Lover Be Mine: A Legendary Lovers Novel (23 page)

He must have felt her instinctive shiver of reaction, for he smiled faintly. His tender
expression told her clearly that he understood how much she craved his touch.

Sophie dropped her gaze to stare at his sensual mouth, remembering the tantalizing
feel of his kisses on her skin. A fresh shiver washed through her at the
scorching memory of his mouth on her breasts. Then he tangled his fingers in her curling
hair and brought her face even nearer.

His breath was a husky rasp against her ear when he whispered, “Let me pleasure you,
sweeting.”

Sophie went rigid, bracing herself for the contact, but her resistance was made even
harder because she knew what bliss awaited her. Sure enough, his teeth grazing lightly
over the side of her neck created a lightning bolt of sensation along all her nerve-endings.
And when Jack kissed his way down her throat, her heart leapt against her rib cage.

He pressed his mouth to her breast, his tongue laving the engorged crest. The moist
heat through the fabric felt intensely erotic. So did his rhythmic tugging as he suckled
her.

Sophie’s back arched; she couldn’t help herself. In answer, Jack’s searching hand
moved over her belly, gentling her, soothing her, before moving lower to raise the
hem of her shift and slide between her thighs.

The feel of his hand, so warm and intimate against her, made Sophie feverish. And
then he slid a finger inside her.

“So wet …” Jack murmured approvingly, using his thumb to stroke her, rasping over
the tender bud of her sex, spreading her moisture over her feminine folds.

A soft moan of delight escaped her. She was dazed by the heat and strength of his
body, the hot, throbbing maleness of him, the deliberate seduction of his touch. It
was impossible to think with his voice caressing her name, his fingers caressing her
flesh. A
fiery flush of pleasure spread throughout her body until she was awash in sensations.

This is a mistake
, Sophie struggled to warn herself. She could feel herself surrendering to Jack again—and
not just physically. The swift and paralyzing intimacy had returned to overwhelm her.

With a forcible effort, she pulled back, but she couldn’t elude his enchanting spell.
His hot gaze ensnared her as she stared back at him.

She didn’t want to desire him this much, yet she couldn’t stop herself from wanting
him, any more than she could stop breathing.

Desperately needing to retain possession of her senses, Sophie inhaled a ragged breath.
She refused to surrender this time. For once she meant to take control.

“No, Jack,” she managed to order in a hoarse voice. “It is
my
turn to torment
you
.”

Raising her hand to his bare chest, she let it trail downward to his loins, suggestively
brushing the hard bulge she found beneath the placket of his drawers.

She felt him tense, and his gaze collided with hers again, holding a question.

“I recall you said it is painful for a man without release,” Sophie murmured, slowly
stroking his hardness.

“What is this, revenge?”

“Why ever would I want revenge?” she asked innocently, pushing herself up onto one
elbow.

“So you can drive me mad with arousal.”

“You drove me mad twice already.”

“So turnabout is fair play?”

“Indeed it is.”

She took her time removing his drawers, baring him completely to her gaze. Her breath
faltered as she absorbed the sight of his nude body, which was even more splendid
than she’d imagined. In the glow of firelight, Jack looked impossibly beautiful with
his finely muscled chest, taut stomach, and powerful legs.

Her gaze locked on his naked loins then—loins that were clearly nothing like hers.
His masculinity looked alien and yet intriguing. A nest of dark hair partially concealed
the swollen sacs beneath his long, thick shaft. She was faintly shocked to see his
manhood so heavy and erect between his sinewed thighs.

“What will you do now?” Jack asked with husky curiosity.

“I don’t know.” She knew what she wanted, though. She wanted to touch him and explore
him and arouse him with the kind of wickedly sensual caresses he always employed on
her. His nakedness was making her blood race and her heart hammer, while the sight
of that enormous arousal made her stomach contract. “I suppose I will have to improvise.”

As she lay down beside him once more, the rigid length of his sex branded her thighs.
A burning spark of heat shot straight to her loins, making Sophie realize the need
to issue a warning, more for her own sake than his.

“We cannot go any farther than touching, Jack.”

“I won’t claim your virginity unless you wish me to.”

“That isn’t my chief concern. I don’t dare risk becoming
enceinte
.”

His expression turned enigmatic. “I have always
been careful about carnal relations. I understand how it feels to be a bastard, so
I have no desire to sire one of my own.”

Sophie heard the dark edge in his voice and felt her heart twist again. Determined
to distract him from his painful remembrances, she returned her attention to his chest
and traced his breastbone down to his navel. His muscles rippled involuntarily in
response.

“How did you become so muscular?”

“Riding, fisticuffs, wrestling, swordplay … In my youth, I enjoyed regular bouts of
physical combat with my brother and cousin and the neighborhood lads—the blacksmith’s
son in particular.”

Reaching down, Sophie brushed her fingertips over Jack’s surging, silky flesh. His
body instantly stiffened, just as hers had done earlier at his touch.

His tension bolstered her courage. At the very least, she would draw on what he’d
taught her about pleasure in order to devastate his senses.

Tentatively she moved her fingertip to circle the swollen head of his shaft. She was
aware of his stillness, the heightened anticipation in his every breath. He held her
gaze, his eyes smoldering and intense.

When she stroked over him again, he inhaled sharply. He was so strong and masculine,
so vibrant and thrumming with life. And yet she was unsure how to proceed from there.

“I am not a complete innocent, but I don’t have your experience. I think you will
have to show me what to do.”

“As you wish.”

His hand curving over hers, he wrapped her fingers
around the pulsing crest of his manhood. “Tighten your fingers around my cock.”

“Like this?”

“Yes.”

“Now squeeze my sacs.”

She was faintly titillated by his command. “It won’t hurt?”

“It will only hurt if you don’t.”

She obeyed, gently kneading.

“Harder,” he urged. When she complied, he groaned audibly. His eyes had darkened further,
if that was possible.

A fresh surge of sexual awareness came over Sophie. Deliberately she bent down to
press her lips against his erection and touch him with her tongue. He jerked perceptibly.
She flicked at the tip, much as he had done her cleft their last night together in
England. She could tell Jack was laboring to hold himself still, so she closed her
lips over him, rolling her tongue over and around the smooth head in a slow rhythm.

By now he was breathing hard, and when she began to suckle him, he gave a strangled
groan and lifted his hips from the bed, straining against her mouth.

A feminine sense of power flooding her, Sophie almost smiled, knowing she was affecting
him so strongly.

After another few moments of enduring her arousing attentions, though, Jack abruptly
took command again. With a finger under her chin, he raised her face from his rod
and clenched his hand tightly around hers, increasing the pressure, making her strokes
faster and harder.

The blatant hunger on his face was unmistakable as he thrust himself against her palm.
And then he lost all control. His body shuddering and quaking, he issued another harsh
groan as his seed spurted and gushed into her cupped hand.

He was still shaking with his release when he reached up and hooked a weak arm around
Sophie’s neck to draw her down to him again. He pressed his forehead against hers
as the tremors subsided and his rough breathing slowed.

The silence drew out, interrupted only by the quiet crackle of the fire in the hearth.
After a long moment, Sophie untangled herself from Jack and went to the washstand,
where she rinsed her hand in the basin. She returned to the bedside with a damp cloth
so that he could wash his loins.

Seeing him sprawled so blatantly naked, she felt a little shy until she met the burning
intensity in his eyes. Relishing the lingering passion she spied there, she dropped
the cloth on the nightstand, then gathered the courage to rejoin him in bed and draw
the covers up over them both.

“You are right,” she murmured. “We should try to sleep. I am weary from the long drive
this evening.”

Jack’s gaze narrowed on her, as if he was trying to puzzle out her motives.

If she thought he would obediently remain on his side of the bed, however, she was
badly mistaken, for he drew her close and cradled her against his nude body.

Sophie rested her head contentedly on his shoulder, yet her thoughts were far from
restful. Thus far, she was mostly satisfied with her plan to lull Jack into
complacency. She intended to teach him a much-needed lesson in humility in the morning.
For once she held the upper hand, and she meant to wield it.

But by then she would have to determine her response to his ultimatum. Jack was adamant
that he wouldn’t continue on to Navartania without her. It wasn’t fair of him to put
the burden of deciding on her, yet she couldn’t abandon him now. He needed a friend.
And even if she never became his bride, he needed to face his father and resolve the
long-festering issues between them. Jack had bottled up his feelings for so long,
the bitterness inside him was like a putrid wound that begged to be lanced.

Moreover, she wanted Jack to be able to claim his rightful inheritance for her own
sake as well as his. Deep down she still hoped for a miracle, Sophie admitted to herself.
Her father might just relent if she could marry actual royalty. And Jack might possibly
come to love her someday. This could be her one last chance for happiness, and she
had to seize it.

Sophie closed her eyes as a fresh wave of longing flooded her. With Jack wrapped around
her, it was easier to believe they could find a solution to their impossible dilemma.
Absently she pressed a tender kiss to his bare shoulder—

Recognizing her weakness, Sophie glanced up at Jack in the soft glow of firelight.
Although he hadn’t fallen asleep, he had shut his eyes. He looked so oddly vulnerable
with his long dark lashes fanning over his cheeks.

She knew better, of course. Jack was a wicked devil who broke all the rules. His audacity
both vexed and awed her. She had to admire the fact that he constantly
challenged conformity and acted decisively instead of accepting the whims of fate.
Even if he’d turned her life upside down by abducting her. Even if he’d filled her
up with recklessness tonight and transformed her into a complete wanton.

If she were to accompany him to Navartania, though, she would have to lay down some
strict rules.

The first concerned his secretiveness. She didn’t want to open old wounds for Jack
or hurt him any more than he’d already been hurt. But if he kept all his darkest feelings
concealed from her, buried along with his horrifying past, if he didn’t trust her
enough to share his most important confidences, then how could he possibly trust her
enough to give his heart?

The second concerned his maddening high-handedness. He would have to beg her forgiveness
if he expected to win her trust ever again.

Meanwhile she had to take great care. Jack was a heart-stealer of the first order,
and her urge to comfort him was so strong, she was searching for any reason to give
in to him. Especially when he showed his vulnerable side. Getting Jack to reveal any
serious emotions was like chipping away at granite. Skye was right; there were dark
undercurrents swirling beneath his charming, reckless facade. Yet tonight he’d shared
a part of himself that he always kept secret.

Jack cared for her in some measure, Sophie was certain. His willingness to consider
uprooting his entire life for her proved he harbored deeper feelings for her than
mere lust, even if he couldn’t or wouldn’t admit to them.

No, Sophie resolved as she laid her head on his shoulder once more. It might be totally
idiotic and
foolish of her, but she wouldn’t give up on finding happiness with Jack just yet.

When Jack awoke, daylight was seeping beneath the window curtains and Sophie’s warm
body was missing from the bed. Evidently he’d slept so deeply that he hadn’t felt
her leave his side. In truth, he was still dazed by the lingering memories of her
incredible sensuality and the delectable dreams he’d been having. The exquisite arousal
he experienced with her was utterly unique.…

As he became aware of the odd silence surrounding him, though, he pried his eyes open.
A moment later he raised his head and glanced around the room, only to find it empty.

Sophie was gone
.

A sharp stab of unease hit his chest.

Flinging off the covers, Jack rose naked and went to the door, only to discover the
corridor empty. Forcibly tamping down his alarm, he resolved to search the inn for
her. But when he stepped back inside in order to dress, he could find none of the
garments he’d removed last night. His valise was missing also. Evidently Sophie had
taken it.

The possibility that she’d absconded from the inn stirred a growing sense of panic
inside him.

Swiftly Jack wrapped a sheet around his shoulders and headed downstairs to question
the innkeeper. The elderly Frenchman looked startled to see him garbed only in a linen
sheet, but swallowed any censorious comment and led him to a private parlor, where
Sophie sat fully dressed, calmly eating her breakfast.