Conspiracy Game (GhostWalkers 4)

His eyes were dark and fathomless. She couldn't read his expression, but there was something almost predatory about him, something cold and dark and very dangerous. She could feel it emanating off of him in waves. He stared at her without blinking, and she knew he missed nothing at all. Her heart was pounding almost out of control. Every breath she took. The beads of sweat forming on her forehead, the ones trickling down between her breasts. The way her lips were dry and her palms sweaty. There was no hiding from his heightened senses, and she didn't try. She wouldn't apologize for her fear.

"Stay right behind me."

The moment his back was turned, she tugged on the tails of the shirt, making certain it adequately covered her. With anyone else, she might have thought he was forcing her to dress in his shirt to make her feel more vulnerable, but Jack was already too aware of her sexually. He didn't need her naked beneath the shirt to be aware of her as a woman. He was matter-of-fact about it, almost too much so.

Briony cleared her throat. "I'd prefer not to meet your brother until I have clothes on. I'm very uncomfortable."

"I'd prefer it that way as well," he said, without glancing over his shoulder. "I'll get you clothes right away." Stay out of sight, Ken, until I get her clothes. She has Whitney's new army after her and I didn't want to take a chance on bugs.

Whitney? I thought he was dead.

So did I. Ken. Jack hesitated.

I'm here.

Don't be too charming. I don't want her falling for you.

There was dead silence. Jack cursed under his breath. Ken was the type of man all the ladies fell for. Few women gave Jack a second glance, and if they did, they moved away quickly. Never once, in all their years together, had he warned Ken off of a woman.

You okay with her here?

I don't want her anywhere else.

That wasn't what I asked. You know how you are. Is it safe for her to be here? Ken persisted.

Damn it, Ken, how the hell would I know. She's here. She isn't going to leave, so we all have to find a way to live with it.

She doesn't want to leave or you aren't letting her leave?

That was Ken, going right to the heart of the matter. Ken knew him, knew every black mark on his soul. Jack didn't answer, taking Briony through the trees to the front yard. She stopped abruptly when she saw the house.

"It's beautiful. It never occurred to me that there would be a real house way out here. It's perfect."

Secretly pleased at the appreciative awe in her voice, he gave a casual shrug. "Ken and I built it together. We own a little over twenty-four hundred acres, and the property is completely self-sufficient. We have acres of tamarack and fir trees, and if we ever need to make a little money, we can harvest some of them. We also have a gold mine. The water supply to the property is gravity-fed. We don't need power to get it into the house. The hydroelectrical system powers the batteries, and we only use a small amount of the power available to us."

"It looks like a log cabin, but it's huge."

"Over three thousand square feet. Ken has one wing of the house and I have the other. We share the kitchen, dining, and great rooms. The garage nearly doubles the space, so we have the room to expand into offices if we ever want to."

"Why offices?"

"Ken thinks we're going to run a high-priced camp for bored businessmen to practice survival skills."

"That's not a bad idea."

"It requires actually talking to them."

Briony laughed. It was the first time he'd heard her laugh since he'd left her months earlier, and the sound played down his spine like caressing fingers. "I see. What did you make the house out of? I love the fact that it looks like a log cabin."

"The logs are Western white pine. We fitted them together with Swedish cope and used oil for the finish. The original mine is still on the property, as well as the first cabin built."

"You really have a gold mine?"

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingertips lingering against her skin. "There's gold up here, although Ken and I have never bothered to pursue it. We have all the wildlife and trout in the streams we need and are completely independent when we're here. No telephones, so no one can bother us."

"Jebediah said you're still in the service. How do they get in touch with you if they need you?"

"Radio. We have a helicopter if we need it and a small plane at the airport."

"Well, your house is absolutely beautiful and unexpected. I think you're a secret artisan."

He waved her toward the porch, inexplicably pleased that she liked his home. It was a sanctuary, plain and simple, a place few would ever find and fewer would dare to enter. "The road goes out in the winter, but we have snowmobiles."

"What do you use for heat?"

"Wood. There's plenty of it."

"I especially love the verandah. I've always loved covered wraparound decks, and yours is perfect." Briony touched the railing and stepped up onto the porch. She did love the house, but now that she was about to enter, her heart was beating too wildly. It took all of her courage to flash a tentative smile and act as if she entered strange men's homes in nothing but a shirt every day of the week. "Funny, with all the warnings about you, Jack, you have more of a home than most people do. And it surprises me. This is beautiful."

"It's very isolated. Most women wouldn't like it up here."

Briony shrugged. "Most women can be around people without any problems. Me, I like solitude. And I've never had the chance to be in the mountains like this. It's especially beautiful at night."

"Tomorrow, I'm going to show you any alarms or booby traps on the property so if you're out walking, you won't get in trouble."

She rolled her eyes. "Can we just say paranoia?"

"I prefer to use the term prepared."

He led her through the kitchen. She glimpsed a stove and refrigerator, but little else as he hurried her through the house, down a wide hall to push a door open and step back for her to enter.

His scent was everywhere. She glanced back at him, hesitating. Her womb clenched, and she could feel the slow heat moving through her body. "Your bedroom?"

Jack drew in his breath. This was going to be a hell of a lot harder on both of them than he'd first thought. "Where else? I'll get you something to sleep in and something to wear tomorrow morning." He crossed to the dresser and pulled out a pair of drawstring pants. He'd never worn them. Ken had been trying to dress him for years, but so far Jack had resisted, preferring his jeans and camouflage clothes. "Are you hungry? I can whip something up for you."

"I'm just really tired, Jack. I'd like to take a shower if you don't mind, and just go to bed." Because she couldn't face him anymore. Looking at him hurt. And her body was out of control. She was ashamed of her lack of control. More than anything, she wanted to be alone where she could pull the covers over her head and cry her eyes out where no one could see--or hear.

Jack opened the door to his private bathroom. Her scent was already mingling with his. Once she was in his bathroom, he would have no respite from her--and he didn't care. She had her plan to keep him at a distance. He wasn't going to let that happen. Briony Jenkins was going to have to learn to live with him. It wouldn't be easy for her, but there was no alternative, and he wasn't going to allow her to back away from what was so obviously between them.

CHAPTER 11

Briony curled up into a tight little ball in Jack's big bed. She could smell his masculine scent everywhere. The hot shower had taken some of the stiffness from her body, but the dread inside of her grew until her heart seemed to be in her throat choking her. She couldn't get away from him. She drew him into her body with every breath she took. It might have been okay if it had just been her body betraying her, but her emotions felt raw and she couldn't stop thinking about how gentle his hands were when he touched her.

She would not get caught in that trap again. It wasn't real--it would never be real. Jack had made his feelings clear and she had to respect that

. He was a man who, in spite of his roughness, treated women gently, and she was simply more susceptible because her hormones were running wild. Emotional and sexual at the same time. It was a difficult combination to cope with.

If you came to challenge me to a duel because I fucked your sister, Jebediah, you're a hell of a lot stupider than I gave you credit for. Briony felt her cheeks grow hot remembering Jack's accusation. Damn it all. She'd already fallen into his seductive trap. He just looked at her, touched her, and she practically threw herself into his arms. What was wrong with her? Didn't she have any pride? How was she ever going to be able to stay in his home--his bedroom--with the scent of him driving her into some kind of mindless heat?

She sighed, flung off the covers, and padded barefoot to the window to shove it open and lean out to inhale the night, trying to clear her head. The air was far cooler than she was used to, but it felt good on her hot skin. She sat on the windowsill and watched the trees dancing in the wind, ignored the tears that streamed down her face. She was so emotional lately someone should just put her out of her misery. She blinked until she brought the landscape back into focus. The branches swayed and bowed, leaves glittering silver in the moonlight. Sitting quietly, she saw several deer wander into the yard, and something larger, almost horse-size, much farther off.

Curious, Briony climbed out the window and padded barefoot across the porch to the railing, leaning out to get a better view. She didn't dare go wandering around the property until she knew where any alarms or traps were hidden, but she was intrigued with the large animal foraging in the forest so close to the house. She'd never seen an elk wandering free before, and she was fairly certain she was looking at a herd of them. For the first time in what seemed like weeks, she could breathe again, not have her mind in a whirling chaos of emotions. Out in the night air, there was no scent of Jack and no reminders that she was so susceptible to him.

Hand to her throat, she walked softly along the wraparound porch, keeping pace with the herd, following them around the large house, determined to think of something other than Jack--other than her situation. The covered porch was wide and the railing high enough that, holding on to one of the support columns, she was certain she could push off, swing up to the roof, and get an even better view, without disturbing anyone. She climbed up on the railing, keeping one eye on the huge animals, afraid they'd retreat farther into the forest before she could get a good look at them.

She wrapped her arm around the pole and judged the distance to the roof. It wasn't very far for someone as enhanced as she was, but she'd have to swing out and flip her body up to get above the overhang. She leapt and caught the edge of the roof.

Two hands bit into her waist and yanked her back down, pulling her tight against one very hard body. Jack's eyes glittered like twin diamonds, slashing at her angrily. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

The man was built of iron, no give in his body, and where she was cold, he was hot, heat radiating off his skin. Her heart immediately went into overdrive. Worse, her body reacted, breasts full and aching and her womb clenching. She tasted him in her mouth, felt him in her body. The memory was instantly vivid and alive. Just like that--so simple for him to reduce her to nothing but need. Desperate to escape her own reaction to his scent, Briony struggled to break his grip, but even with her enhanced strength, he didn't budge.

"I wanted to see the herd of elk--at least I think they were elk. Thanks to you, I didn't get a good look at them. Let go, Jack." He was the last person she wanted to see. She needed to be alone--and she wasn't sleeping in his room--or in his bed, where his scent was everywhere. She wanted to weep with frustration. She wanted to strike out at someone. This was a totally impossible situation. She wasn't strong enough to be around him and not want him. And why was he always touching her?

"Anyone creeping around my house is liable to be killed."

"I'm not a prisoner, am I? If I want to look at some animals in the forest, I don't think that's a killing offense. Go back to bed. I'm fine out here alone." Because she couldn't lie in that bed and not want him with every cell of her body. If you came to challenge me to a duel because I fucked your sister... Deliberately she repeated the words in her mind, needing something to keep her from being an even bigger fool than she already was.

"It's cold, Briony, go in the house."

She pressed two fingers just above her eyes, feeling humiliation that she couldn't control her own physical needs. He had to get away from her, had to stop touching her body. "Go to hell. I have every right to be out here if I prefer it."

He tipped his head to one side to study her furious expression. "Why are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

"I don't like being told what to do." Because he was all she thought about, and he had already made it clear he didn't want her. Because he'd said...fucked your sister. She shouldn't want a man who'd been programmed to sleep with her. It was utterly humiliating. A man who wanted nothing but a cheap, mindless fuck.

Damn it all to hell. That's not true. That was never true. Jack stepped close, and Briony backed away from him, throwing up one hand to ward him off.

"Don't!" She said it sharply, terrified she'd burst into tears. Already her eyes were burning and she felt a lump rising in her throat. "Just don't say anything more about it."

Jack reached for her anyway, not giving her personal space, but crowding her body so that the heat of his skin seeped into the ice of hers. "You're shaking like a leaf." He ran his hands up and down her arms in an effort to warm her. He forced gentleness into his voice. Why the hell had he ever said such a stupid thing to her brother? "Your body is freezing and you aren't even aware of it. What were you going to do? Get up on the roof?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

"And did it occur to you that you might slip and fall and hurt the baby?"

"I'm a flyer. I do stunts for a living. I think I can manage to climb up on a roof."

"Well, don't. I thought you were tired." Jack wanted to comfort her, but she was too far away from him emotionally, trying to distance herself, and he wasn't good at this sort of thing.

She reached up to her earlobe, needing the comfort of touching her mother's earring, found bare skin and dropped her hand. "I am. I just need space. I can't do this."

"Yes, you can."

"Well, maybe I don't want to do this." She backed away from him until she was up against the railing. He couldn't touch her again. Every brush of his fingers brought acute awareness of his body and the desperate needs of her own. She'd come outside to escape him, yet there seemed to be no escape.

"You should have thought of that before you came to me."

Briony clenched her fists. "At the time, I didn't feel I had a choice." Her chin went up. "Look. Obviously this isn't going to work. I can leave. There are other ways to disappear, and there's always Kadan Montague. He offered his protection."

Jack's jaw tightened, the gray eyes suddenly turning a peculiar silver--ice cold--frightening. "Kadan Montague is not going to be protecting my child or its mother. That's my job, not his. Don't try bringing another man into this mess, Briony. We have enough to worry about without that."

"Oh really?" Furious, not even knowing why, she turned and in one smooth move leapt over the railing onto the ground below. "This mess? My being pregnant is such a mess, isn't it? I don't need your help and, quite frankly, I don't want it."

Jack swore and leapt after her. So much for tact--he didn't have it, never would. He shackled her wrist in a viselike grip and she whirled, throwing a punch at his face. He caught her fist in midair. "Keep it up and I'm going to turn you over my knee. What the hell is wrong with you? You should know better than to pick a fight you can't win." She looked wild, angry, and embarrassed. She looked vulnerable, young, and all too fragile. She felt alone and frightened. The fear moved in his mind--not of him, but of the situation. Of him callously saying he'd fucked her. Of expecting a baby and having no one to turn to. She was terrified Whi

tney would find her and take her baby from her. Jack glimpsed the roller coaster of emotions jumbled in her mind.

He gentled his voice in spite of his exasperation. "I didn't say the mess was your being pregnant. Stop putting words in my mouth. And, baby, you know damned well I wasn't fucking you. Not like that. Not how I made it sound to your brother."

She shook her head. "I can't breathe here. I can't. I'm just going to go."

Jack's expression hardened. His jaw flexed and the gray eyes glittered silver. "You're going to calm down and go into the house and get some sleep." He made another effort to gentle his voice. "You've been under a tremendous strain. Once you get a good night's rest, you'll see things differently."

"Stop talking to me in that superior tone. Do you think it was easy to come here and ask for help after the things you said to me?" She shoved at his chest, barely rocking him when she put all her strength behind it. "I left everyone I love. My child's in danger. I'm sick. I have no clothes or money, and I'm at the mercy of a man who doesn't want me around." She pushed at him again. "Get away from me. I was going to sit on the roof, not wander around like an idiot when you have the property booby-trapped."

"What are you thinking of doing now? It's the middle of the night. You know I have traps set up."

"I have a very good sense of smell. I can track my way back out of here the same way I came in."

She probably could too, but she was making him crazy, and his calm was going to disintegrate very soon. "Stop crying. I mean it, Briony, you have to stop."

"Or what?" She was angry that she was crying. Once she'd started, she couldn't seem to stop. Maybe she was hysterical, but if she wanted to sit out in the middle of the night and cry her eyes out, it was her business. "You're going to beat me? Someone else already did that. I'm not intimidated by you."

Jack dragged her close, holding her tightly against his body in spite of her struggles, one hand cupping the back of her head to press her face against his chest. He bent his head to find her bruised cheek, his mouth feathering kisses over the swollen side of her face. "Shh," he said to soothe her, closing his eyes against the pain in her mind. She radiated sorrow--grief--and he couldn't bear it. "I'm not the enemy."