Page 13 of Legacy of His Revenge
His life had become very predictable when it came to women. He had made one youthful mistake, had learnt from it and ever since his relationships had all had two things in common. One was that they followed exactly the same pattern and the second was that they were all short-lived.
The pattern involved mutual attraction with the expected lavishing of expensive presents, in something of a brief courtship ritual, followed by a few weeks of satisfying sex before he began getting bored and restless.
It didn’t matter who he dated or what sort of woman happened to catch his eye. From barrister to catwalk model, his interest never seemed to stay the course.
Was Sophie right? People behaved differently in the presence of the powerful, influential and wealthy. Were the women he dated so awed by what he brought to the table that they were unable to relate to him with any kind of honesty?
Unaccustomed to introspection, Matias, for once, found himself querying how it was that he was still so resolutely single at his age and so jaded with the revolving door of relationships he enjoyed. When had no-strings-attached fun turned into liaisons that seemed to get shorter and shorter and become less and less satisfying?
He frowned, disconcerted by thisbreach of protocoland refocused on the woman in front of him.
‘Would you be able to help me if I had any questions?’ Sophie quipped and he dealt her a smile that was so sudden and so devastating that she had a moment of sheer giddiness.
She blinked, owl-like, mouth parted, her cheeks tinged with delightful colour.
She wasn’t angry...she wasn’t defensive...she wasn’t on the attack...
She wasaware.
Matias felt that kick of his libido again, forbidden, dangerous but, oh, so pleasurable.
It had been a little while since he had had a woman. His most recent girlfriend had lasted a mere two months, at the end of which he had been mightily relieved to see the back of her because she had gone from compliant to demanding in record time.
Was his brief sexual drought generating a reaction that was as thrilling as it was unexpected?
There was certainly something undeniably sexy about Sophie and he couldn’t put his finger on it. Maybe it was because he knew that he shouldn’t go anywhere near her.
A thought entered his head like quicksilver. Why not? She was attractive. Indeed, it was a while since he had had his interest sparked by a woman who appeared to be uninterested in the usual game playing. There had been no coy looks, fluttering lashes or suggestive remarks. Admittedly, she was here under duress because he had placed her in an impossible situation, but even so she was doing a good job of keeping him at arm’s length.
Matias watched her with brooding interest. If he wanted information on the Carney man, then surely pillow talk would yield everything he wanted to know?
Just like that, his imagination took flight and he pictured her in his super-king-sized bed, her tangle of long white-blonde hair spread across his pillow, her voluptuous pale nakedness there for his enjoyment. He wondered what her abundant breasts might look like and he imagined suckling at them.
An erection as solid as steel made him twinge in discomfort and he did his utmost to drag his mind away from imagining salacious, tawdry details about her.
‘You’re right,’ he drawled, settling further into the chair, his big body relaxed, his hands loosely linked on his lap, his long legs extended to one side. ‘If you want help, you’re going to have to talk to my housekeeper. I have next to no interest in the workings of a kitchen, as I’ve already mentioned.’
‘How lovely for you to be in a position like that,’ Sophie said politely, still reeling from the way hegot to herand made her whole body vibrate and rev up and behave almost as though it didn’t belong to her at all.
‘In case you’re thinking that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, you’re wrong.’ He frowned because it wasn’t in his nature to tell anyone anything about him that wasn’t strictly essential. He didn’t do confiding, especially not in women who could take one small slip-up and celebrate it as a signpost to the nearest bridal shop.
‘I never said that,’ but Sophie had the grace to blush because she’d certainly been thinking it. Rich, arrogant and privileged from birth had been her assumption.
‘You have a very transparent face,’ Matias told her wryly. ‘You don’t have to spell it out. It’s there in your expression of disapproval. You think I’m an arrogant, ruthless tycoon who has it all and has never suffered a day’s hardship in his entire life.’
Sophie didn’t say anything. She was busy trying to get her body to behave and to look past Matias’s devastating and unwelcome sex appeal. However, no matter how hard she tried to tell herself that she was only responding the way any normal, healthy young female would respond to a guy who would have been able to turn the head of a ninety-year-old woman with failing eyesight, she still could scarcely believe that he was capable of having that huge an impact on her.
To combat the drag of her disobedient senses, she even did the unthinkable and disinterred the mental image of her ex, Alan Pace. On paper, he had been the perfect life partner. Sandy-haired, blue-eyed and with just the sort of even, friendly disposition that had made her feel safe and comfortable. Sophie had really begun to nurture high hopes that they were destined for the long run.
She was always careful to vet the people she introduced to her brother; when, after three months, she’d filled Alan in on Eric, he had been surprised that she hadn’t said anything sooner and had been happy to meet him.
Unfortunately, meeting Eric had marked the beginning of the end for them. Alan had not been prepared for the extent of her brother’s disabilities and he had been quietly horrified at the thought that taking Eric out was a very regular activity and one which Sophie enjoyed and did without complaint. He had envisaged the possibility of him having to become a joint carer at some indeterminate point in the future, and although Sophie had squashed that suggestion because Eric was very, very happy where he was, she had not been able, in all good conscience, to rule it out altogether. After that, it had just been a matter of time before Alan had begun heading for the nearest exit.
Yet harking back to Alan, she had to admit to herself that not evenhehad affected her the way Matias seemed capable of doing. And before it all went belly up, Alan had been the perfect boyfriend! So what the heck was going on with her?
Not only was the man gazing at her with dark-eyed intensity very muchnotthe perfectanything, but the last thing she felt in his presence wassafe and comfortable.
Privately Sophie was appalled that she might bear any resemblance to her wayward mother, who had spent a lifetime making all the wrong choices and going for men just like the one sitting opposite Sophie, men who hadDanger, health hazardstamped all over their foreheads in bright neon lettering.
‘It doesn’t matter what I think of you,’ she said quickly, because this was the only way she could think of to bring their interaction to an end and she desperately wanted to do just that. ‘I’m here to do my duty and now, if you’ll excuse me, might I go and freshen up? And then perhaps I could talk to the person I will be working alongside? Also someone who can show me how everything works here?’
He was being dismissed! Matias didn’t know whether to be amused or outraged.
He stood up, as sleek and graceful as a panther, and shoved his hands in the pockets of his trousers.
Sophie looked away. She knew that her face was bright red and that she was perched on the edge of her chair, rigid with tension and so aware of him that she could hardly breathe. He was just so staggeringly good-looking that she had to consciouslynotlook at him and evennotlooking at him was making her go all hot and cold.
‘Excellent idea,’ Matias drawled, his keen eyes taking in every sign of her discomfort and also the way she was pointedly avoiding his eyes. He felt the thrill of a challenge and was already circling it, playing with thoughts of what happened next in this little scenario. ‘Wait here. I will ensure that you are shown the workings of the kitchen and then to your quarters, which I trust you will find satisfactory.’
And then he smiled, slowly and lazily, and Sophie gave a jerky nod of her head, but he was already turning and striding out of the kitchen.
