Sleeping Love (22 page)

Sabrina opened her eyes but had a hard time keeping them open as he deposited her lethargic body on top of the horse. He climbed on to sit behind her.

Raoul walked the horse on from the clearing and past the ornate fountain depicting a single large fish covered in snow and ice. He could hardly see anything. They would never make it back to the house in time. He turned the horse to walk further into the woods, heading for the summerhouse he’d recently had restored for the day Sabrina returned. He’d lavished all of his attention on the structure imagining her in the rooms.

It was to be their secret haven, their retreat from the world when they wanted to be alone. He’d been there the morning before she came so the heating and water would still be on. He’d planned to show her the place when everyone had left after the weekend, hoping it might help to jog her memory. He could start a fire and put Sabrina in a warm bath, and they could shelter there until the weather was better. His arm around her waist tightened as he broke the horse out into a gallop seeing part of the house through patches in the creeping fog. Sabrina’s alertness was decreasing, and he needed to hurry.

When they reached the house Raoul had told her about to keep her awake and all the renovations he had made to it, he set her down on the ground and made her walk. He didn’t have the keys, and he leant her against the side of the house whilst he used all of his strength to kick down the heavy door. When the task was accomplished, Sabrina felt her arm being firmly taken, and she was made to move quickly despite the injury to her ankle.

‘I need to keep you moving, Sabrina, so you don’t get severe hypothermia. Go up the stairs. I will put the heating on.’

When he joined her he found her slumped on the landing. Her legs just didn’t seem to want to take her any further. He scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bathroom.

‘We are so lucky I have been spending most of my time here recently and everything is working.’

He took her straight to the large bathroom and sat her aching body on the edge of the bath. The ornate gold taps spewed out steaming hot water insulating the white porcelain and marble room. He then began the task of taking off her wet clothes. Her hand shot out.

‘Don’t you touch me.’

‘Sabrina, I am not in the mood for your stubbornness. Now I need to get you out of those wet clothes before you get hypothermia and die.’

‘Maybe that would solve all of your problems.’

Sabrina flinched with fear when he gave her a sharp shake.

‘How can you say these things to me? I am your husband, and I love you. Maybe if I say it enough, it will eventually sink into that mind of yours. I don’t know what poison that woman has been feeding you, but you have to trust me. Now let me make sure you don’t die. I am not going to lose you again.’

She nodded through her shaking, knowing it was futile not to comply. She didn’t offer any further resistance as he roughly pulled the long coat off her shoulders. His hands moved quickly almost ripping the lining in her coat, tearing at her sweater and trousers as he dragged them down her wet legs. He undid the catch of her bra and pulled the sodden garment down her arms. The scrap of lace she called briefs were yanked down her legs and came apart in his eager hands.

‘I thought we agreed you weren’t going to wear these again,’ Raoul reprimanded her with impatience, shaking the flimsy material at her.

‘Are you serious?’ she chattered rubbing her freezing arms.

‘Yes, I am and I really thought we were making progress on this. I don’t want to see them again.’

Sabrina raised an eyebrow with surprise as she watched him scrunch up the material and toss her underwear in a bin just like that day in Paris.

Then she was up in his arms again and being plunged into warm water up to her neck.

She sank under the water for a moment trying to wake herself and stop her shaking. Slowly she felt the warmth seep into her skin to heat her core. It was a painful sensation to have feeling restored to her body. Her whole being felt as though it were a mass of pins and needles. When she came up Raoul was quickly undressing. Once naked he plunged into the bath behind her and gathered her close to his body. He held her tight, and her drowsy struggles were useless. She had no strength left to fight him, she felt so exhausted.

His arms felt so strong and protective around her fragile body, she just wanted to melt against him. She rested her head against the smooth taut muscle of his chest and felt his strength surround her and support her sleepy chattering body. She wanted to sleep but she knew he would not allow it. She sighed with defeat and listened to the comforting beat of his heart.

‘Are you feeling warmer, Sabrina?’ he asked gently after a while, lifting some water to trickle it lightly over her bare arms. ‘You aren’t shaking so much now.’

‘Yes, I feel better. I’m just so tired, and my head hurts.’

He ruffled her hair looking for a cut.

‘I have everything we need here. I’ll get you some aspirin when we get out. I’m just so glad I found you when I did. I still don’t know what you were doing out on your own. You know it’s dangerous. That man, if only I knew who he was . . .’ Raoul paused for a moment. There was a sudden shake of emotion in his tone, and he appeared to be fighting a losing battle to contain it. ‘If I hadn’t reached you in time, it might have all happened again. I can’t lose you again, Sabrina. I couldn’t bear it a second time around. I would lose my mind.’

His arms automatically tightened protectively at the mere thought, making her heart weep for joy.

Dare I allow myself to think for more than one moment that maybe I’ve been wrong, that Cressida has only been playing games to get you for herself ? If you don’t care so much, why are you so protective of me even now?

If he wanted to marry Cressida as she said, then all he had to was request a divorce for desertion. But he was doing everything in his power to keep their marriage alive and declare his undying love. He’d never given up searching for her, never given up on their love. It was eternal. She curled against him, finally having the courage to let go and trust both Raoul’s love and that of her own for him. She wasn’t afraid to be the old Sabrina anymore. Now she had Raoul back in her life she could be anyone she wanted. He would always be there to support and love her for whatever she chose.

His arms left her body forcing her to sit up and watch him climb out of the bath. He was a beautiful sight. He carried his tight muscled form with aristocratic erectness. She pitied any man who chose him as a physical enemy. He wrapped the towel around his waist as he picked up her wet clothes and trotted out of the room giving her a stern look. She lay back down in the water feeling confused. Every time they got close, something or someone pulled them apart. When he came back into the room, she decided to have it out and clear the air.

She knew her defence was useless, but still she persisted afraid if she revealed her suspicions, she would hurt him and worse, he wouldn’t believe her about Luc.

‘I don’t believe you are still trying to deny it. Before I carried you to the horse, I saw it in your eyes. You have a certain look, Sabrina, that you give only me.’

He gave a soft laugh.

‘It’s a dangerous rebellious look when I try to take control of what you are doing, only because I am worried about you,’ he added in his defence. ‘It betrays your fear of your vulnerability, but it also shows me how much you love me and how much you value my care of you. You haven’t given me that look once since you arrived at the Chateau, and there have been plenty of times when you would have done. I knew then that you were my Sabrina again.’

He bent his head.

‘I don’t understand why you thought it necessary to keep the return of your memory secret from me.’

He held up the towel for her to get out of the bath. She complied and felt him wrap the towel around her. He moved his hands over the dips and swells of her body to dry her adequately. It was a task he loved to do for her when she came out of the shower, and she had no objections. He held her eyes as she felt the power of his seductive touch caress her curved form through the towel.

‘I didn’t think you would care. I thought you were in love with Cressida. And I thought I was right when I saw you both through the window of your study before I went out riding. She was holding your shoulders, resting her head against you. You don’t do that unless you’re in love with that person.’

He shook his head.

‘And did you see what happened after that? Did you not see me push her away, threaten to tie her up in court, hear me terminate her contract and tell her to leave?’

Sabrina bent her head guiltily.

‘No, I couldn’t bear to see anymore, you hurt me so much.’

‘Cressida has done a good job playing on your fears and loss of memory. When I have her arrested for assault and possibly attempted murder, she will never bother you or us again, and we can get on with our lives. Now come on, let’s get you warm and some food inside you and we can talk some more.’

Chapter Fourteen

He led her to one of the six rooms that made up the summerhouse in the Chateau’s grounds built at the same time in the seventeenth century, in the same style. The bedroom was in a small tower with windows on either side of the circular room. Her feet felt so cold as she walked across its wooden floor to sit on the bed. His eyes searched the room as he pondered on the problem of keeping Sabrina warm. He turned and hurriedly pulled out a pile of his sweaters and trousers out of the dark antique wardrobe and some slippers he kept there for the nights he spent in the Summer House. He pulled one of the sweaters over her head ignoring her protests that she would be buried alive in its male size. The indignity of long cargo pants followed, but they were nothing compared to the long Italian wool socks and slippers that made her look as though she wore clown shoes. He stepped back to admire his work and grinned.

‘At least you will be warm.’

She frowned lifting up her arms hidden under the long sleeves of the beige polo neck woolly sweater. He dressed in a pair of trousers, shoes and heavy black sweater. He gathered up some blankets from a chest at the bottom of the bed and disappeared downstairs. Sabrina made to follow him finding her progress hampered by her rather large attire. But Raoul was back in an instant lifting her into his arms.

He carried her down the stone steps into a large room he’d made into a living room with a fireplace and every modern comfort. He sat her down on the long biscuit coloured sofa and covered her body up to her chin in the warm blankets.

‘You must keep warm, Sabrina. We may have stopped you from getting hypothermia, but you might get a bad chill.’

He arranged the cushions comfortably around her head and neck then turned his attention to starting a fire. She watched him at work feeling cosy and protected. It felt like old times. He sat back down on the sofa and pulled down her sock to look at her ankle. He rested it gently on his lap as he probed its soreness. She yelped.

‘Sorry, Sabrina but I needed to check. I don’t think anything is broken, but you are badly bruised. You will have to keep off it for a while. I’ll get Julian to check it out when we get back to the house. Now I’ll get you a warm drink and some food, just relax.’

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.