Chapter Six #2
Sylvie looked up at him in surprise. ‘Didn’t you spend the holidays together?’
‘Christmas and Easter were spent at home. But my grandfather sent us to various camps during the summer holidays. He said it was to make it less tiring for my grandmother as entertaining three energetic boys all at once was a handful.’
‘Are you close to your brothers?’
He hesitated for a nanosecond as if thinking about it. ‘Not as much as we should be. My youngest brother hasn’t been home in eight months. We’ve had zero contact with him but he finally rang me at the ball. I was about to engage the services of a private investigator to track him down.’
‘You’re making me glad I’m an only child,’ Sylvie said. ‘I only have my mother to worry about.’ She bit her lip and then added, ‘That’s kind of why I hosed you. I just found out my mother is seeing someone after twenty-two years of being single.’
Jack’s eyebrows lifted. ‘Twenty-two years is a long time to be celibate.’
‘Yes…’
There was a small silence.
‘Hey, I’m forgetting why you’re here. Come on. I’ll give you the grand tour.’
Sylvie followed him as he showed her the beautiful renovation of his house.
The layout was similar to hers and his taste, to her surprise, was not dissimilar to hers either.
Clean lines, lots of light, an open-plan kitchen and living spaces, three bedrooms, a study and an entertainment room, and two gorgeously appointed bathrooms. The furniture was a mix of modern and antique, giving the house a sophisticated yet modern feel.
The only difference was Jack had turned one of the bedrooms into a gym.
‘You have good taste,’ Sylvie said.
‘I can’t take the credit for all this.’ Jack waved his hand to encompass their surroundings. ‘I hired an interior decorator.’
‘Still, they usually consult with the client about their preferences.’
‘True but I gave him pretty free rein.’ Jack opened the fridge and took out a bottle of wine. ‘Drink?’
‘Sure.’
He poured two glasses of wine and came over to hand her one. She took it from him but the brush of his fingers sent a crackle of electricity through her body. His eyes met hers and he held his glass up. ‘What shall we drink to?’
‘Erm…’ She was lost for words, mesmerised by the blue of his eyes and the intensity of them as they held hers.
‘How about to friends, not enemies?’ he suggested with a glint in his eyes.
‘Okay. Friends not enemies.’ She clinked her glass against his, wondering if she were mad to make such a toast. Why was she allowing herself to be drawn to him when she didn’t like him.
You do like him. You like him a lot. The voice inside her head pointed out.
Maybe her mother and Judge Cartleford were right—it was time for her to live a little before life passed her by.
But Sylvie was a professional, a rule follower, a person who coloured between the lines.
Even thinking about a fling with Jack made her feel as if she was stepping over a boundary, treading on forbidden territory. Dangerous territory.
They each took a sip of wine, their movements almost in unison. Then Jack put his glass down on the kitchen counter. ‘I’ve been thinking about the other night.’
‘The ball?’
He smiled and took the wine glass out of her hand and turned away to set it on the counter beside his. Then he faced her again, holding out his hands. ‘Shall we dance?’
‘What, now?’
‘Why not?’
‘Don’t we need music?’
Jack spoke to his automated system and a slow-moving ballad began playing.
She found herself putting her hands in his and did nothing to stop him drawing her closer to his body.
His arms came around her and he guided her in a waltz that was sexy and smooth and sensual, their bodies moving as one.
Sylvie had never considered herself a particularly competent dancer.
She had never taken lessons and usually avoided dancing at weddings and parties.
But with Jack’s arms around her, guiding her, leading her, she felt like she was dancing on a cloud.
It made her wonder—not for the first time—what it would be like in his arms, making love with him.
Her body craved his touch more and more.
It was as if their first dance at the ball had set off a need in her she hadn’t realised she possessed—the need to be held and pleasured by Jack Wilde.
Were her feelings of lust masquerading as dislike?
Had she put up walls because she knew instinctively that he could unlock her sensuality and take it to heights it had never been before?
But how could she maintain her professional distance if she slept with him?
How could she stop herself wanting more than he was prepared to give?
She couldn’t stop fantasising about him kissing her, touching her, pleasuring her until she saw stars.
But how could she allow herself to relax her boundaries? Especially with Jack Wilde?
‘I like how you move with me,’ he said, holding her closer.
‘I usually have two left feet but you’re good at taking the lead.’
He brought one hand up to cup her cheek, his thumb stroking back and forth across her skin, his eyes locked on hers. ‘Now, about that kiss.’ His voice was low and gravelly.
‘What kiss?’ Was that her voice? That whispery soft breath of air that had heady anticipation threaded through it.
‘This kiss,’ he said, and lowered his mouth to hers.
Sylvie leaned into his kiss, delighting in the rush of adrenaline as his lips moved against hers, gently at first, as soft as down feather but then, a flame was lit and heat and fire blazed between their mouths.
Her blood pounded through her veins, her heart hammered against her breastbone and her desire roared like an inferno.
She was out of control and was glad of it.
She had never felt such a ferocious rush of desire.
It was magic, black magic that cast a spell over her, making her hungry for more of his touch.
Her heart rate was so high it was clearly trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Records.
She breathed in the subtle but intoxicating lime and lemongrass notes of Jack’s aftershave and something else that was one part musk and three parts male.
Desire moved through her body like a prowling hungry beast looking for satiation.
Never had she wanted a man more than this man.
Was it because he was her enemy in a legal case?
Was it because she was crossing a boundary she had sworn she would never cross?
Or was it simply because Jack Wilde was irresistible?
But if she slept with him, she could potentially be compromising her professional status as a solicitor who advocated for her female clients.
She had worked so hard to build her brand and reputation.
What if her involvement with Jack was discovered and destroyed her reputation?
There were no rules about lawyers on opposing sides being friends or lovers, but Sylvie had her own rules, and they did not include fraternising with London’s most flagrant playboy.
If she agreed to a fling, it would have to be on her terms. A one-night thing just to keep her reputation safe.
Jack’s tongue slipped between her lips and a shock wave went through her body, making her feel as if someone had shuffled a deck of cards in her belly.
Quickly. Vegas-card-table quickly. Need crawled through her flesh, sending tingles to her breasts, the slightly prickling sensation of them shifting against the lace of her bra as if they couldn’t wait for Jack to place his hands or mouth on them.
Her inner core contracted, pulsed, throbbed for his intimate possession.
Every time Jack’s tongue touched hers a dart of lust speared her between the legs.
Desire moved through her body in tingling waves, making her aware of her erogenous zones as if it were the first time they’d ever been activated.
His mouth continued its passionate exploration of hers, his tongue making love with hers until she was making whimpering sounds of delight and encouragement.
His stubble grazed her face as he changed position, a deep groan coming from inside his throat as if he too was being swept away by the flashpoint of lust that had exploded between them.
One of his hands splayed its fingers through her hair as he held her in an achingly tender embrace.
A part of her mind reminded her he was a practised playboy who knew all the moves to make a woman crazy for him, but another part of her wanted to believe his tenderness, that his passion was only for her.
After a long, breathless interval, Jack eased back away from her mouth and looked down at her with lust-glazed eyes. ‘Is that as far as this goes?’
Sylvie was so shaken by his kiss, sensually rattled by his caressing mouth, that she found it hard to find her voice.
‘I… I… Do you want more?’ She wanted more.
Way more. It was liberating to admit it to herself even though her rule-following nature rang warning bells.
But wasn’t that part of Jack’s allure to her?
He was forbidden fruit and she was tempted beyond her measure of self-control.
‘That must be more than obvious.’
She was standing so close to him she could feel how much he wanted her.
But Sylvie didn’t want him to think she was interested in anything but a fling because she wasn’t.
She wasn’t waiting for the white wedding and the pram and the picket fence future.
She was a career woman with her own legal practice.
She had no time for the fairy tale, only her clients.
And yet…there was something missing from her life and it was this—sex.
No-strings sex. Fun sex. Exciting, flesh-tingling sex.
Sylvie looked up at him, her heart still pounding from his spine-tingling kiss. ‘How much more? Are we talking a one-nighter? Because that’s all I’d want. A one-off to scratch the itch.’