The feel of him... The scent of him...
She stifled a moan, closed her eyes, aware of him carrying her out of the kitchen, out into the hall and then up the winding staircase. But, instead of finding herself back in the relative safety of her bedroom when she next opened her eyes, she found that he had taken her to his suite.
Outside, the storm continued to rage. He had switched on a light by the bed and pools of shadow obscured the room. She could see enough to note just how relentlessly masculine it was. No excess furniture and everything concealed behind smooth, glossy, handle-less doors that banked one side of the wall. White on white with strips of walnut wood here and there. A wooden floor and a long floating shelf on which were three computers, two shut, one blinking. She could see anen suitebathroom through an open door. His room was roughly three times the size of hers, massive and minimalist.
‘Don’t stand,’ he ordered, pre-empting her where she had been deposited by the window on a tan leather chair.
Izzy hugged herself. ‘I want to go back to my bedroom.’
‘I don’t care what you want. I’m going to examine your legs in case you have any glass splinters anywhere.’
‘I don’t.’
‘Bella is in hospital. Fancy joining her there with an infected leg because you’re so damned stubborn?’
‘I would know if I had a shard of glass sticking out of my thigh!’ She feverishly followed him with her eyes as he disappeared into the bathroom and resurfaced with a black tin, squatting in front of her.
And then he began to examine her feet, very gently, feeling them, then her legs, his fingers smooth and cool against her skin, stirring her body into hot, shameful response.
Her heart was thundering and her mouth was dry.
‘I was so quiet,’ she whispered, fascinated by the sight of him kneeling in front of her.
‘I have an alarm by my bed,’ he murmured. ‘It detects if anyone is moving in the house late at night and pin-points what room they’re in.’
‘You thought I was a burglar.’
‘I live in an expensive house,’ Gabriel murmured, still inspecting her, his voice low and soft as he worked his way up her thighs. ‘Many have suggested I have bodyguards.’
‘Oh.’
‘I’ve never cared for the infringement that would bring to my personal freedom.’ He glanced up at her and their eyes tangled for a couple of heart-stopping seconds. ‘Besides, I’m skilled when it comes to fighting. Why did you go downstairs?’
‘I was hungry,’ Izzy whispered.
‘You should have eaten something with me instead of running away upstairs.’
‘I wasn’t running away.’
‘Weren’t you?’
Her breathing hitched in her throat. ‘I... I wasn’t expecting you earlier today...’ she croaked. ‘I thought you would be returning...later. You said...’
‘I cut short a couple of meetings to return earlier.’
‘Why? Rosa was perfectly fine here. I told you so when you called.’
Was he aware that he was still stroking her thigh, even though his dark eyes were fixed to her face with an intensity that made her all hot and bothered?
‘Maybe my unscheduled arrival wasn’t entirely about Rosa...’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You were on my mind.’ He levered himself up and stood in front of her for a few seconds, towering, sending her thoughts into crazy meltdown.
The thrill of danger was like a feather trailing over her skin.
‘I was?’ she asked breathlessly.
