From his position atop the table—and a provocative position it was!—he could see almost everything. What his gaze hit upon turned out to be more of a distraction than Jake had bargained for. His attention locked onto the saddlebag on the floor in the far corner of the room. It belonged to Amanda—he'd seen it enough times to know—and it was partially opened.
Jake tensed, his eyes narrowed warily. He remembered their first night together... the night she'd watched him bathe, the night he'd questioned her about the money. He couldn't remember her exact response, but he did remember her telling him the money was in her saddlebag, perfectly safe.
At the time, he'd sensed she was lying. He'd been on his way to check when—he scowled when this memory assailed him—she'd distracted him from ever getting that far. They'd wound up making a fire, then kissing... and even then her soft, sweet mouth had had the power to push rationed thought from his mind.
The muscle in his cheek jerked. Amanda wasn't kissing him now, and although her tempting curves were distracting as all hell, he was thinking with marginal clearness. And what he was thinking, what he was brooding about, was that he'd never carried through that night. He'd never checked to see if she really did have the money to pay him, or if her offer was just another one of the lies she'd been telling him right from the start.
His fingers, curled around Amanda's upper arm, flexed. She stirred in her sleep, and Jake forced himself to loosen his grip so he didn't wake her. She settled down, curling trustingly into him once more, but he no longer felt the same enjoyment to have her pressing against him. Her warm, naked body was a distraction he couldn't afford to indulge in right now.
His gaze sharpened on her saddlebag.
It wasn't his. He had no right to go through it. Still, if she was playing him for a fool—and he suddenly had a cold, nagging suspicion that she was—well, that sure as hell wasn't right either!
He deserved some answers, didn't he? Damn straight he did! And if Amanda wouldn't give them to him...
Chapter 15
"You little bitch!"
Jake enjoyed a second of satisfaction as he watched Amanda's sleep-relaxed features pull taut. Her eyes snapped open, locking with his in a look of stunned disbelief.
"Wha—!"
"Shut up!" He'd hauled her up by her shoulders until she was in almost a sitting position. His fingers dug into her tender flesh as he gave her a firm shake. "So help me God, Miss Lennox, you say anything—just one damn word—and I'm liable to plant my fist down your lying little throat. Is that clear?"
She nodded warily, her eyes huge and round. Rich gold hair scattered around her face and shoulders in soft waves, accenting the paleness of her cheeks. Her lower lip was moist and full, trembling slightly as she nibbled it with her teeth. Jake tried not to notice any of that as he hauled her roughly off the table and onto her feet.
How she managed to keep the blanket Jake had tossed over them earlier wrapped around her body, he would never know. He was just damn glad she did. The last thing he needed was to see more of her soft, creamy white skin. The sight might burn away some of his anger, and he wanted to hold onto that. He needed to cling to his fury, hide behind it.
Anger was familiar, it was safe. And it was a hell of a lot more comfortable than the confusion this woman had stirred inside of him with her wild lovemaking and whisper-soft words.
"Get dressed," he growled. Bending at the waist, he snatched up the wrinkled pile of her clothes and pushed them into her arms. She was rubbing the sleep from her eyes with her fist, so she didn't take them right away.
With an impatient sneer, Jake grabbed her wrist and forced her free arm around the pile. Then he jerked her around and shoved her toward the hearth. The blanket was wrapped beneath her arms. That left her shoulders bare. The sensation that seared through Jake's palms when he felt her soft, tempting flesh beneath his hands was something he didn't dare study too hard.
He kept his gaze impassive when Amanda stumbled a few steps before catching her balance. Never, not even to himself, would he admit that he'd tensed imperceptibly, ready to catch her should she fall. Thank God she didn't. That meant he didn't have to make any moves toward her, meant he wouldn't have to touch her again. Not yet. That was more than fine by Jake.
"Did s-something happen that I should know about?" Amanda asked, her voice shaky as she leaned weakly against the wall.
The muscle in his jaw jerked furiously. His eyes were shimmering grey slits. "Thought I told you to shut up."
"But—"
"Then do it! Jesus, lady, just once I'd like to see you do what you're told." Jake guessed by the way Amanda shook her head that she was trying to clear it of the sleep he'd just so rudely jarred her from. If she thought his screaming in her face was rude... hell, that was nothing compared to the other ways of waking her that he'd contemplated after going through her saddlebag. It had taken a good hour before he'd trusted himself to touch her and not to hurt her.
Jake spun on his heel and turned his back on her. Over his shoulder he said harshly, "Hurry up. We don't have all night."
Amanda thought better of arguing. Whatever was going on here, she'd know soon enough. Meanwhile, it would be best to do what she was told and do it quickly. Hopefully, by the time she was done dressing his anger would have cooled.
Her hands shook when she dropped the blanket to the floor, then struggled into her clothes. The normally simple chore of working the buttons on her bodice closed proved to be difficult and time-consuming. The laces of her chemise couldn't be salvaged. They dangled down, making the neckline gape open;
the severed tips tickled her skin.
Amanda tried not to think about how Jake had sliced them with his knife, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. Her cheeks flooded with heat when she thought of how eager his big copper hands had been to get past the linen, as eager as she had been for him to do it. Their joinings had been savage and greedy and wonderful. She'd thought they were equally as wonderful for him.
Again, his reaction surprised her. What surprised Amanda even more was that, for the life of her, she couldn't imagine what had brought about his sudden burst of temper.
Jake's foul mood and burning gaze implied she'd done something very wrong. Something infuriating. Something unforgivable. In the past, he'd always shown her quiet, leashed anger. There was nothing quiet or leashed about the fury he was showing her now. It was wild, untamed, dangerous. Much more frightening than his previous displays of control had ever been.