‘Now do you trust me to know what you need?’ Xavier murmured as he drew her back into his arms.
Sophie sighed raggedly against his lips as she parted her swollen lips for more of his kisses. She wanted more, she wanted everything he could give her—everything he could teach her. It was like a dam bursting inside her, or waking up after a long sleep. Xavier had shown her reserves of desire she could never have guessed she possessed. And when he kissed her this time they met on equal ground, Sophie welcoming the thought-robbing passion that left nothing but sensation, nothing but Xavier. She sighed with contentment as he brought her deeper into the circle of his arms, pulling open his jacket to draw her inside.
‘Better, querida?’ he asked softly, nuzzling his face against her neck.
‘Much, much better.’
‘Are you warm enough?’
Beautifully, thrillingly, completely. ‘Yes, really, really warm,’ Sophie confirmed softly.
‘Good,’ Xavier murmured, smiling against her lips.
His kisses were tender and compelling now, like a dance of delight she never wanted to end. Sophie could not have given herself more willingly as she moulded against him, all pliant and eager, like a fresh green shoot setting out on its first journey towards the sun. And when at last he pulled away she felt bereft, lost, and wondered how she could bear a single moment of parting from him.
‘Don’t look so worried,’ Xavier said, straightening up to switch on the engine. ‘We’ve got clinic tomorrow, remember? It’s been a very long day, but a good one, and now we should get some sleep.’
‘Xavier…’
‘Yes?’
‘Can I ask you something?’
His expression suggested they had few secrets from each other now. But Sophie wasn’t so sure.
‘What is it?’
‘Anna Groes.’
He turned off the engine and swung round in his seat to face her. ‘What about Anna Groes?’
‘That’s what I need to know,’ Sophie admitted, dreading what had to come next, but knowing that she had to go ahead now she’d started. ‘What does she mean to you?’
‘Nothing,’ he admitted flatly. ‘She means nothing to me.’
‘But once—’
‘We were lovers,’ he said casually, as if it was an everyday occurrence to use and discard someone like a carton of milk.
Sophie felt as if she was contracting in on herself—as if the whole world was pressing her down, making her smaller and smaller like Alice until at last she would disappear.
‘Like your open relationship with Henry,’ Xavier said with a shrug, as if that was explanation enough. ‘We’re adults, we have needs,’ he concluded dismissively, firing the engine again.
So that was what Anna meant by keeping up with Xavier, Sophie thought as he let in the clutch and the truck began to move. It was almost funny. Or might have been if she hadn’t fallen in love with him… Pressing her lips together as she contemplated the truth behind the sudden rogue thought, Sophie turned to stare blindly out of the window. Yes, she had fallen in love. Pathetic really, wasn’t it—when Xavier was only in lust. Here she was looking for a lifetime’s commitment while he wanted nothing more than a sexual interlude to satisfy his needs. And the bottom line? If she couldn’t have Xavier on her terms, would she take him on his?
Yes.
After slipping the rest of her photos from home around the frame of the mirror, and draping the beautiful scarf she had been given over a shelf where she could admire it, Sophie lay awake, staring into the darkness. Xavier knew how to play her senses until she was screaming for release. But he had been firm about sleeping alone, so now she had only her thoughts to keep her company. Thinking of him, lying asleep so close with only a thin partition separating them, Sophie reached out a hand from under the covers and rested her palm noiselessly against the cool, smooth surface as if she could draw some of his essence through the divide and somehow be soothed by it. She couldn’t sleep, not for one moment. Everything was in turmoil. Xavier wanted her. She wanted him. It should have been simple, but what was? If life had been simple they would be in bed together right now.
She had never wanted a man in such an overwhelming and totally consuming way. She wanted him completely: every nuance in his character, good and bad; each glint in his eye; all the smiles, all the laughter, and all his sorrow too.
She wanted his body. And she wanted it now.
Sophie shifted position restlessly, but nothing gave her comfort. Nothing could—nothing but Xavier by her side, naked and demanding. But he had made it plain that he would not be hurried. Any relationship between them would be strictly short-term, and it would start when he was ready, or not at all.
She turned towards the window. Someone was trying to attract her attention. Dragging back one of the coarse, raw blue curtains, she peered out into the darkness. Agustin beckoned to her. Grabbing the rest of her clothes, Sophie quickly pulled them on. Carrying her shoes, she sneaked silently past Xavier’s room and went outside to see what was wrong.
Agustin struggled to remain calm as he explained that he had left his van parked some way from the clinic in order not to disturb everyone. Then Sophie learned she was sleeping in Xavier’s old room, hence Agustin’s mistake when he tapped on her window.
‘Should we wake him?’ Agustin said uncertainly.
‘No, no, he has early clinic tomorrow. I’ll come with you,’ Sophie said. The problem sounded like something she knew a lot about; something she could handle alone—and the village wasn’t that far away.
It took just a few minutes to collect everything she needed and soon they were speeding down the road in Agustin’s van. They were almost at the outskirts of the village when the van jerked several times, slowed, and finally stopped. With a huff of frustration, Agustin banged his hands on the wheel.
‘Never mind,’ Sophie said, covering his hand with her own. ‘We can walk from here,’ she pointed out, quickly gathering her bags.
‘I’m so sorry about this!’ Agustin exclaimed as he swung one of her bags on to his own shoulder.
‘It’s fine, don’t worry about it. You were right to come and get me,’ Sophie said reassuringly.
It didn’t take them long to cover the rest of the distance. Flickering lights were already beginning to show in some of the houses as slumbering fires were coaxed into life to ward off the chill of the dawn. Agustin’s was no exception. Following him inside, Sophie found one of his daughters lying on a makeshift settle by the fire, alternately coughing and struggling to breathe. Marcos was holding her up in his arms, but when he saw Sophie he looked relieved and then, realising Xavier wasn’t with her, his expression became anxious again.
It didn’t take Sophie long to conclude that her first thoughts had been correct. Opening her medical bag, she reached inside for her stethoscope and all the other paraphernalia she would need to confirm her diagnosis. The constriction in the young girl’s chest, the build up of mucus, the distinctive wheezing, confirmed her initial thoughts. Sophie was sure she was dealing with an asthma attack. Fortunately, before she had left the clinic, Agustin had briefed her well enough for her to anticipate everything she would need.
With the family’s help she pulled the settle away from the fire and made sure the girl was propped up on cushions. After administering an injection, she raised a saline drip and showed the family how to use the portable nebuliser she had brought with her. This delivered medication in a fine mist, allowing it to be absorbed quickly and efficiently. Once the face mask was in place the sounds of hectic breathing eased quickly and the blue tinge around the young girl’s mouth and the base of her fingernails disappeared. But, even with this level of improvement, Sophie was concerned that she should be admitted to hospital for observation as soon as possible.
Agustin assured her that this would be done as soon as he had asked one of his friends to take them there. ‘The Armando Martinez Bordiu Hospital is good, very good,’ he said confidently. ‘Our health ca
re is excellent since Dr Xavier came here to us. He pays for everything.’
Smiling reassuringly, Sophie was relieved to see that her patient was already able to sit up and talk to her brothers and sisters, inhaling oxygen through a mask from the small portable tank she had brought with her.
As she sat down to write a report for the hospital, the unaffected happiness of the family struck a chord deep inside her. She envied them, she realised—envied the unconditional love she felt around her.
For some reason Xavier forced his way into her mind. What a joke, Sophie mused, telling herself to dismiss that fantasy right away. Something like this was never going to happen for her with Xavier. To him she was just a potential conquest. A woman no one had succeeded in awakening—what man could resist a challenge like that? It didn’t make her special to him, it just appealed to his masculine pride—even perhaps to his scientific mind as a doctor. She was, after all, something of a curiosity as far as sex was concerned.
Suddenly the need to be on her own for a while overcame everything, even caution, and, picking up her bags, Sophie slipped out of the door without anyone noticing.
She hadn’t realised the village was quite so far away from the clinic, and the return journey seemed never-ending now that she was on foot and alone. She kept up a brisk pace, occasionally breaking into a jog when she couldn’t identify the noises in the undergrowth, and tried not to let her imagination run away with her. But there were places where the road narrowed and the canopy of trees closed across it so that the thin morning sunbeams came in grudging threads through a dense tunnel of leaves.
She was scared and tired, and had lost track of how much further she had to go. The first clearing she came to, she picked out a tree standing closest to the road and sat down, leaning her back against the rough surface of its trunk, intending just to rest for a few minutes.
The sound of a truck being driven at high speed jolted her alert with a start. And when she saw it was Xavier driving, she stumbled to her feet and began shouting and waving with relief.
‘Sophie!’ Leaping down from the truck, he grabbed her by the shoulders in an iron grip, his eyes scouring her face for signs of harm. ‘Thank God you’re all right!’