Taming The Wild CEO novel Chapter 36

C H A P T E R 3 4 : T H E A C C I D E N T I N T H E M I D S T O F S T O R M

E L L A S T A N F O R D

Ella opened her eyes to smile at him. “Just about. I must admit, this sunshine is soporific.”

“Sop-what now?” he asked oddly. “What does it mean?”

“It makes me feel sleepy,” she said, laughing.

“Then it certainly a word that does not describe you,” he said, uncaring of Javier’s listening presence. “You do not affect me like that at all. In fact, you made me wide awake.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. In the past such a remark from a young man might have irritated her, but she treated it lightly now. Her realisation that she loved Javier had given the world a new brightness, freeing her from many of her cherished inhibitions. She felt laughter bubbling inside her chest. Happiness seemed to course in her blood. It was curious that despite her pain that Javier could not return the love she felt, she was so euphoric in his presence. Her nerves were newly sensitised.

Everything seemed to be new to her. Her eyes saw the world with fresh clarity. Smiles of pure delight curved her mouth. She felt free, free of the old longing for affection and security, the obsessive pattern-making which had made her arrange everything in her life so neatly. There was no room for anything inside her but her love for Javier now. It had changed everything even though she did not want it.

Roberto moved restlessly. “If you are feeling sleepy then how about another swim?” he asked her.

She cheerfully got up and they entered the water again. For some time they swam side by side, then played with the beach ball. Rob teased her about her poor aim, and she flung the ball straight at him, catching him in the chest so that he slid down into the water. Coughing, he came up and pursued her for vengeance, while she laughed and fled, climbing out of the pool, dripping.

Javier looked coldly at her as she sank down on the lounger. Roberto stood over her, breathing fast, his hands on his hips. Shaking back his wet blond hair he said in mock wrath, “I will owe you for that, darling.”

“Can we have the discussion now?” Javier asked him abruptly.

“You are one persistent human being.” Roberto groaned. “Okay, fire ahead.”

Both men talked for almost an hour, sitting around the table, the sunshine glinting off the blue water, the fragrance of the flowers which surrounded the pool in white tubs, scenting the warm air. Rob looked suddenly at his watch and made a face. “My chef will be waiting for us to go in to lunch.” He jumped up. “We should change first, Javier.”

While the two men changed Ella lay with eyes closed, enjoying the silence and warmth of the morning. The sun was growing stronger as the day wore on, but she enjoyed the feel of it as it soaked into her skin, bringing a flush to it. When she heard a step she lazily opened her eyes, and her heart hammered as her gaze encountered her boss’s piercing baby blues. They were moving lingeringly over her slender body. The bikini left so little to the imagination that it merely drew attention to the swell of her white breasts, the flatness of her stomach, the long curve of her hips and thighs. She felt her breasts grow heavy under his gaze, the nipples tauten so that they were visible under the silken cloth.

Roberto came out of the changing-room, apparently oblivious of the atmosphere between them. Cheerfully he said, “I will run in and tell her we are on our way. Come along whenever you are ready, Ella darling.” He vanished at a graceful lope, his boy's body slim in his white pants and T-shirt.

Ella slid to the floor and turned to go into the changing-room. Javier stood in front of the door, and she looked at him warily. He moved out of the way abruptly and she passed him. When she came out a few moments later he was walking back towards the house, his dark head erect. With a sigh, she followed behind him.

They had a very enjoyable lunch; homemade Pâté with crisp golden toast and a small salad, trout au Bretonne, the flesh white and melting, served with deliciously cooked prawns, followed by fresh fruit. Roberto picked at his food. “I have to watch my diet,” he sighed.

On the flower-bordered patio in the sunlight, Rob kept Ella amused by his tales of his earlier life as an actor, the boredom, excitement and lethargy which he had suffered.

In the middle of the afternoon Javier said coolly, “We really have to go now, Rob. Both Ella and I have important appointments in Rome tomorrow. We have to get on a plane.”

Rob was reluctant to let them go. “Are you sure you can not stay?” he asked Ella pleadingly.

She gave him a small smile. Despite his aggressive sexuality there was a good deal of the little boy in him, and she felt easy in his company. He talked a lot about sex, but she had not felt any real apprehension about his feelings. He just enjoyed talking about his early life in Los Angeles to her. Many of the people he met out here in Sicily were strangers to the world he had led in the U. S. as a young boy. No doubt he felt a bit rootless, alienated.

“When you fly over to Washington you must come to dinner at my flat,” she said. ‘I will cook you some homemade cooking that will remind you of your once home in the States.”

“I am not frightened of a little rain,” Ella shrugged.

“It is going to get worse before it gets better.” He heavily sighed. “And I am not saying that you are afraid of the rain. I am just saying that it would be safer for you to be in the hotel room rather than here.”

They turned off the highway a short time later, running along narrow lanes through isolated hamlets until they began to descend a steep road. The storm increased in violence, and on these narrow country roads Javier had to drive with great care. The roads curved crazily, and the state of their surfaces left a good deal to be desired. The car jerked and bounced over ruts and rough surfaces, the sound of the storm outside growing louder and louder.

Ella rubbed at her side window, peering out. They had closed all the windows and the interior of the car had steamed up. Lightning tore down the black sky, the flash of it making her start violently. She shrank away from the window, her hand automatically reaching for the security of Javier’s arm. She was shaken with terror. The sound deafened her so she clutched at him instinctively, just as he was taking a bend, and the movement made his arm jerk. The car veered sharply to the wrong side of the road. Luckily they were going at such a slow speed that when they hit a tree the impact merely threw them both forward and made the car bonnet fly upward. Dazed, Ella sat up, her forehead throbbing from the blow it had received on the dashboard, he disentangled himself from the steering wheel, clutching his midriff.

“Jiev! Are you hurt?” Anxiously she turned in her seat to face him, her own pain was long forgotten.

He groaned. “I am fine,” he said grimly. “But that damned steering wheel was rammed into me hard. I feel as though I had been kicked in the stomach by a horse.”

She leaned across, worried. Without pausing to think she pushed back his shirt hurriedly and ran her fingers over the bare skin of his midriff, examining it for signs of injury, trying to see how hurt he had been. “There, does that hurt?” she asked, her fingers pressing into his flesh gently.

“Like hell,” he answered, his voice suddenly hoarse.

She looked at him quickly and her heart thudded. His voice and face told her clearly enough that he was not referring to any injury. She pulled her hands away, hot colour sweeping to her hairline. Unclipping her seat belt, she opened the car door and scrambled out. The rain poured down, rapidly saturating her clothes and flattening her hair to her temples. He joined her, apparently in control of his face once more, his expression grim as he surveyed the bonnet of the car. He slammed the bonnet down, making a wry face.

“We have made a mess of the radiator,” he said.

“I am sorry,” she stammered. “It was my fault.”