Hey everyone, thanks for reading! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter that is longer than planned. There's a lot that is about to happen :)
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Oh my God, oh my God! Was all she could think about as she ran away from her hiding place and grabbed her horse's reins. She pushed her mare faster than she had ever allowed her to gallop. But she needed to escape this place, that would be extremely embarrassing if he had seen her. What would she say? She was hiding and crouching to get a better sight of his naked body, there was no confusion possible. If he knew what she was thinking, her credibility when working with him would be non-existing and as he was quite a smug jerk he would take pleasure at reminding her that she had been enjoying herself… Well he didn't know the last part but she was sure he would be bold enough to assume it. What was happening to her, she had thought her late husband had been able to destroy every part of her attraction to men. Of course she had left her eyes wander on some handsome faces a few times, but never before had she felt such a stir in her lower belly. She realised that she was attracted to this bloody Erik de Raincourt… It must have been purely physical because she hated him. Well, of course it was physical as she hadn't realised it was him at first. But when she saw his face she didn't recoil, she even opened her eyes wider to get a clearer picture of every details of his body. That was not good at all… She needed to forget this and if her prayers were heard, he might not have spotted her and she would go back to her usual routine.
This morning getaway was supposed to calm her not create unwanted conflict in her already complicated mind. She had shut herself from being a woman and feeling like a woman. Wearing black was one of the way she used to curb all her feelings. She had dived into work and management, she was good at it, she loved it but she was not living for herself anymore. She had not been thinking about herself since the announcement of her engagement four years ago. It had shattered all of her dreams of romance and adventure. But God had heard her and had ridded her from her pig of a husband, she had started a new life, but she had refused to feel like a woman anymore. Men had disgusted her and she was bound to rely on herself to get things done. And she was happy this way.
However, she had just witnessed that nature was sometimes stronger than the mind, she had been disgusted of sexuality by her late husband but, her body seemed to have found a new interest. Also she had been hearing Claire and Joséphine's stories about the amazing things they were doing with their husbands… It might have had some unexpected impact on her, after all… She sighed as she handed her mare to the stable man, the day would be long.
The water was very cold, but it felt good to have the salty waves brushing against his skin. He loved swimming in the sea, he might get used to this city, it was calm and peaceful, he had a job and he was accepted for what he was worth. He had been there for ten days now and was about to start his fifth day at work. He felt like a new man. He was lost in his thoughts when he heard a distant brush of clothes and a fast-paced clap of a horse's hooves. Had someone passed by and seen him? He couldn't care less as he was wearing his mask and it was not considered an offense to bathe naked in the ocean. He was a bit cold so he went out of the water and started to get dressed. On his way back to where he had tied Éclair, he saw a white piece of clothing on a small rock. He picked it up and inspected it. It was a handkerchief with two letters embroidered on its corner.
HM. Hortense de Montmarin, or Hortense Moretti? That was all he could think of while staring at those initials. Had she been here? Had she seen him? He smirked at the thought. If she had dropped it when running away, which would match the noises he heard a few minutes ago, it meant she had been confused. That was if the woman was able to feel anything at all apart from anger. But if his assumption was right, maybe it would give him an advantage on her and he'll be able to finish working for her sooner than expected. She was the only thing that made his new life sometimes complicated. She was a hateful viper, why couldn't he have met a nice and beautiful woman with an angelic voice that would have made him forget Christine? She had very nice features but she would ruin everything by being hysteric. No one could ever be like Christine and he doubted that he could find someone half as amazing as her in this small city. She was gone to him forever. She had chosen Raoul over him and she won't appear one morning on his threshold asking for his love and forgiveness; as he often dreamt. He still loved her eventhough it was getting less and less painful with the days passing. He had not met many women since Christine, apart from Jeanne, Maider and Izarra and of course the infuriating stalker… He didn't needed women in his life, he had survived his whole miserable existence without knowing the loving touch of the fairer sex, it would not change and he had to accept it. However, he needed to write to the women that had brought him another kind of love, Antoinette and Jeanne who had been some kind of motherly figures. He owed them a lot. But it could wait.
First, he would get his revenge on his employer and confront her about the handkerchief.
The meeting with the investors had gone well, she had showed them around the city, had kept them updated with the most recent projects. She had even managed to stumble upon the mayor who happily acknowledged his complete faith in "the young Madame de Montmarin" and the fact that her management skills were "as obvious as her beauty". Even if she wasn't really fond of that kind of comments, it seemed to have worked and she now had a huge amount of money to build more touristic attractions for the following seasons.
She had seen her father too, he seemed stressed and weary, they had exchanged some polite words in front of employees and investors and continued their lives separately.
It was now 6:30pm and the sky was starting to show some rosy clouds due to the falling sun. Yet, she had until 8pm before the sun would disappear in the Ocean. She decided to take a stroll along the coast towards the Rocher de la Vierge. The beautiful rock was standing proudly in the middle of the untamed waves, about a hundred meters from the shore. It was reachable through a small bridge that was still being in construction to make it more secured for the upcoming season. On top of the rock was a white statue of Marie, her hand extended as if she was watching over Biarritz's citizens and sailors.
Hortense was in her thoughts when she felt a shadow obstructing the sunbeams from getting to her face. She raised her eyes and found two blue-green pools that made her heartbeat accelerate as she remembered the events of the morning. Self-control, that's not worse than today's meeting. She thought as she took a step back.
He had been deliberately joining her onto the little footbridge going to the Rocher. God he knew… She was panicking, but she managed not to show it. Except that he could see in her eyes that she wasn't as calm as usual.
"Monsieur de Raincourt, to what to I owe such an unexpected… Well, meeting?" She stated, looking away from his intense gaze. She resumed her walk along the bridge.
"Madame" He started, his voice filled with contempt and sarcasm. "I saw you, lost in your mind and decided that I could bid you good evening."
"How thoughtful of you…" She answered rolling her eyes as she decided to face him again. Jeez, his jacket was really well fitted and images of his naked silhouette flashed in her mind, she bit her lips to prevent herself from blushing. "You would never come to me if you didn't have a more urgent purpose as we both know that we have… Let's say, well, some bones of contention. So my question is what do you want?"
He raised his visible eyebrow and replied:
"I see you don't trust my good will, which I can understand. But you're right I am here because I have something that, I think, might belong to you." He took the handkerchief and her eyes widened. She must have dropped it on the beach. She was trapped, the bastard he knew and he would do his best to make her feel embarrassed. There was no way she would allow him to win.
"My handkerchief… Where did you find it?" She asked with as much control as she could.
"On the little beach on the upper north road towards Bayonne through the coast, I think you know which one I am talking about."
Bloody bastard.
"Yes indeed, I usually go there to have a bath, I must have dropped it when I went there yesterday evening why? Have you discovered this amazing place too? You'll soon learn that I don't like to share." Bam what do you think of that! She searched his eyes looking for confusion and was more than happy to see him hesitate when speaking next.
"You… Well please have your handkerchief." She was good he thought. He couldn't tell whether she was bluffing, she must be for she looked panicked when she first saw him. She grabbed it and got away from him in haste. He realised she must hate him even more than he hated her, worse she recoiled from his proximity.
"I scare you." He stated. She turned on her heels and stared at him, where was his self-assurance and smug contempt? What did he expect, that she would shy away and admit that she had stared? No way, it seemed that he was not aware yet of her persuasion powers. That was one of the reason why she was good at her job and managed to be respected even if she was a woman.
"You don't, but I don't trust you."
"That's wise he said, I am no gentleman Madame."
"Thanks for stating the obvious… Well as we're unveiling blatant facts: I am no common widow and submissive woman and I don't trust men in general, so I don't know what you're trying to achieve with this conversation but I'd rather put an end to it. Let's keep our meetings only for work don't you agreeaaaaaaah! "
As she was walking backwards she had not seen the slippery rock and lost her balance. Unfortunately, she was not in a secured zone and found herself falling over the bridge right above the deadly rocks of the Rocher de la Vierge where the waves would crash. Before she could even shout, she felt a hand grab her wrist with some unfamiliar strength. She was dragged toward a solid wall instead of her imminent death. The wall was in fact her exasperating neighbour's chest and she was standing very close to him in a more than inappropriate position. She felt blush rising to her cheeks, she couldn't fight this one.
"What… What happened?"
"Y… You, well you slipped and you were about to fell over so…" He didn't finish as he was apparently very embarrassed as well.
She was too shocked to make the slightest move and remained staring at his stunned face, her hand resting on his chest and her legs entwined with his.
He was no better than her. The feeling of her body pressed against him was not something he had time to mentally prepare for. He had had to react so fast when he saw her lost her balance. She could have died, and he could have said goodbye to freedom and peace as he would certainly be held responsible. He had wanted to annoy her, to make her grow angry again but she had refused to enter his game, and had almost died hadn't he decided to save her. Except that because of his will to provoke her, he was in a very embarrassing situation.
She tried to move to get back on her legs and brushed against a very sensitive part of his body which tore him an unexpected muffled noise from the back of his throat.
"Oh, sorry… Did I hurt you?"
"Not really." He answered gritting his teeth as he pushed her away and rose up on his legs. He closed his long coat in a haste, looking away from her and not even helping her to get up. He looked like as if he had been burnt.
"Well sorry anyway… And thanks for saving me, I wouldn't have expected it from you." She said still shaking from the fear and panic her imminent death had caused.
"I wouldn't have expected it from myself either…" He answered still looking very uncomfortable as his body was still recovering from a very primitive reaction to the proximity and contact of a feminine body.
She laughed nervously, he had never heard laugh, it was a nice sound.
"Glad to know that we found at least one thing on which we agree… I… I'll go home I need a drink to make me forget that I had a very complicated day and I almost died… I am talking way too much which means that I am in shock… Hum… Not good. I bid you a good evening then."
He did something he regretted immediately:
"Wait, I will walk you back." She stared at him with wide eyes.
"What? Didn't you hear what I said before I… Well anyway, I guess we can make an exception for tonight, I don't want to fight. Do whatever you want."
He roared dangerously, what had he been thinking when suggesting such a stupid thing? And who was she to turn him away when he was letting his pride aside?
"I proposed it as part of my duty as a…"
"As a gentleman? Didn't you say you were not that kind of person?"
"Bloody hell! Could you keep your mouth shut for once, I am trying to stay polite and calm? I know you're shocked as you're shaking like a leaf, but it's not a bloody reason for being an absolute pest. Walk yourself back home then!" He yelled, angrier than ever. He wanted to push her over the bridge now. She made a few backward steps, obviously scared by his outburst. How could he become so scary in a split second?
"I… I was jesting… It's just that… Oh God, you're not helping with your temper… Can we talk like adults for once? I'll make efforts, and you'll make some too, understood? So no more coming for the sole purpose of annoying me… Let's bury the hatchet, come to my place, let's have a drink you seem to need one as much as I do. And tomorrow we'll resume professional encounters only and avoid trespassing on each other's private… Well private zone."
He looked at her stunned; so, she could be an adult. She had managed to compose herself in a few seconds. She was strong he realised, maybe even stronger than Madame Giry, and definitely with a temper that vied with his own. And a nice bosom. He mentally slapped himself at this thought. What was happening to him? It seemed that since he had received his first kiss, he had become much more; well, curious as regards what he could never possess. He shook his head and said in the most neutral voice he could manage at that point:
"I agree. Please, lead the way, I won't say no to a drink. I hope you have some whisky?"
She managed a small smile and nodded before heading out of the bridge.