Burning Wild (Leopard People 2)

"You were going to shoot every horse on the property, you maniac. I would call that overreacting, and keeping me sitting here is definitely overreacting." When he just remained looming over her like some Neanderthal man, she sighed. "Jake. Come on. I'm going crazy." She winced at the pathetic little whimper in her voice.

She was edgy and moody and wanted to rip and tear at something. Jake had insisted she go to the hospital to be checked out. He took the doctor's instructions seriously--too seriously. When the doctor said he wanted her to be quiet, Jake thought that meant completely immobile. He let the children kiss her and talk to her, but only in short visits. He'd slept in her bed, his arm around her waist, but that had been all, no other touching. His kisses drove her wild, and her body ached for his, but he insisted on handling her as if she might break at any moment.

"Is your headache completely gone?"

"Absolutely. Totally." She started to stand and he dropped a heavy hand on her shoulder, preventing movement.

"The doctor's coming today. If he says you're fine, then we'll see."

"He will say I'm fine." Emma hesitated and plunged on to the next subject. "Jake, right before my horse spooked, I smelled something. It sounds silly, but I have a really acute sense of smell and the wind shifted and for a minute it smelled like a wildcat. Maybe a mountain lion. Could there be a large cat in the vicinity?"

Jake went very still.

Emma dropped her eyes and shrugged. "I know it sounds silly, but I can smell things others can't. I've always been able to, and lately my sense of smell has been even sharper. I can tell who has come into the house before they get into the same room with me."

He caught her chin. "Don't do that. Don't be afraid of saying anything to me. I'd never belittle you, Emma. You've been thinking about this for two days now. I knew something was on your mind. I don't want you to keep things from me. Not your fears, not your opinions, even when they differ from mine."

The pad of his thumb slid back and forth over her chin. "I know you think I've been a little crazy over this accident, but you're black and blue. You could have been killed. And if you tell me you smelled a wildcat, then I believe you. Drake and Conner have been looking for tracks. Something had to have spooked those horses. We let that herd run free on the property but they should have been miles away. The stallion keeps them to a territory about thirty miles from the house and he always stays on the same range."

Something in his voice caught at her. "Are you saying the horses were purposely herded or driven onto the trail we take the children riding on?"

"I don't know, honey, but I intend to find out. I just think it's best to keep the kids very close to the house. I'm beefing up the security when the children are outside."

Her heart slammed hard against her chest, and for a moment she couldn't breathe. "Do you think someone is trying to harm them? Tell me the truth, Jake. You've got to tell me what's going on. I don't like being kept in the dark like some child."

Jake sank into a high-backed chair opposite her, a sigh slipping out. "I don't want to scare you off."

"Jake, if anything was going to scare me off, it would be you. You're a very intimidating man, but do I look afraid of you?"

Faint humor lit his eyes. He smirked. "Sometimes." She smiled at him. "Okay. Sometimes I am, but you don't sound remorseful."

"A little fear is good for you once in a while, otherwise you'd boss me around the way you do everyone else."

She refused to allow him to distract her. "I won't run. Tell me."

He pulled his chair close so their knees were touching. "The people who are my birth parents were involved in a bizarre experiment. What they were trying to do doesn't really matter. The point is, they wanted a child with certain talents, and when I was born, I wasn't what they had ordered. They have an alliance with the Trents, and I believe the Trents have been conducting the same sort of breeding experiments, rather like friendly rivals. Both families are very powerful, politically as well as socially. I'm sure you've read the papers and the suspicions surrounding both families. Nothing is ever proved, but Bannaconni and Trent both have been under suspicion in the disappearance of young women."

She noted that he referred to his father as Bannaconni, never as Dad or Father. Jake was always consistent in that. She tangled her fingers with his as he continued.

"Let's just say that not only do I believe Bannaconni and Trent are guilty in the women's disappearances, but that other disappearances have never been discovered. They've had women bring rape and torture charges against them in two separate incidences, but they were acquitted when, in fact, they were guilty. How do I know they were guilty? I know them and I saw them kill someone, a nanny of mine they blamed for their abuse of me. Their wives are every bit as depraved and cruel and bloodthirsty as they are. They are serial killers, yet they'll never be caught." He pulled his hands away from her, as if he couldn't have physical contact even when mentioning his childhood.

She went white, she knew she did. She could feel the color draining from her face. She believed him. She took a deep breath. "Did they try to kill you, Jake?"

"There were times I wished they had."

"All the scars?"

He nodded slowly. "Not necessarily all of them, but, yes, they liked to inflict pain. For the power and the rush. It's all about power." He waited a heartbeat. Two. Wanting her to know the truth. Wanting her to know what she was getting into, or maybe he wanted her to prove that she really belonged to him. "I have the same genetic makeup. Their blood flows in my veins."

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nbsp; She tried not to see the understanding of his parents' deviant need for power in his eyes. That remote, cold look he often had on his face, the determination to destroy his enemies. The ruthless traits in him that made him a bitter, relentless enemy were stamped on his face. He took apart companies like others took out garbage. He reveled in his ability to scent weakness and he circled like a shark with the smell of blood before going in for the kill. His attacks were always swift, unexpected and ferocious. Emma moistened her suddenly dry lips and tried to breathe normally.

"Do you like to inflict pain, Jake? For the feeling of power? For the rush?"

His gaze jumped to hers, locked and held. "Yes." He wanted her to know the truth about him, about the monster living in him. Not buried deep, but close to the surface. She had to know. He hadn't started out thinking he would ever reveal the ugliness inside him to anyone, but she deserved the truth. He owed her that.

Emma's breath left her lungs in a rush, as if she'd been punched and couldn't catch air. He caught her hands again, locking them together, and she had to fight to keep from pulling away. She couldn't look away from his eyes, from the rejection there. He had bared his soul and expected rejection--maybe even was half hoping for it.

"Have you ever killed anyone? Done anything like your parents?"

"The enemies," he corrected.

She took a shallow breath. It was the best she could do. "The enemies, then. Have you ever physically harmed another human being?"

"Not like the enemies have, but I killed a man who meant to murder Drake. I felt I had no choice. Everything happened fast and there wasn't time to think."

Emma was silent, trying to wrap her mind around how the conversation had taken such an unexpected, shocking turn, yet she wasn't nearly as shocked as she should have been.

"Emma." Jake waited until she was wholly focused on him. "I had no choice."

He was telling the truth. She knew he was by his scent alone. "Have you ever been cruel to animals?"

"No, of course not. I would never do such a thing, nor have I ever wanted to."

"What about the children? Have you ever wanted to hurt them?" She held her breath, terrified of his answer. He never looked away from her, although it had to hurt him that she asked.