Wrapped In Pleasure - Brenda Jackson [126]
He stared at her. “Even if he refuses to give up his mistresses?”
He saw the grief in her eyes when she said, “Yes, even then.”
She then leaned up and placed her head against his chest. When he felt a tear touch his skin he fought everything within him to tell her the truth right then and there. But at that moment he could not risk seeing what he knew was love in her eyes turn into hate. And when a whimper eased from her lips he tightened his arms around her.
“Shh. It’s okay, Jo. Forgive me for bringing him up,” he whispered close to her ear. “I, too, will cherish these days, these moments and I, too, will never forget.”
And he would not, especially when she discovered the truth of his duplicity. There would be hell to pay and he had a feeling she wouldn’t forgive easily and that’s what bothered him the most. He was silent and so was she. His hands stroked her back and he wondered at the situation he was now in. It was one of those where his friend Jake would laughingly say the hunter had gotten captured by the game. And so it was.
He had always appreciated women. He thought they were boxes of jewels filled with surprises, excitement and pleasure. A few he had decided were challenges, especially those who thought they could capture his heart, tame his soul or make him vulnerable to their lovemaking skills. But he knew now, could easily admit, the woman he held in his arms was different. She had taught him that there could be more important things to share with a woman than endless passion, unspeakable pleasures and never-ending sexual gratification. There were things such as companionship and contentment. Johari’s willful, rebellious and defiant nature challenged him in more ways than one. In the bedroom she’d had an innocent thirst for carnal knowledge and outside the bedroom she was still everything he would want in a lover, and he would even go so far as to admit that she was everything he would look forward to having in a wife.
She lifted her face from his chest and pushed her fingers through her hair after quickly wiping away the last of her tears. “I’m sorry. I did not mean to become emotional. I am here to have a good time.” And then in a soft voice, she added, “There will be no regrets, Monty.”
He reached out, captured her chin in the palm of his hand. He was silent for a long moment as he studied her features, immersing his vision in every single detail. He knew at that moment his only regret would be when the truth was brought to light and she assumed the worst. But then hadn’t the worst been his plan all along in order to teach her a lesson? A lesson she rightly deserved to learn?
He could feel himself floundering in that regard, going so far as to consider having a change of heart. But a part of him, the part that refused to give in to emotions of any kind, stood fast, unmovable. So here he was fighting for a sense of balance and logical thinking where she was concerned and wasn’t doing a good job of it.
At that moment he didn’t want balance or logical thinking. He wanted her. And he wanted her in a way he’d never wanted a woman before and on his secluded Greek island underneath a beautiful June sky. Here out in the open. No restraints.
“I want you, Jo.”
He leaned over and captured her mouth, sliding his tongue into it at the same time he lowered her back onto the towel. Those four words were ones he had found himself saying a lot lately and each time he’d said them, he meant them.
There was an intensity in their kiss, a countdown of the days they had left. Not many of them. And a promise to make the rest of them special, more than significant in some way. He wanted to remember every detail of her mouth, every single inch and how it felt to use his tongue to taste her, make her groan and whimper as he raised the level of pleasure for both of them.
He felt her hands gripping his shoulders and then they wrapped around his