She watched the fire crackle and spit, the flames fighting to grow higher. It cast a warm orange glow and flickering shadows around the dimly lit room. Outside the snow had stopped falling, but the fog was dense surrounding the small summerhouse in the clearing of the forest. Darkness was moving in fast and she felt a curious fear twist in the pit of her stomach.
She could feel the house being watched. They weren’t alone. She could feel those familiar eyes following her every move from afar, boring uninvited into her soul. The very idea made her ignore the pain in her ankle and jump up to undo the long white curtains and sweep them across the three long windows.
As she closed the last one, she was sure she could see a face peering at her through the fog. She jumped and gave a small cry and snapped the curtain shut. She chastised herself for her overactive imagination. She turned back to the room, listening to the pleasant homey noises of Raoul making food in the kitchen. Sudden warmth melted her insides at the notion of Raoul cooking for her. He loved to cook, especially for her, and there had been many a night she’d been a guinea pig for his latest concoction. She wanted to be near him, feel his presence surround the room. When she entered the kitchen, he looked up at her from stirring some soup.
“I’m sorry, but its tinned tomato soup. I don’t have any ingredients down here to make fresh soup. Damn, I meant to get you a drink. You need to sit down with that ankle.”
He dropped the wooden spoon against the pan and raced to the kettle he’d already boiled once. She picked up the spoon and began to stir the soup. There was a delicious smell of pizza.
“I can’t believe you even have a kettle in here. I thought as a Frenchman you only drank coffee,” she teased.
“It reminded me of you and the countless cups of tea that you drank. I’ve learned to like it. Although that is not what I am making you. It’s warm water for you until I can make sure you are all right.”
“You are kidding, aren’t you? I’m dying for a cup of tea. I haven’t had a decent one since I entered France. You know I can’t live without regular tea rations.”
“Yes, I remember. Here, get this down you. Let’s make sure you haven’t got hypothermia. You can’t drink tea or coffee until we know.”
“Where did you learn all these survival skills?”
“You know where, Sabrina.” He said it so softly, it was almost a caress. “Is that soup ready yet?”
Sabrina dipped her head, pretending to look down into the pan, feeling ashamed of not telling him about getting her memory back.
“Of course I remember, you climbed Mont Blanc before I met you,” she mumbled to herself. “Yes, I think it’s ready.”
She moved over to let him take charge of the spoon again. She groaned when he gestured to the mug of hot water but did as she was told. He poured the steaming soup into two bowls and looked through the oven to check the pizza.
“I never thought you would resort to pizza.”
He looked offended.
“I made it myself and put it in the freezer. It’s your favourite, goat cheese.”
“I get the feeling I was on your mind.”
“More than you know. Now back in the room. Here, take this aspirin for your head.”
He ushered her out of the kitchen and instructed her to sit around the small dining table, tucking a blanket around her legs. The soup was hot and dissolved the ice that rested in her core. The pizza was light but filling and she ate hungrily.
“You’ve eaten as though you never have any food. It isn’t like you to clean your plate, Sabrina. What is wrong with you? Have you suddenly remembered you have a ravenous appetite?”
She gave him a coy mischievous look.
“You know I love any food you cook for me. You always know how to make a mean pizza. If you aren’t going to eat that, hand it over here.”
Raoul shook his head and handed her the plate.
“It’s good to see you eat. You haven’t eaten a thing since you came back and I’ve been worried.”
She stopped munching on her slice of pizza and caught his arm, leaning her head against it. The wool of the jumper he had given her to wear was soft and it smelt of him.
“I love you,” she whispered.
She wasn’t sure she’d spoken the words. They sounded so sudden, so final and definite for a woman who had spent the last ten years forgetting her past. There was a pause, a stillness hanging in the air. Then he simply stroked her hair, weaving his fingers through its soft silky texture. He pulled it playfully.
“I love you too, Sabrina, darling. But now that you’re fed and watered, we must talk.”
She lifted her head, hearing his voice turn serious. He stood up and picked her up in his arms again. She laughed nervously.
“Do you mean talk, or do you mean talk in the bedroom?”
“Nice try, Sabrina. As much as I would love to make love to you right here and now, we need to have a discussion.”
He carried her back into the living room.
“Why are you carrying me everywhere?” she heard the defensiveness in her voice. “I do have two legs.”
“Indulge me. You’ve been through so much and I just want to look after you.”
He sat her down on the sofa and flopped down behind her. It was the most natural thing in the world to curl her body against his powerful male frame, to feel his arm slip protectively around her shoulders and draw her near. She laid her head on his chest as he covered her with a blanket. The more she remembered, the more she was slipping back into her old character with her old habits.
“Sabrina, I want you to tell me just how much of your memory has returned.”
She let her head rise and fall in rhythm with his chest for a moment.
“I don’t remember any more than I told you about what happened to me. If that’s what you are talking about?” she lied.
“Sabrina, don’t be afraid to tell me.”
There was pain in his voice. She always seemed to be hurting him, yet all she was trying to do was to protect him and his family. She watched the fire.
“Why are you afraid of Luc and Alain? Did they have something to do with what happened to you?”
She sat up.
“No, no, of course not. I just feel so nervous around everyone.”
“Sabrina, was it Luc who raped you?”
He demanded the answer to his question with a firmness she found hard to resist. She felt her heart race. She sat up further, trying to get away, but he caught her arm and pulled her back across his chest, holding both of her wrists.
“Answer me, Sabrina. And this time I want the truth.”
His face was hard and cold. She was afraid. She tried to get away again, but he held her fast. He gave her a warning look.
“What is it with men? They always think they can throw their weight around and get just what they want,” she snapped.
“Don’t stall me, Sabrina. I am not letting you go until you tell me the truth.”
She felt her body writhe helplessly across the unmovable male muscled strength and gave in.
“I don’t know,” she blurted out. “But he was there.”
She could hardly look at him. She didn’t want to read the disbelief in his eyes, nor the anger.
“What about Alain?” he snapped.
“I don’t know. But every time I go near him, he gives me the creeps. Raoul, let me go.”
“No, tell me everything you remember about that night.”
“Are you sure you want to hear it? We might never be the same again after you do.”
He pulled her up to his face, forcing her to look into his eyes.
“If you think I am going to let any of this destroy our marriage and our love for each other, you don’t remember me very well, Sabrina. You made vows to be with me and I am going to hold you to them. I love you; now tell me the truth.”
“Luc was stealing from the company and I found out. Our accountant found discrepancies, and he had come to me before he died in that
car crash. Maybe he didn’t die in an accident and he was murdered because of what he knew. I think Alain was involved somehow. I confronted Luc in the study and said that I was going to tell you. We argued and he threatened me. It led to a struggle. He hit me and knocked me to the floor. He said he would kill me if I told you anything. Someone else was in the room and I can’t remember who it was. I honestly don’t know if it was Luc or this other person. You have to believe me, Raoul.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Luc and Cressida told me I was having an affair with Luc and if I didn’t leave you, they would tell you. They knew how ill your mother was and just how it would affect her health if you two were at war again. I couldn’t do it to you. And I couldn’t be sure if I’d had an affair with Luc or not. I couldn’t remember anything, Raoul. It’s like being locked in a dark dungeon without any light or door to get out.”
He let her wrists go and tightened his arms around her.
“I’m sorry, Sabrina, but I had to find out the truth. You are just confirming all of my suspicions that I’ve had for the last ten years. I found out recently that Luc was stealing money from the company. He’s always been jealous of everything I have and I knew when I gave him a job for Maman’s sake that he would try something like that. But I’ve turned a blind eye, hoping, waiting for him to lead me back to you somehow. I’ve always thought he was involved. He was always attracted to you and I wouldn’t put it past him to arrange to kidnap you. And I believe Alain has been in on the game as well. I wonder if Cressida has found out and taken advantage somehow.”
He pulled the blanket over her shoulders, feeling her cling to him. He smoothed her hair and whispered French words of endearment and reassurance. He 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 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 his 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, and led her 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 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’s 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?”
“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 shockwaves 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 hands. 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 that made her respond with a fervour that equalled only that of his own.
She slipped her fingers through his soft black hair and held on for dear life as he tugged her trousers down. 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 tossed 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 zipper 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 rhythm
ic 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 zipper up. He carried her up the steps and laid her in the bed, smoothing the long jumper down her thighs. He covered her body with a sumptuous opulent wine-and-purple satin duvet and undressed. She felt him slip under the satin and pull her to him until her back curved against his body. There were no words spoken; none were needed. 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. He lay back down, his hand stroking her hip, raising a soft whimper from her lips. His life was almost complete. 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 Thirteen
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 forevermore. The man tore the necklace from her neck and she heard herself scream.
Conquering Sabrina Page 14
