Understood (Unspoken #1)(7)

His entire body went rigid. He reached out and took her hands gently in his, holding her still when she would have fled.

“Who did this to you, Ellie?”

His voice was low. Dangerously low. It sent a chill down her spine as she registered the violence in his tone.

“Please,” she whispered. “Don’t make me go back to him. Please, please.”

Hot tears ran down her face, and she looked up at him, knowing he was her only chance. If he didn’t believe her, she was well and truly doomed.

His mouth opened and closed. Fury raged in his eyes. Then a sorrow, so deep, so profound crept over his face.

“Ray did this to you?” he asked in disbelief. “He hurt you?”

She looked down, knowing she was destroying more than just her marriage with her admission. She was destroying Jake’s friendship with a man he’d grown up with. A man he considered a brother in the truest sense of the word.

“Ellie, look at me,” he commanded. He gently pushed her chin up with his fingers. “Ray did this?”

She closed her eyes as sobs welled in her throat once more. It shamed her beyond words for Jake to see her like this, for him to know the dirty little secret that was her marriage.

“Ellie,” he prompted once more. “Did Ray do this?”

“Yes,” she whispered. And she knew with her admission that not only would she never be the same, but neither would Jake.

Ellie shuddered lightly then realized she was still standing in Jake’s entryway, the door wide open in front of her. She quickly stepped inside and shut the door.

She glanced around, taking in the sparsely furnished living room. It had all the male essentials. A big screen TV, a couch and a recliner, but it was devoid of any décor save for the large Christmas tree in the corner.

It surprised her that Jake would have gone to the trouble of putting up a tree and decorating it in such detail since he lived alone, but the tree was perfectly shaped, draped in old-fashioned wood ornaments.

She turned away, unable to bear the cheerful sight.

She set the key on the coffee table and looked toward the hallway she knew led to his bedroom. She started across the wood floor, her mind reliving the night Jake had carried her to his bed so he could care for her.

At the doorway, she paused, looking at the big bed centered in the room. Could she do this? Reach out and take what she so desperately wanted? She knew Jake wanted her. Knew he’d wanted her a while, but she’d been determined she wouldn’t go to him so soon after her break-up with Ray.

She took a few steps into the bedroom and slipped out of her shoes. She reached for her zipper and let her skirt fall in a pool around her feet. Next she unbuttoned her blouse and slowly let it slip from her shoulders.

Now standing in just her bra and panties, she felt a surge of nervousness. At any moment, Jake would walk through that door, expecting to have sex with her. What if she couldn’t do it?

She closed her eyes and banished all thoughts from her mind but Jake. Imagined his hard body pressed against hers. Those big arms wrapped around her, sheltering her from the rest of the world.

Her fingers slid up her body, raising goose bumps on her skin. She ran them underneath the under wire of her bra, around to the back until she fumbled with the hook. When it sprang free, she let the straps slide from her shoulders until the bra joined her other clothes on the floor. Then she reached for her underwear.

Soon she stood completely naked. She shivered slightly. Finally she opened her eyes and moved toward the bed. She pulled back the covers and eased onto the mattress, pulling the covers over her body as she went.

As her head hit the pillow, she breathed deeply, inhaling Jake’s scent. It was as if he was lying next to her. She closed her eyes and burrowed deeper into his pillow. He’d be here soon.

Jake roared to a stop in his driveway, relieved to see Ellie’s car parked a few feet away. He got out and hurried for the door. He sure hoped she hadn’t changed her mind in the time it had taken him to get here.

Shelton had caught him just as he was leaving the job site and forced a confrontation over the foreman’s firing. Jake had wasted thirty minutes before Shelton had finally backed down once he figured out Jake wasn’t budging.

He let himself into the house and closed the door quietly behind him. Had she done as he’d told her? Was she lying naked in his bed just a room away?

His c**k surged to life.

He walked through the house on silent feet. When he reached his bedroom, he paused at the doorway and stared over at the bed. His chest shook at his sharp intake of breath.

Unable to resist, he moved closer to the bed. The sheet was tucked underneath her arms, covering her chest. Her silky, dark hair splayed out over his pillow. His fingers itched to touch the curls, to twine them around his hands.

While the sheet covered her body, it did little to conceal the dark imprint of her ni**les. He swallowed as he imagined what they’d taste like, the sensation of the sweet buds on his tongue.

As if sensing his presence, she stirred and her eyelids fluttered open. A shy, sweet smile curved her full lips.

“Jake,” she whispered. “You’re here.”

Hell and damnation, it was all he could do to keep himself from ripping the sheets from her body, spreading her legs and diving in. Instead he eased to a sitting position beside her and trailed a finger over her cheek.

“Did you think I wouldn’t be?”