Idiot, she scolded herself, no matter what you do, Jake may never forgive you.
With robotic movements, she prepared breakfast, then served the meal when Burgess returned to the kitchen.
Thankfully Lester had done nothing more than ogle her. Heaven help her, but if the man had come on to her again this morning, she might have reacted violently.
As she finished the third bite of syrup-drenched pancakes, Mariah glanced at the two Coalition flunkies who were thoroughly enjoying the fruits of her labors. She swallowed, then said, "I'm going to try to put Jake Ingram under a deep hypnotic trance and that procedure requires absolute concentration on my part and complete quiet. I don't want either of you bothering me while I'm working. Do you understand?" She glared at Lester first, then at Burgess.
"We understand," Burgess said. "But we'll be right here, ready to assist you if you give us the word."
Mariah nodded, offered him a weak smile, then picked up her plate and headed for the kitchen garbage can. After dumping the contents of her plate, she placed the earthenware dish in the sink. Totally ignoring everything and everyone, her mind focused on how best to deal with Jake, she headed upstairs.
Please, God, don't let me screw this up. Too much depends on my making Jake understand.
When she reached the bedroom door, she paused outside. Her hand trembled ever so slightly as she grabbed the ABC Amber Text Converter Trial v ersion, http://www.processtext.com/abctxt.html
doorknob. What the hell was wrong with her? She wasn't the nervous, weak-in-the-knees type. Jake had most certainly done a number on her. And she didn't like it. Didn't like not being totally in control of her emotions. Didn't like letting her heart make her decisions instead of logic.
She eased open the door and gasped at the sight of Jake gagged, shackled to the bed and sporting a bruise on his right temple from where she'd hit him. But blood was also oozing from his swollen lip and there was a bright red spot on his jaw. Burgess must have taken it upon himself to rough Jake up a bit after he'd brought him upstairs. Damn the man!
Every feminine instinct within her urged her to run to Jake, to comfort and care for him. So why was she so surprised by her reaction? After all, those womanly instincts had already chosen Jake Ingram as her mate. Her man.
But she managed to control that nurturing urge as she entered the room. Jake looked at her, his eyes a turbulent, stormy blue and filled with pure rage. Mariah sighed. He wasn't going to make asking for his forgiveness easy.
***
Jake had never been this angry with a woman. Rage was a new emotion. He'd been bored, entertained, fascinated, hurt, disappointed, repulsed, delighted and even aggravated. But never angry enough to explode. It wasn't that no woman he'd been sexually involved with had never lied to him, but never a woman he'd trusted. And he had trusted Mariah. He had accepted her for who and what she claimed to be. And he'd mistakenly thought they had forged a bond—both physically and emotionally. Obviously he'd been wrong. He was nothing more to her than an assignment.
Had her orders been to keep Jake Ingram not only safe, but pacified? Had she been told to do whatever necessary to make him cooperative? If so, then the FBI's methods weren't much better than the Coalition's.
Okay, so he wasn't thinking straight. He was allowing anger to overrule his usual logical thinking processes. He was reacting like a spurned lover. But learning that Mariah had lied to him about something as important as Gideon's life was as devastating as if he'd found her screwing around with another man. Both were betrayals. And the one thing Jake prized over everything else was loyalty. Complete loyalty. He expected it in his employees, in his family, in his friends and in his woman. He had been bitterly disappointed by Tara, whose loyalty and commitment hadn't endured the revelation about his unique birthright.
"Jake, we
With robotic movements, she prepared breakfast, then served the meal when Burgess returned to the kitchen.
Thankfully Lester had done nothing more than ogle her. Heaven help her, but if the man had come on to her again this morning, she might have reacted violently.
As she finished the third bite of syrup-drenched pancakes, Mariah glanced at the two Coalition flunkies who were thoroughly enjoying the fruits of her labors. She swallowed, then said, "I'm going to try to put Jake Ingram under a deep hypnotic trance and that procedure requires absolute concentration on my part and complete quiet. I don't want either of you bothering me while I'm working. Do you understand?" She glared at Lester first, then at Burgess.
"We understand," Burgess said. "But we'll be right here, ready to assist you if you give us the word."
Mariah nodded, offered him a weak smile, then picked up her plate and headed for the kitchen garbage can. After dumping the contents of her plate, she placed the earthenware dish in the sink. Totally ignoring everything and everyone, her mind focused on how best to deal with Jake, she headed upstairs.
Please, God, don't let me screw this up. Too much depends on my making Jake understand.
When she reached the bedroom door, she paused outside. Her hand trembled ever so slightly as she grabbed the ABC Amber Text Converter Trial v ersion, http://www.processtext.com/abctxt.html
doorknob. What the hell was wrong with her? She wasn't the nervous, weak-in-the-knees type. Jake had most certainly done a number on her. And she didn't like it. Didn't like not being totally in control of her emotions. Didn't like letting her heart make her decisions instead of logic.
She eased open the door and gasped at the sight of Jake gagged, shackled to the bed and sporting a bruise on his right temple from where she'd hit him. But blood was also oozing from his swollen lip and there was a bright red spot on his jaw. Burgess must have taken it upon himself to rough Jake up a bit after he'd brought him upstairs. Damn the man!
Every feminine instinct within her urged her to run to Jake, to comfort and care for him. So why was she so surprised by her reaction? After all, those womanly instincts had already chosen Jake Ingram as her mate. Her man.
But she managed to control that nurturing urge as she entered the room. Jake looked at her, his eyes a turbulent, stormy blue and filled with pure rage. Mariah sighed. He wasn't going to make asking for his forgiveness easy.
***
Jake had never been this angry with a woman. Rage was a new emotion. He'd been bored, entertained, fascinated, hurt, disappointed, repulsed, delighted and even aggravated. But never angry enough to explode. It wasn't that no woman he'd been sexually involved with had never lied to him, but never a woman he'd trusted. And he had trusted Mariah. He had accepted her for who and what she claimed to be. And he'd mistakenly thought they had forged a bond—both physically and emotionally. Obviously he'd been wrong. He was nothing more to her than an assignment.
Had her orders been to keep Jake Ingram not only safe, but pacified? Had she been told to do whatever necessary to make him cooperative? If so, then the FBI's methods weren't much better than the Coalition's.
Okay, so he wasn't thinking straight. He was allowing anger to overrule his usual logical thinking processes. He was reacting like a spurned lover. But learning that Mariah had lied to him about something as important as Gideon's life was as devastating as if he'd found her screwing around with another man. Both were betrayals. And the one thing Jake prized over everything else was loyalty. Complete loyalty. He expected it in his employees, in his family, in his friends and in his woman. He had been bitterly disappointed by Tara, whose loyalty and commitment hadn't endured the revelation about his unique birthright.
"Jake, we
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