The Scent of His Woman

by Maggie Pritchard

  ‘You... you pig!’ she spat the words at him, ‘don’t deny it, I was at that meeting when you so smugly turned the tables on us, where else could you have got that information? If it wasn’t from me then where did you get it from?’

  When he didn’t answer she turned and stormed out of the room, all she could think of was getting as far away from him as possible.

  She was half way across the foyer before Geth caught up and with one hand grasped her upper arm and stopped her flight. Lexie turned spitting fury, pushed him back with enough temper fueled force to break his grip.

  ‘Don’t touch me, don’t you dare!’

  The venom in her response making him take a step back, hands raised as if in recognition of defeat.

  ‘Ok, ok, so you don’t believe me and right now I can’t prove to you that I didn’t use you like that. But just think for a minute, you are alone in London, you’ve lost your bag and soon it will be getting dark. You have no choice but to let me take you home, surely you can see that.’

  Lexie paused in mid flight as his word sank in, then she thought for a second before answering.

  ‘No thank you I won’t be taken home by you. If you let me use a telephone just to call my sister, that will be enough. You don’t need to put yourself out any more than that, Mr. Mathias.’

  Her use of the formal mode of address was close to an insult and it was not lost on him.

  ‘No,’ just that, he offered no other explanation.

  ‘I am taking you home, you have no choice in the matter, so shut up and do as you are told.’

  As he ground out the words Geth wondered again at his own reaction, it was mad, even he could see that, but all of a sudden that this exasperating female should not get the better of him seemed to be the only consideration. So he took firm hold of her arm again and practically frog-marched her through the building to the car park at the rear. Thrust her firmly into the passenger seat of his Porsche Panamera before jumping in beside her, slamming the door, belting them both up, starting the engine and gunning the big car aggressively into the London traffic, all without uttering another syllable.

  Chapter 3

  Lexie was astounded, speechless, how on earth had she gotten herself into this mess? Why, this was practically a kidnap! For a few minutes she was unable to do anything except grip the edges of the dark grey leather seat he had belted her into, panic taking over as he drove furiously through the congested streets. Lexie was not a nervous driver or passenger for that matter, at least not as a rule, but the speed with which he threw the big car into the melee, changing lanes at what seemed like breakneck speed and with scant regard for safety was completely unnerving. The knowledge that he was angry didn’t help either, it must be a male thing she thought angrily, letting sheer temper dictate their driving style and be damned to the consequences. At last after what seemed like an eternity, she found her voice.

  ‘Enough now, you can’t do this, you just simply can’t, there are laws you know. Just stop the car and let me out.’

  Again the one word answer.

  ‘No.’

  Increasing fear, both at his implacable answer and a near miss with a big red bus as he nipped in and out of the traffic gave her voice a slight tremor as she demanded with as much force as she could muster.

  ‘Stop this car and let me out before I open this window and start to scream, I warn you every police car in London will hear me.’

  Too late she saw his hand move a switch beside him and a muted click announced that he’d locked the windows and probably the doors as well. ‘

  ‘Feel free to scream if you wish cariad, no-one will hear and if they do how do you think they will catch us? Not many police vehicles are up to the job of catching this one I promise you.’

  She realised with a sinking heart that at least for now, there was nothing she could do except sit in the seat and pray. Just you wait buster she thought furiously, you will have to stop this thing sooner or later and heaven help you when you do.

  The long minutes dragged by in silence, he driving with furious intent and her sitting silently biding her time with seething resentment. Geth had picked up on the slight tremor in her voice and he made an effort to modify his driving. He was in full control and needed to drive with an aggressive confidence to get through the heavy rush hour traffic, but she couldn’t know that he did this almost every day and she was obviously nervous. Soon they were free of the city and he began to relax and enjoy the drive. He always loved driving this car, his one real extravagance.

  For a man with a multi million pound portfolio he wasn’t much into spending his money. He had a few of top drawer city apartments dotted around the world, Cardiff, London, Paris, and Montreal. He always stayed in top hotels if business took him to less frequently visited cities. His lady friends who were usually chosen for looks and an ability to be discreet always found him a generous lover in more ways than the obvious. Of course his substantial entourage and staff were well paid, how else would he get anything done? But at heart he was a man of simple enough tastes and when he really needed to have a break, he preferred to return home to his parent’s farm in mid Wales. There he could be himself, as the second son who had made a good life for himself away from the family farm, he had nothing to prove. His parents still lived in the old farmhouse but the work was done by Rhys, his elder brother, with a few loyal, skilled farm hands. Rhys ran a tight ship, he was a born farmer, not ever wanting to do anything else. In stark contrast to Geth who had always hankered for a different life. Not that it had turned out to be so different in the end, Rhys grew things while his younger brother built things.

  Geth had known from an early age that the farming life was not for him. It wasn’t the work, it was everything that came with it. The staying in one place, the life ordered by the seasons, the weight of responsibility, for stock, for men’s livelihoods, and for ensuring the continuation of tradition. That more than anything. He liked the life he’d made for himself, he was a city boy now, jetting from one metropolis to the next. Moving from one exciting project to the next, life was ever changing. Shaping million dollar deals was demanding, you never knew what to expect, so he played hard too, had gained a bit of a reputation for it and that was why Mam was on his back at every turn. Convinced that all he needed was to settle down with a nice Welsh girl. Yeah right! As if that was ever going to appeal.

  It might have done once, a long time ago, in a time when he’d been innocent of the hurt that could come with love. He frowned at remembered pain and for a moment he could see her again, laughing, her hair flying lose around her narrow shoulders as she guided her horse over the jumps. He shook himself out of the memory, no, settling down, loving one woman would never be for him. That said, Geth was careful not to upset Mam too much, or Dad for that matter, for all his independence they were still the anchor of his life, he liked it that way, just as much as Rhys did. Both young men adored their parents, Dad was enjoying retirement now while Mam carried on with all the things that kept the house and her umpteen committees running smoothly. And of course there was Mared, their adored younger sister. Much younger than the boys, and as lovely as her name, they had all spoilt her, though Mam had also instilled a good set of values that combined with her natural good humour had turned her into a well balanced young woman, un-spoilt by the family affluence.

  Geth glanced at the woman sitting stiffly upright in the seat beside him. What was it about her that drove him on like this? It was worrying. There had been many women, it was easy to find attractive, charming partners when you were young and rich but none of them had affected him like Lexie. Geth knew he was right up there on the list of the UKs most eligible bachelors, and his usual tastes ran to tall girls, Lexie was tiny. He liked long straight hair that gave a girl an air of elegance, Lexie’s riotous red curls spoke more of chaos. He liked quiet, discreet career women, Lexie ran a shop selling stuff grown in her allotment and was as fiery as her hair. The way she defied him drove him mad and yet she dom
inated his thoughts as no other woman ever had, he woke at night with the remembered taste of her on his tongue, the remembered scent of her giving rise to a visceral ache he’d never felt before. She was driving him to extreme actions, withholding her bag to begin with and now almost kidnapping her. He would have to resolve this before it drove him mad. Just looking at the stiff, ramrod straight posture she had adopted in the passenger seat spoke volumes for her agitated, angry state of mind. He drove smoothly on, trying to decide how to handle the inevitable moment when he would have to stop the car and cope with the aftermath.

  Lexie began to relax her hold on the car seat as they left the frantic city traffic behind. There had been an almost imperceptible shift in the tone of his driving which took the edge off her fear and she began to relax she started to take notice of the machine she was in and the man driving it. The car was pure luxury of the kind she was completely unused to, to begin with though huge it only seated two people, no thought for practicality there she thought. No, this was a rich man’s toy, a sleek pewter grey exterior designed to impress anyone who looked at it, it made an unequivocal statement about its owner. I am rich but I also have taste, it said with authority. The interior was no less impressive, deep, wide seats in smooth seal grey leather that she could have curled up in, and the cockpit was a combination of the same leather and brushed magnesium with accents of polished wood. The space-age array of dials and displays on the dashboard made her head spin just looking at them. All in all it made the little green 2CV she had inherited when her sister married seem like a cheap toy.

  Surreptitiously she studied the man driving as he concentrated on the road. Well over six foot, broad shouldered and muscular, nothing soft about him she remembered blushing. He had looked great in the working clothes he’d been wearing when she first laid eyes on him, but in the expensive suit and crisp white shirt he wore now he put her in mind of sleek predator. A golden lion of a man. He’d removed the dark tie he’d worn for the meeting and opened the top button of the shirt, revealing the thick strength of his neck and the memory of how it had felt to kiss and nuzzle that smooth golden skin came flooding back into her head, making her body react involuntarily. His hands on the steering wheel were relaxed, in control, she started to remember the part they had played in that night, but pulled herself up sharply, ‘don’t even go there’, she thought. Then the movement of his left leg as he pressed the clutch drew her eyes to his long muscular thighs and this time she could not ignore the twist deep in her gut that sent a sweet warm sensation rushing through her. ‘Oh get a grip girl!’ She shook the thought out of her head. ‘This man is a game player, just remember that, not content with romancing information out of you to use against the protest, he then seduced you. Not to be trusted should be tattooed on his forehead!’ The trouble was though that part of her just wanted to look into those amazing blue eyes again. Icy blue she remembered, steely determination radiating from them, but she knew too that they could warm and when he smiled they had crinkled attractively at their corners and simply melted her heart. That thought really freaked her out, heart, melted her heart, no it was just not possible, she couldn’t fall for a man like this, she wouldn’t let herself do that, no way. So she stopped looking at him and turned to stare out of the window, trying to focus on the countryside rushing past rather than on him.

  They were on the M4 by now and she watched the signs as they whipped past, Windsor, Reading, Swindon the big car simply ate up the miles. Soon the signs for the last services they would pass before the Severn crossing came into view and Lexie saw a chance to at least try to get away from him. If only she could get him to pull in here, she would surely be able to give him the slip and phone one of her sisters. There must be a public phone and she could reverse the charges easily enough. Florence and Netia could be with her in about an hour, and let him face them if he dared!

  Making an effort to speak without rancour she spoke.

  ‘Please, can we stop here? I need a break.’

  Geth turned to look inquiringly at her, she sounded calm and not so angry, but... He

  was undecided, then without a word he indicated and pulled into the service station. There was no point in refusing, it would only alienate her further. She couldn’t get away from here and it would give him time to talk to her, to reassure her. As the car swung into an empty parking space Lexie unbuckled her belt and tried to open the door, hoping to get a head start that would let her bolt into the crowd and escape him quickly, but as she pulled at the door she realised it was still locked. She turned to find Geth silently assessing her actions with an implacable look and knew he had read her mind, there was no way he would let her escape long enough to call for help, she thought with a sinking heart. Unhurriedly he moved one hand and released the door lock.

  ‘Don’t look so stricken cariad, you are not a prisoner here. Come on we’ll take a

  break and then when we are refreshed I’ll take you home.’

  His voice seemed so reasonable, so calm, she felt silly. The thought rankled, it was bad enough he’d been the one to find out how lacking in bedroom experience she was, it was just too much to have him think she was some hysterical female who spent her life in fear of men. So she got a grip on herself, nodded silently and exited the big car with almost exaggerated control. Instead of following her instinct and bolting, she stood calmly waiting for him to join her. He locked the car with an imperceptible click, took her arm and guided her towards the services. Lexie walked beside him trying to work out her next move, how would she ever give him the slip now?

  Once inside he guided her to the rest area, one hand slipped around her waist, pulling her close to his side as though to protect her from the jostling crowd.

  ‘Once we have freshened up, we may as well find something to eat. I don’t know about you but I would kill for a good strong coffee.’

  All of a sudden Lexie found herself free of his hold and walked with as much dignity as she could into the ladies. Taking her time she freshened up and then hesitantly made he way back out. For a split second she thought he had not waited outside for her, but then she saw him, standing just a few yards away. Again he was watching her as if expecting her to try to bolt and again the thought rankled. So she walked over to where he stood as if the thought of escape had not even entered her head and took the arm he offered as he led her towards the restaurant. It wasn’t until the savory aroma of the hot food hit her that Lexie realised just how long it had been since she’d last eaten. Since an early breakfast of muesli she’d had nothing more than a lukewarm coffee from a flask on the journey, and by now was more than ready for a meal. So when Geth suggested steak pie with chips, she happily agreed.

  ‘You go grab us a table by the window cariad, and I will get our meal.’

  Lexie moved to do as he suggested. Sitting with her back to the big window she studied him as she waited, there was no denying he stood out, drawing the attention of more than one woman in the room. For some odd reason Lexie found she was not entirely happy about the rather obvious admiration he was attracting. Before she had time to rationalise the feelings however he was back with her carrying the tray laden with food and two big mugs of fragrant coffee.

  For a while they ate in an almost companionable silence and Lexie found it strangely relaxing to be sitting here in a crowded noisy place eating with this man who, by rights, she should be denouncing as her abductor. Once she had eaten her fill she sipped her coffee and watched him, waiting for the right moment to speak.

  ‘Could I borrow your mobile? I can ring my sisters to come to fetch me from here, it’s not so far now, and they could be here in an hour. They will be able to repay you for the meal and will be grateful you brought me so far...’

  She tailed off not sure what else she could say to convince him. When he spoke his voice was tinged with amusement but he reached into his pocket and produced his mobile, pushing it across the table to her.

  ‘Well to begin with, I need no recompense for either
bringing you here or for the meal, it has been my pleasure. If you really want to worry your sisters, then, feel free, but if they could be here in an hour then by the same token I could get you home safe in an hour, home safe and no need to be a worry to anyone.’

  Lexie picked up the phone, intending to ring Florence, but his words struck a chord in her mind. Florence would ring Netia and they would come to get her, they always did. They would also be angry because they would be frightened she’d got into another scrape. But he was right, need they be worried when he could get her home in an hour? It did seem melodramatic, ringing for rescue when in fact no rescue was needed, when in fact he was taking her home not abducting her with evil intent. She slowly put the phone back on the table.

  ‘Well ok, but I insist when we arrive on paying you for the meal and for the lift home, you must decide how much will be reasonable, or I would rather ring my sisters.’

  Geth smiled, she really was a determined little thing.

  ‘OK you can pay me for the meal with a cup of coffee when we get there, but the cost of rescuing a damsel in distress is I’m afraid set by tradition at one kiss.’

  He watched as a flash of anger lit up her eyes, making them luminous and magnificent. She reached for the phone on the table between them but Geth was faster, picking it up and stowing it smoothly back in his pocket.

  ‘Oh come now, that’s more than reasonable you have to admit, but maybe you are afraid to kiss me, especially after the last time.’

  ‘I am no such thing...’

  Lexie was livid now, and determined he should not be allowed to suggest she was so unsophisticated as to be nervous of kissing him.

  ‘I’m certainly not afraid of you and if you think your kisses are so devastating to us poor unsuspecting females, then I think it is time someone showed you just how easy some of us find resisting men like you.’