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Could it be that this wasn’t just sex for him?
‘It’s all right,’ he said when she didn’t respond. ‘It’s fine to change your mind.’
Despite the swollen shaft of his arousal pressing against her belly, proof of his need.
She’d expected anger if they met again. Annoyance at least. Instead she found consideration and a mutual carnal hunger that had grown rather than diminished.
It swept away her good intentions and left her with nothing to guide her but instinct.
Bess lifted her hand to his throat, pressing her palm against damp skin and the heavy throb of his pulse. It made him seem almost vulnerable too, no longer calling the shots.
‘I haven’t changed my mind. I want you, Jack.’
She couldn’t lie about that. No matter what was wrong with their marriage there was no evading the fact thatthisat least was real and right. And if it were the last time she’d experience his lovemaking, all the more reason to enjoy the moment while she could. Perhaps it would be a way of letting go, saying goodbye to the physical side of their relationship before moving on.
She didn’t consciously form the words but suddenly she wanted him to know. ‘There’s been no-one for me either since Paris.’
‘Elisabeth.’ Just that, but something about the deep timbre of his voice curled her toes and made her melt against him.
A second later he swung her up into his embrace, one arm around her back and the other under her legs, holding her high against his chest. Above her stars swirled in the inky sky as he turned back the way they’d come.
The movement brought a tickle of soft air across her bare breasts and she fumbled with her bodice, pulling it up to cover herself.
‘Leave it,’ he growled. ‘The view’s perfect as it is.’
It sure was. From here she had a view of his firm, determined jaw and the proud planes of his chiselled face.
She’d taken one look at him when they’d met at her father’s party and felt something dip and sway inside her. She realised later it was her heart, knocked off balance by a man who, while not the most handsome she’d met, was by far the most charismatic and attractive.
Then they’d got talking and she’d discovered there was so much more to him than his looks. She’d been delighted when he’d pursued their acquaintance. Over the moon when he’d suggested marriage, even though it was a convenient one rather than a love match.
‘You’re very quiet,’ he murmured as they rejoined the path to the villas.
Did he think she was having second thoughts?
She should be. But if there was one thing Jack had taught her it was that love wasn’t to be confused with sex. He’d never loved her but he was spectacularly adept at sharing physical pleasure. And she wasn’t in love with him anymore. She refused to be.
But sex... Why not accept that there was still a spark between them? Why not be the sophisticate she’d never been before and separate physical enjoyment from emotions?
Tomorrow he’d return to his frenetic schedule and she probably wouldn’t see him again. Her lungs cramped on the thought but she ignored that.
Belatedly she realised they’d passed her bungalow. ‘Where are we going?’
‘My place is just along here at the end of the track.’ His gaze caught hers and she read the glint in his eyes. ‘There’s an unopened box of condoms in the bedside cabinet.’ He shrugged, the movement of those broad shoulders shifting her higher against his chest. His strength called to something primitive and wholly feminine within her. ‘Maybe they provided some in your villa too but I don’t want to start something there that we can’t finish.’
Bess hadn’t thought about protection. She’d stopped taking the pill after she left Paris so she should have been more conscious of that.
But instead of berating herself, she was too busy replaying his words about not starting something he couldn’t finish. Jack sounded as strung out as she and she couldn’t help her fillip of delight.
Tonightwasdifferent between them.
In the past he’d set the pace in their lovemaking, though he’d always been careful to ensure she was eager for what they shared.
Initially that had been because she was inexperienced and later... Was it out of habit? Because their marriage had been devised by him to suit his needs? Or because she’d been so in love and so caught up in delight at how special he made her feel in bed that it had never occurred to her to take the lead in intimacy?
Tonight she’d taken the lead, insisting this was what she wanted when he would have pulled away.
She curled her hand around the back of his neck, gently scoring his flesh with her nails.
