Her head thrashing frantically on the pillow, she dug her fingers into his shoulders while hearing her own rasping cries of bliss.
At her quaking, Jack’s hand rose to cradle her throat, soothing her thundering pulse with his calming touch, while his mouth feathered light, tender kisses over her face.
When her final tremors faded, Jack allowed himself to seek his own release, his hips thrusting slowly, with carefully controlled power. Just as his body began shuddering, he withdrew from her and spilled his seed against her thigh.
In the breathless aftermath, Jack gathered her to him. She could feel the rapid beat of his heart beneath her cheek as her own pounding heart slowed.
“Are you certain I didn’t hurt you?” he asked at last.
“Very certain.” She’d been lost in the fire and wonder of him.
He didn’t appear to believe her, however, when he drew back to search her face.
Sophie curled her fingers in his tousled hair. “Honestly, Jack … you just gave me the most amazing experience of my life. How could I possibly have any regrets?”
He let out the breath he’d been holding and touched her face with his fingertips. “How do you always know the right thing to say?”
She didn’t always know. She was only relying on her instincts to peel back the many complex, warring layers of Jack Wilde. And she was succeeding. He pretended not to care, but she was winning his cautious trust, she was convinced.
He rose and washed before returning to the bed with a dampened cloth for the insides of her thighs. When he used it on her, Sophie’s cheeks heated with embarrassment. Yet after what had just passed between them, his ministrations were rather tame, she supposed.
Tossing the cloth aside, he rejoined her in the bed and pulled her into his arms. In the hush afterward, Sophie lay there replete and contented, but her mind was far from still.
She had told Jack the absolute truth. She had no regrets at all about mating with him. Her only regret was pushing him to face his father. She didn’t know what he would decide in the morning, but she realized he couldn’t stay here any longer. Confronting the prince was only dredging up all the pain and bitterness of his childhood.
He’d suffered more than enough hurt already.
A fresh wave of tenderness swept through her as she remembered Jack’s account of losing his beloved mother and his brutal captivity afterward. Sophie felt an overwhelming need to draw him closer, to shelter him from harm.
How did you survive? she thought compassionately. How did you become such a tender, generous man? Her lips pressed a kiss to his shoulder as she asked a final silent question. How could you doubt that I want you?
He’d given her a taste of something powerful and profound. Something more wondrous than she’d ever dreamed of. Indeed, he’d given her the most exciting adventure of her life.
It all still seemed so unreal to her. She was far from home, in a lavish palace in a remote principality, lying with her lover, savoring his incredible passion. This escapade was sheer fantasy, a total escape from reality.
She would not be able to deny reality much longer, however. Jack shouldn’t be forced into becoming a prince simply to win her father’s approval.
But she would make the most of the time they had left together, Sophie vowed, until she had to go back and face her duty.
Dawn was streaking through the windows when Jack slowly came awake. He was keenly aware that the woman curled against him was Sophie, although his eyes remained closed as he took stock of other sensations. He felt drained of emotion yet strangely content at the same time. The string of tight, cold knots in his chest had begun to loosen, all due to Sophie. Her warmth had spread through him, easing his anger and bitterness.
Likely he should not have let her give him the gift of her innocence, but their joining had been precious to him. And watching her come alive in his arms had been nothing short of incredible. She was so utterly feminine and womanly, so exquisitely responsive, she took his breath away.
He couldn’t regret a moment of it. Particularly when he recalled his chief aim. If he was to overcome her resistance to a future together, then binding her to him through passion was the most effective means.
Easing away from her delectably naked form, he quietly drew off the covers and sat up. As he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, however, he felt a caressing hand on his hip.
Turning, Jack glanced down at Sophie. Her expression was soft and contented and perhaps a little shy.
“Good morning,” she murmured.
Her dark hair was a riot of curls spilling over the pillow and framing her face. Reaching down he brushed the coiling tendrils away from her forehead, then bent to place a lingering kiss on her lips.
“Good morning to you as well.”
Her soft sigh conveyed pleasure, while her smile held the warmth that never failed to affect him. “Jack, if we are to leave later today, I would rather not spend what time we have here indoors.”
“What did you have in mind?”