fingers had readied her, tasting the love that flowed from her. With his tongue and lips he continued to stroke her sex, his heart pounding as she trembled and cried out as she climaxed violently beneath him. He held her tightly as the tremors continued to shake her and then she was still.
She pressed a kiss against his chest. “I’ve never done that before,” she murmured.
“And believe or not, you’re still a virgin.”
“Yes.”
“It’s as well we made love as we did,” he said, kissing her mouth.
“Don’t you think it weird? I’m twenty-four years old, Jack. Nearly all my friends are in sexual relationships.”
“No. I don’t think it weird. But, you would have regretted losing your virginity to me, a stranger who you will never see again. It’s a good job I didn’t have any condoms here because I swear, I would have taken you.”
She blushed at his directness. “What about you? You gave me pleasure but…”
“I’m fine,” he broke in, lying through his teeth. Christ! She had no idea how much he’d wanted her. “I can’t ask for anything more than having you come apart in my arms as you did.”
“Will you sleep with me tonight? Will you hold me and touch me?”
He laughed and kissed the tip of her nose. “I must be an absolute glutton for punishment but yes, okay.” He cupped her breasts with his hands as he spoke. “I might need to take a few cold showers,” he added as his mouth closed over one pert nipple.
Lara woke at sometime in the night. She wasn’t sure what time it was but she remembered she hadn’t written in her journal. She lay in the darkness for a few minutes relishing the feel of Jack’s arms around her. Carefully wriggling free, she searched for and found her journal in her case and took it into the living room so she didn’t wake him.
She switched on a lamp and settled in the armchair by the empty fireplace and wrote.
Dear Diary,
So much has happened I don’t know where to begin. I disliked—no, hated Jack—but now I love him. Yes, love him. He’s so kind and tender and tonight he made love to me. Not once, but many times. He aroused a passion in me I never knew I had and he gave to me, only me, not caring about his own pleasure.
Whatever happens in the future, I shall never, never stop loving him. I know I am just another woman he met and he will soon forget, but to me he is the man with whom I would want to spend the rest of my life, if I could.
I have to find away to come back to him, somehow.
She hesitated in her writing as she heard the floor creak. Hastily hiding the diary beneath the armchair cushion, she looked up with an air of innocence as Jack walked out of the bedroom. He had put on his shorts but even so, her eyes were on stalks as she stared in admiration at his physique.
“What are you doing out here? Come back to bed,” he said, holding his arms out to her.
She went to him, adoring his welcoming kisses. “Oh Jack, I never want this night to end,” she murmured into his neck as he lifted her in his arms.
~ * ~
Jack woke early to the sound of a helicopter. Puzzled, he climbed from the bed leaving Lara still sleeping soundly.
Peering out of the window, he was even more astonished to hear the sound of high-powered motor boats. He pulled on his shorts and tee shirt and was about to go outside to investigate when the cottage door burst open and he faced what appeared to be a small army of SWAT police officers carrying guns all aimed at him.
“What the hell is going on?” He had hardly got the words out when a man in a suit pushed his way through the officers.
“Place your hands behind you,” he shouted, and as Jack obeyed, he roughly snapped handcuffs on him.
Jack turned to face the man. “There’s been a misunderstanding…”
“There’s no mistake. Jack Lucas, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Her Highness, Princess Lara of Challoner.
Four
Lara woke with a start, her head resounding with the sound of men shouting from the lounge. Scrambling from the bed, she pulled on her underclothes, followed by slacks and top. What was going on? Who was yelling?
She would never forget the sight that met her eyes as she raced into the other room. The