The prince, who had recoiled in fear, sat cringing in his chair.
Still livid, Jack muttered a foul oath directed at himself. What had happened to his sense of honor if he was willing to terrorize a weak, craven, obviously ill man?
With another curse, Jack turned on his heel and stalked out before he made good on his threat to run a blade through the coward who had given him life.
Jack’s bedchamber was dark, since no lamps or fire had been lit. Upon shutting his door forcefully behind him, he flung off his coat, then ripped at his cravat and strode across the room, out onto the balcony. A brilliant half-moon had risen in the night sky and cast a silver glow over the earth, yet the tranquil scene again failed to soothe him as he stared out at the forested mountain slopes below the palace.
A short while later he heard the click of a door latch behind him, followed by Sophie’s quiet footfall. Her presence was not unexpected for he knew she would want to console him. Neither was the sympathy he felt radiating from her in waves when she slipped her arms around him from behind and pressed her cheek against his back.
Her suggestion, however, was entirely surprising. “I think we should leave first thing in the morning, Jack. It is your decision, of course. But there is no purpose to be served in remaining.”
Her calm tone held acceptance, yet his dilemma hadn’t changed. Leaving Navartania meant abandoning his quest for the title that could permit him to have a future with Sophie. And remaining meant swallowing his anger at his father. An onerous choice—and one he’d sworn never to make.
“You can decide in the morning,” she added in that same considerate tone.
Jack stood still and silent, although he was neither inside.
Releasing his waist, Sophie moved to his side and made the mistake of raising her lovely face to his, perhaps intending to give him another consoling kiss on his cheek. Jack responded by turning and lowering his head to seize her mouth.
At his roughness, Sophie gave a soft gasp before melting against him. When he kissed her possessively, she twined her arms around his neck. At the feel of her lithe body molding to his, sharp arousal flared up to join the darker emotions simmering inside him. When his arms tightened further around her, Sophie shivered and met his thrusting tongue with an urgency of her own. It seemed they were both seeking release for the passion that had been smoldering between them for days.
Then just as suddenly, Sophie pressed her hands against his shoulders, ending their scorching kiss. Sorely disappointed, Jack presumed that she was pushing him away, but instead, she took his hand and led him inside to his bedchamber, where she shut the balcony door and proceeded to pull up the hem of his shirt from his evening breeches.
Jack sucked in a breath when her hand began stroking his abdomen, spreading heat across his skin, but he remained motionless, letting Sophie have her way. She removed his shirt altogether and stepped closer to press her lips tenderly to his bare chest, making desire run through him like fire.
“What the devil are you doing, Sophie?” he finally rasped.
“Kissing away your anger.”
Jack battled his conscience. “That is far enough.” His hands fisted at his sides as he tried to bring discipline to his senses. “You need to return to your own rooms. If you stay, I won’t vouch for my self-control.”
“You needn’t vouch for anything, Jack. I am staying with you tonight. I want to make love to you.… Fully, this time.”
She was determined to comfort him, he knew. But using her body was not the way to do it, no matter how much he wished otherwise. “We will both regret it in the morning.”
“I will have no regrets. I know what I want, and it is you.”
In the dim glow of moonlight shining through the windows, he could see serenity and resolve on her features, as if she had no doubts whatsoever about what she was proposing. When he hesitated to reply, Sophie gazed up at him with wide, imploring eyes. “Will you honestly regret making love to me, Jack? Don’t you want me?”
“That goes without saying.”
Watching him closely in return, Sophie felt her heart jump at the raw emotion she saw on his face. Jack’s feelings were unmasked for a moment, his expression deep and intense, and she could see a whisper of aching need in his liquid-dark eyes.
That look decided her. Her heart hurt for him, for the unresolved conflict with his father that was eating away at him inside. But that wasn’t why she intended to give herself to Jack. What she craved was the fulfillment of being one with him. This sensual intimacy between them felt as natural as the beat of her own heart.
“You were right,” she murmured. “No one will know what we do here tonight … unless you get me with child. But you said there were ways to prevent your seed from taking root. How?”
“Placing special sponges soaked with brandy or vinegar inside your woman’s passage is one.”
Her eyebrow rose. “Indeed? Did you bring any of those sponges with you?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“So your abduction wasn’t as prepared as you led me to believe.”
A smile flickered across his mouth at her teasing. “I didn’t have that much faith in my powers of seduction.”
“Is there nothing else we can do?”