and over that perfectly sculpted torso, then carry on across the slimness of his hips, the muscular hardness of his thighs and down the length of his legs to his large, well-shaped feet. It was purely a thirst for knowledge, not any desire simply to enjoy this embodiment of masculine perfection. There was no need for her to feel guilty when she looked up and saw that his eyes were open and he was watching her, but she did!
‘What are you doing here?’ His voice was hoarse, so low that she had to bend closer to hear him, and she found herself answering just as quietly.
‘I heard a crash. I thought you might need help.’
‘I knocked the lamp over.’ He glanced sideways, his eyes faintly glazed as they turned back to her. ‘I’m thirsty.’
He sounded so different now, his voice rasping softly, sensuously, as he uttered the plaintive statement. Louise felt something warm and almost tender flow through her. She smiled down at him, her eyes softening as she studied his flushed face, the beads of perspiration on his forehead and scattered among the dark hairs that covered his chest. ‘No wonder. You’re still running a temperature. Lie still and I’ll get you something to drink.’
She hurried over to the small built-in fridge and sorted quickly through the contents until she found a bottle of mineral water. She poured some into a glass and carried it back to him, slipping an arm behind his shoulders to help him up so that he could drink. He took a few thirsty swallows before she took the glass away and set it down on the bedside table. ‘That’s enough for now. You don’t want to make yourself sick.’
He grimaced as he sank against the pillows and ran a hand over his face. ‘I doubt if I could be, not after the past couple of hours. I must have broken records for the number of times I’ve been sick, but the doctor said that it was the best thing that could happen.’
‘So he did come, then?’
‘Yes. I take it that you called him?’ He sighed at her nod. ‘There wasn’t any need. He couldn’t give me anything, just told me to drink as much fluid as I could. I just wish I didn’t feel so damned hot.’
‘You’re bound to while your body is still fighting the effects of that squid.’ Automatically she ran a hand down the firm muscles on his upper am, testing the heat of his skin. ‘You could do with sponging down.’
‘If that’s an offer, then I’ll take you up on it.’ He closed his eyes, looking so helpless for a moment that Louise barely stopped to consider what she was doing. She cast one quick glance at him, then hurried through to the bathroom and filled the basin to soak one of the washcloths in cool water. His eyes were still closed when she walked back into the bedroom, but they opened when she started to wipe the cloth over his face and down the strong column of his neck.
‘That feels good,’ he murmured huskily, his pale blue eyes so light and clear in the faint light from the window that they looked like washed silver. ‘You have a marvellous touch, Miss Carter, although I imagine that there have been many men who’ve told you that.’
Her hand stilled for a second, her fingers resting lightly against the base of his neck, where she could feel a pulse tapping steadily. Had there been just the faintest hint of double meaning in that? But if so, what?
‘Surely you’re not shy about carrying on with your ministrations?’
The husky question woke her from the trance and her hand moved on, sliding the damp cloth across his shoulders, back and forth, taking the heat out of his skin. She forced the momentary unsettling thought to the back of her mind, smiling calmly down at him. ‘No, I’m not shy. I must have done this hundreds of times, Mr...’ She laughed faintly, suddenly conscious of how ludicrous the situation was. ‘Do you know that I don’t have any idea what your name is?’
‘No?’ He raised one dark brow in that mocking way she was learning to recognise, if not understand, then slowly his heavy lids lowered and he settled himself deeper into the pillows. ‘Wyatt. That’s my name. Wyatt.’
‘Well, then, Mr Wyatt, just lie still and rest. There’s no need to feel embarrassed about letting me help you. It’s just a sensible precaution to lower that temperature of yours.’
‘Oh, I’m not embarrassed, Miss Carter. Far from it. I’m sure that you are very experienced in this kind of thing. I shall enjoy reaping the benefits of that.’
The conversation was turning into a riddle, twisting and turning backwards and forwards so that she wasn’t certain what he was saying. A frown puckered her brow, but she carried on sponging him down, her hands moving smoothly and confidently as she stroked the damp cloth over his skin time and again until the steady, measured sound of his breathing told her that he had fallen asleep.
She ran a hand lightly over his chest and shoulders, then felt his forehead with the back of her knuckles. He was much cooler now, his skin barely warmer than her own. Obviously it had done the trick, but she was well aware that his temperature could rise again very quickly, undoing all her good work. She’d wait a while to see how he was then.
She tossed the wet cloth on to the bedside table, then went and sat down in the chair by the window and ran a hand wearily over her face as tiredness enveloped her. She yawned then grimaced, fighting to keep her eyes open and not give in to the almost overwhelming desire to fall asleep. There would be time enough for that later, once she was sure that he was all right. She could go back to her room and sleep the clock round...
CHAPTER TWO
THIS time it was a knock at the door that disturbed her. Louise muttered crossly, keeping her eyes tightly closed as she tried to blot out the irritating sound.
‘Can you get that if you’re awake?’
The deeply masculine voice roused her in a trice. She sat bolt upright, then groaned as her head spun with dizziness. For a blank second she stared down at the chair she was sitting in, then looked round the room she’d been using for almost a week now, confused by the strangeness of it all. Why was the door suddenly on the opposite side of the room? And surely that picture above the tall chest of drawers had been of flowers last time she’d looked, not birds?
Puzzled, her eyes moved on, taking stock of the furnishings, the huge double bed... Her heart leapt into her throat, beating so hard that for a moment she was afraid she would suffocate. Slowly, reluctantly, her gaze slid back to the satin bedspread and travelled across it inch by disbelieving inch. There wasn’t a double bed in her room, so where was she?
The question was quickly followed by the answer—approximately six feet of answer, to be precise. For a stunned minute Louise just stared at the man who emerged from the bathroom, a white towel fastened low around his lean hips. Then in a fast, heart-shaking sweep her eyes ran from the top of his damp black hair to the tips of his naked feet before coming back to rest helplessly on his face.
‘The door,’ he repeated slowly, and icily. ‘Do you think you can answer it?’
‘I...’ Louise scrambled to her feet, staring blankly round the room, and heard him mutter something uncomplimentary as he strode past her. She ran a trembling hand over her hot face, trying to make sense of what was happening, and almost groaned aloud as she remembered the events of the previous night. How could she have been so careless as to let herself fall asleep like that?
‘Surprise! Wyatt, darling, I know I should have called first, but I was just dying to see you, so...here I am!’
The
