‘I could still find the strength to put you over my knee and spank you,’ he told her curtly. ‘God, your face is a mess!’
She glared at him resentfully, putting up a self-conscious hand to her bruised face. ‘You’re such a gentleman!’
‘I’m only telling you the truth.’
‘I’ve already seen it in the mirror, thank you.’ She touched her tender eye, remembering her horror this morning when she had seen the discolouration around her eye, the purple and black bruising quite awful to look at.
‘Does it hurt?’
‘Only when I laugh,’ she snapped. ‘Of course it hurts! Don’t ask silly questions.’
‘Calm down, Hazel. I realise you aren’t feeling well, but—’
‘I feel fine, a bit bruised, but other than that I feel fine. And I’m not going back to bed.’
‘I’m responsible for you, so you’ll do as you’re told.’
‘Make me,’ she challenged.
‘I intend to.’ Rafe swung her up into his arms, ignoring her kicking and struggling. He threw her ruthlessly down on to the bed, his face pale. ‘Now do as you’re told.’
She frowned up at him. ‘Are you all right, Rafe? You look ill.’
‘I’m—I’m fine,’ he said weakly. ‘Just don’t argue with me any more.’
Her mouth twisted into a humourless smile. ‘You’re older than you realised, Rafe, if you can’t cope with a night of lovemaking. You don’t have the stamina for it like you used to.’
Rafe sighed. ‘Perhaps you’re right. Excuse me.’
Hazel was taken aback by his abrupt departure. He had almost seemed to admit defeat in their argument, something he had never done before. But she did as he ordered anyway; the effort of dressing and going downstairs was much more wearing than she had at first realised.
Sara brought her in a breakfast tray later, the murmur of voices from the passageway audible to her. Sara seemed preoccupied, putting the tray down on the table and turning to leave without saying a word.
‘Sara?’ Hazel halted her at the door. ‘Is there anything wrong? Is that the doctor’s voice I can hear out there? He hasn’t come to see me, has he?’
‘How you do go on,’ Sara scolded, coming over to tuck in the bedclothes about her. ‘No, the doctor isn’t here to see you. Mr Rafe isn’t feeling well.’
Hazel paled. ‘What’s wrong with him?’ Her voice shook as she remembered her bitchy taunts about his stamina.
‘Well, if we knew that we wouldn’t have needed to call out the doctor,’ Sara said shortly. ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ she instantly apologised. ‘It’s all been such a strain, first you and now Mr Rafe. I suppose Miss Celia will be falling ill next,’ she tutted.
‘Did Rafe hurt himself?’ Hazel persisted.
‘Collapsed is what he did. I went to his room because he hadn’t been down for his breakfast like he usually does at seven o’clock, and found him collapsed on the bed.’
Hazel scrambled to get out from under the bedclothes. ‘I must go to him,’ she said worriedly.
Sara pushed her back on to the bed. ‘You’ll do nothing of the kind,’ she told her sternly.
Hazel looked up at her with tear-filled eyes. ‘But I have to, Sara. I have to know how he is.’
‘When the doctor tells us I’ll let you know,’ the housekeeper said stubbornly. ‘But until then you’ll stay where you are. There’s been too much laxness in this house lately. You and Mr Rafe seem to forget you aren’t related. It isn’t right for you to be in each other’s bedrooms. People would talk if they knew about such goings on!’
So Sara hadn’t forgotten that Rafe had been helping her undress the evening before. She would never know how much Hazel and Rafe were aware of the fact that they weren’t related, of the heated desire that flared up continuously between them.
‘But it doesn’t mean anything, Sara. You know that.’ She hoped!
Sara gave her a hard look. ‘Lately I’m not so sure… Still, I’m sure Mr Rafe has more sense.’
Hazel raised her eyebrows. ‘And I don’t?’
‘You’ve always had a thing about Mr Rafe, even when you went through the teenage stage of disliking everyone and everything. Luckily enough Mr Rafe ignored it all. So you aren’t going to his bedroom, especially while the doctor is in there.’
Clever Sara, seeing so much more than she ever told anyone. But she hadn’t realised it all, thank God. Hazel didn’t think she could face her if she knew about the night she had spent with Rafe.
‘No, Sara,’ she said obediently. ‘But you will let me know how he is?’
‘I won’t need to. The doctor is coming in to see you after he’s examined Mr Rafe. You can ask him yourself.’
‘Are you sure I’ll be safe left alone with him?’ Hazel teased.
‘Of course you will, he’s a doctor.’
Hazel laughed. ‘He’s also a man.’
‘Yes, well, I—I—Don’t be cheeky, young lady! Eat your breakfast,’ she ordered.
‘I’ll come down for lunch, Sara. This is all making extra work for you.’
‘You’ll do what the doctor tells you. And if he says you’re to stay in bed that’s exactly what you’ll do.’
‘Yes, Sara.’
‘Stop being cheeky,’ the housekeeper smiled at her. ‘Your coffee is getting cold.’
Hazel drank the coffee and ate a piece of toast while she waited for the doctor. If only Sara could have told her more than that Rafe had collapsed!
She looked up anxiously as the doctor knocked before entering the room. ‘How’s Rafe?’ she asked quickly.
David Byne looked taken aback. ‘With a little rest he’s going to be fine.’ He pulled up a chair beside the bed. ‘How are you feeling? That’s a lovely black eye you have there.’
Hazel dismissed it with a grimace. ‘What’s wrong with Rafe?’
The doctor smiled. ‘What a persistent young lady you are! It’s his hip, of course.’
She frowned. ‘His hip?’
‘Mm—he’s been suffering for days, apparently, without saying a word to anyone about it. I thought he looked a little strained when I saw him yesterday at the hospital, but I put that down to worry about you.’
‘But he’s going to be all right?’
He nodded. ‘This time, yes. But he has to have that operation,’ he added darkly.
‘Can’t you persuade him?’
‘I was going to ask you the same question.’
Hazel looked away. ‘He wouldn’t listen to me.’
‘Are you sure?’ he probed.
‘Very sure,’ she told him firmly. ‘Do you think his carrying me had anything to do with this attack?’
‘I think it could have done, yes. But he’s been overdoing things for weeks, from what I can gather. I wanted to send him to hospital, but for some reason this family have an aversion to them. He should have that operation soon, Hazel, or he won’t be able to have it at all.’
‘What do you mean?’ she asked anxiously.
‘All the time his body is adapting to that misshapen hip of his, if it’s left too late we won’t be able to do anything about it.’
‘But why didn’t you make him have it earlier?’
‘He’s always refused. We can’t force him, we can only advise.’
‘But he’s suffering!’ she protested.
David Byne sighed. ‘I know that, and I’ve tried to get him to change his mind, but he isn’t an easy man to persuade.’
They both looked up as a slightly embarrassed Sara entered the room. ‘Mr Rafe sent me in here,’ she explained hastily.
‘Why was that, Sara?’ Hazel queried softly.
‘He—er—he didn’t consider it proper for you to be alone together.’
Hazel had known the answer before she even asked the question, but she had had to know anyway. Rafe hadn’t approved of David Byne examining her yesterday, so she had no reason to think he would be any more willing today.
David Byne looked down at her with admiring eyes.
‘Perhaps he was right,’ he said softly.
Hazel smiled at him shyly. ‘He wouldn’t consider it proper for you to flirt with me either.’
He grinned. ‘Was that what I was doing? I thought I was being serious. Well,’ he said briskly, ‘there doesn’t appear to be much wrong with you.’
‘So I can get up?’ she asked eagerly.
‘Well …’
‘Oh, please, Dr Byne! I want to go and see Rafe.’
‘He should be sleeping right now, I’ve given him something that should knock him out for a few hours. The rest will help his hip much more than anything else I can prescribe.’ He stood up. ‘I suggest you spend the rest of the day in bed and then perhaps visit Rafe this evening after dinner.’
Hazel pouted. ‘Not before then?’
He tapped her on the nose. ‘Most definitely not. Rest would be the last thing I had on my mind if I had you in my bedroom.’ His brown eyes twinkled at her.
‘Dr Byne!’ Sara’s shocked voice rang out.
He grinned at her as he picked up his bag. ‘Just teasing, Sara, just teasing.’
Sara folded her arms across her ample bosom. ‘So I should think!’ she said huffily.
The day seemed endless as Hazel waited for evening to come, when she could visit Rafe. She lived in a state of nervous excitement all day, only to be disappointed when it came to the time.
Sara came in to remove her dinner tray. ‘You’ll have to leave your visit until tomorrow,’ she informed her.
Hazel’s face dropped. ‘Oh, why?’
‘Because Mr Rafe is fast asleep. He woke this afternoon, managed to eat a light meal and then took one of the tablets prescribed by the doctor.’ Sara gave a satisfied smile. ‘He’s sleeping like a baby.’
Hazel couldn’t hide her disappointment. ‘Oh, Sara!’ she sighed unhappily.
‘Now then, Miss Hazel, sleep is better for him than listening to a chattering female.’
‘I don’t chatter,’ she protested indignantly. ‘Couldn’t I just go and sit with him?’
‘Now what would be the point of that, he wouldn’t know you were there.’
‘I could be there when he wakes up.’
‘He may not wake until morning. No, you wait until tomorrow.’
Hazel accepted this with ill grace and lay in bed brooding about it for the next couple of hours. Why couldn’t she just go and sit with Rafe for a while? It would help to reassure her about his condition and it certainly couldn’t hurt him if he was asleep.
Her mind made up, she quickly dressed in denims and a tee-shirt, then quietly left her bedroom and made her way to Rafe’s room. Sara had been right, he was sleeping like a baby. He looked softer in sleep, more approachable, and more like the Rafe she remembered making love to her.
She sat beside the bed, feasting her eyes on his bare chest and strong attractive face. It felt good to be able to look at him freely like this and she moved with a start when the blue eyes flickered open and she found herself staring into their stormy depths.
‘Hello,’ Rafe said huskily.
Her breath caught in her throat. ‘Hello.’
‘What are you doing in here?’ He gave a rueful grin.
‘I bet Sara doesn’t know you’re here.’
She smiled slowly. ‘You win your bet!’
‘I thought so.’ He yawned sleepily, stretching to ease his tired muscles. ‘What time is it?’
‘About eleven o’clock.’
‘Oh.’ He looked at her with caressing eyes. ‘Why don’t you join me?’
‘J-join you?’ she repeated stupidly.
‘Mm, in bed. I’m too tired to do anything but sleep, and I could do with the company.’
‘Oh, but—’
‘Don’t make a big thing about it, Hazel. Just accept that I need someone tonight.’
She needed no more coaxing. If Rafe needed her she wasn’t going to let him down. ‘I’ll go and get my nightdress,’ she said.
‘Don’t bother. You’ll find a pyjama jacket on the chair over there, that will do if you have to wear something. I promise to look the other way while you change,’ he mocked.
Hazel undressed quickly and slid into the double bed next to him, quivering as his arms came out to pull her against him, her senses heightened at the hardness of his body. Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Rafe sighed. ‘Stop fidgeting, Hazel, and go to sleep. I just couldn’t give you my best tonight—I’m tired and my hip is killing me.’
Her hand moved out to caress his injured hip, feeling his body tense below her soothing fingertips.
He removed her hand with a groan. ‘Stop it, Hazel! If you can’t behave you’ll have to leave.’
‘I’ll behave,’ she promised quickly.
She soon knew by his steady breathing that he had fallen asleep, but it took her much longer to drift off, all the time conscious of being held in his arms.
She was awoken with a start and soon realised the reason for that. Standing in the doorway, her face filled with horror and shock, Sara stared at the two of them in disbelief, the shattered tray at her feet.
CHAPTER EIGHT
HAZEL blushed and then paled, tongue-tied and yet desperately wanting to explain, as Sara turned to leave not having spoken a word either.
‘Sara,’ Rafe halted her exit.
She turned stiffly to look at him, disapproval in every line of her body. ‘Yes, sir?’
He sat up in bed, smiling at her formality. ‘I hope you’ll be the first to congratulate us, Sara.’
The housekeeper gave him a sharp look. ‘Congratulate you?’
His arm passed around Hazel’s shoulders as she started to come out of her shock. ‘Hazel and I are going to be married.’
Hazel gulped hard before looking at him, but Rafe wasn’t looking at her; his expression was enigmatic. But she could tell he was perfectly serious, his hold on her was like a steel clamp.
Sara started to thaw a little. ‘So you’re getting married, are you?’ she asked with a sniff.
‘Mm,’ he leant back against the headboard. ‘Although I’m afraid we’ve rather anticipated the wedding night.’
She gave him a scornful look. ‘So I can see.’
Rafe gave Hazel an intimate look. ‘Put it down to heightened emotions. We got carried away by the moment,’ he added. ‘I’m sure you understand.’
‘That’s as maybe, but I hope you make the wedding soon. We wouldn’t want everyone to know how impetuous you’ve been.’
‘How …? Oh, I see,’ Rafe gave a deep laugh. ‘The end of the week, Sara.’
‘The end of the week?’ she gasped.
‘On Saturday.’
Hazel came out of her stupor at that. ‘Oh no, Rafe—’
His fingers bit into her arm painfully. ‘That’s news to Hazel too, I’m afraid,’ he said smoothly. ‘We hadn’t discussed weddings.’
That brought the disapproving look back on to Sara’s face. ‘I’m sure it’s none of my business, Mr Rafe, but I—’
He threw back the bedclothes and stood up to smooth his hair. ‘You’re right, Sara, it isn’t. Hazel and I are getting married on Saturday. We hope you’ll be there.’
‘Well, of course I will. I only—’
‘Good, good. Now if you’ll excuse us …’
‘I have to clear up this mess first.’ Sara went down on her knees and began picking up the broken crockery. ‘I’ll have to shampoo this carpet,’ she mumbled. ‘The coffee and sugar have congealed together.’
Hazel jumped out of the bed, hurrying to Sara’s side. ‘Let me help you,’ she said eagerly.
‘I should put a little more on, my love,’ Rafe said tauntingly. ‘You aren’t exactly dressed to receive visitors.’
She clutched self-consciously at the pyjama top that was far too large for her, reaching down to mid-thigh and gaping open to reveal her breasts. ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ she blushed. ‘I didn’t realise—’
Rafe gave a mocking smile. ‘Do
n’t be sorry on my account, I’m enjoying the view, but it might be less embarrassing for Sara if you went into the bathroom and got yourself dressed.’
Sara stood up, taking in the intimacy of their appearance at a glance, Rafe wearing the pyjama trousers and Hazel clothed only in the matching jacket. ‘I couldn’t be any more embarrassed than I am, Mr Rafe, but I’ll leave anyway. I can clean the carpet later.’
‘Oh, Sara!’ Hazel stopped her exit, her eyes pleading for understanding.
Sara squeezed her hand. ‘It’s all right, Miss Hazel. It’s not the way I would do things, but as long as you’re happy with each other that’s all that matters.’
‘Why did you do that?’ Hazel demanded once she and Rafe were alone. ‘Why tell her we were getting married? It may have alleviated things for now, but think how embarrassing it will be when the wedding doesn’t take place.’
‘Oh, it will take place,’ Rafe told her calmly.
‘I—It will?’
His face twisted harshly and he threw her clothes at her. ‘Get dressed, for God’s sake! Your plan worked, so you can stop acting now.’
‘What are you talking about?’ she faltered.
He threw open his wardrobe and began collecting his clothes together for the day. ‘It was a clever idea, and I fell for it like a fool.’
‘Fell for what?’ She was completely confused.
Rafe scowled, looking thoughtfully into the wardrobe. ‘I suppose I’ll have to make room for your clothes in here,’ he muttered. ‘Bras and things all over the place,’ he added impatiently.
Hazel looked dazed. ‘I don’t understand any of this.’
He turned to give her a scornful look. ‘I said you can forget the acting now,’ he told her harshly. ‘You got your revenge.’
‘I did?’ She sounded surprised.
‘I’m marrying you, aren’t I?’ He sat down on the bed. ‘I underestimated you, angel, you’ve learnt a few things since you’ve been in America. I hope you learnt a little more than how to trap a man into marriage, I hope you learnt how to satisfy him afterwards.’
‘Rafe!’
He shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t have believed you capable of anything this low. I hope you’re prepared to take the consequences once we’re married, because I intend to exercise all my rights as your husband.’
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