Illicit Craving (Bend To My Will #5) (8 page)

“Care to share?”

“Coconut milk,” Jacob said, scooping some eggs onto his fork.

“Brilliant, I’ll have to remember that.”

After eating, they retired to the main room by the windows. Vivienne lounged against the arm of the long sofa with her legs stretched out. She looked over at him. “I feel bad that I failed you,” she said.

“How could you have failed me?”

“I used my safe word. I just got…overwhelmed.”

“You didn’t fail, baby,” Jacob said. “I’m the one who failed. I should have observed better. I fear it’s broken down our trust, which is so important.”

“I trust you.” Vivienne looked directly at him without flinching. “But you can’t expect me to trust you if you don’t trust me.”

Jacob was puzzled, but when Vivienne came over he opened his arms to her. She hugged him tight, running her hands up under his shirt to feel his bare skin. “I trust you, too, Vivienne.” And he realized that was true.

Vivienne ran her hands over his skin, her palms grazing the welts on his back. “Who did this to you, Jacob? What caused the scars on your back…and in your heart?”

That was something Jacob hadn’t spoken of in way too long. Maybe he did need to talk about it. Yet he wasn’t anxious to reveal that part of himself to Vivienne, and was unwilling to pull her into the darkness.

“I need to know…please.” Vivienne paused. “I want to understand.”

Looking into the depths of Vivienne’s emerald eyes, seeing her concern and sincerity, Jacob’s defenses crumbled. It had been an emotional weekend, and if he was going to share his past, this was probably the time to do so.

Jacob leaned back against the sofa and took a deep breath. The words sounded foreign, even as he spoke them, as if it had happened to someone else. “When I was a child, my father beat me.”

Vivienne didn’t react, but he saw her eyes grow wider. “Vico? It’s hard to imagine…”

Jacob shook his head. “Not Vico. He rescued me from the abuse,” he said, “but not soon enough to avoid the damage. Vico and Sophia adopted me. They were my salvation, and I don’t know what would have become of me if they hadn’t stepped in.”

The horror of his youth flooded back, as if Jacob was still a child, a victim too weak to fight back. “My father was an alcoholic, and he had a bad temper when he drank. He would fly into a rage.”

“Oh, Jacob.”

“I can still hear him say:
‘Take off your clothes, Jacob.’
” The old memories were vivid. “The slur of my father’s words, the grating sound of his voice. I can still remember it: ‘
I’m not beating clothes
,’ my father shouted at me. Then he stood behind me and beat my bare back.”

“How often?”

“It’s a bit of a blur,” Jacob said. “It seemed like he was always drunk, always in a rage, always beating me.”

“The incidents must have been savage,” Vivienne said. “Your back is still crisscrossed with welts.”

Jacob looked at her, the pain from the past threatening to engulf him. “He beat me with an electrical cord.” He swallowed and his eyes grew moist before continuing. “An electrical cord carves into the skin. It leaves permanent scars.”

“I’m so sorry.” Vivienne’s eyes welled with tears.

“I didn’t want to tell you,” Jacob said. “You shouldn’t have to hear about such brutality.” Fear that the darkness would mar Vivienne, destroy her innocence, gripped Jacob’s heart.

Vivienne touched his cheek. “It’s you, Jacob. It happened.” She put her palm on his cheek. “I’m stronger than you might think.”

Emotions welled up inside Jacob: fear, anger, desperation. The demons of the past refused to be repressed. And now he’d involved Vivienne. But for some inexplicable reason, Jacob didn’t feel regret.

“I only ask one thing,” Vivienne said.

Jacob could barely breathe, still shaken from having divulged such a secret.

“Don’t shut me out anymore,” Vivienne said.

Hope surged, vying for control over his lesser emotions. Jacob pulled Vivienne into his arms and pressed her head to his chest. He’d felt empty for too long. Maybe now he didn’t have to. Jacob just hoped he wasn’t making a mistake, and prayed that Vivienne wouldn’t be damaged, now that he’d shared what he’d sworn he wouldn’t. Possibly, the future would be different, better. But right then, he wasn’t sure. Jacob only knew he wanted Vivienne exactly where she was…in his arms.

# # #

“Vivienne is obsessed with Jacob, but will it lead to love?”

Read next: Wicked Obsession (Bend To My Will #6)

Newsletter: 
Click here
to receive an email as soon as new books are released.

Fall in love with more of Emily’s characters:
LIST OF EMILY’S BOOKS

Connect with me and see announcements on Facebook:
Emily Jane Trent Books

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Illicit Craving by Emily Jane Trent ©2015 All Rights Reserved

Published By Camden Lee Press

Cover Art by Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by Design - www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk

Emily Jane Trent writes steamy romances about characters you’ll get to know and love. The sex scenes are hot, and the romance even hotter! If you are a fan of stories with a heroine that’s got spunk and a hunk of a hero that you’d like to take home with you, these stories are what you’re looking for.