know how you can bring yourself to talk like this,’ she said in a fury. ‘This is all your protestations of love for me meant? How dare you?’
At once his temper rose in response to hers.
‘You stupid woman!’ he snapped. ‘Don’t you understand that I’m doing this because I do love you?’
‘Handing me over to another man?
‘A man you love as you could never love me. A man who can give you all the happiness that I can’t. I want you to have that happiness more than I’ve ever wanted anything in the world.’
The words were tender but his voice was harsh: the voice of a man determined to do things his way—even if he broke his own heart in the process.
Freya tried to speak, but now the tears were coming fast enough to choke her.
‘Perhaps I really am stupid,’ she said huskily. ‘But I can’t get my mind around this.’
His anger died. ‘It’s not your mind that needs to understand,’ he said quietly.
‘But my heart tells me that this is madness. Even if I believed in Dan’s love, that doesn’t change the kind of unreliable man he is.’
‘Your love can improve him, make him want to be better.’
‘And if it doesn’t?’
‘Then I’ll always help you in any way you want. I can go back to work for Dan, and if necessary I can knock some sense into him. And if you need someone to turn to I’ll always be there.’
She stared at him, stunned by the implications of what he was suggesting.
‘But you can’t do that,’ she whispered. ‘It would spoil your career, swallow up your life, leave you with nothing.’
‘I have nothing now,’ he said simply. ‘As for my life—it’s yours. You can’t send me away because I won’t go as long as there’s even a hint that you might need me. And if I can believe that you don’t need me, I’ll just wait until it happens again.’
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Jackson, a determined, forceful man, was putting himself at her mercy. Now the mask was tossed aside, the armour removed. What was left was the real man—vulnerable, defenceless, unprotected, and above all content for her to know it.
‘Do you understand?’ he asked. ‘I belong to you and you can’t get rid of me.’ He gave a faint smile. ‘You see what a bully I am.’
‘Yes, the worst kind,’ she murmured, moving closer to him. ‘The kind who thinks he knows what’s best for someone else. You won’t listen when I tell you I don’t love Dan. But I don’t—and I’m going to force you to accept that, because I can be a bully too.’
A new look had come into his face. Confusion, mixed with hope and a little alarm, as though he feared to hope for too much.
She met his gaze, silently telling him what to believe.
‘My methods are ruthless,’ she said, ‘and by the time I’m finished you’ll have to believe me.’
‘How are you going to manage that?’ he whispered.
‘Like this.’
Reaching up, she drew his head down far enough to rest her lips against his.
‘Freya—’
‘Kiss me, Jackson. That’s an order. You’re not the only one who likes to be obeyed. Kiss me.’
He obeyed with fervour, wrapping his arms right round her so that she couldn’t have escaped if she’d wanted to. But she didn’t want to. She wanted the pressure of his lips, growing fiercer with every moment. She wanted the feel of him shaking with desire against her own body, which was also shaking as never before—not for Dan, not for any other man, only for this man in her arms, where she was determined to keep him.
She had everything she wanted. He was hers as completely as she was his. His lips told her so, as did his arms, and the powerful beat of his heart that she could just hear. She wanted him with an intensity that only one thing could satisfy, and she was determined to have it.
When she drew him towards the bed he hesitated for a tiny moment, as though not daring to believe that his dreams could come true. But then doubt was swept away by desire and they fell onto the bed together, kissing, embracing, murmuring, pulling at each other’s clothes until there was not a stitch left between them.
He made love to her with a mixture of tenderness and passion that left her dizzy. She responded with everything in her, and had the delight of seeing in his eyes that she had taken him by surprise.
Afterwards he held her close, her head against his chest, so that she could hear his heart again, beating more slowly now, with sweet, gentle contentment.
‘I feel as though we’ve only just met,’ he murmured.
‘Yes, that’s just how it is,’ she said happily. ‘This is a new life for us. And there’s something else as well. Thanks to Harriet, I know you better than ever before.’
‘Harriet?’
‘She told me about that baby seal on Herringdean, and the sacrifices you made to protect it. I’d already heard a rumour about how you quarrelled with a production firm and stormed out, but it made you sound grim and threatening.’
‘Good,’ he said at once. ‘If my father knew the truth he’d cut me out of his life.’
‘But it made me want you in my life. I began to understand how much you need me and how deeply you long to be needed in return. Not just loved, but needed.’
‘Yes,’ he breathed. ‘Yes. I didn’t realise before. Freya, is this really happening to us?’
‘I don’t know. I can hardly believe it. It’s so beautiful. Can it be true?’
‘It can be as true as we make it.’
‘Yes,’ she murmured. ‘Oh, yes.’
‘There are still questions whirling in my brain,’ he murmured against her hair. ‘You were so much against me. You didn’t want my love. At least, you said you didn’t. When I held you in my arms and kissed you I dared to hope that you wanted me a little—’
‘More than a little, my darling. I’ve wanted you for quite a while, but I wouldn’t admit it even to myself. I was afraid. After what happened with Dan I didn’t want to fall in love—’
‘Especially with me,’ he said wryly.
‘Yes. I was more afraid of getting close to you than anyone else—maybe because I knew it was inevitable. That night in Monte Carlo I resisted you because I felt caught up in something beyond my control. I know now that I was right, but I shouldn’t have been afraid of it because the fate beyond my control was love.’
‘Mine too. That’s why I came here as Dan’s spokesman. I thought it would be what you wanted.’
