Her dismissal felt like a fist to his solar plexus. Hudson had hoped that if Tabitha got to know his real self… If she saw what life could be like if she weren’t a pawn in someone else’s narrowminded plans… Maybe she’d choose love. Choose happiness. Choose him.
Now he knew: the answer was no.
Limbs heavy, he rose to his feet to escort her back to the inn for their final night in Marrywell. Tomorrow would bring the eight-hour drive to return her to her father. And Sunday morning would mark the interminable pain of losing her for the rest of his life when she joined Viscount Oldfield at the church… and became another man’s wife.
Chapter 22
Tabitha glared at the privacy screen separating her bath from Hudson’s. This was their final evening in Marrywell. The last few hours alone together. They might currently be separated in two different tubs, but there was only one bed.
And this time, she bloody well wasn’t going to waste it.
As much as she longed for Hudson, she knew she couldn’t have him… permanently. But they could have tonight.
She pushed herself up from the tub. The water was still warm, and a few soapy bubbles slid down her wet legs.
“You finished already?” came Hudson’s alarmed voice from the other side of the folding screen.
He liked to be the first out of his tub, so that he could be dry and safely clothed before she withdrew from her bath.
Not tonight, damn it.
She wrapped her towel loosely around her torso, covering herself from just above her nipples down to the top part of her thighs—and not much else. With a deep breath, she stepped around the folding screen.
Hudson let out a gurgling gasp and tried to sink further into his tub. It didn’t work. He was too tall and muscled, and the tub too comically small to contain him. The water rose to his navel and halfway up his thighs. Hiding the part she was most interested in, yes. But nonetheless displaying plenty of delicious man above the soapy water.
Hudson closed his eyes as though to block out the sight of Tabitha in her damp towel.
“I’m naked,” he rasped.
“So am I,” she responded.
He cracked open one of his eyes a tiny sliver.
She let go of her towel, allowing it to flutter unceremoniously to the floor, where it pooled at her feet. Her naked feet. Matching the naked rest of her body. Completely exposed to his view.
He let out a groan. “If you think I’m strong enough to withstand a seduction—”
“I’m hoping you’re not even going to try.” She stepped forward and held out her hand. “Join me in the bed?”
His tortured expression vacillated between mulish determination and abject longing for several long seconds. At last, the stubborn set of his jaw appeared to win the internal battle.
Tabitha started to lower her outstretched hand in disappointment.
With a visible shudder, Hudson placed his large hands on the wooden rim of his tub and hauled himself to his feet.
Water sluiced down his form, rivulets running across every hard plane and muscle… including the erect member jutting from his groin. A soft gasp escaped her throat.
“Second thoughts?” he growled.
She shook her head. “None.”
“Good.” He grabbed his towel and began drying his form. “Or rather, probably bad. Neither of us—”
“—is going to let this opportunity pass us by,” she finished, grabbing Hudson’s towel from his hands and tossing it aside. “Or we’ll regret it for the rest of our lives.”
He gazed down at her, his eyes serious and his voice soft. “You’re certain doing this isn’t what you’ll regret? There will be no undoing it afterwards.”
She touched her fingertips to his bare chest. “My only regret is not starting five days ago.”
