All About Seduction(109)

He manacled her hand, his eyes narrowed. “You want a child.”

“Your child, with your smile, your kindness, intelligence, and determination.” As she said the words, she knew it was so. No matter whose name the child bore, the baby would always be Jack’s, and she would forever cherish this time with him. “You were the first man I thought of when he proposed his wicked scheme. The only man.”

His eyes widened. His grip on her wrist relaxed. “Caro.”

“With you is where I want to be, even if there never is a child.” So much had to fall in line for her to be with Jack: Mr. Broadhurst’s inability to father a child, her desire and his for one, Jack’s accident, the disagreement with his stepmother. “It is as if the Fates have conspired to bring us together.”

He turned his face to the side. “And keep us together,” he muttered.

“I wish that could be so,” she murmured. “I wish there was nothing left but us in this room and all the rest of the world would go away.”

She took the hand that had manacled her wrist. If he wouldn’t let her touch him, then . . . She slipped her wrist from his fingers and brought his hand up against her breast.

His fingers cupped her, lifted the weight of her breast and then held steady. He watched her, his brown eyes softening as the anger faded. Heat built in her, coiling and releasing. Impatience too, but he seemed to be waiting for a sign from her.

“Show me. Show me how this should be,” she whispered. Her heart pounded, waiting for him to do more than hold her, praying she wouldn’t wince if she felt a twinge. She wanted so much to be his in every way. “Please, Jack.”

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

“As much as I can trust anyone.”

His brow furled, but he said, “Fair enough.”

He reached for her left hand, pulled the ring from her finger and hurled the wedding band. It pinged on the wood floor and then hit the wall. “When we are together, before God, you are my wife.” His voice held a fierce determination.

“Jack,” she sighed. They could never be married.

“I know I would have much to gain by such an alliance, but I don’t mean it that way.” He held her gaze, his brown eyes shining with an intensity that heated her to her toes. He stroked her hair away from her face. “Just you and me, a man and a woman together as God intended. I promise to cherish and honor you for as long as we both shall live.”

He had with a single vow taken away her defenses and left her exposed and vulnerable.

“And I would prefer you came to me with nothing, than anything you gained through that bastard. Now, take off your nightgown.”

A shiver slid down her spine. She wasn’t certain she wanted Jack being demanding, but she reached for the buttons at her neck. He undid the tiny buttons at her wrists and then rubbed one knuckle in the opening she’d made.

Steeling her resolve, she pulled the nightgown over her head. Jack met her eyes and held her gaze for a long time as heat flashed over her face. Then slowly, like a caress, he looked down at her nakedness. Her elbows pressed into her side and it was all she could do to not cross her arms.

“You’re beautiful, Caroline. I knew you would be. But you are more beautiful than even I imagined.” With the pads of his fingertips, he traced the path his gaze had taken, down the center of her chest, just barely exploring the inner curves of her breasts, down her midsection and to her abdomen. Her skin tingled in the wake of his leisurely exploration. He trailed his fingers across the top of her nether curls and her flesh quivered.

He looked her in the eye again and his nostrils flared. Pulling her down on top of him, he made a soft sound of pleasure. “I have wanted to feel your skin against mine, forever.”

He pushed back her hair and stroked the long locks down her back. Slowly, he moved his hands over her skin, exploring, molding, cupping her flesh. He never once grabbed or squeezed, and she relaxed into his tender ministrations.

Just as her body felt liquid and languorous, he rolled her to the side and then pushed her down against the mattress. She whimpered at the space he put between them and reached to pull him back down to her. He slid her hand from his shoulder to his mouth and kissed the inside of her wrist. Tremors of excitement raced up her arm and along her skin.

“I need to see your face,” he rasped.

She wanted to duck away, to pull him back into doing the things she knew, but he shook his head and put her hand over his heart. The steady beat fascinated her, and she rested her palm there.