He pulled the blanket over her shoulders feeling her cling to him. He smoothed her hair and kissed the top of her head.
‘What about my supposed relationship with Luc? They said I was having an affair with him, but I can’t remember doing anything like that. I am gaining my memories fast but not all of them. Maybe I did . . .’
Raoul gave a small laugh.
‘Trust me, Sabrina, you were not having an affair with Luc. I think it has always been his dream that you would. He wants everything that I have and goes out to destroy what is mine if he can’t take it. I know you weren’t having an affair with Luc because I had you shadowed by a private detective when you started getting all those phone calls and were followed. I knew your every move.’
‘You had me followed?’
She sounded indignant as she dried her eyes and looked up at him. He studied her with concern.
‘There has always been a threat to my family ever since my company’s success. The further you climb the ladder, Sabrina, the more dangerous it is. I can’t afford to take risks. I surrounded you with protection, but you were still taken from me, and the man I hired couldn’t find out the stalker’s identity. He is good at hiding and throwing a false trail.’
‘Who do you think that man was in the forest?’
‘It has to be the man who attacked you. I have a feeling that your stalking and Luc’s stealing from the company is all related. I invited everybody this weekend because I suspected it was one of our friends, even though it pains me to say it. I thought having them around would jog your memory. That’s why I was so determined not to let you leave my side.’
‘And Maxim was here to investigate?’
‘To investigate and protect. I called him and told him where we are. He’s got a warrant out for Cressida’s arrest and is arranging for some officers to be sent to comb the grounds when the weather is better. But it looks as though we will be here for the night. There are a couple of hideouts around here that the man could be sheltering in. If anyone is missing from the house, then we will know who it is.’
‘I’m sorry about Luc.’
‘Not as much as he will be when I am finished with him.’
His voice was low, a dark menace streaking its tone. She felt fear twist in her stomach again. Her memory was opening a can of worms. The images of her attack bounced off the walls of her mind, refusing to go. But no matter how hard she tried she could not see the face of the man who tore the necklace from her throat. She flinched.
‘Sabrina, is it happening again?’
She slowly sat up.
‘It won’t go away. And I won’t let it until I can discover the truth.’
She rubbed her forehead and stood up.
‘Do you think the counselling will help? I just wish I could remember everything.’
She turned to face the fire watching the images dance in the flames. She felt Raoul’s hands on her shoulders, his deft fingers working away the tension that knotted in her neck and shoulders.
‘Don’t be so hard on yourself Sabrina. You’ve remembered more than I hoped for. You are doing well. Just take it one step at a time.’
She leaned back against him.
‘Show me what you’ve done in here. It was so dilapidated last time I saw it.’
He smiled and took her hand bringing it to his lips before leading her slowly across the wooden floor. Their tour ended up in a small study. There was a red leather reading chair, resembling the ones in the chateau, and a small office at one end of the room bearing state of the art communications technology Raoul needed to conduct business.
Another desk sat close to the reading chair on which a model of the Tall Ship, the Cutty Sark lay unfinished. Glue and small intricate pieces of the skilful puzzle lay around it. To one side several books on model ships and favourite classic novels in English, Moby Dick and a selection of Dickens most famous works were stacked.
Sabrina picked up a piece and examined it closely before replacing it on the desk.
‘My father was doing this before he died. I swore I would finish it. But I haven’t as yet.’
There was pain in his voice.
‘I remember your father. He was such a gentleman and a kind man, always trying to please your mother. He was very much in love with her wasn’t he?’ she asked.
‘Besotted is the correct English word I think.’
He circled his hands over her shoulders.
‘Rather like me with you,’ he whispered the words next to her ear, his breath making her skin tingle with pleasure.
His lips found her neck as he clasped her hips in his strong hands and lifted her around his waist. She could feel his hard arousal straining to reach inside her body. She rubbed against him as he carried her out of the room, the friction sending shock waves through her system. He stopped at the foot of the stairs unable to control his need for her any longer. He put her down and leant her against the wall. He clasped her face in his hand. It was a gentle but firm and passionate hold that she could not escape from. His assault on her mouth made her quiver with a primitive and savage pleasure causing her to respond with a fervour that equalled only that of his own.
She slipped her fingers through his soft brown hair and held on for dear life as he tugged her trousers down. She wore no underwear this time, and he was quick to take advantage and murmur his approval. He snaked his fingers up and around her calves, up the sensitive parts of her thighs, every touch causing her skin to flame and burn with desire. She thrust her pelvis out to beckon the invasion of his fingers inside the warm sheath that rested at the arch of her thighs. But it was not his fingers that probed her so delicately. His intimate kiss was electrifying, sending pulses of energy beating through her body.
She moved the upper part of her body from side to side as though helplessly tormented by delicious torture. Just when she thought she could take no more of his expert caress, he moved away and stood. He fiercely took her mouth rendering her breathless and completely at his mercy. She heard the sound of a zip being pulled down, and he was lifting her up around his waist again. With one sharp urgent thrust he was inside her, filling her up to the hilt. His kiss was an exact replica, both acts thrusting and probing until she thought she would spin out of control. Sabrina felt her climax convulse through her body and heard herself cry out with the power of its intense sensation. It was never ending, carrying her out on a journey to a place she had not been before and back. She felt him ride it with her, slowing his rhythmic pace, making her feel as though time itself had slowed.
She slumped exhausted over his shoulder attempting to recover her breath. He held her lovingly, his own breath laboured as he pulled his zip up. He carried her up the steps and laid her in the bed, smoothing the long sweater down her thighs. He covered her body with a sumptuous opulent red and black satin duvet and undressed. She felt him slip under the satin and pull her to him until her back curved under his body. There were no words spoken, none were needed. They had all been communicated through the intimate touch and binding of their bodies together in the heat of their manic love-making. Sleep swept its comforting blanket over Sabrina’s body and claimed her as its own.
* * *
Raoul sat up on his elbow and looked down at a sleeping Sabrina. His fingers found the curls of dark chocolate hair and played gently with them. She looked so vulnerable while she slept, yet she bore the heart of a tigress. They hadn’t used protection when they’d made love last night. He’d made sure of that, wanting their reunion to bear fruit. She hadn’t objected but welcomed and encouraged the notion. He lay back down, his hand stroking her hip raising a soft whimper from her lips. His life was almost complete. Sabrina had come home, and there was the possibility of a child to strengthen the bond between them. All he had to do was to find the man who continued to hurt his wife and threaten their happiness. He’d let Sabrina down, but this time he intended to fulfil his role as husband and protector, whatever the cost.
Chapter Fifteen
Sabrina dreamt she was in the study again. She could hear voices arguing behind Luc as he held her. One of the voices spoke in French. He called Luc away giving him some instruction she couldn’t understand. Then she was alone in the room with the man. She was so afraid and confused. She couldn’t clearly see his face. But she knew the man personally and couldn’t understand why he was involved in Luc’s scheme to steal from the company. She’d thought Raoul and herself could have always trusted him. But there he was threatening her and confessing he was the one stalking her for all those long months. She knew he was in love with her in some sick twisted way, and now he was going to have her and she would be his forever more. The man tore the necklace from her neck, and she heard herself scream.
‘Sabrina, wake up. You are just having a bad dream.’
Sabrina opened her eyes sharply. Raoul was leaning over her gently nudging her awake. Sunlight was streaming in through the small windows in the turret on both sides. She blinked and looked up at Raoul’s concerned expression on his face. He smoothed her hair away from her forehead.
‘Were you dreaming about being in the study again?’
She nodded and told him everything. He looked confused and frustrated.
‘I just wish I knew who it was. It’s vital we find out if it is someone close to us, they have to be in the house.’
He softened his features as she gave him a worried look.
‘I’m sorry, relax. I just want to make sure you are safe.’
‘Are we going back to the house? Only I’m not sure I am going to feel safe knowing he, whoever he is, is walking around the Chateau. I didn’t tell you yesterday, but someone was in the room when I was showering. I thought it was Luc, and I didn’t want to tell you…’ Sabrina’s words trailed away knowing that Raoul would not take her small revelation well at all. He would regard it as another blow to his attempt to control the situation and keep her safe.
He stood up quickly, running his hands through his hair lifting it high.
‘Sabrina, why didn’t you tell me? How can I protect you if you keep trying to hide everything from me?’
She sat up slowly wishing she hadn’t told him. It was then that she saw the tray of scrambled eggs, toast and tea. She tucked the duvet around her middle and sank back against the pillows. He marched back towards the bed and sat down. He caught her wrists and pulled her up.
‘Sabrina, I will not have you trying to deal with this on your own. That’s how I lost you before. Now listen to me if anyone of them comes near you when you are on your own, friendly or not, I want to know about it. That is if you ever manage to leave my side again because from now on I am tying you to it.’
Sabrina laughed but the dark expression on his face stopped her dead.
‘I mean it, Sabrina. I don’t want you trying to protect me. I’ve always suspected Luc was involved. You are the most important person in the world to me. I love my mother and will do everything necessary to protect her from any scandal. But it is important that you trust me and tell me all that you remember.’
It was a direct command, smoothed delicately by a gentle velvet persuasion that rolled all too easily from his tongue. She twisted her wrists free and placed her hands around his neck and leaned in against him.
‘I’ve missed you, Raoul. I’ve even missed your pompous orders and commands and your never ending need to boss me around on the pretence of it being for my own good.’
She giggled and snuggled closer to him. He was silent for a moment, and then his arms swept around her tightly.
‘You know it’s for your own good, Sabrina,’ he mocked himself.
Sabrina giggled again and reached up to kiss him. He wore another rough dark shadow sexily around his jaw and mouth. She felt it scrape the inside of her palms, provoking tiny tremors of pleasure in her core. Unable to stop herself, she pressed her lips against his mouth and found his response immediate, taking her breath away. He held her head, capturing her mouth, wrestling any control she had over the kiss.
She gave a satisfied cry as his hands swept under the sweater and up her sides, softly curving around her breasts. He tugged the sweater up over her head leaving her exposed to his gaze. She helped him remove his clothes, feeling the urgent need to caress every muscled part of him once again, to feel him near making her his over and over again. She wondered if they could ever be satiated, they had so much time to make up.
He leaned her back and thrust inside her with determination. He tipped her head and body back, settling his lips over the peak of her breast, gently nipping and tugging. She felt her pleasure rise and wash over her body with the force of a tidal wave that he rode with her.
* * *
‘You didn’t eat the breakfast I made you, Sabrina,’ Raoul sighed as he buttoned up his trousers.
‘You didn’t exactly give me a chance to eat it,’ she laughed.
Raoul grinned and looked down at her lying naked under the satin duvet. Her pale skin and her ebony curls were striking next to the rich colour of the red and black duvet he’d chosen with her passionate nature in mind. There was a gentle afterglow lighting her face giving her a heavenly sensual look. He felt desire rise like fire within him again.
‘We’ll just have to make some more. You know how ravenous I am in the mornings.’
He laughed and leaned over to kiss her again. He could hardly stop touching her just to make sure she was real and he wasn’t in some vivid dream that he didn’t want to wake up from.
‘What’s that noise?’
He listened to the anxiety in her voice and then to the sound. There was a crisp crunching sound. Someone was walking around the small house in the snow. He moved to the window but couldn’t see anything.
‘Don’t move, Sabrina,’ he commanded in his fiercest tone knowing fine well it would take chains around her hands and ankles to stop her making any movement.
She was already up struggling to move with the duvet to the window on the other side of the room.
‘Relax, Raoul, it’s Maxim at the door.’
He stood next to her looking out of the window at Maxim’s tall form. Something made him turn around and look up at the window. A feeling of being watched perhaps? Raoul watched him look at Sabrina with curious interest. He’d always known most of his friends were attracted to Sabrina, and he had always been astute enough to watch for any attempts to steal her away. It was therefore no surprise to Raoul to find a flicker of attraction lighting Maxim’s eyes at seeing Sabrina’s semi-naked form wrapped in the duvet. But Sabrina’s response was a surprise. She flinched and moved back from the window as though she’d been stung. Raoul’s brow creased as he took hold of her shoulders.
‘What’s the matter?’
She tried to laugh her action off, but he could see the fear in her eyes.
‘I am just letting my imagination get the better of me again. I thought I saw someone out in the woods. I did it last night as well.’
He hugged her close trying to reassure her of her safety.
‘Why don’t you have a warm shower while I talk to Maxim and find out if they know anything about that man in the grounds yesterday. Then I will make you some more breakfast, and we can think about going back to the house. We need to get you checked over. You had concussion, Sabrina, and I want to make sure that you are all right.’
She nodded, allowing him to kiss her forehead. He watched her go and threw on his sweater before leaving to open the door for Maxim.
* * *
Sabrina closed the bathroom door and ran the shower. She was confused. It was the way Maxim had looked at her. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but her instinct demanded extreme caution. Maybe it was because he was a police officer there to investigate herself and what happened that put her on edge. It sounded an adequate explanation, but it did nothing to lessen her fear of the man.
She let the hot water cascade down across her aching neck and closed her eyes catching a new set of memories playing in her head like a movie. They we
re all of Maxim and his friendship with Raoul. She shook her head. There was no reason to be afraid of Maxim, he’d always been so kind. He was Raoul’s best friend and had always been there for him and herself. But the way his eyes had burned into her own bespoke an attraction and a hidden communication that her mind seemed to recognise. She groaned wishing all of her memory had returned so she could work out just what had been going on before she disappeared.
Sabrina dressed in her riding clothes that Raoul had dried, unable to shake the feeling of impending doom. The house was quiet and the air still outside making it easy to hear Raoul’s voice in the kitchen talking to Maxim. They were discussing what Sabrina had already told Raoul about Luc and Alain. She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on her boots. Her body was shaking with anxiety, a tremor shook in her hands, and she was finding it hard to breathe. She tried to ignore the sensation casually dismissing it as nonsense and made her way downstairs.
Sleeping Love Page 18
