Jake knew he was losing himself in her body, but right at that moment, nothing mattered but the earth-shattering pleasure roaring through him, her soft moan of complete surrender, the sound of her shattered cry as she whispered his name, her purr of satisfaction and the intensity of his emotion welling up, pouring over him like a tidal wave every bit as strong as the soul-searing pleasure. He was amazed that he could no longer separate the two.

Love. He had detested that word, used for everything, meaning nothing. It had become a trivial word. And it meant nothing at all. Nothing. But lying there with his heart pounding, surrounded by her silken body and her heat, he knew there was more than sex. Far more than sex. He could no longer imagine his life without her in it. It terrified him to think that she might learn the way he felt inside.

He kissed the side of her mouth and slipped off her, not looking at her, afraid she’d see him—see too much.

EMMA poured Jake a second cup of coffee as he finished his breakfast. Susan had remained very silent throughout the meal. Emma wasn’t certain if she was so intimidated by Jake that she couldn’t speak, or if she was bursting with questions and was afraid one might slip out before she could stop herself.

Emma frowned at Jake and tossed her head toward Susan. He made a face at her, took a fortifying gulp of coffee and tried.

“How long are you staying with us, Susan?”

She dropped her fork and turned bright red. “Not very much longer.”

Jake gave a long-suffering sigh. “I wasn’t implying I wanted you to leave, I was merely trying to be pleasant.”

Emma kicked him under the table—hard.

“Ow!” He jerked his injured shin out of reach and looked down at his immaculate shirt. He’d managed to keep his arm steady and no coffee had spilled. He let Emma see the promise of a later retaliation in his eyes. Okay, maybe his tone had been a little condescending, but he’d talked to the girl, hadn’t he?

Emma leaned forward. “I forgot to tell you, Jake. Susan’s father is sending her calculus tutor, Harold Givens, here this morning. Would you add him to the list at the gate for Jerico’s men?”

“How long will he be here?” There was a bite in his voice he couldn’t quite hide. He didn’t like strangers in his home at all.

A regular security sweep was conducted once a week, varying the day and hour, but it didn’t matter to him anymore, not after the small microchip was discovered. Anyone coming on the property was now suspect, particularly Harold Givens, as he’d been one of the two suspects they had. As a rule he had his employees sign an ironclad privacy contract before he hired them, insisting on complete silence during and after employment. He couldn’t very well do that with unwanted visitors, as much as he would like to.

“I can ask him not to come,” Susan said hastily, lowering her eyes.

Jake scowled at her. “Did I say I didn’t want him here?”

That earned him another kick. He moved his legs out of harm’s way once again, and this time reached under the table and put his hand on Emma’s inner thigh. High. Her gaze flicked to him, but the warning in his eyes kept her from pulling away.

“He’s just going to stay a few hours, Jake,” Emma said. “We told Evan and Joshua to meet us at the stables at one. He’ll be gone by then. And of course he has to come, Susan. I promised your father we’d make certain you continued with your studies.”

“Maybe he should stay home and pay more attention to his daughter instead of pawning her off on other people and having them make certain she does her school work.”

Susan burst into tears, jumped up, knocking her chair over, and rushed out of the room.

Jake swore.

Emma glared at him. “Of anyone, Jake, you should have empathy for that child. Do you have any idea how utterly alone and isolated she is? She has a father who is never home. Her mother’s dead and she’s turned over to strangers all the time. Strangers like Dana Anderson, who has no interest in her at all and does everything she can to make her feel small and miserable. She’s highly intelligent and can’t relate to other teens her age. She’s too young to be taken seriously by adults.”

“I get it, Emma.” Jake stood up and picked up the chair. “I’m working here at home instead of at the downtown office today. When her tutor gets here, bring in Joshua and Drake.” He felt like a fucking monster.

He knew what it was to be different, to spend his childhood alone—if one could call what he’d endured a childhood. He planted both hands on the table, caging Emma in as he leaned down. “I’ll talk to her, honey, but I’ll retaliate later for the reprimands.” His gaze burned into hers, hot, sexy, a promise of things to come.

“You deserved them,” she pointed out, looking a little wary, but her eyes clouded with desire.

“I know I did.” He leaned closer to lick the corner of her mouth. “I need you to go into town later and pick up a dress for the Bingley thing.”

She pulled back to stare up at him, wide-eyed. Distressed. “What Bingley thing?”

“It’s an important party, Emma. I hate those things and this one will be particularly difficult, so I’ll need you there.”

She shook her head. “No way. Parties aren’t my thing, especially in that circle. No way, Jake, not even for you.”

She actually looked scared. Jake brushed his mouth against hers. Soft. Tender. Coaxing. “I need you, honey. The enemies will be there. I want someone I can trust with me, someone to watch my back.”