Conquering Sabrina Read online

  “No, there isn’t. It was just a ruse to get you here. You disappeared from the chateau on the night of a ball I held for your birthday party. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get you to believe me until I brought you home. I saw the way you looked at the chateau. You remembered it. I knew you would. You love this place.” He smiled at her again. There was relief in his eyes. “This is going to be difficult for you, Sabrina. I am a stranger to you at the moment, but in time I hope I can help you remember our life together.”

  “I don’t know what’s happening. I just want to leave,” she heard herself say before she could even think. “I’m confused. I can’t trust all of this… I…”

  He sighed.

  “You’re afraid. I understand that. It’s a lot to take in, but I can’t let you leave. You are my wife. You belong here and I am never going to part with you again, whatever the outcome.”

  His thumb caressed the light satin of her cheek as if to soften the impact of his dictate. She rubbed her eyes.

  “Am I a prisoner here?”

  Did he intend to hold her here against her will? Maybe he would.

  “I would hardly call you a prisoner in your own home, Sabrina,” he told her with affront. But there was something in his tone that told her if she pushed him with her threats to leave, he would keep her a prisoner.

  “What happens if I leave?” she challenged.

  He smiled.

  “You won’t. You have too many reasons to stay.”

  Sabrina’s heart began to pound. He wasn’t giving her a solid answer.

  “How far will you go to stop me leaving?” she asked nervously, seeing no point in hiding her blatant concern any longer.

  Raoul’s seductive black eyes narrowed a fraction as a frown burrowed in his forehead. Sabrina found herself holding her breath as he captured her face in his hands once more. There was no mistaking his resolve or his authority when he spoke in a low soft velvet voice.

  “You have amnesia, Sabrina. I want you safe and protected at all times.” He paused, darkening and firming his tone. “If you push me with your desire to leave, I will carry you to the room in the West tower.” His voice lowered to a seductive caress as he held her attention spellbound. Her husband’s resolve to tame her and take her in hand was strong and clearly negotiable. He meant every word he spoke so eloquently. “I will strip you naked and confiscate your clothes. Then I will lock you in there after giving you a healthy dose of bar-bottom spanking to calm your rebellious nature. I have found in the past it is the most effective way to deal with your insubordination.”

  “You wouldn’t dare…” She was outraged, yet her pussy melted and tingled with the thrill of his threat.

  She watched him study her trembling lips with longing, then look up at her with dark possessive eyes.

  “I will go as far as I have to. You are my wife and I have every right to protect you in whatever way I choose, even if it is from yourself.”

  Chapter Three

  Sabrina glared at Raoul and moved to stand up from her chair in a temper. She pushed her way past him, ignoring his demand for her to remain seated in case she fell to the floor again. She shook her head and looked up at the painting.

  “I don’t believe this… It’s unreal. I don’t even remember getting married. I don’t remember anything about our life together, never mind my marriage vows,” she told him angrily, reluctant to reveal her memories of their hot sexual encounters.

  Raoul frowned and stood up. Afraid of what he might do, Sabrina took two steps back, but Raoul headed for the top drawer of his desk. Sabrina glanced back at the door, wondering whether she should make a sudden break for freedom. She needed space, time to think. Her mind made up, she straightened and headed from the door, deciding to leave and collect her thoughts. Her whole world felt as though it was a whirl.

  Nothing appeared safe or trustworthy. Leaving would give her some control back until she could decide what to do. Surely Raoul would understand that. Frantically, she headed for the door and reached out for the handle with a shaking hand when she stopped dead, hearing the cracking whip of Raoul’s reprimand across the air.

  “Sabrina. Where are you going?”

  Sabrina turned sharply, tilting her chin defiantly at him.

  “You can’t stop me leaving,” she threatened. “I will call the police.”

  He gave a laugh and began walking towards her.

  “It will do you no good,” he told her softly. “They know that you are home and that your memory loss may have made you unstable. They are more than likely to advise hospital care if I can’t keep you under control than help you leave.”

  He unfolded the piece of paper he held in his hand and offered it to her. “Your signature on our wedding certificate will prove that this is not some elaborate hoax. You belong to me, Sabrina, and I am not letting you walk out of that door again.”

  She glanced at the certificate and the signature he pointed to. It was definitely her writing. Blind panic filled her mind. She didn’t know what to do. What if Raoul had been the man who had beaten her so badly she’d lost her memory? What if he really was the man who had put her in the hospital ten years ago? Perhaps she had tried to leave him then and he’d become really violent. But she never felt that once from him in the memories she’d experienced earlier. He had evoked pleasure rather than fear in his discipline of her. Too many questions. She had to get out.

  “Do whatever the hell you want, but I am still leaving and there is nothing you can do,” she shouted, wasting no more time in turning the door handle.

  But to her dismay she was not to get very far. Raoul leaned over and raised his hand above her head, slamming the door shut hard. Sabrina gave a yelp of fear and turned around to face him, finding her back pressed against the door with no means of escape. Raoul’s dark eyes looked down at her threateningly. He closed the distance between them, sweeping his arm around her waist when she made a gesture to duck out from under the cage of his arm. He pushed her back against the door once more and restrained her there.

  “I am going to keep you here even if I have to strap you down on that bed in the tower and beat your bottom crimson until you accept what is happening. I want to know why you walked out on my life. We were in love. I have spent years wondering what happened. I never once thought you were dead.” He paused as he thought to consider his next words. “The police believed you were murdered and I was their main suspect. They even dragged the lake in the grounds looking for your body. The only thing that stopped them from charging me with your murder was the lack of a body. I want answers and you are going to give them to me, darling wife. So yes, you will stay and yes, I will make you a prisoner if I have to.”

  Sabrina would have retorted, but both fear and confusion about her disappearance from the chateau caused a flurry of broken images to twist inside her mind. She could see herself standing talking to someone. Music played in the background and there were people dancing in highly decorated Venetian masks. It looked as though she was attending a ball. She was unhappy with someone and kept saying, “I know what you are doing and I won’t let you get away with it. You won’t stop me.” Her emotions at the time were fearful, but she was determined. The image played over and over in her mind.

  “Sabrina,” Raoul sternly called her name, but his voice sounded vague, distant, beyond the memory taking prominence in her mind. “Sabrina.” Raoul’s voice was gentler this time, but it was the touch of his fingers on her cheek that roused her and brought her attention back into focus.

  “Sabrina, what is wrong? You seemed to disappear. You were vacant for a moment. I...”

  “I remembered something… I think I did anyway.” Her voice sounded drowsy with disbelief and confusion.

  Raoul’s mouth lifted into a cautious smile as he studied her closely.

  “That’s good. It’s a start. You looked vacant for a moment. Your face has turned so pale I thought you were ready to collapse. Now you must see how I can’t allow you to leave
. It is unsafe for you to be alone,” he whispered continuing his light caress of her cheek.

  “I just want to be alone so I can think. I know you want me back, but this is very frightening for me. I woke up beaten in a hospital and…” She paused, feeling the tears gather in her eyes.

  “And raped,” Raoul slowly finished for her. The pain in his eyes tightened. “I know about your injuries, Sabrina. I have had you followed and investigated by a private investigator. I know everything about the last ten years of your life.”

  Sabrina turned away angrily, rubbing at the tears suddenly running down her face. She didn’t like showing weakness to anyone.

  “You must be afraid to trust anyone, especially me,” Raoul continued gently. “But I have to make you. You need help and I want you back. I will do whatever it takes to make you remember and surrender to me. I want to know who did this to you and I want them to pay.” He was restraining the angry frustration in his voice, but Sabrina couldn’t help pity the man when he found him.

  “Please, you have to let me go. I want to think about this… How do I know you weren’t involved?” she blurted out, afraid that she might actually be imprisoned with her real attacker. “How do I know it wasn’t you?” She felt the remorse the moment she spoke the words.

  Raoul’s eyes grew heavy with disappointment. He was clearly hurt and somewhere inside she felt as though she had betrayed him by even considering the idea. He caught her chin and lifted it up towards him, making her strain. He held her gaze to painful attention.

  “Make no mistake,” he told her darkly, firmly leaving no room for error in her understanding of his words. “I did not beat or rape you. I did not try to murder you either. I would never hurt you. I love you and I want you back. If you remembered me, you would never think that I was capable of such violence. Don’t ever doubt or question me on this again. I won’t tolerate it. Do you understand, Sabrina?”

  “You just expect me to trust you? I know nothing about—”

  “Yes, I do,” he interrupted with impatience. “You have no choice. I am not giving you one.”

  “But some of the memories I have experienced in the chateau… Our sex life was hardly vanilla. I was tied up… You whipped me.”

  Raoul sighed.

  “You have a lot to remember about our marriage, Sabrina. I took you in hand to protect you after you were reckless with your safety. Mutually, we found it worked well and you derived much love and reassurance in your acceptance of my control in our private lives. At no point did I rape you or hurt you to cause you injury. I did not make you fear for your life or do anything to abuse the trust you placed in me. Your welfare and protection was and is always my first concern in this marriage.”

  He slowly lowered her chin and moved away. He picked up the wedding certificate he had dropped onto a side table and took it back to the drawer.

  He gestured towards all of the photographs littering the room.

  “Did I look like I wanted to murder you? Can’t you see how happy we were?”

  He sounded frustrated, almost despairing.

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t remember. If there was any way I could, I would,” Sabrina heard herself tell him, considering his reassuring words to convince her she could trust him.

  Raoul leaned against his desk with folded arms, watching her intently.

  “We will find a way,” he said calmly. There was no room for defeat in his tone. “I have a doctor who specialises in treating amnesia coming to the chateau tomorrow to examine you.”

  “What? You can’t just take over my life. I have my own doctor…”

  “I am your husband and I have every right to interfere in your life and take over when you are in ill health. Besides, I only deal with the best in the medical profession.”

  Sabrina lost her temper.

  “You are infuriating. I will not be taken in hand as you call it. You are dealing with a very different woman now. The old Sabrina has gone. I am leaving in the morning so I can have a space to think and work out what to do next. I am going to my room.”

  Sabrina opened the door. Raoul had done nothing to stop her leaving the room, remaining in his relaxed position leaning against his desk.

  “Sabrina, you take one step out of that door and you will find your sexy black dress up around your waist and yourself bent over my knee so fast your head will spin,” he informed her huskily. She turned quickly, ready to launch a full-on verbal attack, but he held up his hand to silence her protest and carried on.

  “You have been warned,” he said quietly, narrowing his dark eyes, leaving her free of doubt he had every intention of carrying out his threat if she pushed him to it. He was that afraid of losing her again. A secret part of her loved him for his passion and desire to breach boundaries to keep her with him, but a part of her detested him for it. He would not win this war of control. When she remembered, if she could remember, it would be on her terms and in her way, not his.

  Sabrina turned to walk out of the door frustrated and angry at Raoul’s attempt to retake control of her life and take her well in hand. This wasn’t how she’d fantasised about meeting her long-lost loved ones. She hadn’t anticipated it being so adversarial or shocking. She would not allow his threats of spanking to intimidate her.

  “Oh, and one more thing,” he said, standing to his full height to walk towards her. “You will be sleeping in our room with me tonight. I want my wife back in my bed.”

  Chapter Four

  Anger rose inside Sabrina to fever pitch. She slammed the door shut with force and turned to confront him.

  He was shaking his gorgeous head and tutting at her with cruel amusement. Sabrina felt her eyes narrow.

  “Temper, temper, cherie. You always were explosive. A firecracker, I used to call you. I see that you have lost none of your spark. I always found throwing you over my knee and spanking you calmed you down and made you see sense. If you continue to push me, Sabrina, you will be going to bed with a very sore derriere.”

  His lips curled in a mischievous seductive smile and that damned playful look glinted in his eyes. He appeared eager for her to give him an excuse for spanking her. Sabrina’s greatest wish that moment was to wipe the smile from his face and it was with a huge effort she kept her hand by her side. Though she did wonder how long she would be able to restrain herself if he kept on provoking her. He seemed to be taking great pleasure in riling her anger. Perhaps it was some sort of revenge for making him feel as if she had deserted him.

  “I don’t know what kind of woman I was when I lived with you, but here and now I do not take orders from anyone, especially from my husband.” Sabrina’s attempt to keep her voice level and calm disintegrated towards the end of her sentence. To her fury triumph reigned in his eyes.

  “But you do, darling. And that is the way both you and I prefer it.”

  Bastard. He was enjoying his control over her. She swallowed a breath and forced herself to continue maintaining as much dignity as she could, refusing to give him any more satisfaction.

  “I am leaving. If you do anything to stop me, I will call the police and have you arrested for false imprisonment. I am sure they would be interested in what I have to say, especially when they obviously believe you are capable of murder,” she snapped loudly, suddenly feeling confident the upper hand was now hers.

  A frown creased Raoul’s forehead, but he appeared undeterred and unaffected by her words. Sabrina watched him reach into his suit pocket and bring out a mobile. Sabrina recognised it at once. It was hers. He must have taken it from her room when she wasn’t looking. He’d planned this reunion well. He shook it at her.

  “And how are you going to call them without this?” he asked.

  Sabrina’s eyes quickly diverted to the land line on his desk.

  “I’m afraid that won’t help you. I’ve had all the land lines cut. Like it or not, you are here to stay.” Bitterness and hurt reigned uppermost in his words.

  Raoul dropped the mobile to th
e floor and stepped on it, crushing the small metal box. “There is no escape, Sabrina. I am in control. And you, my darling wife, are in need of some strong discipline.”

  Before she could utter a rebuke, Sabrina found herself been taken robustly by her arm to a chair. Raoul ignored her outraged protestations, sat down and in one fluid movement pulled her over his knee. Sabrina struggled for all her worth, but her attempts to free herself were futile. Raoul’s strength and skill forced her to keep her submissive position and accept the punishment he sought to inflict upon her. To her horror, he wasted no time in lifting up the skirt of her dress. The cool air of the room settled across her thighs and bottom. She felt his strong purposeful digits tug the band of the lacy black thong she wore beneath it. She struggled again, determined not to give up despite his overpowering male strength. It only made him more determined to take her to task.

  “You try me, Sabrina. Cease your movement,” he commanded. He tugged at the lacy garment once more. “Why are you wearing these? I detest underwear.”

  With both hands he gathered the flimsy lace thong and ripped it. Sabrina jolted and cried out with indignation, unable to believe his actions. She turned her head to see him throw the remnants of her underwear across the room to land perfectly into a wastepaper bin.

  Sabrina heard him murmur his approval as he smoothed his palm over the pale fleshy mounds of her buttocks, framed neatly by the black lacy holdups she wore on her legs. She squirmed, afraid of what was coming next. His touch made her feel so vulnerable and submissive, feelings that she abhorred, yet a curious intrigue for the sensation to come flamed between her thighs, just as it had done in her memories. Her heart pounded.

  “Much better. It has been so long since I have been able to touch you. Your bottom is as beautiful as before, only more rounded and a little plumper. I like it better. Now I know you are real and not some mirage I have conjured in my mind. It is very grounding. Do not wear underwear again, Sabrina.”