Jessie clung to him a few moments more, soothed by the feel of his hard arms around her and the wall of muscle pressing into her breasts. When her body began to heat from the inside out and her thoughts began to shift in a more intimate direction, she took a deep breath and stepped away.
“I’m sorry. I never cry. I don’t know why I did now.”
He tipped her chin up, forcing her to look at him. “Maybe because you know you can trust me. I’d never hurt you, honey. I’ll help you any way I can, and I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
She wiped away the wetness and managed to smile. “I know that. The way Danny talked about you, I knew I could trust you. I knew you would help me. I never doubted it.”
There was something different in his eyes now, something sober and distant. It occurred to her that the hunger she had seen there before was gone.
He didn’t want her anymore. He was worried he would somehow hurt her.
Jessie felt like crying again.
ELEVEN
Bran’s mood fluctuated between concern for Jessie and what she had suffered, and fury that he was helpless to do anything about it.
Fucking Ray Cummings was in prison, exactly where he belonged. He was being punished—not enough as far as Bran was concerned—but punished nonetheless.
And now, knowing the extent of what she had been through put Jessie even further out of his reach. She didn’t need more heartache, and having sex with him was exactly where that would lead. She wasn’t a one-night hookup kind of girl, and he wasn’t a relationship kind of guy.
Jessie deserved a man who was gentle and patient, a guy who would help her deal with the trauma she had suffered. Bran was a rough-and-tumble lover. He demanded a lot from a woman, and the women he took to bed liked it exactly that way.
He sighed as he lay on the lumpy sofa in the living room staring up at the ceiling. If only he could get the look on Jessie’s face out of his head, the heat in her big green eyes when she’d told him she was thinking about having sex with him.
Sweet Jesus. He’d been so hard he ached with every heartbeat. Then she’d told him about her hang-ups. He wouldn’t have a clue how to deal with that. Though in some weird way, he felt an obligation to try to help her.
She was Danny’s sister, after all. Or at least that was his rationale for the erotic thoughts he couldn’t seem to banish no matter how hard he tried.
He had no idea what had possessed him to extend the invitation to join his family for the holidays, except that he owed it to Danny to look after his sister. Hell, in a way, she was already part of the family. He’d never brought a woman to any family gathering, and knowing his brothers would make more of it than it actually was, he was mildly relieved that she had declined.
He sighed into the darkness. He wished to God this mission was over. Wished he had the evidence they needed to prove Colonel Kegan’s innocence. Wished he knew where to find the missing weapons.
In the morning, they planned to talk to the CID special agent who had handled the investigation, see if he had come up with anything new since Jessie’s last trip to the base.
Then tomorrow night they were going to pay a surprise visit to Charles Frazier at his home in Alamo. Bran was looking forward to the conversation. He had a feeling Frazier knew a helluva lot more than he was saying. And if he did, he was going to tell them.
One way or another.
Bran rolled over on the lumpy mattress, trying not to listen for sounds of movement in the bedroom, where Jessie slept in a comfortable king-size bed. But the more he tried to banish lustful thoughts of her, the more he failed.
He kept seeing her in her tempting little orange-striped bikini, remembering the ties that held it in place. All he’d have to do was reach behind her and pull the strings and the top would be gone. Pull the bows on each side of the bottom and the fabric would disappear. Jessie would be his, a willing participant in his every erotic fantasy.
A soft groan escaped. It wasn’t going to happen. Too many obstacles between them. Instead,