‘You no longer love Roger?’ he asked huskily.
‘I’ve learned to let go.’
He groaned and his head fell down into his hands.
Hannah did not know what to make of this. His shoulders were heaving and it was as though he were crying―but why should he? Why should her confession have such a devastating effect? ‘Jordan?’ She touched his shoulder tentatively and felt him flinch, and would have backed away if the next second he hadn’t swung upright and crushed her against him.
She thought every bone in her body was going to snap. She felt shudder after shudder wash through him until finally, his voice thick with emotion, he said, ‘This is the happiest day of my life! Oh, Hannah, my dearest Hannah, you don’t know what this means to me!’
With trembling fingers she held his head against her wildly beating breast, stroked the thickness of his hair and waited.
‘I’ve always thought of love as being a word that’s used too loosely―you know that, Hannah. But whatever its guise I’ve never believed in it. Until this moment.’
‘You believe that I love you?’ she asked faintly.
‘I believe you.’
‘I―I love you―even more than I loved Roger,’ she whispered achingly and bravely.
‘Oh, God, Hannah, I don’t deserve this.’
‘I have enough love for the two of us if you’ll just let me into your life.’ Her lips trembled, tears welling and spilling. ‘I don’t care if you don’t love me. It doesn’t matter, just as long as you’ll be my friend and make love to me now and then.’
‘But it does matter,’ he interjected fiercely. ‘It matters where you’re concerned. You’re not Riva, or any other girl I’ve been out with. You’re the spunky girl who faced up to me in the office and has been sparring with me ever since. You’re brave and beautiful and a caring, loving mother and very loyal to Roger―and oh, darling, I love you―if love’s the word you want, then yes, I love you so much.’
Hannah could not believe that she was hearing him correctly. Jordan loved her! The man who had sworn never to fall in love was now saying that she meant more to him than anyone else in the world. ‘I can’t believe it,’ she whispered.
‘It’s true, my precious. You’ve achieved the impossible. You’ve brought me, the invincible Jordan Quest, down to my knees. I worship every hair of your head. I love you, I love Daniel, and I shall love everyone of our children.’
Hannah’s cheeks coloured becomingly, and when his mouth sought hers she surrendered. It was a long time before either of them stirred again.
‘Did you love me when you asked me to marry you?’ she asked wonderingly.
‘I knew I wanted you more than anyone else. I knew I never wanted to let you go. But you were still emotionally tied to Roger, that was the trouble. I knew I had a battle on my hands, but I thought I’d got over the first hurdle when you let me make love to you. It nearly killed me when I heard you calling out for Roger so shortly afterwards.’
‘I’m sorry about that,’ she whispered, tracing the strong lines of his face with a trembling finger. Everything had happened so quickly it was unbelievable. ‘But did you have to turn to Riva? God, that hurt, the thought of you with her after me.’
‘No, my darling, no,’ Jordan assured her gently, ‘don’t ever think that. I haven’t touched Riva in that way since I met you. I used her, yes, to make you jealous―I couldn’t stand your indifference, but there hasn’t been anything between us for a long, long time.’ He touched her finger with his tongue as it passed over his lips. ‘Life’s going to take on a whole new meaning, Hannah. We’ll work and play and love together, The only time we might have any difficulties is with Daniel when we’ve finished here and turn it over to Drew. My house at Hunter’s Hill isn’t on quite the same scale.’
‘You could sell it and buy this from Drew,’ she suggested tentatively. ‘I can’t really see him ever running this estate. With the money he’d be a rich man, he could buy a small house somewhere and—’
‘And spend the rest of it before he was thirty,’ snorted Jordan. ‘I don’t think that’s a very good idea, but never mind, we’ll think of something. The important thing is that we’ve discovered our love for each other.’ His mouth closed over hers once again. ‘Oh, Hannah, my love,’ he muttered, ‘don’t ever leave me. Love me for ever.’
‘I will, I will,’ she breathed. ‘I promise.’ Her love for this man was so much stronger than anything she had felt for Roger. Not that she would ever say anything against him. Roger had loved her in his own way and she had loved him, but love this second time around was different. It was on a higher level, so much more physical and emotional. Life would be one constant round of excitement and fulfilment.
‘What are you thinking, my love?’
She smiled. ‘That I’d like to go to bed with you, Mr Quest.’
‘That, Mrs Quest,’ he said softly, ‘is something that can be very easily arranged.’ Mindful of her sore shoulders, he picked her up in his arms and carried her upstairs.
Stormy Relationship Page 18