She blushed. ‘It’s nothing, really—just some leftover vegetables with a chicken stock that I had in the freezer—’ She stopped abruptly. She was babbling. She took a mouthful of her own soup before she could say anything else, and winced when she burned the roof of her mouth.
Luckily he didn’t seem to have noticed her lack of sophistication, intent on his food.
Sofie had a sneaking suspicion, based on not only his charisma but also his innate confidence, that he was somebody. And she suspected that whoever he was, he wasn’t just some rich City financier looking to get in touch with his inner child.
He was more than that.
He had something more than confidence. An air of arrogance. It had been evident in the way he’d spoken to the doctors. The way he’d declared that he would stay with her. As if he was used to issuing orders and to those orders being followed without question.
He put down his spoon, the bowl cleared. Sofie had barely touched her own food, too distracted by her guest. She stood up and took his bowl before he could notice how fascinating he was to her. She said, over her shoulder, ‘Help yourself to more coffee or anything else. I’ll get your room ready.’
She left the things in the sink and went upstairs, taking a deep breath to try and calm her beating heart. Shaking her head at herself, because she was behaving like a giddy teenager, she got fresh sheets out of the cupboard and set to making Darius’s bed.
And then she got the bag of clothes out of the car and hoped that there might be at least a couple of items that would fit him—even though she knew for a fact there weren’t many men on the island who matched him for height and breadth.
Darius stood at the open back door. The air was mild. Fragrant with freshly cut grass somewhere nearby. The view really was spectacular. With the back lawn sloping down to the lake and then the mountain rising behind it. Gently majestic. Sky so blue it hurt to look at. It almost reminded him of...
He shook his head after a moment, unable to catch the memory. He’d felt heat, though. A far greater heat than was coming from this sun.
Something nudged against his thigh and he looked down to see a pair of soulful brown eyes looking up. The shaggy dog. Instinctively he reached down, patting his head. This time there was no flash of disjointed memory.
The sense of powerlessness he’d felt a short while before was fading. He felt a curious sense of...acceptance. Peace. Sitting with Sofie, eating simple food had been pleasant. More than pleasant. Her soft, lilting voice smoothed the ragged edges of his nerves. While also heating his blood.
It was mildly disturbing that he couldn’t look at her without immediately imagining carnal things. Maybe it was something about how fresh-faced she was. How innocent. Because any fool could tell that she was not experienced. Every time their eyes met she blushed and looked away. Darius had a strong sense that he was used to women holding his gaze boldly. That a woman like Sofie was not part of his world.
He heard a sound behind him and looked around. Sofie was standing in the kitchen, long tendrils of black hair framing her pretty face. Once again Darius had to control his body. He gritted his jaw.
‘I’ve left the clothes in your bedroom. Help yourself to whatever fits.’
Suddenly, in spite of the desire this woman triggered in his blood, Darius felt a wave of weariness wash over him. The doctors had warned him that it would take a little more time before he was back to normal.
As if spotting his weakness, Sofie frowned. ‘Are you okay?’
Hating to admit to such frailty, Darius had no choice but to say, ‘I think I’ll lie down for a while.’
‘Of course. The bed is all made up. The water is hot, so feel free to have a shower—’ Sofie broke off, blushing profusely before continuing, ‘I’m not suggesting you need to wash...just do whatever you want. Make yourself at home, Darius.’
Sofie waited until Darius had left the kitchen area and closed the door and then thudded her head softly against the wood. She was so gauche! Literally couldn’t even tell the man to help himself to the facilities without turning into a blushing, stuttering wreck because at the mere mention of something so innocuous she’d been unable to help imagining hot water sluicing over taut naked muscles, his ridged abdomen and down lower—
Sofie hit her head harder this time. Hard enough to shock her out of her wayward thoughts.
Enough. She had to get it together and try to curb her newly rampaging hormones. She’d been entrusted with this stranger’s care and he was vulnerable. If the poor man knew where her thoughts went every time she looked at him he’d be disgusted.
Darius woke sweating, the sheets tangled around his naked body. His heart was racing. And his body was hard. He grimaced. He’d been dreaming about her. Sofie. Dreaming about her curvaceous pale body moving over his, her black hair falling around him as she took him into her slick body and gripped him so tight—
Darius threw back the covers and surged up from the bed.
Frustration at his lack of memory bit at him. Was he usually like this around women he wanted? Was he so highly sexed that every waking andsleeping moment was dominated by carnal thoughts? If so, how did he ever get any work done?
Tendrils of pink light touched the sky outside. It was very early dawn. He felt thoroughly disorientated. Had he slept right through the previous afternoon and evening?
His body still pulsed with desire, and he went into the en suite bathroom and stepped under the shower, having to duck his head a little. He grimaced under the cold water but it had the desired effect, dousing some of the residual heat.
After drying himself roughly Darius went back into the bedroom. He felt restless. He spied some of the clothes donated by the locals and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. They were a little too snug, but they’d have to do.
He went downstairs to get himself some water. A low light was burning in the kitchen. The dog was there, in a huge bed, and he got up and ambled over to Darius, seemingly content with this new guest. Something about the dog’s easy acceptance made Darius feel absurdly emotional for a moment as he put a hand on the dog’s head. It made him wonder if he had a family. He didn’t think he had a family of his own, a wife, or children—when he thought of that he felt a surge of rejection—but he wondered about parents...siblings?
Nothing. Just that dense frustrating fog.
He went over to the sink and poured himself a glass of water, it was ice-cold and unbelievably refreshing. He imagined it coming straight from a pure mountain stream.
He went to the back door and opened it. A cool breeze skated over his skin. The vast sky was turning lighter by the second. There was not a sound except for the dawn chorus of birds. Darius knew instinctively that it was a long time since he’d experienced this kind of peace and quiet.
He heard a sound behind him and turned around to see Sofie standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She was wearing a knee-length silk robe, belted at her unbelievably small waist. A waist she hid under her baggy clothes. He could see bare shapely legs from the knee down. Her hair was loose and tumbling over her shoulders, exactly as it had been in his—
‘Sorry,’ he said abruptly, desperately trying to regain some control. ‘I didn’t mean to wake you.’