Moonflower (6 page)

Sophie didn’t
need
anything. As a conservationist she hardly ever wore skirts. In
fact, apart from her interview suit, she owned one skirt and one
relatively cheap evening dress she’d been forced to buy for a gala
fundraiser she’d attended while working on the African Wild Dog
Project.

The
thought of him buying her a dress at this stage of their
relationship was what decided her. She had to turn down his offer.
It just felt too intimate, as if she were his mistress. Other than
her father, she’d never had a man buy clothing for her in her life.
It made her feel inadequate, as if she couldn’t take care of
herself. But she could; she knew that. She might never have flown
first class or stayed in a suite in one of the most expensive
hotels in the world, but she’d faced many dangers in the bush and
challenges in her life.

As a
matter of fact, why was she feeling so intimidated by all this
opulence? She felt nothing for material possessions. And she was
well aware that while so much money was spent on buying what was
definitely not needed, species went extinct every day of the year
and so few people cared.

‘
You should be ashamed of yourself, Sophie Kyle. Intimidated by
a fancy hotel and its dress code.’

Conservationists were trained to think on their feet.
Improvise. It was time to take control of the situation. She called
the front desk and asked for a porter to be sent to her room, then
went to the desk and scribbled a note. She told the man who arrived
at her door, ‘Please give this to Mr Manning,’ and handed him the
note. Once done, Sophie closed the door and scanned her
surroundings, a look of deep concentration on her face.

Her gaze
fell on a dark wood sideboard against the wall, its top covered by
a gold brocade cloth. The fabric was obviously expensive and
beautifully woven. The background was dull gold with a bright gold
leaf motif. It was exquisite. It would do nicely.

Reuben
was still smarting from Sophie’s slight when he took his seat at a
table in the opulent dining area of the Crystal Court.

Thanks for your generosity, but no thanks. See you eight
o’clock at the Crystal Court
, her note had
said. Now he had more irritating habits to add to all her other
annoying traits: pride and stubbornness.

But
Reuben was straight enough with himself to realise that Sophie was
having an effect on him that was completely out of proportion to
their business relationship. Today, he hadn’t been able to
concentrate the way he usually did. She kept popping into his
head—a golden thigh, flashing green eyes, that copper ponytail that
swished side to side. He would love to see her hair loose, against
his chest, spread across a pillow.

He was so
deep in thought that it took him a moment to register the
collective turning of heads, almost all male, in the direction of
the entranceway. He turned to see what all the fuss was about and
sucked in a deep breath, felt blood rush south of his belt. He was
pretty sure he wasn’t the only male she was having this effect
on.

If this
was The Palace of the Lost City, then Sophie Kyle was one of its
legends come to life.

Her
almost six foot frame was encased in an exquisite gold wrap that
just covered her breasts and ended above her knees. The rich gold
of the fabric set off her long sculpted golden brown limbs and
masses of copper hair that floated about her bare
shoulders.

Reuben’s
eyes met Sophie’s across the room. She smiled and started towards
him with that swaying, long-limbed gait that was so uniquely
her.

From the
corner of his eye, Reuben saw a woman lean across a table and shake
the sleeve of the man sitting opposite her. No doubt the poor man
had not been able to take his eyes off Sophie since she’d appeared
at the door.

Reuben
rose and his legs seemed a little less stable than usual. A waiter
helped Sophie into her seat.

For a
moment he couldn’t trust himself to speak. And then a thought
occurred to him: what game was she playing? A dress like that had
to cost a fortune.

Once the waiter had left with their drinks order, Reuben said,
‘I thought your salary didn’t extend to
haute couture
.’

‘
It doesn’t.’

‘
Well, what do you call what you’re wearing?’

‘
A tablecloth.’

‘
A...?’

‘
I’m wearing a tablecloth. From the sideboard in my
suite.’

This was
said with an upward tilt of her chin and not a little
defiance.

It was a
moment before Reuben said, ‘Good grief, woman! You really do have a
pair.’

Sophie
laughed delightedly and Reuben couldn’t stop the grin that spread
across his face. ‘You’re full of surprises aren’t you, Sophie
Kyle?’

‘
We conservationists may seem like mere flesh on the outside,
but it is the heart of a lion that beats in our chest.’

Sophie
made a fierce face and clutched a fist above her heart. That got a
low, throaty chuckle from him.

He
watched, fascinated, as she curled long fingers around the stem of
a glass of sparkling water and brought it to her full, pale pink
mouth. She wore no lipstick, only a little balm, perhaps, and the
full bloom of youth.

Her
company over dinner proved to be not only interesting but
entertaining. And this woman was not a salad-and-mineral-water
type. Reuben was delighted to find that Sophie had a very healthy
appetite. It got him wondering if she made love with the same
enormous appetite. He watched her chew her way through mouthfuls of
food, lick her fingers now and then, soft moans of appreciation
slipping from her lips when she found something particularly tasty.
Never before had Reuben become sexually aroused simply by watching
a woman eat.

After
dinner they took a stroll along one of the Lost City’s paved
walkways, flanked on either side by lifelike elephants on plinths;
each sculpture lit up against the darkness.

As if the setting weren’t spectacular enough, it seemed as if
the heavens had decided to put on a pyrotechnics display, treating
them to the spectacle of a
highveld
storm in the distance. They stood side by side as
forks of lightning split the night and zigzagged through the
valley.

‘
We’d better get back,’ Sophie warned, looking up at the
gathering clouds. ‘These storms hit out of nowhere and they’re over
in ten minutes, but you get really soaked.’

It was
after eleven and the walkway was deserted. Reuben was rapt as
Sophie pulled the tablecloth-cum-dress further up her thighs and
climbed onto the wide ledge of one of the stone flowerbeds set out
in front of the elephant plinths. His fingers brushed her hip as he
put a hand out to steady her. The only incongruous aspect of the
outfit, he noticed, was a pair of sandals that didn’t provide good
footing. But nobody had been looking at Sophie’s feet.

At his
touch, she tensed and lost her balance. Reuben caught her around
the waist. With their gazes locked, he pulled her against him. She
slid slowly down along his body. As her feet touched the ground,
her lips parted and she kept her arms wound tightly round his
neck.

Reuben
did what seemed at that moment like the most natural thing in the
world: he bent his head and brushed his lips to hers. Sophie didn’t
hesitate. Her lips parted and she took his tongue inside her mouth;
its heat and moistness sent arousal flashing through him like the
shattering forks of lightning cracking and snaking behind
them.

Sophie’s
body arched against his and he kissed her harder, opening and
closing his mouth to the rhythm of her breathing, which grew faster
and faster.

The
delicious warm throb of arousal took hold of his body; clouding his
mind. Sophie moaned as he ran his hand along her hip, found the
bottom of her dress, slid it upwards. His hand slipped lightly over
the back of her thigh, found one smooth buttock. He raked his nails
lightly over the sensitive skin. Sophie shuddered against him,
tightened her grip at the back his neck.

His
fingers continued their erotic path around her hip. Sophie breathed
hard, sucking his tongue as his fingers found soft pubic hair and
slid down to her moist ridges. She opened her thighs as far as the
golden cloth would allow. He stroked her opening, sliding a gentle
finger in just a centimetre, then two.

Thunder
boomed in the background, drowning out for a moment Reuben’s harsh
breathing and Sophie’s whimper.

Neither knew when the first raindrops started to fall. But as
was the nature of
highveld
storms, suddenly the heavens opened and they were
being pelted with large, warm drops of rain. They broke apart, and,
holding onto each other’s hand, raced back towards The
Palace.

‘
You’ll come to my room,’ he told her. He hadn’t meant it to
sound like an order, but he realised that was how she must have
heard it, because she suddenly slowed and pulled her hand from his
grasp.

‘
I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ she said, hair whipping
about her face.

He
frowned. ‘Did I misread the signals a moment ago?’

‘
I’m sorry,’ Sophie said, keeping her eyes on her feet as she
strode ahead. ‘I don’t know what happened… I… I just don’t think it
would be a good thing for us to get… involved.’

‘
You’re right. Not the sensible thing to do.’ And it wasn’t. He
wished she didn’t keep impressing him; it made it so much harder to
do the sensible thing. In fact, Reuben was a little disgusted with
himself. She worked for him. She was still so young and although
he’d never intended to take advantage of her, he felt that he might
have in some way. In fact, he could echo her words: ‘I don’t know
what happened…’

‘
We’ll put it down to an electrical storm,’ he told
her.

She
smiled at him, obviously relieved.

It was
then Reuben knew beyond a shadow of doubt that he wanted this woman
in his bed. He wanted her badly, right this minute.

But it
wasn’t going to happen tonight. He knew that. She was strong,
independent, stubborn, and had a moral compass that served her
well. But he was good at biding his time. Turning down his offer of
unlimited access to the hotel’s boutiques was an intriguing move.
She was the first woman who’d turned him down, ever. She was
undoubtedly a person to be reckoned with. But then he’d never
backed down from a challenge. And, in the end, Reuben Manning
always got what he wanted.

Chapter
Four

Sophie woke feeling more vulnerable than she'd felt in her
life. She didn't yawn, reach her arms above her head and stretch
the way she usually did. All she could think was:
how could I?

Then an image of navy blue eyes floated into her mind and she
knew exactly how she could have. She'd seen the looks cast his way
wherever they went. Young or old, it made no difference—members of
the opposite sex just couldn’t look away. So she could cut herself
some slack in that department. But she
did
need to take herself to task for
the way she’d reacted to him on the walkway the night before. That
had been over the top. And it left her feeling breathless and
bewildered.

Never in
her twenty-four years had she responded with such unbridled
passion; let alone to someone she'd known for a couple of days. A
couple of days! Was that all it had been? Suddenly life before
Reuben seemed like another world entirely. He made her feel
different, so unlike herself. Or perhaps this was Sophie, after
all. Perhaps all he'd done was unlock a part of herself that she'd
only been vaguely aware of; never tapped into. That made
sense.

But
still. Could she really justify behaving the way she had last
night? Sophie didn't think so. She was a lively personality, but in
essence, a disciplined person with her feet firmly on the ground.
And had she forgotten the reason for her relationship with Reuben
Manning in the first place? He was her boss. Not that that meant
there couldn't be anything between them. But he wasn’t just any
boss, he was Reuben Manning, the tycoon. Celebrity corporate
giant.

Sophie
just wasn't sure if she had what it took to be emotionally involved
with him while keeping her focus on the job she so badly needed.
She knew herself only too well, and she was an all or nothing
girl.

She’d
seen photographs of him on the internet with some of the world’s
most beautiful women. He was way out of her league. And the thought
of being just one more brief conquest filled Sophie with dismay.
Because, in the cold light of day, she was sure that's all she
would be.

Why else
would he have been so quick to get all hot and steamy with her last
night when she so obviously wasn't his type? She knew she annoyed
him. But that was just too bad. She wasn't going to change who she
was for anyone. And as far as becoming just another one of his
conquests was concerned, she had more pride than that.

No, her
behaviour of the night before really wasn't on. Whichever way she
looked at it, it had been totally unacceptable. She'd just have to
be on her guard around him. Utterly professional at all times,
focussed, a woman who got things done.