He couldn’t do it.
Jude cursed long and hard, silently calling himself ten kinds of fool, but he reached over and undid the belt.“Another time.”
“What?”Sloan sat up, confusion replacing the anger on her face, bleeding into something like embarrassment.She pulled her dress down to cover herself, and he could see her gathering her composure one shred at a time.
It fucking killed him.
He crouched down in front of her, knowing that there was no right way to go about this.There was no skirting the subject or breaking it to her gently.But I can focus on the one thing she’s expecting.For now.“I’ve got a doctor coming into town to do a blood test for you.”
***
Sloan stared at Jude, half-sure she’d heard him wrong.She must have.Her mind was still reeling—not to mention her pride—by his going from no-holds-barred sex to…this.“I’m sorry, what did you just say?”
“I’m bringing in a doctor.If you haven’t had your period, we need to know if you’re pregnant, and we need to know now.”
The words didn’t make any more sense the second time around.She pushed to her feet, straightening her dress.Jude didn’t move from his position in front of her, and her dress swung forward just enough to brush his bare chest.God, he was so beautiful, even now when she wanted to smack some sense into him.
No.You’re letting your emotions get the best of you.Think rationally,reactrationally.She smoothed back her hair, holding herself tall.“That’s out of the question.”
“Your right to make decisions without me disappeared the second you may have become pregnant with my child.”
He was such a…a brute.Her earlier fury rose, stronger than before.Sloan’s voice was hoarse from trying to keep control of herself, but she didn’t let that stop her as she very carefully enunciated.“Wrong, Jude.Even if I were pregnant—and that’s a rather largeifat this point—you don’t get a single say in matters unlessIsay you do.I spent my entire life bowing to others’ wishes, and I threw away my entire family for my freedom.Do not think for a second that I won’t do the same toyou.”She made it almost to the door when his next words stopped her cold.
“Did you know that both the O’Malleys and the Romanovs are looking for you?”
The world did a slow turn, leaving her woozy.Sloan rotated to face him, part of her sure that she was in a hallucination as a result of orgasm deprivation, and hehadn’tjust said two names that he most certainly shouldn’t know.“What did you say?”
“Sloan O’Malley.”He said the name like he was tasting her.“I think we need to have a talk.”
“How did you…” She moved back toward him, fear finally starting to take root.What if Sorcha was right all along?What if Romanov sent Jude here to hurt me…to kill me?“How long have you known?”
“That’s irrelevant.”
His dismissive tone rankled.She glared.“I don’t think it is.”
“The important thing is that I know where you come from, and I know what you’re up against.You need me.I can keep you safe—keep you free.”
She searched his face.“You must be joking.I don’t know a single thing about you, which was perfectly fine when I was under the assumption that we were strangers.You’ve been lying to me this entire time, and now you’re…What?Offering me an ultimatum?If I say no, are you going to hand me over to either my family or our enemies?”
“What?No.”Jude cursed and shoved to his feet, towering over her.“You’re missing the point.”
“I don’t think I am.”She knew letting him into her bed was like playing with fire, but the pleasure had been worth the risk when he was just a man who happened to live next door to her.Discovering that he seemed to be something else altogether made her sick to her stomach.He’d set a neat little trap, and she’d blithely walked into it, fool that she was.She pressed her hand to her chest.“Did you orchestrate that condom being torn, too?”
His eyes went wide.“Why the fuck would I do that?”
“I don’t know!Whoareyou, Jude?You know who I am, where I come from, but you haven’t given me a single piece of information about yourself, other than this offer to keep me ‘safe’ which, forgive me, sounds like a crock of shit.Tell me the truth, or I walk out of here right now, and I’ll be gone by morning.”She didn’t want to leave, but if Jude was somehow connected to her past, she had no choice.
“Sloan…”
She saw him searching for a lie, and took a careful step backward.“Good-bye, Jude.”
“Wait.”He cursed, long and hard.“Fuck, you don’t make this easy, do you?”
The fact he was accusingherof being the problem was downright laughable.She started for the door.“Tell whoever sent you that I’m not going back.They should save us both a load of trouble and stop searching for me.”
He stepped in front of her, keeping a careful distance between them.“I didn’t want to do it like this.”
Do what?Kidnap me?When I compared him to James Halloran, I thought I was reaching.I didn’t realize how close I truly was.She fought to keep her voice from wavering.“Then don’t.”
