Lover Be Mine A Legendary Lovers Novel - By Nicole Jordan Page 0,48

prayed it would not come to this, but there is no hope.”

Choking back tears, she moved away then, leaving Jack to silently repeat his promise about not giving up.

He’d vowed he would never be helpless again, and he didn’t intend to stand impotently by while Sophie wed Dunmore or any other man.

When Jack climbed the trellis to Sophie’s room late that evening, he found the window open and slipped inside, determined to make her change her mind about her betrothal. As last night, she was sitting at her dressing table, garbed in her nightclothes, her rich dark hair curling down her back.

For a moment she didn’t acknowledge his presence at all. Then slowly Sophie glanced over her shoulder and rose to her feet.

He considered it a favorable sign that she moved across the room, straight into his arms, and buried her face in his chest.

“I should not have invited you here to my bedchamber.” Her lament was muffled while guilt edged her tone. “We should not be alone together now that I’m betrothed. This must be the last time, Jack.”

“No, it mustn’t. You can still reject Dunmore’s proposal.”

She shook her head sadly. “We always knew this time would come.”

“I didn’t know it,” Jack insisted. “I’m not willing to accept your marriage to him.”

She sighed and rubbed her cheek against the fabric of his shirt. “I wish it could have been you instead. I would far rather wed you than the duke. But you are only acting out of a desire to protect me.”

“That isn’t true.”

“Isn’t it? Your affections aren’t engaged.” She drew her head back to look up at him. “If I believed we could have a love match …” She left the thought unfinished as she reached up to take his face in her hands. “You don’t love me, Jack, and I doubt you ever could.”

Her assertion struck him with unexpected force. While Sophie waited expectantly, her violet eyes searching his face, Jack opened his mouth to reply but then quickly shut it again.

He was in much deeper with her than he’d realized. In truth, he was a little stunned by the strength of his feelings for Sophie.

But the question was, could he give her the love she longed for? Irrefutably, he cared for her a great deal. Why else would he feel so desperate at the thought of her wedding Dunmore?

But love?

It wasn’t inconceivable. Ordinary people didn’t fall in love in a week, let alone at first glance, but the Wildes were not ordinary when it came to romance.

The possibility that he might be falling in love jolted Jack and made him feel a different sort of panic. He’d never wanted to love anyone. Not even someone as warm and caring and special as Sophie. Especially not someone like her, for the risk of pain would be too great.

He couldn’t issue a rebuttal to her doubts just now, though. He wouldn’t lead her on, for she deserved far better. He didn’t want to hurt Sophie by promising a love he couldn’t give her. Jack swore a silent oath to himself. He badly needed time to think, to gauge the true depth of his feelings for her.

He knew his turmoil was showing on his face. And evidently his silence was damning, for she took his failure to reply as denial.

“I thought so,” she said quietly. She let her gentle hands drop from his face, while sharp disappointment wreathed her beautiful features.

“Sophie …”

“No, you needn’t apologize. I never expected anything more. You should go, Jack.”

“Not yet.”

He didn’t want to leave her like this. Not with matters so unsettled between them. He needed to show her how much he wanted her, if nothing else.

His voice dropped to a murmur. “If this is farewell for us, I want to make the night last.”

She hesitated a long while, her features conflicted.

As she wavered in indecision, Jack took her hand and led her to the bed. And when he kissed her, her lips were soft and warm and eager.

Their mouths locking, he sank with her onto the bed and pressed her down, so that they lay on their sides, legs dangling over the edge. His tongue met hers, coaxing, twining in a sensuous pattern of withdrawal and penetration. He could feel Sophie’s passion as she returned his kiss ardently.

Feeling the same urgency, he cupped his hand over the curve of her buttocks and pulled her to his hardening shaft, capturing her snugly against him. Her breasts branded his chest, her woman’s heat burned his