Drake Sisters 05 - Safe Harbor

just to annoy you?"
    Hannah bit down hard on her retort and realized that for the first time since she'd been attacked, she felt alive. Her blood was singing in her veins and her pulse was thundering in her ears. Jonas refused to treat her as if she was a fragile, delicate flower, too bruised to see the light of day. He was angry and he let her know. She felt normal .
    Jonas made her feel normal and it felt good. Just moments earlier she'd been close to a panic attack, but just like that he'd wiped it out.
    "Sometimes, yes I do. You annoy me on purpose, especially when it comes to my job.
    You've always hated it and made fun of it. Greg managed my career. I had to believe he suggested what he thought was best."
    Jonas went very still, his body crowding hers, so close her breasts brushed his chest and he was aware of her every breath. "Are you telling me Simpson suggested you give Venturi an autographed picture at every event he attended?"
    She put her hand on his chest, fingers splayed wide, bracing herself for the storm. "I wanted to do something, and I asked him if he would see to it that Rudy received a picture from me. He said I should give it to him myself every time Rudy attended. He took photos a few times and had a couple of pieces written up about it. I did tell him I didn't want it used for publicity, but the articles had already been submitted."

    Jonas swore again, biting the words off between his teeth, his fingers sliding through her hair to the nape of her neck. "You're in so much trouble, Hannah." There was both a warning and a drawling caress in his voice. "Why didn't it occur to you that I had your best interests at heart?"
    "Maybe it was the 'Barbie doll' comment. Or the 'taking your clothes off for the entire world to see' accusation, or the million and one barbs you like to throw at me." She rubbed her throat again, wincing a little as the pad of her finger slid over the two deep slashes, still raw and red.
    Jonas caught her hand and pulled it to his chest, capturing it there while he leaned in to brash the cuts with kisses. "Don't touch that. Is your throat hurting?" Her voice was even more of a whisper of sound.
    "Inside. It feels torn and braised."
    "Then don't argue with me. I'm right anyway and you know it. You should have listened to me." Jonas pressed feather-light lasses along her throat, and up the curve of her chin. "Say it, Hannah. Say you should have listened to me."
    She couldn't think very well with his body pressed so close to hers and his mouth running over her skin. She'd been so determined to keep him at arm's length.
    Whatever everyone else thought, she knew instinctively that danger surrounded her. It wasn't coming from one particular direction, but the wind told her. She remained outside as much as possible, hoping to determine her enemy, but the person's identity eluded her. She could only try to protect the people she loved. And she loved Jonas.
    She couldn't remember a time when she didn't.
    "Jonas…" She inserted both hands between her and his chest, trying to get a little space. "You know this can't work." Just the thought of losing him made her cold inside, but even Jonas needed protection. He didn't think so, but she'd seen him vulnerable and in pain. Better he be angry with her and know the complete truth, than later despise her.
    Swift impatience crossed his face. "Don't even start, Hannah. You've pissed me off enough for one day."
    "It can't work, Jonas. You think you see who I am, but you see who you want to see, just like my sisters do."
    "Your sisters see who you deliberately project for them," he corrected. "I see you ."
    "I'm a coward, Jonas," she admitted, desperate to save him. "You'd love me for a while, and then when you realized what I really am, you'd grow to despise me."
    He burst out laughing, bent forward and kissed the tip of her nose. "You might be a coward when it comes to admitting you love me, but you're no coward, baby."
    "I am, though." Panic. It was coming back the way it always did. Full blown, attacking just as the man who had stabbed her had. Gripping her with tight fingers, until she fought for breath, until she couldn't think straight. It had gotten worse since she'd been stabbed. The walls closed in on her, and trapped as she was now, with Jonas's body blocking her from running, she had to reach deep to stay in control.
    "Because you'd rather stay in Sea Haven than travel the world? Because you're a little shy in public? Or you stutter