Dragon Lady, to make her emerge with the inner fire of purpose that had sustained her for so long, but the fire was drowned in a tidal wave of tears pressing to get out, uncontrollable. And then it didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered. The grief for what had never been had broken out of its locked container, swamping everything else.
CHAPTER TWELVE
D AN was momentarily paralysed with uncertainty. He’d thought she was about to give in. He’d set out to win her back, charm her, convince her, seduce her if necessary. But this heart-wrenching torment…
Tears…A woman’s weapon…Yet Jayne had never used it. In all the time he had known her she hadn’t once wept for or over anything. Not even when she had left him. She had turned inward, presenting a stone face that denied him entry to her thoughts and feelings. The frustration of it had been maddening. For her to break down like this…God! What had he done to her in his determined drive to make her his wife again?
Disappointment and grief twisted through him. Hadn’t two years given him the message she didn’t want him in her life? What right did he have to crash his way into a world she was trying to shape for herself?
Wanting the satisfaction of proving she had been wrong to end their marriage had fired him along this track. Certainly there was pride involved, though it went much deeper than that.He had wanted, still wanted, the love that had once been theirs.
How to comfort her? Would she accept comfort from him? Couldn’t a husband—even an ex-husband—be a friend who cared about her? More than cared, he mocked himself, but concern for her was uppermost as he moved to the table and slowly lowered himself into the chair opposite hers.
She had propped an elbow on the table, her hand covering her eyes. Her other hand lay limply beside the teacup. He reached across and gently stroked her fingers.
‘It’s no use,’ she choked out. ‘I can’t, Dan.’
‘I’m not pushing anything, Jayne,’ he soothed, encouraged that she didn’t reject the light skin contact. ‘I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to hurt you.’
‘Not your fault.’
He frowned, not understanding. Streamlets of tears were tracking down her cheeks, dripping from her chin. The sheer abandonment of any attempt to wipe away or mop up the steady spill screwed up Dan’s stomach. He couldn’t stand it. He curled his hand around hers, pressing with what he hoped felt like warm reassurance as he urged her to accept the only ready offer he could make.
‘Jayne, honey, I haven’t got a handkerchief on me, but this old towelling robe can soak up a fair lot of moisture. You gave it to me yourself, sowe’ve already had some sharing time with it. You could treat it as an old friend to lean on. No more than that, I promise you.’
The response shattered any reasoned thinking. Jayne burst into more anguished sobbing. Before Dan could give any consideration to what he was doing, he was on his feet and pulling Jayne out of her hunch and up from her chair, wrapping his arms securely around her as she sagged against him.
‘You just let go now, love. Let the pain out. You’re safe with me,’ he heard himself murmur huskily, his lips sweeping over the tangled silk of her hair, his nostrils sucking in the scent of it, arousing an almost sick yearning for all he had just forbidden himself. Yet the helpless yielding of her body to his strength, to his support, brought a surge of tenderness, a fierce desire to protect, that took away the initial sting of his need for her.
He rubbed her back with the same soothing gentle action he used on Baby Anya when she had a bit of colic. He laid his cheek on her hair, wanting to cocoon her in the comfort of other human touch so she didn’t feel alone. He thought over what she’d said, trying to make sense of it, wanting to fix whatever was so shatteringly wrong for her.
‘What can’t you take anymore, Jayne?’ he asked softly.
Her body shook with
CHAPTER TWELVE
D AN was momentarily paralysed with uncertainty. He’d thought she was about to give in. He’d set out to win her back, charm her, convince her, seduce her if necessary. But this heart-wrenching torment…
Tears…A woman’s weapon…Yet Jayne had never used it. In all the time he had known her she hadn’t once wept for or over anything. Not even when she had left him. She had turned inward, presenting a stone face that denied him entry to her thoughts and feelings. The frustration of it had been maddening. For her to break down like this…God! What had he done to her in his determined drive to make her his wife again?
Disappointment and grief twisted through him. Hadn’t two years given him the message she didn’t want him in her life? What right did he have to crash his way into a world she was trying to shape for herself?
Wanting the satisfaction of proving she had been wrong to end their marriage had fired him along this track. Certainly there was pride involved, though it went much deeper than that.He had wanted, still wanted, the love that had once been theirs.
How to comfort her? Would she accept comfort from him? Couldn’t a husband—even an ex-husband—be a friend who cared about her? More than cared, he mocked himself, but concern for her was uppermost as he moved to the table and slowly lowered himself into the chair opposite hers.
She had propped an elbow on the table, her hand covering her eyes. Her other hand lay limply beside the teacup. He reached across and gently stroked her fingers.
‘It’s no use,’ she choked out. ‘I can’t, Dan.’
‘I’m not pushing anything, Jayne,’ he soothed, encouraged that she didn’t reject the light skin contact. ‘I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to hurt you.’
‘Not your fault.’
He frowned, not understanding. Streamlets of tears were tracking down her cheeks, dripping from her chin. The sheer abandonment of any attempt to wipe away or mop up the steady spill screwed up Dan’s stomach. He couldn’t stand it. He curled his hand around hers, pressing with what he hoped felt like warm reassurance as he urged her to accept the only ready offer he could make.
‘Jayne, honey, I haven’t got a handkerchief on me, but this old towelling robe can soak up a fair lot of moisture. You gave it to me yourself, sowe’ve already had some sharing time with it. You could treat it as an old friend to lean on. No more than that, I promise you.’
The response shattered any reasoned thinking. Jayne burst into more anguished sobbing. Before Dan could give any consideration to what he was doing, he was on his feet and pulling Jayne out of her hunch and up from her chair, wrapping his arms securely around her as she sagged against him.
‘You just let go now, love. Let the pain out. You’re safe with me,’ he heard himself murmur huskily, his lips sweeping over the tangled silk of her hair, his nostrils sucking in the scent of it, arousing an almost sick yearning for all he had just forbidden himself. Yet the helpless yielding of her body to his strength, to his support, brought a surge of tenderness, a fierce desire to protect, that took away the initial sting of his need for her.
He rubbed her back with the same soothing gentle action he used on Baby Anya when she had a bit of colic. He laid his cheek on her hair, wanting to cocoon her in the comfort of other human touch so she didn’t feel alone. He thought over what she’d said, trying to make sense of it, wanting to fix whatever was so shatteringly wrong for her.
‘What can’t you take anymore, Jayne?’ he asked softly.
Her body shook with
Similar Books
