“Oh, I loved him, but probably not fully. Perhaps I was more infatuated than anything. Alex and I really never knew each other well.” She shrugged. “Obviously, since he led a double life.”
His heart leapt from her confession.
She licked her lips. “I would have been more crushed if we had never discovered his deceitfulness. Can you imagine how my life would have been ruined if I had married him?”
He dropped his gaze to her tempting mouth, wanting to sup her sweet nectar and lose himself in her passion. “I would have never let that happen.”
A tender smile graced her mouth. “And pray, how would you have stopped it without knowing about his misdeeds?”
“You, my dear Judith, have lured me to your side these past few weeks, and I fear I cannot leave. I’m a greedy man, my love. I do not share.”
She held her breath, her eyes growing wide. “What—”
“I would have never let him come near you.” He lowered his mouth. “Not when I want you so badly.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
When his lipsmet hers, she sighed deeply and answered his kiss. She turned in his embrace without breaking contact, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He crushed her body against his as his hands moved over her back in soft caresses.
She kissed him like a woman starved for passion, which indeed she was. He still couldn’t believe no other man had kissed her in this manner. Not even Alex, the man she had dreamed of marrying. It surprised Trey that he had never quite felt the satisfaction with his other conquests as he had while holding Judith. Somehow she’d touched his heart, and he was reluctant to release this feeling.
Trey prayed she wouldn’t stop him. She needed this pleasure as much as he did. He wanted to love her like no other man had.
But he wouldn’t. He couldn’t! He couldn’t ruin her for other men—for her soon-to-be husband. Marriage didn’t agree with Trey’s plans like it did hers. He had to stop this now. In his mind, he repeated,I will never make her a good husband.
He broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against her, trying to get his breathing controlled. In a few moments, she looked up at him and smiled, cupping his face.
“You didn’t have to stop, Trey.”
“I know.”
“Why did you then?”
He shook his head. “God knows I wanted to keep kissing you more than anything in the world, but I could not ruin you. You are too good of a person. You have a kind and loving heart. I could not do that to you.”
Tears formed in her eyes, and when she smiled, her lips quivered. “Thank you.”
He bent and placed a soft kiss on her mouth before pulling away. His chest grew tight with emotion. Not continuing what they’d both wanted had been the most unselfish thing he’d ever done, and he questioned his motives even though he knew. He wanted Judith more than any woman he’d ever known, but she would never be his.
Ever.
“Sleep well, my love.” He kissed her one more time before turning and leaving her room. Each step made his heart heavier, and doubt trickled into his mind. Could he possibly love her and only her for the rest of his life? Could she possibly love him and want to be his wife forever and ever?
Shaking his head, he shoved the ludicrous notion away. The plain and simple truth was, he carried his father’s passion for lust and desire. Trey could never be faithful to one woman. Eventually, Judith would bore him and he’d move on.
He couldn’t do that to her. Indeed, he loved her, but he knew it wouldn’t last.
As he stormed to his room, he cursed his father for ruining his life.
*
Trey loves me!
Without a doubt, Judith knew this now. She smiled and climbed out of bed the next morning with a song in her heart. He had comforted her beyond her wildest dreams. He kissedlike a man who couldn’t get enough, and she answered with the same emotion. Never had a man made her feel so cherished, so beautiful. Only Trey.
Now she knew why she’d never had these feelings of desire for Alex. She was never in love with him. Trey had pulled her into his heart whether he wanted to or not. This was where she wanted to stay.
Forever.
