed the film. That was him laughing his head off,” she explained to Greg, trying to ignore the way Jake’s fingers bit into her wrist.

  “Emma’s very precious to me,” Jake murmured, nuzzling her hand again. “It’s nice to know I don’t have to commit murder tonight.”

  Emma closed her eyes briefly. He was so angry. Had she deliberately set out to make him that way? She had a sinking feeling she might have.

  Patterson cleared his throat. “Were you considering murder?” He tried to smile, make it a joke.

  The golden eyes slashed at him. “Very seriously considering it.” There was nothing humorous in those glittering eyes.

  “Jake.” Josiah Trent’s lawyer, Bernard, stood over them frowning at each one of them. “Is something wrong?”

  “Nothing I can’t handle.” Jake barely glanced up.

  “We haven’t got this thing settled,” Bernard objected.

  “As far as I’m concerned we have,” Jake answered with deceptive laziness. His arm curled around Emma’s shoulders, his hand sliding down, his fingers absently playing with her hair. “I gave you an answer.”

  “You didn’t listen to the proposal.”

  “We’ll take
it up again later.”

  A swift look of annoyance crossed Bernard’s face. “This is so important?”

  The golden eyes flickered over the lawyer. Jake brought Emma’s fingers to his mouth. “More important than anything else, Bernard. Now go away.” Deliberately, and quite rudely, he dismissed the lawyer.

  Bernard Williams stalked angrily away.

  Jake glanced at the gold watch on his wrist. “You finished with your coffee, baby? It’s getting late.” He stood up, one hand drawing her up with him, clamping her to his side, refusing to give her any other choice, the other hand extending to Greg. “It was a pleasure meeting you. I appreciate your taking Emma to the movies.” Carelessly he dropped several bills on the table, paying for the coffee and dessert they hadn’t touched. “We can’t be out late, Patterson. You never know when a little one is going to have nightmares. Right, honey?”

  Emma didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Surely he could see the impression he was giving her date. Talking about the children, who was watching them, for heaven’s sake. Kissing her very publicly, practically shoving his tongue down her throat. No wonder people talked about them. Greg already looked as if he might faint. She barely had time to whisper a quick good night before Jake drew her across the room.

  “Slow down. Jake, it’s a little undignified running after you in high heels. Your step makes three of mine.”

  “You shouldn’t be wearing the damned things,” he snapped, but he did slow a fraction. He glanced down at the top of her silky head, his rough features etched in granite. “You can ride home with me. Joshua will drive the Jeep.”

  “They probably left,” she pointed out logically.

  “They damn well better not have.”

  She put a small, placating hand on his arm. “Are you angry with me?”

  “Angry? What the hell would I have to be angry about?” He nodded curtly to several of his business associates. Most of them stared at Emma in open curiosity.

  She glanced back to see Greg Patterson standing by their table, looking as if he’d been run over by a truck.

  Jake jerked her around when he caught her looking back. “Finding my woman out with another man, dressed the way you are? Why the hell would I be angry about that? I hope you weren’t expecting him to kiss you good night.” There was an audible snap of Jake’s white teeth.

  “What is wrong with you?” Emma’s temper began to rise. Something alive ran under her skin, creating a wave of heat that itched as it spread through her body. “I’m not your woman.”

  “Like hell, you’re not.” His fingers were an iron band around her arm as he dragged her out to the parking lot.

  Jake spotted her two bodyguards immediately. They were lounging against their truck, waiting just as he knew they’d be. Jake held out his hand for the keys to the Jeep, and scowled at Emma when she hesitated.

  “I’m perfectly capable of driving myself home,” she protested.

  “Don’t,” he hissed. “Just give me the fucking keys.”

  Emma dropped the keys into his hand. Jake tossed them to Joshua. “I heard you enjoyed the movie.”

  “I don’t appreciate you two following me,” Emma felt compelled to point out.

  “You’d better appreciate it,” Jake snarled. “They’re the only reason I haven’t strangled you.” His hands caught her shoulders in a firm grip, gave her a little shake. “You never, ever, leave the ranch without a bodyguard. Not ever. Do you have any idea the kind of danger you put yourself in?”

  “I refuse to argue with you over it,” Emma said. “It’s cold out here. And I’m not riding home with you, Jake. Give me back the keys, Joshua.”

  “Do you really want to make a scene here in the parking lot, Emma? Because I can throw your ass over my shoulder and toss you in the car, if that’s the way you want it. You’re going home with me.”

  She stood toe-to-toe with him, but the anger coming off him in waves changed her mind. He was quite capable of a public scene and he wouldn’t mind in the least. Jake shrugged out of his coat, bundled her in it and stalked to the Ferrari, taking her with him, waiting at her door until she got in. Emma nervously swept a hand through her hair as Jake slid in beside her. He reached across her to lock the seat belt around her. For some inexplicable reason she felt trapped. “Jake?” She said his name softly, gently, wanting reassurance.

  “Don’t say anything, Emma.” He didn’t look at her. With controlled violence, he spun the wheel and fell in behind Drake’s truck, with Joshua directly following them in the Jeep.

  Emma closed her eyes and lay back in the seat. The tension in the interior of the car could be cut with a knife. He was actually trembling with rage. Seething with it. She could feel it swirling inside of him, dark and ugly and violent. She sighed, wishing she could share the humor of the evening with him, the way Joshua and Drake had acted in the show, the look on Greg’s face when Jake had come over and sat between them. If Jake had been the least bit like Andrew, they would be laughing together.

  Once they arrived at the ranch, Jake’s fingers bit into her upper arm and he hauled her right out of the car. Emma went with him into the house just for the sake of peace. But he didn’t release her. He continued on down the hall toward his office.

  Emma struggled. “Let go of me, Jake. You’re hurting me.” He wasn’t, but she was suddenly tired, the beginnings of a headache coming on. He was in a foul mood and she didn’t particularly feel like dealing with it.

  “I want to talk to you,” he bit out between clenched teeth, thrusting her into the room. “I think it’s been a long time coming.”

  Emma stumbled and had to catch at the back of a chair to keep from falling. She kicked off her high heels. “What is it, Jake? I’m really very tired and I don’t particularly care for your mood.”

  “My mood?” An eyebrow went up, his fist clenched. “You don’t care for my mood?” His eyes burned with fury.

  “No, not really. You’re angry and I can’t understand why.” She hung on to her patience; one of them had to show good sense.

  “All the way home I told myself I wouldn’t lose my temper, I’d be perfectly reasonable when we talked. You don’t even know why I’m angry?” His eyes were glittering, a golden menace.

  “Not really, no.”

  “I hate it when you’re so damned calm. Do you ever lose control, Emma?” He took a step closer, his temper barely held in check. He wanted to kiss that look right off of her face. Two long years of waiting. She was his, made for him. Belonged to him. He wanted to rake his claws over Patterson’s belly and tear out his guts, watch him die a slow, terrible death.

  “Who the hell is Greg Patterson? When did he ask you out and why the hell did you go with him?”

  Emma tried to fight down her own anger, knowing she could lose everything if she got into a fight with Jake. He owned her home and everything in it, but she couldn’t let him talk to her the way he was. She tried to be reasonable, but there was a part of her that knew she had deliberately precipitated the crisis, and she couldn’t stop herself from pushing him even more.

  “If anyone should be angry here, it should be me. After the way you acted, do you think he’d ask me out again? You made it sound as if we had children together, as if we lived together. He probably thought you caught me stepping out on you.”

  “Another date!” He caught her shoulders, his fingers biting into her soft skin, hauling her very close to his large, masculine frame. She could feel the heat from his body enveloping her. “You go out on another date and I’ll break his neck. And just so you have it straight, Emma, we do have children together. You do live with me.”

  She scowled at him. “You know very well we’re not like that. And you’re the one who said I needed a man.”

  “And just what the hell am I?”

  She stared at him, blinking rapidly. “You are not the least bit interested in me.”

  “I fucking asked you to marry me,” he pointed out, furious beyond anything he’d ever kn
own. “What the hell more do you want?” He swore aloud, too angry to say another word.

  Jake jerked her into his arms, crushing her body right up against his. One hand twisted in her hair, the other held her chin so he could claim her mouth. There was nothing gentle or sweet about his kiss. The touch of his lips sent an electric shock running through her. He bit down on her lower lip just hard enough to cause her to gasp and then he was pure male domination, invading her softness, tasting, punishing.

  11

  EMMA couldn’t move, didn’t dare to struggle, recognizing in that moment how dangerous Jake really was. His strength was enormous, his hunger stark and raw. Fully aroused, he seemed capable of anything. He growled low in his throat, his kiss deepening until he was almost eating at her mouth in an effort to devour her. He drove her backward until she was against the wall, never lifting his mouth from hers. Emma ran her tongue along the edge of his teeth, feeling a sharpness, tasting his desire as he cupped the back of her head and held her there, his mouth moving over hers, turning her body to liquid fire.

  Jake captured both her hands in his and drew them over her head, holding her pinned there, his body rubbing along hers like a cat. Something wild in her responded, her body burning with unnatural heat. He was a primitive male claiming his mate, and her bones melted until she was living, pliant silk, and every nerve ending was alive from their combined fiery heat. She shaped her body to his, pressing close, her mouth moving mindlessly beneath his, tongues twining, stroking, his taste bursting through her like erotic champagne bubbles.

  She couldn’t think, could only feel, her body going up in flames, needing his. If he was growling, she was moaning, breathless and hungry and so needy she couldn’t stand the weight of her clothes on her skin.