Through her haze of ecstasy, she heard his harsh groans, felt his shudders, the spasms of his body as he bucked beneath her, shaking with pleasure. As his own climax throbbed against her womb, Sophie collapsed mindlessly, her bones melting over him.
Jack remained inside her for a long while, their breaths harsh and rapid. Then, easing her to the mattress, he curled his body around hers and held her fiercely.
Sophie was his, now and forever, he thought with dazed satisfaction. She was a part of him.
The depth of longing he felt for her still amazed him. Jack exhaled in wonder upon realizing how much he’d changed in the short time since meeting her. His sense of aloneness was gone for good, and whatever loneliness he’d felt since childhood was vanquished completely, all because of Sophie.
She had healed the last lingering wounds of his soul.
As they lay there in the aftermath of passion, their damp bodies cooling in the dim morning light, Jack drew back to gaze at her. In appearance, she had always been a vibrant beauty, and if anything her radiance had only grown more pronounced since their wedding yesterday. But it was her inner beauty that had utterly captured him.
Loving her seemed so right, so perfect.
Sophie might have felt the same rightness, for when she opened her eyes, the glisten of her tears reflected the joy he saw there.
“Good morning, wife,” he
said huskily.
“Good morning, husband,” she returned, her voice a warm rasp. “What a lovely way to awaken.”
“Indeed.”
It was entrancing to wake with Sophie in his arms. Particularly given the difficulties he’d had in getting her into their nuptial bed. They were bound in matrimony now, having been joined by special license the morning after her father’s capitulation.
Following the small ceremony attended by their families and a few close friends, Quinn and Skye had thrown a grand, hastily arranged celebration ball at the Traherne mansion in Berkeley Square, not only to welcome Sophie into their clan, but to show the world that the feud between the Fortins and Wildes was entirely over. Last evening, Jack had watched with growing amusement as his family overwhelmed Sophie’s parents, showering them with such effusive warmth that Oliver Fortin turned glassy-eyed.
The Duke of Dunmore had attended the ball also, a strategy designed to show the ton that no ill feelings remained after the dissolution of his betrothal to Sophie, and to allow Kate and Skye to scout out potential brides for him. Reportedly, they already had several candidates in mind. Not only had the duke greatly enjoyed the ball, he was eagerly looking forward to finding his suitable match.
Prince Raoul had been present at the wedding ceremony as well—a development that still astonished Jack—but hadn’t attended the ball in order to save his strength for his surgery, which was scheduled for a few hours from now. After a careful examination of the prince’s wound, Mr. Geary had verified the possibility of a foreign object lodged deep in the chest tissue that could be causing Prince Raoul’s decline.
If the operation to remove any extraneous matter proved successful, the prince would remain in Geary’s hospital for a time, then make his recovery at Tallis Court, the Traherne family seat in Kent, rather than at a London hotel. Not only was the splendid country estate larger and more peaceful than Jack’s London home, with more servants to care for an invalid—or a dying man, as the case might be—away from the summer heat and bustle of town, the arrangements would allow the newlyweds privacy at Beauvoir, where Jack had grown up.
The magnificent Beaufort family estate, situated not far from Tallis Court, was temporarily vacant, with Ash and Maura still away on their wedding journey, but close enough to allow for regular visits with the rest of the Wildes.
Jack would be glad to be spared his intrusive relatives living underfoot, for despite his love for them, he wanted the chance to begin his new life with Sophie without the constant bombardment of their well-meaning counsel and interference.
Just then, as if remembering his commitment at the hospital, Sophie cast a sleepy glance at the drawn window curtains. “How much time do we have left before you must leave?”
“Two hours, perhaps.”
He would vastly have preferred to remain in bed with his bride for the entire day, but he intended to be present for his father’s surgery to provide company and moral support. Jack would go to the hospital alone, and depending on a positive outcome, Sophie would join him later.
“Well then …” A soft, seductive smile claimed her mouth as she raised her arms to encircle his neck. “I think we should make the most of the time we have left,” she murmured, obviously sharing his thoughts.
Tightening his embrace, Jack rolled with her so that his body covered Sophie’s.
“My sentiments exactly,” he declared in a husky voice before lowering his head to capture her ripe lips.
With pleasure still singing in their veins, they eventually dragged themselves out of bed to bathe and dress and partake of breakfast. When he was ready to depart for Marlebone Hospital, Sophie gave Jack a good-luck kiss that he felt in every part of his body.
Good fortune seemed to be smiling on them. Four hours later, the surgery was complete and Jack was sitting at the bedside of his sleeping father, in a private room reserved for wealthy patients.
After much careful poking and prodding inside the wound and cutting away of putrid flesh, Mr. Geary had found a tiny sliver of wood from the huntsman’s arrow lodged in the rib-bone, no doubt the culprit that was poisoning Prince Raoul’s entire body.
After being stitched and poulticed and heavily dosed with laudanum to ease the pain, the prince was resting soundly now. Although he looked pallid and weak, he was believed to stand a strong chance of a full recovery, particularly given the novel blood-cleansing treatments Mr. Geary was becoming famous for.
As Jack watched his dozing father, he found himself recalling yet another early childhood memory—of him weeping from a skinned knee and his father consoling him.