Emily French - The Wedding Bargain

For a long moment he looked at her, a searching scrutiny that was centered on her face and more especially her eyes. Charity refused to meet them, refused any hint of an answer to the question in them. She was still conscious of the ax in his left hand; it hung loosely, its blade resting on the tip of his boot.

Without a word, Rafe took the beaker in his right hand and swallowed the contents in one long gulp. The sleeves of his homespun shirt, rolled up to the elbow, revealed both the power of his forearms and the sensual shimmer of hair glistening with perspiration.

Charity took a deep breath. This man wasn’t going to harm her. She had to stop acting so anxious around him. She replaced the beaker in the basket. The silence grew unbearable and she had to speak. “You are bleeding again. Let me see.”

Rafe raised his dark eyebrows but held the palm of his right hand toward her, and Charity bit back the sudden wild longing to bend her head and press her lips into it.

“It’ll heal soon enough.” His voice rasped over her head.

She realized that her senses were full of the man. His bulk. His dark hair, carelessly tied back in a queue. His shirt with its damp masculine scent. His big, capable hand, resting on hers. The heat of the brief contact shot through her.

She lifted her right arm, and her fingers touched the contour of his scar, tracing it. She began hesitantly, searching for words to excuse her unusual behaviour. “It’s just that yesterday…”

“Ah, yesterday. I wondered when we would come to that!” He laid aside the ax.

Now that her uneasiness had dissipated, there was another kind of tension building. She couldn’t be near Rafe without feeling it. For some reason, this revelation gave her the courage to continue.

“Rafe…” It was the first time she had used his name, and she felt a shiver pass through him. His glance dropped to her mouth. She knew he was just as aware of her as she was of him. “It’s difficult for me to explain, but yesterday something happened that…”

The flawless blue sky suddenly tilted on its axis, twisting into a sea of green, as Charity was spun around like a top. Her upper arms felt as though they were in a vise. She winced as pain shot from her elbows to her shoulders.

“What are you saying, woman? What happened between us?” Rafe’s teeth almost snapped together as he spat out the words, his eyes narrowed to an amber gleam. Christ! He knew something had happened!

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