Jake moved first, slowly lowering her legs back to the floor, his hands framing her face. “I’m sorry, Emma. There’s no excuse and I’m not going to try to find one for you.”

She couldn’t blame the entire thing on him; she’d more than responded. She didn’t know what had come over her. She stood there, the wall holding her up, looking at his face, her breasts spilling out of her bra, wild and wanton, with the strawberry marks from his teeth and mouth all over them. She couldn’t find her voice, or her will.

Jake pulled her top up, but the material rubbed against her hard nipples, sending streaks of arousal lashing from her breasts to her spasming womb. “I’m sorry too,” was all she could manage.

“I need to know what Linda said to you,” Jake said, “whether you want to tell me or not. It’s important, Emma. It isn’t just about my ego and my being a control freak. I know you think I’m paranoid about you and the children, but I have good reason.”

The last thing she wanted to do was talk and make sense. She needed to take a cold shower and then hide her head under the blankets for the rest of her life. Jake seemed to be able to switch off intense arousal with little problem. His body was still hard, but she rarely saw him any other way. He still was close to her, nearly skin to skin, the heat of his body warming her and his masculine scent enveloping her. She didn’t push him away because her legs were so weak she was afraid she’d fall if he stepped back.

She fought to control her breathing and tried to make sense, tried to be as nonchalant as he managed. “Linda said she needed to talk to me, that it was important. Although she never said it outright, she implied she had a message for me from you.”

He frowned down at her, shaking his head as if disappointed in her. “I would have called you myself if that were the case.”

“I know that. I do. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Which wasn’t entirely true. She’d been curious to see what Jake’s “girlfriend” looked like. Emma had an acute sense of smell, and all too often she scented another woman when Jake came through the door in the evening after he’d been to his downtown office. Curiosity and maybe a little jealousy had gotten the best of her and she told Jerico to have Linda escorted up to the house.

“What did Linda have to say?”

Emma tried to keep color from spreading up her neck and into her face. Linda had said a lot of things, most of which had been downright insulting. It had only taken a minute in Linda’s company to realize that the message she’d come to deliver wasn’t from Jake but from Linda herself. The gist of it was: Emma would never have Jake because Linda had staked her claim. Kyle had unfortunately heard Linda screaming at her that no matter how many illegitimate bastard children she had with Jake, he would never stoop to marrying someone so far beneath him.

“Emma.” Jake said her name in warning.

Emma tilted her chin at him. “She was insulting. I handled it. It was unfortunate that Kyle overheard her yelling at me. He’s never really heard yelling before, so I think it was disturbing and he remembered it. Don’t worry, Jake. I learned my lesson. It was quite uncomfortable, and Kyle was upset afterward. I rocked him to sleep for a couple of nights before he got over it.”

“You cried.” His throat closed unexpectedly. He hadn’t been there to comfort her when she went to sleep.

“A little. I’m not used to people yelling at me or being insulting either. She said some pretty ugly things, but I realized she thinks we’re living together. Obviously she believes you’re Andraya’s father . . .”

“I am Andraya’s father,” he said in a low tone.

“Of course. I meant birth father. She feels threatened by that, and evidently so do your parents.”

Every muscle in his body contracted. His head came up, eyes glittering dangerously, and he had to suppress the rumbling growl rising in his chest. “How did they get into the conversation?” He had never been able to acknowledge them as his parents, let alone refer to them as his mother and father. To him, they would always be his enemies.

Emma shrugged. “Linda is apparently good friends with them and they don’t want to see you brought down by a nobody like me. They want to make certain I know that my children will never be welcome into their circle. As I wasn’t planning on joining any circles, I wasn’t too upset by it.”

She was lying. Jake could always smell a lie. The things Linda had said had hurt. No one wanted to be told they weren’t good enough to be part of a family. Jake cupped the nape of her neck, his thumb sliding along her soft skin. “You aren’t anything like those people, Emma. You’re so far above them you can’t even imagine. They’re all cruel and vicious. I don’t want you anywhere near them, unless I’m standing right beside you. And I don’t want the children exposed to them—ever.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“They would eat you alive. You have no idea what they’re capable of and I don’t want you ever to find out. I protect you all for a reason. I employ bodyguards for a reason. No one comes onto the property without my permission.”

“I understand, Jake. I really do, and I’m sorry. I should have protected the children better. It never occurred to me that Linda Rawlins would be involved in anything that could harm either of them. I don’t know her, but I’ve read about her in newspapers and magazines numerous times. She seemed a little haughty maybe, and frivolous, running from one party to another, but I honestly never thought of her as dangerous.”