The Spaniard's Revenge. Susan Stephens

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СКАЧАТЬ Xavier stopped to speak to the beautiful young Peruvian girl, wearing a pared down version of her national costume.

      ‘Well, Sophie?’ Xavier said, turning to her finally, ‘do you want that bath, or not?’

      ‘I’d sooner eat my own feet! Is this your idea of a joke?’

      ‘A joke?’ he said mildly.

      Moving out of earshot of the girl, Sophie drew Xavier with her. ‘So this is where you stay,’ she said, glancing around. ‘Nice place you’ve got here, Doctor.’

      ‘What are you getting at?’ Xavier demanded, dipping his head to catch her high-octane whisper.

      ‘I’m accusing you of double standards,’ Sophie said flatly. ‘One for you, another for the rest of us.’

      ‘What are you talking about?’

      ‘Just this…’ Sophie said, her expression hardening as she gestured around. ‘Rancho del Condor.’

      ‘Now just a minute—’

      ‘Don’t you just a minute me,’ she warned, snatching her arm out of his grasp.

      But stamping down on her damaged leg at the same time made her wince. The graze she guessed was hiding under her jeans was really starting to sting and, to her horror, she felt tears burning her eyes—tears she had no intention of allowing Xavier to see. Keeping her head down, she gingerly tested her weight first on one foot and then the other. No serious harm done, she realised thankfully. Surface abrasions caused by the rasp of fabric on her skin must have caused the damage.

      ‘Let me see your leg—’

      ‘No.’ She stumbled back and away from him. Suddenly her arms were bound very tightly to her sides, and then she was swung off her feet completely and settled into his arms.

      ‘I’m getting you inside before you get yourself into any more trouble,’ Xavier said flatly. ‘You need cleaning up—and a bath.’

      Sophie could hardly breathe through the panic that swept over her the moment she felt his arms close around her. ‘Let me go. Let me go, please.’

      ‘That leg needs cleaning up,’ Xavier said firmly, increasing his grip as she struggled to get away, ‘and a sick doctor is the last thing I need.’

      ‘No, you don’t understand. I can’t—’

      ‘Can’t what?’ he exclaimed impatiently, heading deeper into the exclusive resort.

      Her heart was pumping so fast now Sophie only managed to gasp out, ‘I’m sorry—’

      ‘Sorry!’ Xavier exclaimed, settling her more comfortably in his arms. ‘I’m the one who’s sorry. I ask for a doctor, and they send me a mad woman who chooses to ride pillion behind the speed freak of the Andes.’

      She was glad he couldn’t see her face—couldn’t see the stricken look she knew was painted across it. The look that came from fear…fear of ceding control to a man, any man, and Xavier most of all. Right now he might have emerged from the darkest corner of her blackest nightmare, and all because he was a full-blooded male with all the needs and desires that went with the territory—sex, force, violence—the mantra played over and over in her head, keeping rhythm with his strides, until she thought she would go quite mad. She wasn’t just frightened, Sophie realised, she was terrified. ‘Put me down, please,’ she begged hoarsely. ‘I think I’m going to be sick.’

      ‘Aren’t you being a little melodramatic?’ Xavier said evenly without breaking stride. ‘I am a doctor. A little puke doesn’t worry me.’

      ‘I mean it.’

      ‘Look, we’re here,’ he said, stopping outside one of the largest luxury villas. ‘You can walk by yourself now.’ He set her down and stood back. ‘The bathroom’s just inside—go and be sick in there if you think you need to.’

      The moment she was free again Sophie felt the panic subside. She took a few deep breaths to be certain. ‘I feel a lot better, thank you.’

      ‘In,’ Xavier said impatiently, flinging open the door.

      ‘Which charm school did you go to?’ Sophie demanded as she turned to confront him.

      ‘The same one as you, I imagine.’

      Her whole body was on fire where he’d held her, Sophie realised, as she stepped into the villa. But it was a beguiling heat, not the dangerous flame of drunken passion that brought nothing but pain in its wake. Touch was as unique to the individual as a fingerprint.

      ‘What do you think?’ Xavier demanded, breaking into her thoughts.

      He was waiting for her verdict on the accommodation, Sophie realised. ‘Very nice.’ She gazed round the extravagantly furnished room. It combined the best of modern technology as far as sound and vision was concerned with some fabulous examples of the local crafts—wood carving, ceramics and colourful textiles all shown off to best advantage by flickering candles and carefully positioned lighting.

      ‘I’m glad you like it,’

      ‘Oh, I really do,’ Sophie said, her voice crackling with tension as she drew a few fast conclusions. ‘The rest of the team gets to stay at base camp with a cold-water shower and a beat-up kitchen, while you stay here in the lap of luxury having a good laugh at our expense.’

      ‘The water would have heated up if you’d been patient—’

      Sophie cut him off with a glare. ‘I don’t imagine patience comes into it here at the Rancho del Condor,’ she said, taking her time to turn a slow circle, eyebrows raised at an expressive angle.

      ‘Maybe not,’ Xavier conceded, ‘but this is not my—’

      ‘Not your what, Xavier?’ Sophie demanded. ‘Not your idea of something to share with the rest of us?’

      Strolling around the room, she began to tick off in a highly charged voice, ‘Huge and undoubtedly very comfortable teak bed with…oh yes, unbleached linen sheets. A plump duvet loaded with hand-embroidered cushions. Two sofas…a collection of magazines and books…air conditioning?’ She threw him a look full of accusation. ‘And what’s this…don’t tell me—’

      Xavier followed her through an impressive archway, hand-carved in wood, into another large room.

      Standing on the threshold, Sophie planted her hands on her hips and looked around. ‘The bathroom you mentioned—all clad in marble, and a Jacuzzi made for two.’

      ‘Shall we try it out?’

      There was laughter in Xavier’s eyes, Sophie noticed, and something else. Strange forces were beginning to invade her senses, and before she could turn away from him they turned her limbs soft and compliant where only moments ago she had been stiff with defiance. She tried putting Xavier out of her mind, but the light was hazy gold filtered through muslin at the windows, and the temperature was body warm. There was a beguiling aroma, as if someone had been in just before them to spritz some rare and exotic scent into the air. She had never seen such a selection of full-sized bath oils and lotions in her СКАЧАТЬ