A Sanctuary for Elle (7 page)

The car stopped and he got out. The air Elle hadn't realised she was holding escaped in a whoosh.  He too wore jeans and a white t shirt.  Tight enough to hug the rippled muscles in his chest
and arms. Jeans encasing his long legs and his..oh my! Don't go there! Elle chastised herself.  She looked up to his approaching face and her anger with him momentarily was forgotten as she once again looked into the most gorgeous face she had ever seen.
Deep stunning eyes, dark long lashes.  Lips, currently grimacing, which were full and sensual.  Dark tanned skin and a rugged layer of stubble which added to his appeal.  He looked unhappy though she realised.  And tired.  He looked as if he hadn't slept.
Not that she should care she reminded herself.  She squared her shoulders as he approached and refocused her brain to the emotion she should be experiencing.  Desire is check, she let the anger resurface and remembered all of the cross word she had to sa
y
to him.

Mark walked towards Elle and watched as her face became angry.  He had expected it, but he was hoping that she may have mellowed somewhat.  God she was a beauty.  She was in jeans today and wore not even a scrap of make up.  She looked incredible.
  She looked better than when she was dressed up for the day, he thought.  She was naturally stunning.  Perfect creamy skin, eyes which he could drown in and flowing long hair which trailed down her back in a wave of silk.  His gut tightened in desire but
he kept it in check.  They needed to talk.

'Elle, I need to talk to you.' As soon as the words were out Mark felt a sense of nervousness come over him. He was not a man who got nervous.  Elle was the only woman who had made him feel this strange before.  H
e wanted this conversation to go well and he was unsure of what he would do if it didn't.

'I have no intention of talking to you, Mark-Anthony.  I told you yesterday, I never want to speak to you again!' Elle was furious, Mark could see her battle with the
urge to completely lose her temper. She was close, so close to exploding.

'Elle, please.  Here me out.  If you hear me out, give me ten minutes, then I'll go.  I will go and not bother you again.  Just hear me out.' Mark had no intention of ever letting t
his woman in a million go but he was not going to mention that now at this difficult time.

Elle quickly debated in her head. If he was true to his word and she heard him out, he said he would leave. She decided to allow him to say his piece then she could
be rid of him.

'I will listen to you for ten minutes, then I want you gone.'

'Great, thanks.  So, shall we go inside.'

'Oh very likely, get me inside, all nice and cosy and we'll take off where we left of eh? I don't think so.  You can say your piece here.
  Then you're leaving.'

Elle crossed her arms over her chest in a gesture showing just who was managing this situation.  She looked adorable all cross and grumpy but he wouldn't rattle her any further.  He had things to say to her and he had must not get s
idetracked.

'Okay.  Elle. I had no idea that you were connected with this contract we're working on.  I would not have pursued you during the landslide if I had known we would be connected in business.  I acted as I did because I was drawn to you in a way
I have never been to anyone else.  I couldn't resist you in that car and I think the feeling was mutual.  If we had known who we were, I doubt we would have ever have gotten that close.  Anyway, yes we were trying to buy Sanctuary. And the two houses.  Th
e
plan was to expand and link the projects together.  We have been in talks for months and several deals were on the table.  We had been in contact with your Grandmother and at one point she was almost going to sell.  All that suddenly changed and so we pu
r
sued it.  We never harassed your Grandmother, we just pursued the reasons for her sudden change of mind.  We still want Sanctuary and will be wanting to talk to you about your intentions. But again, I am sorry if your Grandmother felt there was any undue
a
ttention but we were just following up the situation.'

Elle had kept her word and remained resolutely silent during his speech.  At times this was hard as she wanted to argue his words and tell him how she had seen it unfold through her Grandmother's eyes.
  Instead she refused to give him any satisfaction.

'Sanctuary is not for sale.  You've said what you came to say, now I repeat, go away, I never want to see you again.'

With that final statement, Elle huffed away down the path and slammed the front door shut behind her. She slumped against the door and let the breath she was holding leave her body.  Who the hell did he think he was?  Did he not realise that what he saw a
s
following up leads had been detrimental to her Grandmother's declining health. She had not realised that her grandmother had been in talks to sell though.  Never she would have thought that to be an option.  She remembered the phone call they had had.  E
l
le had still been in Australia and she had called her Grandmother to catch up.  They had spoken of old times and Elle had reminisced about her times at Sanctuary.  She had spoken of her homesickness.  She had spoken of her need to settle and find a home.
Had this been what had changed her grandmother's mind?  Was she about to sell when Elle had come and changed everything.  What a confusing mess.  Elle urged herself to the sofa and lay down.  She gathered herself into a ball and once again cried.  Everyth
i
ng was just so confusing.  She didn't know what to think.  Mark had seemed like a breath of fresh air in the landslide, a genuine, kind and passionate man who was just what a woman needed in her time of need.  He seemed to explain the situation so calmly,
so honestly.  Had it been like he had said?  Elle wasn't sure.  What did she really know of Mark anyway?  She knew him intimately, for sure but how could she know if what he said was true when she had not had time to know the man's character well.

Mark was
deflated.  He had worked himself up to come and speak to Elle and it had changed nothing.  Elle was still angry, still upset.  How would he get her to speak to him again?  He couldn't bear the thought that this would be it.  No, he had to keep on pursuin
g
her.  He would make her understand that his intentions had been good and honourable.  He would try and make her see things from his perspective.  Those moments they had spent together in the landslide had been life-changing for him.  He felt an attractio
n
that he had never experienced before.  The thought of never touching her, kissing her, holding her again was unthinkable.  He had never wanted a woman before like he wanted Elle.  He had never had the desire to pursue a woman before like he wanted to now.
  Mark felt that he had enjoyed the company of plenty of women in his time but this feeling was new to him.  He just couldn't let it lie.  He didn't want Elle to think badly of him, didn't want her to believe he was a bad person, a bad man. 

Mark climbed into his car with a heavy heart and reluctantly reversed back down the gravel path.  This was not the end of this relationship he decided though, he would show her somehow that he cared, that he was worth bothering with.  It couldn't end like
this.  Not when the thought of never holding her again filled him with despair.

Chapter 7

Elle spent her first week settling into her Grandmother's house.  She forced herself to sort the possessions that covered the house.  She used the spare room for ev
erything he wanted to keep and sorted clothes and ornaments for various local charities.  She found mementoes from childhood which she pored over, reliving the experiences that she had gained from here time  here as a child.  In one cupboard she found loa
d
s and loads of albums.  Reams and reams of photos depicted Elle at various stages of growth.  She had come here as a girl, small and thin.  As she flicked through the pages, a young woman began to emerge, beautiful and innocent, face always smiling happil
y
to the camera.  Elle came across the older albums, the ones of her mother and father, herself as a baby.  She looked through them as she had when she was young, trying to remember them, trying to remember their voices, their smell.  She didn't recall muc
h
of that time though, she had been so young when she had lost them both.  They were pictures really, memories were lost in youth and she only vaguely remembered occasions depicted in the photos. 

Elle felt sad.  It dawned on her heavily that she alone.  S
he had no family left at all.  She didn't have any friends here.  She didn't have a man to love, a child to care for, anyone in fact.  She closed the album she had been leafing through and went out to the back garden.  She walked down to the oak tree at t
h
e bottom of the garden and sat beneath it. 

Elle had come here as a child, sat and watched the sea breathe and churn.  She had played fictional characters, in amongst the trees branches.  She had climbed to the top and played castles.  As she sat, she wat
ched the sun lower on the curve of the bay.  It was a balmy evening but the wind was beginning to lift.  Elle stayed at that point for a long time.  Until she grew cold in fact.  She then wandered inside and turned on the radio, desperate for a little com
p
any, someone's voice.  The Sanctuary, she thought.  That would be the making of her.  At the Sanctuary she would make new friends and colleagues, be busy and happy and maybe even meet a nice man who she could settle with.  At the end of the day, those wer
e
the goals Elle was aiming for.  As she thought of 'a man' a very specific man entered her mind. A tall, handsome man with tanned skin and a smiling face.  A man who knew how to bring the most exquisite pleasure to a woman too.  Stop it! Elle commanded he
r
self.  She was daydreaming about Mark when that dream was over.  He was not the man she had thought he would be.  No, she had to stop thinking about him.  That was for sure.

Elle's other belongings arrived in a van and she gradually sorted and unpacked th
em until she found herself surrounded by her own things as well as those of her grandmother.

Elle was boxing up books when the doorbell rang.  She was surprised to find Margaret, her next door neighbour standing there looking a little uncomfortable.

'Come
in! How nice to see you.'

'Elle, I must speak with you urgently.  I hope you won't be upset with me.  Its just, well the thing is Elle..'

'Margaret, what is it?'

'We've sold the house Elle.  He offered things we couldn't turn down.  You see the house doesn
't have the sentiment here it does for you.  He has offered enough money for us to buy two houses, one abroad like we dreamed and one up by the boys.  We couldn't turn the offer down. I'm so sorry Elle.'

Elle consoled the woman until she had convinced her
to leave without feeling any more guilt.  Elle was bitterly disappointed though.  This was not good news for Elle.  Mark-Anthony's property business now had part of what she considered her home.  She determined defiantly in her head that they would never
h
old The Sanctuary as theirs.  She felt fiercely protective of her new home and business.  No way would anyone take that away from her.

Margaret and Keith moved out quickly.  Within weeks of the news.  They said their goodbyes and were gone.  The house stoo
d empty for one day alone.  Elle, who had been unsure as to what they planned with the property was intrigued to see a removal van pull up outside the following weekend.  The removal men worked steadily and strategically, lifting and heaving the furniture,
bags, suitcases and possessions that were stored safely in the truck. 

She tried to nose at the window, searching for an idea of who was moving in.  no family appeared though, no couple excited at their new home.  Just removal men steadily emptying the v
an.  When they were finished they all remained inside the house for two hours.  What on earth were they doing Elle wondered, constantly wandering back and forth from the window to see if they had left. Unpacking?!

Eventually the men climbed back in the van
and drove away.  Elle went back to her task of reorganising the kitchen cupboards. 

Later in the evening Elle was relaxing in the lounge watching TV.  Her attention was diverted by a car on gravel.  She got up to be nosy and looked out of her window.  To
her surprise it was the same sleek sports car that Mark had driven up in recently.  What did he want?  Elle furrowed her brow as she frowned at him climbing out of the scooped bucket seat.  She was just about to storm out and demand him why he was here a
g
ain when she was astonished to see him head down the other path!  He walked down towards Margaret's house and let himself in! What was he doing?  Surely he wasn't still working at this time on a Saturday night.  She couldn't help herself, she strutted out
down her path and down the neighbouring walk way.

Elle came to the front door and found it ajar. She peeked through to see him there, sat on a sofa in the living room, looking out to the sea view.  He was relaxed, head tipped back in rest.  His eyes, altho
ugh open were drowsy, lazily scanning the horizon.  She admired his profile as he sat unaware of her presence.  He had such an effect on her, she realised.  As much as she despised what he had done she could not help but recall the amazing ways in which h
e
had touched her body and made her feel more alive and sensual than she ever had before.  She looked at his mouth, his beautiful full mouth which had granted her so much pleasure, the mouth that had licked and tasted her everywhere.  Elle felt a blush sta
i
n her cheeks as she recalled all the things they had done together.  It was so alive in her mind but seemed so long ago also.