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"A warm bed," he replied, trying to conceal his sincere concern.
They came up to the first floor, and Ruby vaguely--in her hazy state of delirium--wondered why he didn't go directly toward the stairs that would lead them to the second floor where he kept her isolated before. Instead, he carried her to the far side of the corridor, before entering a bedroom.
It was huge--much bigger and grander than the room she occupied previously. This one had a king-sized bed with a dark gold duvet cover. The bed was not an antique. It was a modern type that probably cost the earth to obtain. There was also an en suite, which Ruby saw through the slightly ajar door at the far corner of the room. She caught a glimpse of a huge bathtub.
Alec put her on the bed and tucked her under the duvet. "You'll be warm here," he assured her before going into the wardrobe on the other side of the room.
Ruby eyed him with interest as he opened the door of the wardrobe. She blinked twice, realizing that the array of expensive clothing was his, and she was in his bedroom. It was in her nature to ask silly questions, and often she couldn't stop herself, so she inquired, "Why am I in your bedroom? Why don't you put me in my own room?"
Alec glanced over his muscular shoulder, and his eyebrows rose. "Because, ma'am, your bedroom window has been destroyed. It will be very cold at night; and, ma'am, I certainly do not want you to get a chill."
Ruby blushed. He knew! Darn him! He knew she destroyed the window in order to escape. Of course! He would've seen it anyway before noticing that she escaped. And that was how he found her--drenched wet and lying there on the ground with her foot caught between vines and roots.
"Could you not put me in another room?"
Alec took out a pair of clean jeans and a white shirt. "And risk another attempt at escaping? But of course, I'm sure you can't escape with that foot of yours in such a bad condition." He turned to give her a devilish grin, his grey eyes twinkling.
Ruby's heart started to beat outrageously fast. Even though she couldn't see clearly without her glasses or contact lenses, his smile still affected her more than she liked to admit.
Alec noted the blush. Damn it! She looked so adorable with her wet hair, apple red lips, and brown eyes. He wanted to ravish her there and then.
She lowered her eyes, blushing even more. Alec braced himself and stifled his lusty urges as he walked into the bathroom.
Ruby closed her eyes, wondering why she was staring at him like a wanton. She was still mortified by her behavior when Mrs. McKenzie brought in her dinner of chicken soup.
"Now there," the woman said, "ya eat this. It'll make ya feel better, nice an' warm an' all."
Ruby thanked the woman as she took the bowl of soup. She started eating after Mrs. McKenzie left. Alec returned, wearing his clean, dry clothing.
Ruby glanced up from her soup and simply stared. Her heart started to jump into a silly rhythm again. She could see his lean muscles beneath the tight jeans and shirt. His hair was in a disheveled state, which made him look so hot.
She swallowed the soup in her mouth, gulping hard.
Stop it! She told herself internally as she put the bowl on the bedside table, her hands trembling. That's it! It must be a consequence of the shock, and the aftermath of her recent fright and experience while being lost in the woods.
"You must eat," he said, coming around to her side.
Ruby's heart lurched even faster now.
"I'm not hungry," she snapped.
Go away! Don't come near me! She wanted to yell at him.
Stubbornly staring at the duvet when he sat beside her, she wanted to scream. She longed to look at him and throw herself into his arms. What a wanton she was! She never felt like that before, not toward any man.
No, she reasoned in her mind, she wanted to throw herself at him because he was the one who saved her; therefore, it was only a natural result that she felt obliged to him, and duty-bound to thank him with all her heart and soul. Yes, that was it! It was overwhelming gratitude toward him that she felt, and that was all.
Alec picked up the bowl of soup, dipping the spoon into it, and scooping out the dark broth before aiming the spoon toward her lips.
"Here," he said.
Still refusing to look at him, she shook her head. Alec put the spoon back into the bowl and placed it on the table. He shifted closer to her, moving his head next to her face.
Ruby felt his warm breath on her cheek. When she turned slowly to look at him, her heart did a somersault. His grey eyes were staring right into her brown ones.
Alec moved in such a way that his nose was touching her glowing cheek. Swallowing hard, Ruby's throat was suddenly very dry.
"Are you innocent, Ruby?" he asked, his hot breath fanning her cheek.
Ruby couldn't reply. She couldn't think either. The only thing she could do was concentrate on her breathing. She was becoming acutely aware of his strong, male presence. The room seemed quite hot for her suddenly.
She lowered her eyes. "What do you mean?"
Alec stared at her thick, dark eyelashes. She was enchanting. Damn, but he wanted her. He hardened himself against his unreasonable, primal male urge. He knew he was playing with fire, seducing her through intimidation into obeying his advice and eating.
"What I mean is, Ruby, are you so innocent you don't know what I'm going to do to you?" His voice sounded thicker.
Ruby licked her dry lips, and Alec glanced at her small tongue. His alpha male instinct took over then, and he grabbed her delicate chin in his hand before kissing her passionately.
His kiss felt hard and lasted a long time, which, to innocent Ruby, who had never been kissed before by any man, was very dangerous indeed. She got scared all the way down to her little toes, and tried to break free from his embrace by pushing her small hands against his chest.
Alec noticed her shivering, so he ended the kiss and moved back.
"You know I can do more than that," he whispered, his warm breath sensuously tickling her ear.
She glanced at him through her dark lashes, her heart fluttering. She didn't know what to say. The only things she could be sure of were the nearness of him and the drumming of her beating heart.
"Here. Eat."
"I will eat if you leave me alone," she murmured, her eyes downcast.
"Nay."
She turned to look at him then, and Alec had to hide his smile at her reaction.
"But," she began. Stop it, you ninny, she told herself. He was just playing with you.
"Fine," she said, her voice sounding a little bit stronger. "I'll eat. I'm hungry anyway." Then, she practically snatched the bowl from him and started eating without further reserve.
Alec couldn't help but smile as he watched her devouring her soup so salaciously.
Alec made sure Ruby was asleep by the time he returned that night. He felt rather stupid sneaking into his own bedroom--his own goddamn bedroom! He was not a thief, for God's sake. But he was pretty sure she'd insist they sleep separately; and he either had to let her sleep in another room or he, himself, would have to sleep in another room. And that he didn't want.
Once he changed into what he considered a decent pair of pyjamas: loose trousers and a T-shirt, which he rarely used, he climbed into bed beside her.
Twenty minutes later, his eyes were still wide open despite being dead tired.
He just couldn't sleep. It was not because of the blasted storm that kept unleashing its fury upon them, but because of the beauty lying beside him. She was warm, very soft, and half naked. A man didn't need more than that to torture him with temptation. To make matters worse, she kept snuggling closer to him, seeking warmth, not that the room was very cold, with the fire roaring in the hearth.
Everything was going fine with him controlling his damn urges and impulses, but that suddenly changed after midnight. That was the big problem. She was unexpectedly very hot to the touch. Not that he intended to touch her, of course, but she, herself, rolled closer to him, all shivering like a drow
ned kitten, craving the warmth of his body. Her skin was burning hot. She was unnaturally hot, and he knew, God, he knew, she was in the throes of a fever.
He knew he had to give her something to reduce her temperature.
He hurriedly got out of bed and found some aspirin. He came back, and managed to wake her up before helping her take the medicine. When he was satisfied that she swallowed the two tablets, he lay her back on the bed before lying down beside her, and letting her head rest in the crook of his arm.
When, ten minutes later, her temperature still didn't lessen, he got very worried. He'd have to do something else... and fast.
He got out of bed and ran down the stairs to the kitchen.
Bowl! He needed a bowl for water. The kitchen was big, and he was never in there often enough to remember where everything was kept.
He wanted to ring Mrs. McKenzie for help, but the thought of waking the woman in the middle of the night just to find a mere bowl was unreasonable, he concluded. Thus, he found himself opening every cupboard door he could put his hands on. At last, he found a bowl and rushed back upstairs.
Five minutes later, with lukewarm water in the bowl and a small towel, Alec started sponge bathing Ruby's hot face. He touched her forehead to see if that helped, and found her temperature there was much cooler.
"This is working," he said.
Then he started moving the wet towel down to her throat. As he did so, he was thinking about the rest of her body, and paused to look at her flushed face. He told himself he would not take advantage of her. Anyone would do what he was about to do if confronted with such an odd situation.
He started to unbutton her shirt.
"Forgive me, sweetheart," he said.
Buttons undone, he slipped the towel under her shirt and started bathing her body while keeping his eyes averted, and staring at her face instead of what he was doing. Once he deemed it was enough to cool her fever, he touched her forehead again, happy to discover it was indeed getting cooler.
After rebuttoning up her shirt, he lay beside her and pulled the duvet up to her chin. As he did so, she moved closer to him, mumbling about something he couldn't understand in another language. He didn't have the heart to just push her away, so he wrapped his arm around her and moved her closer still. He didn't know what came over him as he kissed her forehead gently. She groaned in her language again. He smiled and closed his eyes.
Ruby woke up feeling utterly drowsy and weak. Her body ached sorely. She sat up, and instantly, her head spun out of control. She gritted her teeth and swore silently. Once her dizziness ceased, she scanned her surroundings. She couldn't remember where she was. She tried to think, but her brain refused to function properly. Where am I? This wasn't her bedroom. Where was everyone else? Where were her mum and four sisters?
A dog yapped. She glanced at a very cute, snow-white dog sitting on the edge of the bed near her feet. He looked as though he, too, had just woken up.
She frowned. Then, slowly and painfully, began to remember the dog. It was Westies. Then she remembered the storm, her injured foot, and Alec rescuing her. She remembered him driving the Land Rover back from the woods and carrying her into the manor. She also recalled how he treated her injured foot; and then, oh God, she remembered herself crying and admitting that she was scared. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in his arms.
She bit her lip as she suddenly became mortified with embarrassment. Why did she admit to him she was scared? Why did she fall asleep in his arms?
You stupid ninny, she chided herself. What have you done? You tried to escape him by running away, and instead, you nearly killed yourself in the storm. But it was her right, she told herself firmly. It was her freedom to do as she pleased.
Captain Snow came to sit on her lap. She stroked the dog's head and said, "Oh, Westies, he'd think me a stupid ninny, all right. I can't face him."
"Whom can't you face?" came a deep male voice at the door.
Ruby glanced up to see Alec, carrying a tray in his hands.
You! She wanted to shout at him. But, of course, she kept quiet as she watched him enter the room.
He was especially handsome this morning in his jeans and T-shirt. Show off! She silently swore because she couldn't stop herself from staring at his manly body.
"Food for you," he said, placing the tray on the bedside table before sitting down beside her. That got her heart jump-started like crazy.
Calm down, Ruby, he's only a man. He's only Alec; your captor. He's simply pretending to be nice.
He touched her forehead with the back of his hand, and Ruby recoiled. She was so surprised by the gentle contact that she backed away.
Alec smiled at her reaction. "You had a fever last night."
"Did I?" she whispered, her throat dry, a knot forming in the pit of her stomach.
He nodded.
"I didn't know," she said as she watched him picking up a piece of toast and giving it to her.
"Breakfast in bed?" she asked.
"You're not getting out of bed today, I'm afraid," he informed her. "And plenty of fluids for you."
"I can feed myself, thank you very much," she said, snatching the toast from him.
He watched her as she ate. Ruby felt rather uncomfortable and said, "Don't you have anything else to do?"
"Not really," he replied promptly.
She paused and looked at him blankly. "How did you know I had a fever last night?"
Alec cocked his head to one side as he studied her. "I was here."
"What were you doing here?"
Alec grinned. She didn't remember. He was curious, so he asked, "What do you remember from yesterday?"
Ruby lowered her eyes and frowned darkly. Alec could see that she was blushing.
"What do you remember from yesterday?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"The storm?" he prodded.
She bit her lip, knowing he was an insistent man. If he wanted to know something, he'd pursue it until he got the answer. Reluctantly, she nodded.
Alec continued, "You injured yourself?"
Again, she nodded.
"I saved you?"
She nodded, her eyes still downcast.
"In the drawing room, I tended to your injury?"
Her blush intensified.
"And you--"
"And I fell asleep; and now I have woken up only to find myself in this room," she said quickly. "Okay, I remember everything, even the part when I admitted to you I was scared. So I was scared. Happy now?"
Alec smiled. Aye, she remembered... everything, except for the kiss.
"Did you do something?" Ruby asked curiously.
"Something?" He raised his eyebrows at her.
"About my fever," she supplied.
"Yes," he said, thinking about unbuttoning her shirt and sponge bathing her more-than-desirable body.
"Thank you." She finished the last bite of toast. "You know, I didn't expect you to be so nice, being my captor and all. But you are, and so I sincerely thank you."
"You're welcome," he replied as he got up. "Would you like something to read?"
She reached for the cup of tea as she nodded.
"History?" he asked.
"Yes, thank you."
"Your wish is my command." As he was about to leave, he said, "I'll do it again anytime for you." He winked at her and walked out.
Ruby's heart started to beat like there was no tomorrow. He winked at her. He really just winked at her! Calm down, you ninny, it was just a wink. But it was a very hot one all the same.
"Do you think it means anything, Westies?" she asked Captain Snow.
The dog looked at her blankly, resting his head back on her lap.
"No, it means nothing," she said to herself. "But what does he mean by 'I'll do it again anytime for you'?" She cocked her head to one side, contemplating the possible meanings of his enigmatic words.
*
NINE
Ruby was ready to
explode that afternoon when Alec refused to listen to her argument. She simply wanted to punch him, but she knew that no amount of punching could ever hurt that hard, muscular chest of his. She thought about punching his face, too. That'd bring his handsome quotient down by a notch or two; and then, perhaps her heart wouldn't flutter so much every time she saw him.
"Surely, you see what not having them has done to me," she rationalized. "If I were to have them earlier, this wouldn't have happened to me."
"And if you had stayed put like I told you to, it also wouldn't have happened to you," he replied calmly at the door, ready to leave the room.
"I'm only asking for my glasses back. And I promise you, I'm not going to run away again. Not with this blasted foot." She pointed to her injured ankle.
Alec didn't reply to that. Oh, he knew she'd try to escape again, injured foot or not. If past experiences served him right, she'd come up with another outrageous solution to escape again, and very soon. He thought he'd better keep his guard up.
He said, "Now have your lunch and drink plenty of fluids."
Ruby took a deep breath and started counting to calm herself down. This man is simply impossible. Does he not understand the meaning of human rights?
Her counting didn't work. She got to number three. "No!" She slid off the bed and looked around the room wildly. Surely, there must have been something in this room that was worth trading for.
"Madame, please get back into bed," he warned. "You're unwell."
She stood straighter, staring up at him. "No!"
Ruby spotted the Chinese urn sitting on the table near the window. Limping over to it, she snatched it, and held it precariously in the air.
Alec secretly smiled as he watched her standing there holding the expensive, antique urn, ready to smash it to the floor any moment. He debated whether to come any closer or just agree to her simple request.
He thought she looked rather fetching indeed, dressed only in his shirt, her long hair wild, her face flushed, and her lips angry red.
"This urn in exchange for my glasses," she proposed.
He calmly walked toward her; and she started to flutter once she realized the threat didn't bother him one tiny bit.
"I said, this urn for my glasses. If you come any closer, I'll smash it. I mean it, Alec."
He eventually stood by the bed. As he watched her staring back at him, he folded his arms across his chest and leaned against one poster of the four-poster bed.
