Moonflower (10 page)

Sophie
arched her back and moaned.

He
withdrew the warmth of his mouth from her nipple. She cupped the
back of his head to urge him towards her again.

He turned
his head away. ‘Admit it.’

Sophie
couldn’t remember what she was meant to admit to.

He shook
her gently.

'What?'
she asked, her brain a fog.

‘
Admit you could ruin me, with your full breasts that tease me,
and your golden skin and copper hair.’ As he spoke, he pulled the
sheet down past his hips so she could feel his arousal against the
inside of her thigh.

'Oh,
Reuben,' Sophie said, raising her hips so she could feel the tip of
him rub against the small pebble of arousal that stood hard and
erect above her spreading moistness.

'Concentrate, Sophie!'

'How? When you're doing
this
to me.'

‘
What, this?’ He moved his hips so he was at her
opening.

Sophie
took a deep breath; taut as a bow. ‘No, this,’ she said, biting her
lower lip as she plunged down onto him.

Reuben
asked no more questions.

The smile
faded from Sophie’s lips as she heard a burst of conversation from
nearby. She was suddenly resentful of these visitors to Labour's
End, and this was a new experience for her. She had always loved
sharing her world with others. Watching silence settle over a group
as they came upon animals most had only ever seen in books or on
television, now in front of them, magnificent in their natural
habitat.

But Sophie knew it wasn’t the thought of sharing her world
with these people that was causing these feelings of resentment and
dissatisfaction. It was having to share
Reuben
with people who had known him
for many years. Knew him far better than she’d probably ever know
him. People who could draw him back into his own world, away from
her and the wide open spaces of Labour’s End.

Reuben
had warned her, as she’d left his room that morning, that they
would probably not be able to spend any time alone together while
his friends and guests were at the farm.

Of
course, the comment had hurt her. But she could not be angry with
him. He had not promised her anything more than a distraction. That
was the understanding between them, and she had accepted it. In
fact, she too had no desire to be part of his world; London, its
traffic, press of people, and tall buildings everywhere so you
forgot there was a sky and that you shared the planet with
creatures far more powerful than you were.

But she’d
hoped for a bit longer with him, to explore what she’d only just
found. Labour’s End had, in recent weeks, become their playground,
and for the briefest time Sophie had felt utter contentment that
came only from a life fulfilled at every level. She had the
wildness of the African bush and its exquisite animals, an
important job to do that would affect her world for generations to
come, and a man who set that world on fire, who had only just begun
to show her that she had places within herself she had never known
existed.

There was
still so much to do, so much to explore and discover, but not with
all these people around. People who spoke to Reuben about other
people and things she couldn’t follow. They’d brought with them a
reality and a sophistication that made Sophie’s relationship with
Reuben seem like an adolescent crush. And that made her feel
suddenly silly. This was Reuben’s real life. These people, the
things and places they were talking about. Not the few weeks a year
he’d spend on his African farm.

Another
thought struck Sophie then. One that made her sick to her stomach.
Would she fall deeply in love with Reuben, only to see him go back
to his reality? Would she pine for him, wait patiently for his
return to Labour’s End now and then; a few snatched hours or weeks
here and there as the years wore on? While she believed that what
they had was too special to pass up, to Reuben it was most likely
nothing more than an exotic distraction.

Would the
prospect of such a depressing future stop Sophie from going to
Reuben’s bed? She thought about that. But, to her surprise, the
answer was no. She knew it was already too late. She was fast
falling in love with him and the thought both thrilled and
terrified her. The tycoon would not alter his world for her. He’d
said as much, never been anything less than brutally honest with
her. He had always kept conversation between them light, or about
the farm. She had no idea who his parents were, where he’d grown
up, how he’d got that scar on his knee. He had been careful to keep
these two parts of his life separate from each other.

Sophie
was in no doubt that whatever had awoken between them was doomed.
She wanted to run then, but whether away from the farm or into
Reuben’s arms, she couldn’t tell.

'And who
is this vision in khaki?'

Sophie
jumped. A man who looked vaguely familiar stood in front of her,
and she’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t heard his
approach.

'Mark!’
Reuben was moving towards them, a warning tone in his voice,
irritation all over his features.

'Take a
shower,' Reuben said as he drew level with the man. 'Preferably a
cold one.'

'Ahh,’
the man said, looking highly amused. ‘So my brother's possessive of
the vision in khaki, is he?'

The man
Reuben had called Mark looked back at Sophie with piqued
curiosity.

'You're
Reuben's brother?' Sophie asked, intrigued.

'That I
am. Mark Manning. Pleased to meet you.'

'Sophie
Kyle.'

She held
her hand out to him. He squeezed it. Held it a little longer than
was necessary.

Reuben
hovered beside his brother, irritation turning to
annoyance.

'My
brother's always been the possessive type,’ Mark said, ignoring
Reuben. ‘One of those children who really looked after his things,
held onto them forever. Mum went through hell trying to get him to
give things up—his dummy, then a blanket. There was this musty old
elephant he still had on his bed as a teenager… Simply refused to
give any of it up. Come to think of it, that's how you got your
first piggy bank, wasn't it? Poor Mum had to resort to bribery. But
once he’d discovered money, there was no turning back.'

Sophie
grinned broadly at both men. Now she knew why Mark had seemed so
familiar. It was the family resemblance.

'So
this
is
where you’ve run away to.' A woman, a head shorter than
Sophie—glossy black bob, pale skin and red lips—came over to them.
She was highly polished, sophisticated. Fitted in perfectly with
the crowd buzzing around the entrance hall and formal
lounge.

'Clarice,
this is my conservationist, Sophie Kyle. Sophie, Clarice
Thornton-Powell.'

'Hello
there,' Clarice said, eyeing Sophie with some interest.

'Hello,'
Sophie said, extending her hand to the other woman.

Clarice
smiled, and, after a moment's hesitation, took Sophie's hand. 'Oh,
my,' she said, as Sophie shook her hand. 'You’re a strong girl,
aren't you?'

Sophie
flushed, and quickly withdrew her slightly work-worn hand with its
short, sensible nails from Clarice's soft, pale fingers that ended
in ten perfect red ovals.

'I hope
you enjoy your stay,' Sophie said to cover her
awkwardness.

'I'm sure
I will,' she said, linking an arm through Reuben's and looking up
at his face. ‘I’m sure Reuben will see to that, won’t you,
darling?’

Reuben
looked down at Clarice, smiled, and something twisted unpleasantly
inside Sophie, deep inside, where Reuben had surged with the full
force of his passion just a few hours before.

'Sophie’s
going to make it particularly special for us, aren’t you, Sophie?’
Mark said, linking his arm through Sophie’s in imitation of
Clarice. ‘She’s Reuben’s resident expert on local flora and fauna.
Quite the find, I’m told.'

'Looking forward to it,' Clarice said dismissively, turning
away from Sophie to give her full attention to Reuben. 'You look
wonderful, darling. Already you have this glorious tan and seem
so
relaxed
. Africa
seems to agree with you, but you don’t want to stay out too long.
Horrible what damage the sun does to the skin,' she added, glancing
over her shoulder at Sophie.

‘
You know, Sophie,’ Mark said, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever met a
woman with quite the same glorious glow of an African sunrise in
her complexion as you, my dear.’

Sophie
couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing, and Mark waggled his
eyebrows at her.

Reuben
glared ferociously at his brother, and Sophie decided to take her
leave. 'It's been nice meeting you, Mark,' she said. 'Now I'd
better check on the local flora and fauna so I have something to
show you after all.'

'See ya,'
Mark called after her, a forlorn look on his face, and Sophie left
the three sophisticates, a broad grin on her face.

That
evening the guests saw a number of the farm’s resident species when
Sophie, Isaac and Sipho took them to a watering hole—the best place
to find a gathering of animals in the settling dusk. Sophie never
ceased to be delighted when people caught their first glimpse of
zebra or majestic eland sipping at the water's edge. Seeing these
animals—their sheer size, the ripple and twitch of muscle, and
subtle or dramatic hues of coat and horns—was very different to
watching them on television or the internet. And when people
realised this simple fact, they were a little more likely to make
decisions that would ultimately protect these animals in their
natural habitats. It was for this reason Sophie felt a sense of
triumph as a chorus of 'ahhs', ‘wows’ and 'look at thats' rose into
the warm evening air.

It was as
they alighted from the vehicles back at the house that she heard Mr
McTavish—the man who’d instructed her to lug his heavy suitcase up
the stairs—bring up the subject of hunting.

'I'd like
to bag one of the bigger buck. You did tell me you have wildebeest,
didn't you?' he said, turning to Reuben.

'I did,
Gerry. And I do,' Reuben said, jovially.

'Wildebeest,' McTavish said, rubbing his hands. 'Now that
would be a prize for my lodge wall.'

You’ll hang my still-seething head on a wall before you shoot
a single animal on this farm
, Sophie
thought.

'There’s
no hunting at Labour’s End,' she told him, trying to sound firm but
polite.

McTavish
simply ignored her and addressed Reuben again. 'I'm sure you’ll
arrange something for me, old boy.'

Sophie
stepped closer to the man and extended her hand. ‘My name’s Sophie
Kyle. I'm the conservationist on this farm, Mr McTavish. And as I
said, you've come to the wrong place for hunting.'

Only then
did he look at Sophie for the first time since he’d arrived on the
farm. 'Oh, come now,' he said, his face getting redder. 'Everyone
comes to Africa to hunt.'

'You've
been misinformed,' Sophie countered, trying to keep her blood from
boiling.

'A word?'
Reuben said in a tight voice, interrupting what would have been her
list of reasons people came to Africa, other than to hunt. 'My
study.'

'You're
not going to allow that horrible man to hunt, are you?' Sophie said
to his back as he strode towards the house.

He said
nothing until they were behind the closed door of his
study.

‘
There is no hunting on this farm,’ Sophie stated.

Reuben
hesitated.

'Reuben,
no!'

'This is
a matter that needs to be discussed.'

'No, it is
not
! This is not a business negotiation. There's absolutely
nothing to discuss. 'No healthy animal is being killed on this farm
on my watch. I was very clear about that before I took this
position.'

'You
forget who this farm belongs to, Sophie.'

She was
stopped by the coldness in his voice. This was a side of the man
she had not seen before—Reuben Manning, ruthless
businessman.

But
Sophie wasn't easily intimidated. She shook her head. 'One of the
reasons I took this job on a private game farm was because it was
to be a preservation farm.'

'Conservationists are the first people to advocate
responsible hunting, and they often use culling to control animal
populations,' Reuben countered.

'Not
advocate,’ Sophie said, shaking her head. ‘As long as some
conservationists resort to old-fashioned quick-fixes, humane and
sustainable solutions to overpopulation will never be found, much
less implemented. My brief was to preserve and repopulate the
ecosystems on this farm, and hunting has absolutely no place in
that mandate. I can't believe you've been here for two minutes and
you're condoning hunting on your property. For some reason I
thought you had a real feel for the animals. That you wanted to do
something special here to preserve their beauty and the critical
role they play in this ecosystem.'