“I think someone killed them because of me.” She told him because he seemed to believe her when no one else took her seriously.
He stopped in the act of pulling the T-shirt over his head. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I heard them arguing with someone out in the stable with the horses. I heard my father say very distinctly they wouldn’t allow Briony to try such a thing, it was too dangerous. I heard shots. Just two shots. I ran as fast as I could, and I’m fast, but when I got there, they were both dead and whoever did it was already gone. Each had one bullet in the head, right here.” She pressed her finger between her eyes. “I never saw who did it, and the murderer had to be close, but I couldn’t find him.” She looked at him. “I couldn’t even smell him.”
“What did they want you to do?”
“I have no idea. I told my brothers, and they went through the messages and paperwork in the trailer, but couldn’t find anything. The police didn’t find their killer.” She looked at him. “How did your mother die?”
Jack pulled the shirt over his head. He’d never told anyone. Never opened that particular wound. He’d had no intention of telling her either. Damn it. There was no stitching that injury closed, and he was going to tell her, but he had no idea why. “She was beat to death. He used his fists and then a baseball bat.”
“Jack.” She wanted to put her arms around him. She felt his emotions now-black rage-ice cold. “I’m so sorry. What a terrible thing. Who would do such a thing?”
“Her husband.” He glanced around the room. “You have a hat in here? Maybe a backpack?”
Why had she thought he didn’t have emotions? The room was shaking, the walls undulating. “Jack.” She reached out to touch him.
Jack knocked her hand away, clearly a reflex action. He was strong, and she felt the impact right through her body. Their eyes met. Held. A muscle jumped in his jaw.
“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” He stepped close to her, almost protectively. “I don’t know why I did that.”
“I’m fine.” She pulled a backpack out of the tiny closet to avoid looking at him. She had to blink back tears-not because he’d hurt her, but because his pain was so raw and his rage so deep, she needed to weep for him, because he hadn’t-wouldn’t.
“Damn it. I don’t usually talk this much.”
She handed him the backpack and rummaged through the drawers for a hat.
“You actually put your clothes in the closet?”
She glanced at him, knowing he needed to change the subject. He would never be comfortable with personal revelations. “Of course. What do you do with your clothes?”
He looked around the small room. “I don’t actually stay in hotels much. I’m usually outdoors. But maybe a duffel bag.”
Briony pushed a hat into his hands. “That should do it. Let’s go.” The close confines of the room were really getting to her. Jack seemed to be everywhere. She’d never been so aware of a man.
Jack stopped her before she could open the door. “Wait. Always check. Always.” He set her to one side and stood to the other, his gun in his hand, held flat across his body. “Open it slowly, just a crack.” He crouched low, sweeping the hallway before signaling to her. “You have to think security at all times, Briony. You’re a GhostWalker whether you like it or not, and you’ve got the training.”
“I’m not going to be hunting people in the jungle,” she objected. “I perform in a circus. I fly.”
“Walk on my left side. Stay up with me. If we run into trouble, drop behind me and take off, using my body as a shield while I cover you. Stay away from my gun hand and walk in step.”
She sighed. “Do you have any more rules?”
Again that very faint trace of amusement touched his mouth and faded just as quickly. “You have no idea.”
“I can only imagine.”
“Soldier at seven o’clock. Don’t look at him, look up at me. Stay under my shoulder and put one hand on my waist. Just rest it there. Keep walking and talk to me, smile and laugh the way you would with one of your brothers.”
“I’d be kicking my brother for ordering me around,” Briony said, flashing him a quick smile. “You do know what century you’re living in, don’t you?”
“Doesn’t matter. I know how to stay alive, and when you’re with me, I’m going to make certain you do too.”
“That’s so comforting; thank you, Jack.” She slowed and nodded toward a warehouse. “They set us up to use this building because it’s so tall. Hot as hell, but definitely roomy.”
Jack held open the door and glanced back to see the soldier walking around the corner. He followed Briony inside and stopped, looking up at the trapeze and high wire. “You perform up there?”
She nodded. “I dive through rings of fire and run across the wire without a balance pole. It’s a unique act. I can do a quadruple somersault because I can generate a lot of speed when I fly. Quads just aren’t done.”
He studied her face. “Do you like it?”
She blinked up at him and then kicked the toe of her shoe against the rigging as if testing it. “My family’s been in the circus for generations.”
Jack continued to look at her averted face. “That’s interesting information, but not what I asked. You don’t like it, do you?”
She shrugged. “I have trouble being in a space with so many people. It can be difficult, but I’m used to it.” She sent him a small smile. “It’s actually pretty amazing to be with you. I don’t feel sick or in pain at all.”
“Why do you keep doing it?”
She stretched to catch a dangling rope. “Because it’s my life. It’s what we do.” She went up the rope, her body fluid and graceful, pulling herself up hand over hand, not even using her feet.
Jack caught the rope next to the one she went up and began his ascent, traveling faster to catch up with her. She increased her speed, forcing him to increase his. He heard her soft laughter, a challenge to him, and he passed her, reaching out to catch her rope with one hand, halting her progress.
She wrapped her foot in the rope and grinned at him. “You have such an ego.”
Her mouth was only inches from his, and her tantalizing feminine scent seemed to fill his lungs, until he was breathing her through his entire body. He loved the shape of her mouth and the way her smile lit her eyes.
“You don’t even know.” He leaned into her, dragging her rope even closer. If he was any kind of a man, it had to be said. “You shouldn’t be alone with me.” He didn’t release her. She could drop away from him, but she couldn’t climb any higher.
They stared at each other for what seemed an eternity. “Close your eyes.”
Her eyes widened. She blinked twice, almost as if mesmerized, but then her lashes fluttered and she pulled back, shaking her head. “You can’t kiss me.”
“I’m going to kiss you.”
“I don’t kiss anyone.”
His eyebrow shot up. “Ever?”
“I can’t touch people. I mean, I do my family, but it has-repercussions.”
“You kissed me.”
“That wasn’t a kiss.”
Jack allowed the rope to slip out of his hand, but kept pace with her as she climbed above the highest platform. He watched her swing upside down, perform a slow somersault in the air, and set her feet onto the platform. “You don’t have repercussions when you touch me.” He did the same controlled maneuver so that he stood beside her. He caught her by the shoulders and dragged her close to him, his grip unbreakable.
Without another word he lowered his head to hers. There was no point in arguing-he had to kiss her. He couldn’t think of anything but the shape of her mouth, the soft texture of her lips-and he wanted to taste her. Almost from the first time he’d caught her feminine scent, she’d filled his mind, until he could think of little else.