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‘But why should you when I can carry you? You’re out on your feet.’ He caught her gaze in the warm light spilling from the entrance. ‘Let me do this for you.’
Elisabeth must have been exhausted for she nodded and rested her head against his chest. The simple gesture struck right to his heart. He told himself it wasn’t proof she trusted him completely but for now it was enough. That, and the fact she’d admitted her need for him.
He took the stairs carefully, conscious of his precious burden, not wanting this interlude to end. But all too soon they reached her room. He got the door open and carried her in, depositing her gently on the snow-white eiderdown. A tumble of femininity in aquamarine silk, the most beguiling, puzzling, fascinating woman he knew.
Immediately Jack stepped back. He couldn’t allow even a brief kiss. One taste and he’d need more, and despite what she’d said the ballroom, Elisabeth needed rest.
Jack drew a shuddering breath and shoved flexing hands into his pockets. ‘Sleep now. I’ll see you in the morning.’ Without waiting for a reply he spun around and made the quickest exit of his life, before his good intentions failed.
He marched next door on stiff legs, his body rigid from a cruel mix of desire and determination. His lungs heaved like overworked bellows as he stripped his clothes off and stalked into the bathroom.
He felt only marginally in control of himself. These weeks had taught him how deep his desire for Elisabeth ran. It wasn’t just physical, nor was it about her ability to help him achieve his business goals.
Jack snorted as he stepped into the vast shower. Looking back he realised that had been a convenient excuse to secure her for himself. Hehadbenefited from her social skills and connections. Shehadbeen an asset. But that wasn’t why he’d married her.
He wrenched on the cold tap and turned his head up to the rain shower, letting it pummel him from head to toe. His flesh drew tight from the icy spray yet even that couldn’t immediately douse the heat burning inside.
He turned, eyes still closed, and frowned. Something was different. The skin between his shoulder blades prickled, the sensation coalescing and running as a line of heat down his backbone and around his groin. A light drift of scent caught his nostrils. Lush rose.
Jack’s eyes snapped open.
There, in the open door, stood Elisabeth.
Her hair was down in a glossy tangle around her shoulders. Her slender arms and legs were bare, deep gold against the pristine white of the bathroom wall, and her hands were twisted together before her. But that hint of nervousness was at odds with the determined angle of her chin and the look in her eyes as they surveyed him from top to bottom, then slowly back up, lingering where, despite the icy shower, his arousal stirred.
She hadn’t come to talk about the divorce, since she’d shed the aquamarine gown. She wore an oversized T-shirt that skimmed pebbled breasts and ended at her thighs. It looked vaguely familiar, like one he used to wear. Jack swallowed, wondering if she were bare beneath it.
‘The connecting door was unlocked.’ Her throaty voice made his burgeoning erection pulse.
Jack fought for something to say but before he found any words she yanked the T-shirt over her head.
He had his answer. She was naked.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
JACK’SGAZEABRADEDher bare body, scraping away the last of her tiredness, leaving her vibrantly alive and yearning.
He looked like he wanted to devour her and everywhere his hungry stare landed her body sparked into arousal.
She was wet between the legs, just taking in his potent masculine beauty.
Their passion had always been combustible and the past weeks had tested her resolve to the limit. But it wasn’t simple sex that had drawn her to him tonight. It was the admission that she could no longer keep her distance.
She loved him, had always loved him. Loved him more now since their relationship had deepened.
Jack’s disclosures had given her new insight. She’dfelthis anguish as he revealed snippets of his past and understood why he strived so hard. But he hadn’t sought sympathy. His recent behaviour proved he could listen and wanted to make changes. He no longer simply took charge. Even when it came to the child he was so adamant he wanted to raise, he held back, determined they needed to come to mutual agreement. He wasn’t bulldozing or organising her. He treated her as an equal.
She felt...valued.
That was the ultimate turn-on.
Their eyes met and the ground shifted beneath Bess’s feet. She stumbled forward as he adjusted the water temperature and opened the glass door.
‘Elisabeth.’ Her name was a growl that tugged an invisible chord between her breasts and her womb.
‘I want you, Jack.’ It was obvious but she needed to say it,wantedto say it. ‘Let me have you.’
His nostrils flared and he grimaced as if feeling the same intense hunger that teetered close to pain. Large hands settled on her hips and pulled her into the shower. ‘You can have whatever you like, sweetheart.’
