Free Microsoft Word - Document1 by nikka Page B

of the flight
    hanging on to her as she struggled to get away.
    Rafe took a long breath.
    “Look,” he said, “I’m sorry I frightened you. I never—I mean, I had no idea…The thing is, I got
    angry. And…” And what? None of that excused what he’d done. Truth time, he thought, and
    drew another breath. “Here’s the deal, okay? I thought you had been stringing me along. And—”
    “Hah!”
    “Hah?”
    “Why would I string you along,” she panted, “when I would like to string you up?”
    How could he want to laugh at a time like this? He couldn’t, not without enraging his wildcat
    even more. Instead he cleared his throat.
    “I thought you were part of the plan. You know, to convince me to marry you.” Her face
    registered incredulity, but they were getting somewhere: she had stopped struggling, at least for
    the moment. “Okay,” he said carefully, “I’m going to let go of you. Then I’m going to stand up.”
    His eyes drifted down; he’d all but forgotten her dress was torn in half, showing all that
    schoolgirl lingerie.
    Showing the small but somehow lush breasts, the narrow waist, the flaring hips…
    Rafe forced his gaze back to her face. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.
    “I’ll stand up, and then I’ll get your suitcase so you can change clothes. Okay?”
    Chiara glared at him. “I was not part of any plan,” she said with icy precision.
    “You want something to wear or not?”
    He could see her weighing the offer. At last she nodded.
    “Good. Fine.” Slowly he took his hands from her. She scrambled back as he rose to his feet. She
    looked like hell, not just the torn dress, but her face was devoid of color, her eyes huge and dark.
    And he was the cause.
    He, the idiot who’d said yes to marriage to save her, had done this.
    “Be right back,” he said briskly, striding from the lounge as if shredding a woman’s clothes and
    scaring the life half out of her were just everyday occurrences.
    He didn’t see her suitcase. Just as well. It was probably overflowing with black dresses and he’d
    seen enough of them to last a lifetime. He grabbed his carry-on bag, headed back to the lounge…
    And paused.
    Chiara was exactly where he’d left her, clutching the torn dress together at her breasts. The only
    difference was in her posture. She sat with her head down, her hair tumbling around her face.
    The fight had gone out of her; she looked small and vulnerable. Mostly she looked defeated, just
    as she had in her father’s house.
    It killed him to see it.
    She was shaking. With fear? No, Rafe thought, not this time. He dropped the carry-on bag and
    hurried to her. She was hovering on the brink of shock. Adrenaline spiked, then dropped, and this
    was the price you paid.
    “Chiara,” he said, when he reached her.
    She looked up. He could hear her teeth chattering. He cursed softly, went down on his knees and
    gathered her into his arms.
    She balked. He’d expected it and at the first jerk of her muscles, he drew her even closer against
    him, whispering her name, stroking one big hand gently up and down her back. Gradually he felt
    her body begin to still.
    “That’s it,” he said softly, his mouth against her temple, his hand still soothing her, and at last
    she gave a shuddering sigh and leaned into him.
    Rafe closed his eyes.
    Her face was against his throat. Her lips were slightly parted. He could feel the delicate whisper
    of her breath, the warmth of it on his skin.
    His arms tightened around her. He drew her from the sofa onto her knees. He felt her hands
    against his chest, one palm flat against his heart.
    She was so small. So delicate. He could feel the fragility of her bones and he thought of the time
    a migrating songbird had flown into one of the windows that lined the terrace of his penthouse. It
    had been a windy day; when he heard the soft thud of something hitting the glass, he’d thought it
    must be a chair cushion, but when he went outside, he found the bird,