Conquering Sabrina (6 page)

Francine’s face turned ashen. Sabrina watched her turn to the door to make sure no one was standing there. She opened her mouth to speak, but then quickly closed her lips together tight, obviously thinking better of what she was about to say. Eventually she spoke.

“It’s not my place. If there is nothing else, Madame, I will leave you now.”

Sabrina caught her arm.

“No. Please, Francine. Help me remember. If not for my sake, then for Raoul’s,” she pleaded.

Francine looked down at Sabrina with impatience and gave a small sigh. She opened her mouth to speak, but a male voice cut her short.

“Francine, Sabrina will remember in her own time. We must be careful with her memory until she has been examined by my doctor,” Raoul told her firmly as he stood in the doorway.

He had been riding. He wore a heavy knit cream jumper over the broad frame of his shoulders underneath a black wool jacket. Sabrina watched him throw his riding hat and crop on a chair and stride into the room in his jodhpurs and boots. For a moment she stared at the riding crop, remembering. Her nipples tightened and her clit tingled with the memory of feeling whipped. It was an effort to turn back to Francine and hide her blush.

Raoul approached. Cedarwood, pine, and a generous helping of delicious male scent wrapped around her senses. Francine smiled nervously at Sabrina.

“Of course,” she said with a brisk nod and took her leave.

Sabrina clamped her teeth together in frustration. Francine obviously knew something Raoul didn’t want her to know by the dark look he gave the woman when she left the room. Sabrina would have to wait for another opportunity to question the woman alone.

Raoul was pouring coffee for them both as he sat on the sofa when she looked back at him.

“Sabrina, come and sit down. You hardly ate a thing last night. You need to eat.”

He was speaking softly, as though she was a child. It infuriated her.

“No,” she snapped. “I can’t eat anything. I need to clear my head. Since last night I can’t think straight. My life feels as though it is out of control. I need to leave and get some space so I can think.”

She turned back to the bed, deciding to get dressed when she suddenly felt Raoul’s arms around her waist from behind, tugging her possessively towards him. She felt him press his head against hers before brushing his lips across her neck. It was such a good feeling to be held and loved but, she had to keep a level head.

“No. I won’t let you leave. I have already won this argument.” His words were a whisper against her skin. “Perhaps…” He paused to kiss her neck again. Sabrina closed her eyes, finding herself melt with his warm closeness despite all efforts not to let him placate her with his seductive powers. “I should spank you again and lock you in the tower. At least I know you will be safe in there. No one will be able to reach you. I will have the key at all times.”

Sabrina turned quickly in his arms to face him, alarmed by the level of anxiety in his voice. He really didn’t want her being on her own and he wasn’t just being overprotective or dominant.

“What aren’t you telling me?” she challenged forcefully.

He took her back into his arms and told her to hush. There was nothing to worry about. He was just concerned about her health. Sabrina flinched away from him, demanding to know what he kept from her.

Raoul dropped his hands from her waist and sat down on the bed. He leaned back on his elbows, studying her closely with his dark fathomless eyes. He muttered some words in French under his breath that she could not decipher and then shook his head.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this. The consultant told me to be careful with you. No shocks… Telling you who you are last night was more than enough for now.”

“Raoul, please. I have every right to know.”

“You were kidnapped right from this house where I thought I kept you safe.” Anger rumbled under his tone. “You were working as a lawyer in your English firm’s Paris office…”

“Me, a lawyer?” she said with a disbelieving laugh.

“Yes, you were. You were a damn good business lawyer. Anyway, you started getting phone calls, heavy breathing… someone listening but not speaking on the other end of the phone. A man started following you to your car. You never saw who it was. He always managed to escape when you tried to confront him. He followed you in his car back to our apartment. We used to stay in Paris during the week. Then there were the anonymous presents you used to receive. You were terrified, but you didn’t tell me anything. Stupidly, you thought you could deal with the problem all on your own.” Raoul tapped his finger to his head in frustration. “Once you get an idea in your head, you will not be moved. You are a stubborn woman, Sabrina. I was forced to act and take you in hand.”

Sabrina straightened, slightly annoyed by his comment, but then he did have a point. It did sound exactly how she would have dealt with it. She wouldn’t have run to the nearest man like a helpless woman for help, husband or not. Raoul was bitter at her decision not to allow him to protect her and maybe on reflection, she should have at least told him what was going on.

He continued. “I only found out what was going on when Francine confided in me that she had found you crying after receiving a phone call at the chateau one weekend. I was so angry with you, Sabrina. I still am. Why did you not tell me?” he asked, raising his voice. “That was the weekend you learned I would not tolerate deceit and disobedience. I broke your stubbornness, broke you in to submission and our marriage changed for the better.”

“I don’t remember,” she lied, turning away so he could not see her blush.

“Really? I wonder. I think you are lying ,
cherie
. There are many more memories floating inside that intelligent mind of yours and they are increasing. Remember I told you I do not permit deceit in our relationship. You agreed to my rules after your first spanking for lying to me, Sabrina. You were so tired and afraid of what was happening and you agreed your methods to stop this man from terrorizing you hadn’t worked. You were both ready for me to take control and wanted me to. I simply obliged. It was the way I wanted our marriage to be from the start. I had indulged your need to pretend you wanted control, but I knew it was only a matter of time before you would come to me asking me to take you in hand just as you did. I intend to continue where we left off.”

She watched him lower his eyes to her bottom. “I will be taking you to task for your lies later today. Consider the misdemeanour held on account.”

She didn’t dare doubt it. Mentally, she made a note not to lie to him. Already she was finding herself bending to his rules. To her frustration she found herself bowing her head and nodding, penitent. “I’m sorry.”

Did I really agree to be submissive to you?

Again her mind railed, but her clit throbbed and her sex creamed at the very suggestion of it.

“I informed the police,” he continued with a small smile of triumph at her apology. “I picked you up every night and made sure you were never alone. I heightened security at the chateau and apartment with armed men. Yet still you were taken from me, from our home.”

For no reason she could understand, Sabrina looked down at her hands and to her surprise found them shaking. A cold fear swept the length of her spine making her shiver. Flashes of bright colourful dresses accompanied by laughter and broken conversations forced their way into her mind’s eye. It felt so vivid and real as she stepped back into a vision of time past. She was anxious and expecting to see someone at the party, someone who frightened her on a scale she had never encountered before. Sabrina closed her eyes, holding her breath in anticipation of seeing the frightening identity of her attacker.

Chapter Six

Raoul now stood in front of her, gently prying her shaking hands from her face.

“Sabrina, are you all right? Are you remembering something?”

Sabrina nodded, desperately trying hard to hold on to the memories fading like ghost ships in her mind.

Raoul’s voice was excited.

“Do you know who took you from here? At first the police thought it might have been one of your clients, but I know it was someone closer to home.”

“I can’t see who it is. I just remember feeling afraid the night of the ball because I was going to confront him.”

Raoul’s eyes hooded, making him look sexy and dangerous all at the same time. Sabrina swallowed and tried to move away as his temper rose, but he caught her arm, holding her still.

“So you were going to deal with this on your own and not tell me anything. Didn’t you think for one moment and realise how dangerous that was?” he angrily demanded.

Raoul cupped the side of her face and tilted it up towards him in one sharp movement. Sabrina frowned as he began to speak in a low, deep, and threatening voice.

“Don’t make the mistake of trying to keep anything from me again, Sabrina. I won’t stand for it. I am in control of this situation and your protection. I believed I made myself very clear last night.”

Sabrina glared at him and attempted to move away, but his grip forced her to remain still. He was furious and a part of her felt afraid, but she was damned if she was going to show him she was feeling that way.

“I want to know about all of the memories you regain. Do not keep anything from me or so help me, Sabrina, your bottom will regret it. I want the man who took you from me.”

“I am not a child, Raoul. I know you are trying to protect me. I understand, but I must sort this out myself. I—”

“I forbid you doing this alone,” he said calmly as though trying to defuse the growing row. “You are ill and in danger. I will keep you confined to this house until I know who hurt you, perhaps strapped down in bed if I have to. I won’t… I can’t lose you again. He is still out there and now that you have resurfaced, I have a feeling he is going to come for you again. I am going to do whatever I have to, to protect you. I let you down last time, Sabrina. I failed you. And it won’t ever happen again.”

Sabrina stared at Raoul. Fierce determination blazed hotly in his eyes. He was hurt, perceiving he’d let her down and clearly blamed himself for her attack. Her heart leapt out to him. It was wonderful he cared so much and was so protective. No one had ever shown her such love. He made her feel cherished. Unexpectedly, tears gathered in her eyes as she stared up at the pain in his eyes. She wanted him for a husband more than she would have liked, but she couldn’t afford to fully trust him. Despite all of his protestations of love and her growing willingness to accept them, he might still be her attacker. She really hoped she was wrong.

“You really think he would try again?” she asked, considering the possibility with alarm.

“Yes, I do. I have always thought it was somebody close to us. Someone we both knew well.”

“Intuition?”

He smiled.

“Something like that.”

Sabrina gave a sigh. She wanted more answers.

“What else do you know?”

Raoul studied her closely for a moment and then abruptly moved away to pick up his cup of coffee from the tray.

“No more. I think we should wait until you have been examined by a doctor before we discuss this any further,” he told her, taking a gulp of coffee. “I don’t want to cause any more damage to your memory.”

Sabrina groaned.

“I want to know more. Don’t keep anything from me. I have every right to know what happened to me before I disappeared,” she loudly snapped.

Raoul took another drink of coffee and shook his head.

“No.”

“Right, fine, then I am leaving.” Sabrina walked around to the other side of the bed and picked up her suitcase to toss it on the bed and begin to pack. Raoul snatched the case off the bed, but Sabrina was quick to hold on to it. They stood engaged in a small tug of war. It was almost comical.

“I have told you I am not letting you leave,” Raoul thundered at her.

Sabrina leaned over towards him.

“Yeah, well, if you don’t tell me, I will find someone who will. Francine looks ready to burst with what she knows. I am sure with enough persuading I will get it out of her. Then there’s the police. I am sure they are going to want to talk to me at some point. I will ask them. You won’t be able to keep them away from me. What are you frightened of, Raoul? Are you frightened I might find out that you had something to do with all of this?” she shouted, yanking at the case.

He had pushed her too far. He lorded over her as though he held all the cards to her memory and her life, and he would dictate how and when she would recover it. It didn’t matter that she’d been submissive in their marriage before; she wasn’t going to have it now.

Raoul’s eyes narrowed to a sharp point, but despite the sudden tenseness in her shoulders, Sabrina was determined to stand her ground. Raoul pulled hard on the suitcase and took possession of it. He threw it to the floor, then took two steps towards her. It took every ounce of effort not to move back away from him in fear. His tall muscled figure towered over her small form. She titled her chin defiantly at him. No way was she going to back down on this. She put her hands on her hips and braced herself for what he might do next, remembering last night.

“I am only going to say this once more, Sabrina, and I don’t want it raised again,” he said in a smooth voice that was doing its level best to keep calm and not erupt. “I have never hurt you. I have never wanted to hurt you and I did not beat you, rape you, or kidnap you. Do you understand me?”

Sabrina stared into his eyes looking for something, anything that would confirm her reluctant suspicions that he was lying, but she could see only pain and hurt. No matter how she continued to deny it, to distrust him, he was breaking down her defences and convincing her of his sincerity and love. Slowly she lowered her eyes.

“I understand. So convince me it wasn’t you. Let me find out what happened. This is my memory, Raoul. It’s not yours to rule.”

She heard him take a breath to calm his anger and then curse under his breath in French. She raised an eyebrow and gave him an indignant, impatient look.