Running Scarred (3 page)

She peered after the beautiful voice for a long moment, strangely glad that he had known her accent too, and then she turned back toward the lights of the town and walked briskly along the main road.

She skipped up to the wide entrance of her hotel, about to push through the heavy glass doors when she realized she was still holding the overcoat the man had thrown over her. She clasped it tightly around her shoulders. It was made of a heavy khaki material with a furred lining, thick and warm and she breathed in the fabulous, woodsy smell of it. She stood for a second on the threshold of the hotel and turned back towards the forest wondering where he lived.

Would he be missing it?
She didn’t know whether to run back and call out to him again. But then she heard raised voices coming from inside the hotel foyer, and recognizing one of them, she turned to the glass doors to see a glowering Justin, red in the face, shouting furiously at the hapless receptionist.

The man was watching the hotel entrance, invisible amongst the thick shrubbery. He stood quietly, his eyes fixed upon her from the opposite side of the road. He saw her march up to the wide glass doors, shoulders tight, back straight and then she stopped and looked back to the road for a second. She seemed to shrink in on herself for a moment but then she shook her shoulders, pushed the door open with a determined shove and disappeared inside.

He drew his eyebrows together, a little confused. She hadn’t sounded at all unhappy as he had marched her through the forest but she had been frowning as she had approached the hotel and, if he wasn’t mistaken, she didn’t look as though she really wanted to be there.

He had turned away from her as she had seen the lights along the road and had melted back into the bushes to go home. He had only doubled back and kept watch over her to make sure she wasn’t stupid enough to turn the wrong way when she reached the junction. And then, quite suddenly, as her perfume stole about him again, warm and succulent in the night chill, he had not wanted to let her out of his sight. He forgot about his dinner congealing in his oven and walked parallel to her, keeping in step, as he remained hidden by the thick screen of bushes. He caught another hint of her scent as he watched her slender figure striding out purposefully.

He had been impressed when she sat down by the door of the Chateau. He had hoped she would be able to find her way to the hotel after he had altered the route of the path. It was quite direct if you knew where to start.

It was obvious that she didn’t have a clue.

She had missed it completely, not noticing the marker as she ploughed through the undergrowth around the Chateau.

He had thought that she was going to dissolve into a sudden deluge of tears, but to his complete surprise, she had just sighed, in a resigned sort of way, brushed a few leaves away from around where she was going to sit and had squatted down. She was asleep almost immediately.

He had nearly laughed out loud at her gentle snoring, her hair falling all about her shoulders and lifting slightly as she breathed rhythmically. She had looked almost comfortable, tucked against the cold stone. Certainly not scared. He had been about to leave her there, when she had given an involuntary shiver as she nodded gently. It rolled right through her body and he knew he couldn’t leave her, cold and unattended for the entire night.

If she hadn’t woken as he’d placed his coat over her, he would have just kept an eye on her, but he thought that she had been about to scream at him and he didn’t want her to do that. He hated screaming. He had heard enough screaming to last him a lifetime and he didn’t think her being a woman, would
make it any easier for him to bear. He placed his hand as gently as he could over her mouth.

Her breath had whispered through his fingers, warm and moist and her eyes had opened wide. He took hold of her arm, steadying her as she wobbled down the stone steps.

Her arm had felt thin, not skinny, but strong and tightly muscled under his hand. She had wrenched herself away from him with unexpected strength. He’d stared at her curiously in the darkness, seeing her tumbling hair, dark against the smooth, pale skin of her face. She glimmered softly in the moonlight. Her huge dark eyes sparkled under heavy black lashes as she stared up at him. In the fading light he couldn’t decide if they were brown or green. Whichever was the case, it didn’t matter. He knew he had made a huge mistake.

He had stood stunned.

She was utterly beautiful.      

He breathed deeply as he thought of her wide eyes, and a strange constricting sensation gripped his chest.

She hadn’t recoiled from him and he had assumed that she hadn’t or couldn’t see his terrible face. Maybe she needed glasses, or maybe she just couldn’t see well in the dark, she hadn’t seen the streetlights for minutes after they were visible to him. He felt relieved, his vile features were not something that anybody would want to see unexpectedly.

He ru
bbed his hand over the side of his face and recoiled from himself. The disgusting waxy feeling, cold and hard and unnatural was still there, a constant reminder of how careless he had been. He flexed his square jaw for a brief moment, then dropped his hand to his side and sighed miserably. It was nothing he could fix and at least she hadn’t appeared to notice. He was glad that she hadn’t seen him clearly. He hated the way people reacted to the way he looked. Either a grim determination not to look away from him, smile fixed on their horrified lips, or an embarrassed glance down, then a flick back to his eyes before they looked anywhere else but his face. For the last two years he had stayed hidden away in the forest, avoiding contact with others as much as possible.

He watched her carefully through the hotel doors for a few moments longer, feeling slightly
uneasy as he saw her talking to a good-looking blond man. He smiled grimly when she didn’t look very pleased to see the man. She turned away from the looker sharply and stalked up the wide staircase beside the foyer.

     He sighed as she disappeared from his view. The man at the desk was obviously her lover, however displeased she appeared to be by seeing him. He had noted her lack of wedding band almost immediately.  Not that her wearing of a wedding band or not would ever concern him. He turned and sighed deeply as he trudged, back towards his house in the woods
, pushing the undergrowth out of his way as he stomped unevenly along the familiar but nearly invisible path.

It was only when a thick stemmed bramble tore painfully at his shoulder, scragging his skin through his shirt, that he
realized that the woman still had his coat. He stopped and turned back for a second, wondering if he dared go and ask for it, but then he shrugged, it wasn’t that cold. He’d seen her pick up the “For Sale” sign at the Chateau and had heard her breathe out “Fantastic.” She would obviously be back and with a bit of luck, she would bring his coat. He wasn’t entirely adverse to the idea, she was certainly lovely to look at, and he wanted to look at her again.

        He wouldn’t mind hearing her soft voice again either. Funny how they had both
recognized the Essex accent. The few people in France that he’d had the courage to talk to seemed to think he came from the East End of London. She had a graceful, educated tone and he wondered where she came from exactly. Not Dagenham, that was for sure. He took a deep breath. It wasn’t as if he was going to ask her. If she did bother to bring back his coat, he would have to be careful and stay out of sight. He hadn’t scared her tonight but it wouldn’t be so easy to remain invisible during the daytime.

He gave an unexpected shudder as he imagined the look on her face if she ever
saw his, and he hoped fervently that it would never happen.

Chapter Two

“Do you have any idea of who I am? I want the police called now! It’s dark and she could have wandered anywhere. She has no sense of direction at all. The cliff is only a few hundred meters away. You’ll take the blame if any harm comes to her.” Justin’s voice was carrying all around the hotel. Several other guests had stopped in the reception area to stare at him.

The receptionist sighed in relief as she saw Ellen walking towards them. She smiled broadly and spoke in heavily accented English.

“Actually Monsieur, I ‘
ave no idea of who you are but it is of no consequence anyway, she is ‘ere now. She ‘as not been lost. You ‘ave made an error. I think she ‘as just been for a walk.” She added as she looked down at the mud on Ellen’s jeans.

Justin was about to bluster in fury again but then he looked over his shoulder at Ellen as she trudged towards him. Ellen smiled graciously at the receptionist and then raised her eyebrows at her fiancé. His handsome face was blotched red, his normally perfect hair
dishevelled.

Ellen snorted in indignation.

“Well thanks for that vote of confidence Justin! No sense of direction indeed! I’m going to shower. I’ll see you for drinks in half an hour, if you think I’ll be able to find my way back down the stairs by myself.” She whispered sarcastically as she turned sharply towards the wide staircase and without looking back, stalked up to their suite, ignoring his shocked expression and the trail of mud and leaves that she left in her wake. Justin shook his head and followed her up to their room a few minutes later. He shoved the key card into the lock and barged into their suite. Ellen was tugging off her clothes and piling them on the bed.

“For God’s sake Ellen! What the hell is wrong with you? First you act grumpy for half the day, then you shout at me and stalk off in front of the agent. I felt a right idiot. What is it with you this week? Is it your period or something?” He was standing at the end of the bed, glaring at her as she pulled off the last of her muddy clothes.

She stood in her bra and pants and stared at him open mouthed for a moment.

“That’s low Justin, even for you. And believe me I wasn’t acting grumpy. I was grumpy, furious in fact, and do you blame me?” She grabbed a towelling dressing gown from the back of a chair and wrapped it tightly around her. “I had explained exactly what I was looking for and you told me that you had arranged several viewings. I didn’t realize that you had completely ignored my wishes yet again. Am I meant to be happy when you do that? I’d rather be told that there was nothing suitable to view.” She glared right back at him.

Justin fiddled with the heavy gold cufflinks
at his slim wrists.

“Well, I didn’t think you were serious. It’s such a stupid idea. It’ll cost a bomb to set up and you’ll never see a penny return. I just don’t see the point. I know you have your reasons, but they are irrational. Even your brother David said you must be mad. If you listened to me…” He tailed off at her livid expression.

She turned towards the bathroom and spoke over her shoulder furiously.

“When was the last time you spoke to David? You can barely look at him when he comes home, let alone have any kind of conversation. He thinks what I’m doing is a fabulous idea and I’m going to go ahead with it whether you like it or not.  I would have thought you knew by now that this project doesn’t have to make money. It only has to cover basic costs to keep it going, and David is in full agreement. It’s my money Justin and I’ll do whatever I want with it…I’m showering and then going to bed. If you want dinner then you’ll have to eat on your own. You’ve put me off my food completely. In fact, why don’t you go and book another room. I really don’t want to sleep with you tonight.”

Justin shoved her dirty clothes across the covers and sat down heavily on the end of the bed. He flicked the arm of her dressing gown as she swept past.

“You don’t have to be so dramatic Ellen.
Look, we’ve had a busy couple of days and we’re both tired. Shower and then come and eat with me.” His voice softened and he stood up again, as she stopped. He put a hand tentatively on her shoulder and took it as a good sign that she didn’t shake him off. “Where were you Ellen? You know how I worry. I was really scared. I thought something bad had happened to you.” He was whispering into her ear.

She turned to face him, moving out of his reach, not able to deal with the strange emotions that were still racing through her body at this precise moment. She didn’t want him snuggling up to her. She didn’t want him at all. But she kept those feelings to herself. Perhaps this wasn’t the best time to bring up her thoughts about parting.

“Oh Justin! You idiot. I can walk along a footpath by myself. You don’t have to worry about me all the time.” She crossed her fingers in the pockets of the dressing gown and put the feelings of panic at being lost to the back of her mind. She certainly wasn’t going to tell him that she had resigned herself to a night of camping and was only back at the hotel now because of the help of a tall, dark stranger. She shivered slightly at the thought of the man’s hand on her arm, but it wasn’t a cold shiver. It was a shiver of unexplained pleasure. She nearly groaned out loud as her heart began to beat in an uneven rhythm.

Justin stepped forwards and giving her no
choice, he pulled her into his chest, murmuring into her hair.

“Of course I have to worry about you. That’s what fiancé’s do.” He pulled a leaf from her tangled hair. “And it’s obvious that you needed worrying over. I can’t believe I let you stomp
off like that. Anything could have happened to you. People get to hear things. If they know there’s a multi-millionairess on the loose, you could be in big trouble. I should never have let you out of my sight.” He felt her stiffen again in his arms and knew at once that he’d said the wrong thing.

She pulled away from him, angry all over again.

“You’re the only one round here that knows about my wealth, unless you’ve gone and told anyone.” She knew immediately, by the look on his face, that he had. She could just imagine him showing off in the bar. “And anyway, you don’t own me Justin. I can do exactly as I wish. You can’t stop me.”

He pressed his lips together into a thin, hard line,
then spoke again.

“Yes, I think you’ve made that quite plain Ellen. But as soon as we’re married, I shall have to put my foot down. I can’t have you embarrassing me like that again. The estate agent thought I was a complete idiot!” His tone was harsher now and he caught hold of her wrist as she stepped back to look up into his pale blue eyes.

He was smiling down at her as though he’d been joking, but the smile didn’t quite reach the corners of his eyes and his grasp on her wrist was just a little too tight. She wrenched her hand away from him, but didn’t move back any further. She lifted her chin slightly, her defiance obvious.

“Just let me take a shower Justin. Then perhaps I will feel like dinner after all. I don’t want to argue about this now.”

He bit his lip and clenched his hand at his side, fighting the urge to slap her haughty face.

“Who’s arguing? I’m famished and you look as though you need a drink. Come on, hurry up and get showered and then we can eat.” He sat down on the bed again as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door quietly.

She let the hot water run over her body for a long time, its heat warming her where her skin felt icy. It was an odd coldness, deeper than on the surface, chilling her to the bone. She hadn’t felt cold inside the stranger’s thick coat.
Far from it. She had been as warm as toast. It was only as she had entered the hotel after seeing Justin’s livid face that an icy blast had swept over her.

She looked down at her wrist where he had held her. There was a faint red mark on her skin. Nothing really, only a slight abrasion, but she could still feel the grip of his cold fingers. Had he meant to grasp her that hard?

She let her fingers wander higher up her arm to where the man in the woods had held her so gently as he had guided her. She tingled with a fiery heat and felt her heart begin to pound again as a strange quiver ran through her entire body. She took some deep breaths, trying to dismiss the ludicrous sensations. It couldn’t be possible to feel this sensitized or aroused after meeting someone she could barely see, for less than half an hour.

She shampooed her hair twice and then conditioned it, letting the thick liquid linger while she soaped the rest of her body. The muscles in her calves were still tense from all the walking she had put herself through, and she massaged them firmly, hoping they wouldn’t be as tight in the morning. She rinsed her hair again, turned off the water and stepped out of the cubicle to dry
herself.

The steam wafted thickly about her and she knew it would be impossible to dry off in the damp atmosphere, but she still stood there, not wanting to leave the small room. She turned to brush her teeth over the sink and wiped the mirror with a clammy hand. She caught sight of the red marks on her wrist again as she dropped her hand and she stared at her reflection for a long second
, before the glass misted over again. There was a faint line of concern above her eyebrows and as she saw it, she felt it deepen.

She looked down at her arm again and suddenly she definitely didn’t want to leave the bathroom.

Justin had hurt her. She wasn’t imagining it. He had done it deliberately!

Her gaze dropped to the door and she was suddenly relieved that she had locked it.

She sat on the edge of the bath wondering how she had let things go this far. She thought of the way he had organized the visits with the estate agent, dismissing her requests and submitting his own instead. She thought about the Spanish properties, how she had felt bullied into signing and how she had only noticed his name appearing on all the paperwork when it was all just a little too late. Although he hadn’t paid a penny for the properties, his name was on all the deeds.

She had been afraid to ask why. But in her heart she had already known. To all intents and purposes, he now owned half of all the golfing duplexes, maybe more. She was unsure of exactly how Spanish law related to unmarried couples, but she suspected that Justin would know exactly how much he would get if they were ever sold.
Was he trying to control her life and her money completely?

She thought about the wedding dates he had suggested. All of them were in the horribly near future. She had felt more than relieved when each of his chosen venues had told them that they were booked until the following year. She felt uneasy that she was pleased he wanted a big wedding, a huge social occasion that took an extortionate amount of time and money to
organize. She was more than relieved he didn’t want to pop down to the local registry office to get married at a fortnights notice.

She looked at herself in the misty mirror again. The crease across her forehead looked set in stone now that she had thought of their prospective wedding.

She didn’t want to marry him. It was a completely ridiculous idea. She couldn’t believe that she had ever thought it possible. She would have to tell him soon that it was all off. She looked back at the crease on her forehead. If it wasn’t going to become a permanent feature, she would have to tell him now.

She wrapped her hair in another towel and dragged the bathrobe about her shoulders, tying the belt as tight as possible. She took a deep steadying breath before she turned the handle of the door and stepped out to face him.

The bedroom was empty. Justin had obviously decided not to wait. She exhaled the great breath she had taken inside the bathroom and slumped onto the bed, shaking with relief. She had been more scared of confronting him than she had realized.

She rushed to the door and turned the lock before hanging the dressing gown on the hook on the door,
then she walked back to the bed and sat down on the edge.

She pushed her clothes out of her way and was about to fall back onto the covers, when she
noticed the strangers thick coat beneath her own jacket and jeans.

She pulled it out from under the pile of her dirty clothes. It was big and soft, the woodsy smell wafting around her as she lifted it to her face, breathing it in deeply. There was
a herby, smoky taint to the fabric. She sniffed it in, liking the unusual scent as she wondered if the woodsman kept an open fire. The soft furry lining of the coat felt warm and comfortable and she scrunched her hands into the thick fabric, dragging it over her naked body and enveloping herself entirely in its huge depths. He hadn’t asked for its return and she wondered how she could have forgotten to give it back to him. She snuggled into its warmth and hoped he wasn’t missing it too much.

Suddenly she was rather glad that Justin hadn’t spotted it under her pile of dirty clothes. She thought he had been too agitated to notice her wearing the unfamiliar garment when she had appeared at the reception desk. She picked it up
and folded it over her arm then stood up and walked to the wardrobe. There were several plastic laundry bags on a shelf. She pulled one down, slipped the coat inside, and placed it on the floor of the wardrobe. She didn’t want to hide the coat as that would only prove that she had something to hide, if it was discovered, but she hoped Justin wouldn’t see it. She didn’t want to have to explain it to him.