Page 32 of Laying His Claim
Even with her eyes on his face, Jalissa noted the fingers of his left-hand drumming against the thigh of his trousers. “Okay, Sweetheart.”
Oh, how it killed her when he called her that!
“The truth is that I’m a coward. I care about you deeply, and I want nothing more for you to recover fully. And yet—”
“And yet?” she demanded.
Justin held her gaze, resolute. “And yet deep down I’ve been afraid of what would happen if you ever fully remembered the last time we spoke before your accident. Because I don’t know how you’d react.”
She folded her arms, partly to steady herself and partly to convey her determination. “Try me.”
“The night you had that accident, you and I had a huge fight. A horrible, horrible fight.”
Having already figured as much, Jalissa waited for the rest.
“We fought because you told me you were pregnant… and that you didn’t want to be. You insisted that you never wanted children and that you’d told me so from the start—which you had. I knew that what we had between us was supposed to be just casual fun, just good sex and good company, but the moment I heard that I was going to be a father I was overjoyed.”
“I didn’t want the baby?” she repeated slowly, trying to let his words sink in. “I didn’t want our child?”
Justin flinched slightly, then nodded. “You said that you’d have a termination before the week was out. The more I pleaded, the angrier you got.”
Horror filled Jalissa’s heart and her eyes began to burn. “I would never—”
He placed a hand on her arm. “Cherie,you shouted that you and I were through, that you never wanted to see me again, and that my being a father to your child wasn’t an option. That once you walked out the door, I could forget about you and the pregnancy.”
Tears stung like acid as they slid down her cheeks like lava. Sebastian’s face came to her mind; sweet and angelic, with that unruly curly hair so much like her own, and that engaging smile, so much like his father’s. “There was no way. No way…”
But she knew he was telling the truth. Jalissa had gotten the message loud and clear that she was much different from the woman she had been before the accident. With this revelation it was clear to her that she didn’t like that harsh, selfish woman very much. “Why didn’t you tell me, Justin? Why keep it a secret?”
When he didn’t answer, she lunged at him, her fists hammering against his chest as anger overtook her grief. “You lying bastard! You kept this from me! How could you?”
Justin grabbed her flailing hands and held them fast. “Okay, I could have told you. But what would it achieve? You were doing so well— discovering yourself, getting back on your feet. I was afraid that if you knew, it would set you back. I didn’t want you to hate yourself, especially not after you’d come to know and love Sebastian. I didn’t want to put you in a position where you wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself or me for what you intended to do.”
Involuntarily, her head turned in the direction of the nursery, where Sebastian was playing—albeit bundled up like an Eskimo by that lunatic. And that’s when she understood. Justin had lied, at least, by omission, to protect her. The pain she felt now at the revelation was nothing compared to what it would have felt like if she’d been presented with the news weeks ago, when she was, literally, trying to find her footing.
She breathed in deeply, trying to regain control. Maybe she’d flown off the handle there. She looked down at her hands, hardly believing she’d smacked him. Was that another example of her former self’s fiery nature? “I… thank you,” she murmured.
His brows shot up, as if that was the last thing he’d been expecting her to say.
“You were trying to protect me,” she clarified. “And I’m…” she wanted to say,so in love with you because of it,but instead she said, “grateful.”
Unable to stop herself, Jalissa reached up and wrapped her arms around Justin’s neck and pulled him down. It was meant to be a hug, but the press of his body to hers and the feel of him changed to something more. She tipped back her head and angled his head down to hers, connecting their lips. Immediately, she was assailed by a wild desire for him; the slow simmer that had been on the back burner all this time had been turned up to high.
The taste of his mouth drove her crazy; the smell of him, even more so. When he tried to lift his head, she grasped his crisp dark hair and held on tight. She was willing to fight him on that! But he laughed softly into her mouth and lifted his head anyway, to look her in the eyes.
“Relax, I only wanted to do this.”
He began nuzzling at her ear, grasping her gold hoop earring with his teeth and tugging on it. It should have been painful, but instead it made her gasp with pleasure. Justin continued, outlining her ear with the tip of his tongue, inflicting cruel bites as he went along. “You used to love this,” he informed her.
“I still do,” she panted. Standing on her toes, Jalissa pressed herself against him, enjoying the solid strength of his chest. A solidity echoed by the hardness below; an insistent ridge that was prodding her abdomen. Damn, she wished they were lying down! So, did he, it seemed.
With nimble fingers, Justin unbuttoned her blouse, slipping his hands inside to cup her breasts. They felt so right; like they belonged there.
She thanked whatever angel had whispered in her ear that she should buy bras that snapped in front. In her formerly weakened state, they had been easier for her to open and close. Now they presented the opportunity for Justin to gain access to her breasts, which, by now, were so sensitive that his merest touch made her breath hitch.
When he leaned forward and sucked one dark, chocolatey nipple into his mouth, grasping it between his teeth, she yowled. “You’re… evil…” she managed to gasp.
“I know.”
