Lover Be Mine (Legendary Lovers 2)

“That is a sincere relief,” Sophie said honestly.

Seeming to shake off the solemn topic, he slipped his arm around her waist. “Come here, I want to hold you again.” At her hesitation, he added, “Trust me, I won’t do anything without your permission.”

Sophie laughed softly at the irony. She must be mad, but somehow she trusted Jack to keep his word. “It is not you I don’t trust. It is myself.”

He flashed her a look of pained humor and delight before cradling her close in a tender embrace, with her head again tucked against his shoulder.

When he kissed her hair, Sophie wrapped her arm around his waist and pressed her cheek against his shirt, breathing in his masculine scent, wondering how she would ever survive if Jack seriously tried to seduce her. One touch from him and she lost any semblance of self-restraint.

“I will go in a little while,” he murmured.

“I suppose you must,” she said regretfully.

Jack was having similar regrets as he lay there with Sophie, pondering the force of his desire for her. It was sheer torment, holding her warm, delectable body yet being unable to go any further.

He had never shared a bed with a woman without consummating his desire. He’d never wanted any woman so badly, either; not ever. For the past two days, he’d felt the constant urge to drag Sophie into the nearest room and lock the door so they could be alone together.

What was even more surprising, he wanted the right to court her openly. It was ludicrous, no doubt. They’d met less than a week ago and already he was having visions of spending his future with Sophie.

His craving for her was not merely physical, he realized. The more he came to know her, the more he wanted to share her company. His spirits rose each time he saw her, and when they were apart, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. He was intrigued by her patient kindness and sensual grace, captivated by her own uncommon brand of charm. When she laughed, the sound dan

ced over his skin. And when she kissed …

Despite her virginal innocence, she kissed with a hunger that reached inside to touch some long-buried, vulnerable part of him—which likely explained why he was so ensnared by her. That artless, eager passion set him on fire. At the first arousing taste of her lips tonight, he’d gone from enchantment to burning-hot need in a heartbeat.

Remembering the flush of sexual desire on her beautiful features, the dreamy look in her huge violet eyes, Jack felt the hard clutch of desire all over again.

Whatever the reason for his enchantment, though, the simple fact was, he was past the point of no return. He wanted to be Sophie’s lover.

Even more, he wanted the right to simply be with her instead of suffering these damned clandestine rendezvous.

Jack glanced toward the curtained windows, wondering if it was too late to pay a visit to the stream running beneath the stone bridge where they’d met two mornings ago. He could use a good dousing to cool the fever in his blood.

It would require all his willpower to make himself leave Sophie’s bed tonight, he knew. He was assailed by the wild urge to claim ownership of her then and there. To take her trembling body and make her his.

But until he had that right, he would force himself to wait.

In the wee hours of the morning, Jack left Sophie’s bed reluctantly—and more determined than ever to make her father see reason.

His opportunity came later that day during a picnic luncheon by the lake, when the guests were preparing to return home to the manor. As the company meandered toward the line of waiting carriages, Jack sent a footman to intercept Oliver Fortin with a request for him to travel in the first vehicle with Mrs. Pennant.

When the Fortins obliged and climbed inside, Jack entered after Sophie’s parents and took the seat opposite. As soon as the door shut, the carriage pulled away, just as he’d instructed his coachman.

Fortin looked puzzled at first and none too happy to be trapped in a closed carriage with a notorious Wilde. Frowning, he rapped on the roof and called out to the driver. “I say, Coachman! You must wait for Mrs. Pennant.”

“That won’t be necessary, sir,” Jack said politely. “She will be following in another vehicle.”

“What is the meaning of this?” Fortin demanded, eyeing Jack with active dislike. “I thought Mrs. Pennant invited us to ride with her.”

“No, the invitation was entirely my design.”

He’d needed Fortin’s complete attention and so had manufactured this opportunity for a captive audience. “Since I wanted to speak to you alone, I am escorting you back to Pennant Hall.”

Fortin looked irate. “You will turn this carriage around at once, sir. I have nothing to say to you. Luring us here under false pretenses is most certainly not the act of a gentleman.”

Jack kept his expression conciliatory, even though the devil in him would have dearly loved to show his amusement. On the scale of his past misdeeds, a temporary abduction did not rank in the top one hundred. “You strike me as being a fair man, Fortin.”

“Fair? Of course I am fair.”