of his skin. And in its place was the flame of desire. It ignited in her and she burned him with it. Consuming him with her need to forget.
And he scalded her right back.
He’d found her. All Jake knew was the blessed relief of holding Rielle’s body close to his. Her mouth was a miracle, her hands on him, a communion. Her satiny skin and her gasps of passion were entirely holy to him. To stop from tasting her, from worshipping her, from loving her, would be sacrilege.
Lust raged inside him while he sucked her kisses and rocked her hips, his focus narrowed to the divine press of her glorious body and the soaring heat surging through his limbs. His awareness blunted, his good sense shot all to hell. In this act he was damned and he exalted in it.
But there was no suitable penance for getting so deeply lost.
Rand’s presence, his voice, his hand on Jake’s back brought sense, brought the crash of shame.
“Rie, what happened? Are you all right?”
Rand was on the grass beside them and Rie’s sobs began again at the sight of him. He was white faced and his eyes were bloodshot. She scrambled into his arms, crying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” in a strangled voice that throttled Jake’s heart.
He got to his feet, shaken to his core by the knowledge Rie believed she’d caused the accident and that by coming here, she’d faced down her greatest despair, the event that shaped her life.
He backed off, leaving brother and sister to their shared pain. He’d never have understood it if he’d hadn’t started his own therapy. But now he got it. He understood that the only way you could get past your worst fears was to crawl inside them, wear them like a skin and let them squeeze you until you found the will, the help, the strength to walk through them and be free.
But he was shocked at what just happened, and his hands trembled from the surge of need coursing through him. He’d gone from terror she’d been hurt, to knowledge he could help her, to losing control. She’d gone there with him, carved herself against him, the two of them almost combusting at the side of the road. But she was barely herself. She was hurt and confused, and having her very own panic attack, and he’d used that as an excuse to—what? If Rand hadn’t arrived, what would have happened? He knew he hadn’t been capable of stopping.
He turned away, disgust rising bitter in his throat. He was the worst kind of saviour, a rescuer turned predator. He attended to the Harley, reefing it back upright in one hard jerk, using strength fuelled by anger.
Rand had Rielle standing now and they walked the grass verge towards a clump of paperbarks. She needed this, a chance to revisit the event sensibly, calmly with someone she trusted. Not someone who would use the opportunity to take advantage of her pain and confusion.
“She’ll be all right, Jake,” said Harry, leaning on the bonnet of her red beetle.
He answered distractedly, “Yeah.” This wasn’t like being scared of spiders or leaving the house or heights. He didn’t know if it was possible to get over believing you’d killed your own mother. He’d leave. He’d done enough damage. Rand could take the Harley, Rielle could travel back with Harry. Rie didn’t need him anymore. If she ever truly had.
“Seriously, Jake, she’ll be all right. Those two—they’re survivors, they’re strong.”
He looked at Harry, Bonne’s keys tight in his palm. “You can’t know that.”
“You’re right, I can’t know. But I look at what they’ve achieved together and the odds against them; so I want to believe she’s strong enough to overcome this too.”
He grunted in rough agreement. He wanted to take off, but he wanted to see Rielle turn back more, see her face, take his own reading on whether she could beat this or be beaten down and savaged by it.
“It’s okay to love her, Jake.”
“What?”
“It’s okay.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. We can hardly even say we’re friends. It’s just physical, a distraction that’s all.” Jake flung those words at Harry hoping to shut her up, hoping to convince himself. He knew them to be a lie the moment they filtered into the reality of the hot afternoon.
Better to go now than face a thank you from Rielle. Than face her rejection when she figured out how predatory he’d been, how close he was to taking her