‘No one has ever made me feel the way you do,’ Harper said. ‘Sexually, I mean.’ She didn’t feel ready to confess her feelings for him. Would she ever? He wouldn’t welcome them in the context of their relationship. He had made it abundantly clear he wasn’t offering her forever love. He was too cynical and jaded to open his heart to romantic love. And the ironic thing was she had been exactly the same until she met him.
‘Ditto,’ Jack said, surprising her beyond measure. ‘You totally rocked me.’
Harper chewed at the edge of her lower lip, a moment of self-doubt coursing through her. ‘But what if it’s different now? What if we’re not as in tune as we were back then?’
His mouth hovered above hers. ‘Let’s go for it and see, shall we?’
CHAPTER NINE
JACK’SMOUTHMOVEDagainst Harper’s with increasing passion, his tongue mating with hers in an erotic dance that left her breathless with want. One of his hands was still in the small of her back, the other came up to cradle one side of her face. No one had ever kissed her like that before. No one but Jack had held her in such a tender and yet passionate way, as if on some level he cared deeply for her. Was it too much to hope he did? That, like her, he was denying his feelings to keep himself safe from hurt? How could someone kiss her with such finesse and not feel something for her? Or was it just plain and simple rip-roaring lust?
Harper returned his kiss with equal passion, her heartbeat accelerating as her body encountered the rock-hard ridge of his erection. The primal need in her flesh responded with fervent heat, the ache to get even closer driving her wild. She whimpered her longing against his lips, urging him on with the flicker and dart of her tongue against his.
Jack’s mouth left hers to blaze a trail of fire along her collarbone and then to just above her breasts. Even though she was still fully clothed, the closeness of his mouth to her breasts made her ache to feel his lips and tongue on them. He pushed her top off her right shoulder, moving his mouth over her uncovered skin. How could a shoulder feel so on fire? A shoulder! But that was the magic of Jack. The wild and wanton magic of his touch that spoke to every cell in her body. Igniting her flesh into an inferno of lust.
Jack moved his mouth to her generous cleavage, his tongue diving between her breasts, sending a shockwave of delight through her body. ‘You like that?’ he asked in a throaty, raspy voice.
‘I love anything you do. You seem to automatically know where all my erogenous zones are.’
He gave a sexily crooked smile. ‘I bet I can find a few more if you give me time.’
Harper didn’t doubt it for one second. She began to undo the buttons on his casual shirt, desperate to get her hands on his skin. ‘We’re both wearing too many clothes.’
‘Let me help you with that.’ He shrugged off his shirt and then peeled her top off her. The rest of their clothes came off until they were both standing naked. His eyes roved over every inch of her body and she fought against the desire to cover her floppy belly and full breasts.
‘You’re so damn beautiful,’ he said with a hitch in his voice. He stroked a gentle hand over the flesh of her belly almost reverently. ‘Even more beautiful than before.’
‘I don’t know about that...’
‘I do.’ His mouth came down and kissed the upper curve of her left breast, sending a tingle of delight to her toes and back. He circled her tight nipple with his tongue and then moved his mouth to caress the underside of her breast. He moved to her other breast, taking his time exploring the subtle changes in her body. Sensations rippled through her in electrifying waves, heat pooling like lava in her feminine tissues.
Harper stroked her hands down his hair-roughened chest, his muscles as toned and hard as if he were carved from marble. But unlike marble, he was warm to touch. ‘You’ve been seriously working out,’ she said, circling one firm pectoral muscle with her index finger.
‘It was a good way to work off my sexual frustration.’ There was a wry note to his tone and a glint in his eyes. ‘Hitting the gym with a vengeance.’
‘Instead of hitting on strangers at a wedding?’ Her tone was gently teasing.
He gave another sexily slanted smile. ‘I noticed you from the first time you aimed your camera at me. I was determined to have you from that moment.’
Harper raised her eyebrows in a mock-haughty manner. ‘So I was just a conquest to you? Another notch to mark in your playboy pocketbook?’
His expression became more serious. ‘You weren’t a trophy to collect. I was genuinely intrigued by you. You were so cool and stand-offish and yet you kept looking at me as if you couldn’t help yourself.’ He brought his mouth closer to hers once more. ‘But then, to be fair, I couldn’t stop looking at you either.’
‘I noticed that.’ She stroked her hand further down his body, her fingers closing around his erection. His expression contorted with pleasure and he gave a deep, guttural groan.
‘Let’s take this to somewhere more comfortable.’
Jack led her to the bedroom, then he joined her on the bed, his limbs tangling with hers as if they had been making love for years. He stroked a lazy hand up and down the flank of her thigh, sending a host of shivers coursing over her flesh. ‘I brought condoms.’
‘I hope you’ve switched brands since the last time.’
Another frown settled between his brows and his stroking movements on her thigh stilled. ‘That night really changed both our lives in a big way, but I can’t find it in myself to regret the birth of our baby, can you?’
Harper couldn’t have loved him more than at that moment. ‘No, of course not. She’s perfect in every way. It’s just...’ She lowered her gaze to his stubble-covered chin and continued, ‘I hope my lack of preparation during the pregnancy hasn’t hurt her in some way. Emotionally, I mean.’
He tipped up her chin to bring her gaze back to his. ‘Anyone can see how much you love her. She can sense it, I’m sure. I don’t think you need to worry on that score.’
Harper gave a rueful smile. ‘I think worrying comes with the parenting territory.’