Conspiracy Game (GhostWalkers, #4)(57)

“Get the hell off my sister or I’m going to knock you off of her,” Jebediah threatened, uncaring of the shooter.

“Who hit her? Tell me now, Jebediah, or Ken’s going to blow your brains all over the place.”

“A man named Luther hit me. Get off before I hurt you,” Briony snapped.

“What were you thinking bringing her here?” Jack demanded, ignoring the threat.

“He was thinking about saving your life, you jackass.” Briony shoved at the wall of his chest, this time hard enough that it rocked him. Touching his chest brought back the memory of fresh knife carvings, of kissing her way down the jagged wounds, lower and lower until… She slammed her mind closed on her wayward thoughts.

Jack had forgotten how strong she was. “That was thoughtful of him. Who is Luther and who wants to kill me?”

“Who doesn’t,” Briony snapped. “You’re hurting me. Get off.”

Jack shifted his weight immediately, dragging her up with him, retaining possession of her arm when she tried to get to her brother. “Who is trying to kill me? Jebediah, stay right where you are. You wouldn’t want my trigger-happy brother to take another shot at you.”

Jebediah froze in the act of getting up. Sweat trickled down his armpits. “We had a recent visitor, Jack,” he explained. “A man calling himself Kadan Montague. He told us about experiments a Dr. Whitney had performed first on orphan girls and then on men in the military.”

“Keep talking.”

“Apparently Whitney is still alive and looking to reacquire some of the ones who’ve slipped away from him.”

Jack studied Jebediah’s face. There was righteous fury there. And truth. But not the whole truth. He switched his gaze to Briony. She was still, no longer struggling against his hold, but she didn’t meet his gaze. Up so close to her, he could smell the heady scent of her, reminding him of satin sheets and candlelight. Of finer things. Things he couldn’t have.

His fingers tightened on her arm and drew her closer, until they were nearly skin to skin. His gaze narrowed on Jebediah. “You wouldn’t have brought your sister to tell me that. You would have come alone.” He leaned closer to Briony, inhaled the scent of her hair, of her body. Something was different. Subtly so, but different.

“I insisted on coming with him.”

Her voice was low. The faint tremor running through her body shook him enough that he had an urge to pull her into his arms and comfort her. He studied her face for a long time. Jebediah was afraid of him. Briony might fear his possession, but she hadn’t been afraid of him. Where was all the fear coming from? He let out his breath slowly. “You’re one of the orphans he experimented on. That’s why Kadan told you. It’s all classified information.” He’d suspected all along that Whitney had experimented on her and adopted her out, but he hadn’t pursued it. Being so close to her had had him thinking of other things. Like the taste of her in his mouth. The sound of her laughter.

Briony hesitated so briefly he nearly missed the quick glance she shot at her brother. “Yes. Kadan came to warn me. He’s legitimate then? The things he said were true?”

Kadan. He didn’t want Kadan Montague anywhere near her. Kadan was an anchor and a hell of a lot better man than he was. Jack’s thumb slid over Briony’s bare skin in a small caress. The feel of her soft skin set his heart pounding. What was different? Her scent. The chemistry of her body. The feel of her body. The air rushed out of his lungs. Where before her stomach had been rock hard and flat, she was now soft and round. Knowledge flooded his brain. Adrenaline flooded his body. His hands slid up her arms to her shoulders.

She’d let another man touch her the way he had. Be inside her body. Kiss her. Lie with her and laugh with her. How could she? His heart accelerated until he thought it would burst out of his chest. How could she lie with another man after being with me—belonging to me?s He knew there would be no other woman for him. “Son of a bitch. You’re pregnant.”

Briony stood perfectly still under his hands. Jack’s fingers were around her neck as if he might strangle her. He stared down at her, his eyes black and ice cold, the hard angles and planes of his face without expression. His skin had changed color, to a darker, much more violent hue, mirroring the turbulent emotion he refused to allow to rise to the surface. She felt the first real surge of fear of him, but then the pads of his fingers began stroking small caresses over her frantically beating pulse. She deliberately took a breath and let it out slowly to calm herself and stay in control.

She was unprepared for her physical reaction to him. Even now, knowing it was planted, pheromones designed especially to attract her to this man, she couldn’t help the rush of heat flowing between them. “I can see you’re thrilled with the news.”

There was a bite of anger in her voice, but something else, something deeper, sorrow maybe. Regret? Was it possible the child was his? Hope was stirring when he didn’t dare allow it. He tried fishing. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me right away?”

“Obviously I didn’t know where the hell you were. Do you think you could stop swearing at me? I realize we aren’t welcome here, but it seemed the only thing to do under the circumstances.”

“And what are the circumstances?” He held his breath.

“Dr. Whitney wants our baby. He’s already made three attempts to kidnap me.” She put her hand to her cheek. “I can’t stay with the circus because I’m endangering my friends and family. As I get further along, it’s going to be more difficult to defend myself. I thought if I came to you, you might be able to protect us until the baby’s born and teach me survival skills at the same time for afterward. I’m not asking for financial help or anything else, and I realize it’s dangerous. Whitney is sending enhanced soldiers against me. The man they sent, Luther, did this. And for some reason he’s very angry that I’m not carrying his child, so I’m afraid for our baby.” She looked up at him, her dark eyes meeting his gaze squarely. “They aren’t taking this baby from me.”