His Every Desire by Shiloh Walker Page A

ago.
    “Are you going to tell her? You can’t just think she’ll blindly leave. She’s not the same woman she used to be.”
    “I know that.”
    “Then maybe you also know what you’re planning isn’t fair—it’s not right. Tell her. Tell her about Grainger. Tell her what you’ve done.”
    No. “I can’t do that. She doesn’t need to know.” Hell—if she ever found out, he could lose her. And she wouldn’t find out. She wouldn’t want to be in the same state as Grainger, so when she found out he was awake, and Joel offered her a safe place, she’d leap on it.
    “Don’t count on it.”
    Joel snarled at her, “Damn it, will you stay out of my head?”
    Carly sighed. “You’re setting her up as bait, baby. It’s not fair. And you haven’t even told her yet. When are you going to tell her—she’s in danger, damn it.”
    “She’s safe,” Joel said flatly. “I’ll keep her safe.”
    Starkly, Carly said, “She’s not safe. He thinks about her constantly, her and you. Even while he was in that damn coma, it ate at him. He wants you both dead. That hatred consumes him, just like your hatred of him consumes you. Don’t let it make you foolish, baby.”
    * * * * *
    Emery knew who was at the door even before she opened it. She’d been restless all day, haunted by thoughts of Joel, plagued by memories of times best forgotten, the years she’d spent in fear and humiliation, awaiting another blow from Vincent Grainger.
    And…the day she had all but been given to Joel.
    Given, as if she was just a belonging.
    A possession. She had just been a toy for Vincent, some pretty little piece for him to show off to others. When she’d tried to run, he had always found her, always brought her back. The whispers, You’re mine…had left her shuddering and shaking in terror. How could those same words, coming from Joel, make her shake with need and blush with pleasure?
    She was torn, though. Torn with the need to wrap herself around him…and the need to show herself she could stand on her own two feet. The first few months, when he hadn’t come after her, she had been shattered, and learning how to stand on her own had been damned near impossible. It had been his voice, a voice from the past, whispering to her from her memories that had given her the strength.
    That strength was her own now.
    If she relied on Joel now, was she giving up on herself?
    With a spinning head, she opened the door and stood there, staring at the craggy lines of his face, those impossibly deep blue eyes. “Hey,” she said quietly.
    A slow smile creased his face as he moved up closer, until his toes nudged hers, his breath warm on her face as he murmured, “Hey.”
    His lips brushed across hers and she sighed into his mouth, whimpering as his tongue pushed inside her mouth to tangle briefly with hers. His arms came around her and she gasped as her feet left the ground. Dimly, she heard him kick the door shut and then he was leaning back against it, hiking her thighs up around his hips so he could cup her bottom.
    She arched up against him as those hard, hot hands kneaded restlessly at her ass. With her knees clutching his hips, the folds between her thighs were exposed and she whimpered as the covered length of his cock pressed against her.
    A savage groan fell from his lips—the room whirled around her and then she was cold. Cold and sitting alone on the couch, while Joel stalked away from her. Arching a brow at him, she mused, “Well, nice to see you, too.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she hugged herself as a chill raced down her spine and her body ached.
    He sent her a narrow look over his shoulder, eyes slitted, mouth grim. “I can’t think around you. I’ve never been able to think clearly around you,” he muttered. He shoved his hand through his hair as he dropped to sit on the chair across from her. “And right now, I need to think. We need to talk.”
    Licking her lips, she stared into his serious face. She