‘Alex!’ She cried his name as he thrust again, so deep and hard that she was sure she would explode with the intensity of pleasure that coursed through her. Nothing had prepared her for the exquisite sensations that her first climax brought, and she clung to him as he continued to drive into her, taking her with him when he reached the pinnacle and tumbled over.
How long they lay, replete in each other’s arms, she didn’t know—but when he finally stirred and eased himself out of her she was swamped by a feeling of loss and was bereft without him.
‘Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you?’
His voice was deep and soft, but she was beyond speech, and instead felt stupid, weak tears gather behind her eyelids and trickle down her cheek.
‘My God! What have I done?’
The sight of her tears lashed his soul; he wanted to hold her, comfort her, but what comfort could he possibly offer? Because of him she had betrayed her husband—a man whom he knew hurt her and made her unhappy, yet whom she’d vowed to stay with for ever, presumably because she loved him.
‘Forgive me?’ he asked quietly as he rolled off the bed and pulled on his clothes. ‘Although it’s not you I should ask.’
Jenna was so cold her teeth chattered, and she huddled beneath the covers, not daring to look at him, although the misery and self-loathing in his voice said it all. Of course it wasn’t her he needed to ask for forgiveness. It was Selina, the woman he loved and had chosen for his wife. Alex was an honourable man, he must despise himself for giving in to a momentary weakness, and he must despise her more for initiating their lovemaking.
She had practically seduced him, she thought, shuddering with shame as she recalled the way she had uncovered his body. What red-blooded male would not have responded to her blatant offer? She was entirely to blame, and as she heard him close the bedroom door behind him she buried her head in the pillows and burst into tears.
Alex was nowhere to be seen when she finally plucked up the courage to go downstairs, and the landlady, Mrs Pike, explained that he had gone out on the tractor with her husband to try and retrieve the car.
It was mid-morning before she heard the tractor rumble down the lane, towing the Bentley behind it, and her heart lurched in her chest as she watched Alex jump down and walk towards the pub. If she had hoped that making love with him would somehow banish her fascination for him she had been sadly mistaken; if anything she desired him even more. It was as if her body recognised its partner and was eager to rediscover the sweet pleasure only he could give.
‘The car’s undriveable,’ he told her as he stamped his boots free of snow before following her into the bar. ‘I’ll arrange for a rescue truck to tow it to a garage as soon as the roads are cleared. Mr Pike has kindly agreed to lend me his Land Rover, so that I can take you to the station. You can catch a train back to London and I’ll follow in a day or two, when the car’s been repaired.’
Jenna nodded wordlessly, unable to look at him, and she heard him sigh heavily.
‘Jenna—we need to talk.’
‘Breakfast’s ready,’ Mrs Pike called and Jenna’s stomach churned at the sight of the full English fry-up set before her. But she smiled and forced herself to tuck in; anything was better than the threatened conversation with Alex.
She remained silent on the way to the station, and he was too busy negotiating the narrow, slippery lanes to do more than throw her a concerned glance. It was only when she was standing on the platform, about to board the train, that she looked at him properly, her heart aching at his drawn, almost haggard expression.
‘What are you going to say to Chris?’ he asked grimly, and she frowned, guiltily recalling the web of lies she had spun. ‘You don’t have to stay with him. I know you believe you love him, but he has some kind of hold over you. If he really loved you he wouldn’t cause you physical harm.’
His face darkened as he remembered the bruising on her foot that he had noticed the previous night, and the way she was still walking with a pronounced limp when she thought he wasn’t watching her.
Alex looked desperate, Jenna admitted painfully as she climbed into a carriage and stared at the rigid set of his jaw as he waited on the platform. He obviously felt ridden with guilt that he had betrayed Selina, and believing that he had aided her in committing adultery only served to increase his self-disgust. It was time to stop the charade and give him back at least some of his self-respect.
‘I do love Chris,’ she said, a hurried glance along the platform revealing that the porter was still checking that the doors were safely shut. ‘But he’s not my husband; I was divorced three years ago.’