‘As usual I was looking for you, but never finding you.’ She put a hand to his cheek. ‘I didn’t need much persuasion to sleep in your bed. I wanted to break my dream.’
Jack sat up and pulled her up with him in the crook of his arm. ‘If I helped with that I think I deserve a reward.’
‘You want me to put on lunch?’
‘I’m hungry for you, not lunch. Come back to bed with me.’
‘How about Bran?’
‘He can stay in his own bed.’ Jack got up and held out his hand, a look of such blazing relief in his eyes when she grasped it, she hugged him close when he pulled her to her feet.
I want this so much, Kate thought as they went upstairs together. I need it to make up for all those times when I searched for Jack in my dreams and could never find him.
‘If I were the hero in a romance,’ Jack said huskily, ‘I would have swept you up and carried you up to bed, but it’s a fair trip from the living room up the stairs. But,’ he added, picking her up once they reached the top corridor, ‘I can manage it from here.’
Kate gave a breathless laugh as he strode the short distance to his room. Once inside he kicked the door shut, kissed her until she was even more breathless, and laid her on the bed.
‘I’ve never stopped loving you, Kate,’ he said, leaning over her. ‘You may find that hard to believe, but it’s the truth.’
‘Is it, Jack?’ she said quietly. ‘There were long years when my feelings for you were more like hate.’
‘I don’t blame you.’ He stretched out beside her and held her close, his cheek on her hair. ‘I don’t blame Elizabeth, either.’
Kate stiffened and turned in his arms. ‘Liz? What do you mean?’
‘She never told you, then.’
‘Told me what?’
‘I went to London to see you the minute my divorce was final. Your sister had already moved to a different house by then, but I persuaded the new owners to let me have the Suttons’ forwarding address and went straight there.’ Jack laid his forehead against hers, eyes closed.
‘What happened, Jack?’
‘Elizabeth wouldn’t let me through the door. She said you had a new job and had moved out to share a flat.’ His mouth twisted. ‘No matter how hard I pleaded she wouldn’t give me your telephone number or tell me where you lived. She said you wanted nothing more to do with me, ever, and slammed the door in my face.’
Kate burrowed closer. ‘Oh, Jack—she never told me.’
‘It was at that point I gave up on relationships. Eventually I heard you were living with some banker in Docklands.’ Jack kissed her fiercely. ‘I wanted to kill him.’
Kate’s eyes flashed. ‘Now you know how I felt about Dawn—and you.’
‘You wanted to kill me?’
‘Yes. Very slowly.’
‘Do you still want to kill me?’ he asked, and took her earlobe between his teeth. ‘Because if you don’t let me make love to you very soon you’ll get your wish.’
Kate gave a smothered laugh. ‘That’s the last thing I want, Jack.’
He pulled her closer. ‘What do you want then, my darling?’
Instead of words Kate gave him a slow, explicit smile which won her a kiss she responded to with such fervour he lifted her from the bed and stood her on her feet to undress her with unsteady hands, fighting to go slowly rather than tear off her clothes. When she was naked to the waist he began kissing his way down her throat to her breasts, lingering on nipples that rose erect and har
d in response to his lips and tongue. But when he reached for her zip she shook her head.
‘You too,’ she ordered, and Jack began pulling off his clothes. But, before he could get naked, Kate had undressed herself and burrowed under the covers. She turned them back a little and held out her arms. ‘Hold me, please.’
Jack dived under the quilt, exerting every iota of will-power he possessed to keep from pulling her beneath him and taking swift, desperate possession of her in the way he’d wanted since he first set eyes on her again. He drew in a deep, shuddering breath and closed his eyes as he kissed her gently, teasing her tongue with his and nibbling gently on her bottom lip. He pressed kisses all over her face while his hands stroked and smoothed, and gained his reward when he felt the tense, slender body begin to relax.