Read Online Rhapsody (The Bellator Saga Book 5) by Cecilia London - Free Book Online

anything he was allowed to do anymore? “Then I’m sorry. I’ll try not to express my feelings for you. I’ll try not to care. I’ll let you scream your head off when the next nightmare comes and you can thrash around in my bed for hours while I sit by doing nothing. I won’t comfort you, I won’t hold you, I won’t calm you down, I won’t do anything to show you how much I love you. Is that what you want?”
    Caroline didn’t say anything, but shifted so she was facing away from him. How goddamn fucking predictable. He could set his watch by her behavior.
    “Well?” he asked. “Is it?”
    She remained silent, and something snapped inside of him. Jack seized her arms. “Is this what it takes to get you to respond to me?” he asked. “Grabbing you? Scaring you? Intimidating the hell out of you? Is that how Morton treated you?”
    “Don’t talk about him,” she said.
    Of course she wouldn’t want to talk about her dead boyfriend. Well, fuck her. Just thinking about them together sent his stomach churning.
    “No,” Jack said. “I’m sick of walking on eggshells around you. You’ve been raging at me for months and all I’ve wanted is to hold you, talk to you, let you know how much I’ve missed you. You’ve tried to hurt me as much as you could, pushing me away, making it clear to me that I am worthless…maybe even less than worthless in your eyes. You give me these bits and pieces of you then yank them away again. You’ve been shutting everyone out, but I’m the one you seem intent on hurting the most. Why is that, Caroline?”
    She tried to shake him off. “I don’t have to tolerate this kind of treatment. I’m leaving.”
    Answers. He deserved answers. And he’d keep pushing until he got them. The die was cast. “The fuck you are.” He held her tighter. “Did you like it when he touched you?”
    Caroline closed her eyes. “Don’t do this, Jack.”
    “Why? Because the memories hurt?” She tried to get away from him, but he dug his fingers into her arms. “Look at me,” he snarled.
    She shook her head back and forth. Oh, she thought that would work? That she could act like a petulant child refusing her medicine? Enough of her games. Enough of her avoidance. He’d reached his breaking point.
    “Goddammit, look at me!” he yelled.
    She flinched and her eyes flew open, but she didn’t say anything. Fuck it, he was diving in. She was going to know what she’d put him through.
    “Did you whisper his name into his ear?” Jack asked. “Murmur to him while he kissed you, caressed you, made love to you, worshiped you? Did he stroke your scars, tell you how beautiful and brave you were, how remarkable you were, how it felt to be inside you? Did his hands explore you the way mine did?”
    Her lip trembled. “Stop,” she whispered.
    “No,” he said. “I won’t. Did he move with you, fuck your brains out and leave you begging for more, give you everything you ever wanted? Did he make you wet with the sound of his voice, bring you to your knees, cater to your every fantasy, taste you, make you wail with desire?”
    A tear rolled down her cheek. “Please stop.”
    God, was she thinking about Morton? She was. She had to be. What else could she possibly have going on in her mind?
    “No,” he repeated. “You have to hear this, no matter how much it hurts. Tell me, did he do anything to make you feel like the woman you are? Or was he rough, uncaring, unfeeling? Did he soothe your nightmares or let you scream yourself to sleep? Was he kind, generous, and giving, or did he throw you away? What did he do for you, Caroline?” He couldn’t control himself anymore. His reactions were not his own. He started shaking her. “What was it he gave to you that allowed you to do and say all those things with him that you refuse to do with me? What does he have that I don’t?”
    Caroline hung her head. “What do you want from me?”
    Jack released her and leapt off the couch. “I want you to let