Except her. He hadn’t remembered her. He didn’t remember her.
“And John knew we’d been together?” The sense of betrayal she felt went far deeper than she expected, and she knew it shouldn’t. John’s betrayal of her had begun well before they’d married and continued through the time they’d spent together. She’d already known he’d somehow used her, that she’d been a means to an end. She just wasn’t certain what the end game had been for him. But how had he ever imagined she knew anything about a militant group?
“John knew,” he said sharply. “John knew every second of that operation and where I spent my time. He was my backup.”
John had known about her weekend with Jacob, and no doubt he’d known what they’d spent those three days doing.
Jacob watched the painful realizations flicker across Sallie’s expression and knew the sense of betrayal she was likely feeling. She’d thought she was married to John, that she’d meant something to him.
Rage festered inside him, clawing at his guts with jagged talons at the thought. The son of a bitch had married Jacob’s woman. Dared to touch her. Hid the memory of her from him. He’d break every fucking bone in his body for it when he got his hands on him. And there was no doubt Jacob would catch up with him first. For all their brutality, Forefront hadn’t managed to build itself to the power it dreamed of being, nor had it enlisted killers sharp enough to hunt well-trained, experienced agents. That was why they were hunting Sallie. They intended to interrogate her, torture her, believing she had to know her ex-husband’s location.
They’d come to the ranch searching for her, meaning to interrogate his grandmother, and when that hadn’t worked out for them, they’d found Sallie. They’d been tracking her for years, searching for John, knowing John would lead them to the man that had fouled their ambush and killed some of their top generals during that explosion.
“John knew,” she whispered, mockery curling at her lips despite the pain that filled her expression. “Explains a lot.” The broken sound that escaped her may have meant to be a laugh, but it came out as more of a sob.
This wasn’t a situation she should have ever had to face. It was his fault she was in danger. His fault she was running.
“Come on, I’ll show you to your room. I need to talk to my men and you need to rest.”
“Like hell.” Before Sallie could stop herself, she grabbed his arm, surprised when he came to a stop. “You think I’m just going to bed like a good little girl? Really, Jacob? If you knew me, you’d know better.”
“Get some rest, baby,” he suggested, staring down at her, hunger sizzling in his gaze. “Because I promise, I’m going to see just how bad you are later. Now, come on…”
He strode away from her as though he believed she’d obey his autocratic little demand. She had no intention of obeying anyone at this point. The lies and betrayals were growing around her and it was pissing her off. She’d been attacked, hunted, used and she was damned sick of it. She wasn’t going to be ordered like some pet by a man who hadn’t even cared to remember her.
Crossing her arms over her breasts she stayed in place, and simply stared at his retreating back until he stopped halfway up the hallway. He turned back to her slowly, his gaze narrowing on her, his expression dark, so damned sexy. She felt her nipples peaking again, the flesh between her thighs sensitizing and growing moist at that look.
He was powerful, dominant. A man unlike any she had ever known in her life, before or after him. He’d ruined her for another man. He’d taken her to the very depths of her soul, and there was no getting past him or the memories of his touch.
“Sallie.” Dark, deep, his voice whispered of sin and sex and had moisture spilling from her vagina. “If I get my hands on you, I’m not going to be the man you’ve taken in the past weeks. Trust me, I haven’t given you the full brunt of the lover I can be because I didn’t want to scare you. But after this morning, that’s going to change. If you’re ready for that, fine. If not, move your ass now and give me time to get a handle on myself before I fucking touch you.”
Of course, she’d known he was holding back. She remembered the lover he’d been in Switzerland and the pleasure he’d gained in teaching her things she hadn’t known her body was capable of.
She remembered her complete inability to tell him no. And she knew if he touched her as he had that weekend, she’d be putty in his hands. There would be no saving herself then.
Jacob watched as her arms fell slowly to her sides and she began walking toward him. And she should have hurried, because as she moved, her fragile body so damned sexy, so alluring, his dick was like steel beneath his jeans.
He was going to rip those clothes off her. The soft, gray silk floated around her body like a dream, hinting at the soft curves, firm breasts, thighs that tempted a man beyond his ability to control his hunger.
Hazy, barely there, the memory of her on her knees, watching her take him in her mouth and the incredible pleasure of knowing she belonged to him, drifted through his mind as it had that morning in his dreams. She’d learned to take him as he liked, learned to trust him, to love him as no woman ever had.
How the hell had he forgotten her?
The brightest spot in his life and he’d allowed that memory to be taken from his mind. To be stolen from him along with the memory of that god be damned investigation.
“I don’t like orders,” she muttered, nearing him. “Nor do I like threats.”
She loved the right kind of orders, he remembered as half-formed memories drifted through his head. Remembered how slick and wet she’d get for him, how she’d scream in pleasure when he took her to that edge of reason before allowing her to come around him.
And she’d refused to tell him who she was when she’d come to Deer Haven. Three additional years he’d lost with her. Years she could have spent in his bed, in his life, and she’d kept her mouth shut. She’d refused both of them that time.
“And I don’t like being kept in the dark,” he all but snarled, turning on his heel once again and leading the way to his bedroom. “Get some rest. I’ll be a few hours. And come morning, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of other matters to argue over.”
Not that he intended to argue them with her. Come morning, he intended to revisit the nights he’d lost, and a hunger he’d never had for any other woman.
Now, he clearly understood why he’d restrained his cravings, his needs. Why he’d pulled back and refused to visit the darker passions he’d known before that explosion. Because that man belonged to only one woman. This woman. And he’d be damned if he’d restrain them any longer.
Stepping back, he allowed her to go around him and into the bedroom. The big bed was turned back invitingly, waiting for them. Here, in his room, she’d be safe, warm. Once the door closed and she locked it from the other side, no one but Jacob would be able to open it from the hallway.
“Lock the door once it closes, no one else can get to you then. Shower, watch television, sleep, whatever you choose, but don’t leave this room,” he told her, once again allowing his gaze to drift over the seductive allure of her silk-covered body. “Get some rest. Once I know what the hell is going on, we’ll talk.”