Free The Handfasting by Jenna Stone

face.  Emma had been
a Godsend to him since his return.
    “Hi,”
he said softly as he sheathed his claymore.
    “I
brought you something to eat,” Emma said, thrusting the basket at him.  She was
not used to being nervous around Gavin, and this new twist in their
relationship made her feel awkward.  She was still trying to figure out where
she stood with him.  They were handfasted, and yet they did not know each other
at all.  She was so attracted to him, for he physically looked just the same as
she had remembered.  He still looked like her beautiful, precious husband, and
yet it was not proper for her to touch him because he was now more like a
stranger.  They were testing each other, searching each other almost as if they
had met for the first time.
    “Thank
ye,” Gavin said as he reached out and took the basket.  His thumb brushed
against the soft skin of Emma’s hand.  “Will ye join me?” he asked casually as
he spread his plaid out in the grass.
    “Sure,”
Emma said.  She sat on the plaid across from him.  Her heart fluttered in her
chest, beating an erratic rhythm.  She needed something to do with her hands,
something that would calm her nerves.  She took the hem of her gown and worked
it between her fingers, studying the tiny stitches in an effort to calm her
nerves.
    “That
bad is it?” Gavin said coolly as he watched her.
    “What? 
No!  I mean…it’s not you, it’s just that I’m…” she trailed off as color flushed
her face.
    “Nervous?”
he asked.
    Emma
nodded.  “Nervous,” she agreed.  “I don’t know how to act around you,” she
confessed, her eyes looking boldly into his.
    “Just
act like yerself,” he offered, smiling that lop-sided smile that she loved so
much.  “I’m sure that is who I fell in love with in the first place,” he added.
    Emma
nodded, and tried her best to relax.  He was right.  She needed to act like
herself.  He had fallen in love with her once, what was to say that he couldn’t
fall in love with her again?  The thought brought a smile to her face.
    “What
are ye smiling about?” Gavin asked as he rummaged through the basket.  He
pulled out a jug of ale and some meat that was sandwiched between two slices of
bread.
    “I
was just thinking about you,” Emma confessed.  “That’s exactly what you would
say…just be myself.  And you’re right.  All I can do is be myself and hope that
you…”she trailed off again, afraid to say what she was thinking.
    “And
hope that I what?” he insisted, not letting her drop the topic.
    Emma
exhaled slowly.  “And hope that you fall in love with me again,” she said
softly.  She was afraid to look at him, hoping earnestly that he wouldn’t
rebuff her.
    “Emma,”
Gavin said huskily.  He waited for her eyes to meet his, but they would not. 
“Look at me, Emma,” he demanded.
    Emma’s
eyes fluttered up and met his. 
    Gavin
swallowed hard as he looked at the beautiful woman who sat before him on his
plaid.  Her knees were curled delicately beneath her, and her long blonde hair
rustled in the faint breeze.  Emma was breathtaking.  She was also his wife,
and it pained him to see her forlorn look.  The sadness that resided deep
within her eyes troubled him, and he knew that Emma was working hard to be
patient with him.  He wanted so badly to remember the life that he had shared
with her.  He wanted to remember how they had fallen in love, how he had been
the man that claimed her heart. 
    Gavin
wondered how he had ever been so lucky as to win Emma’s affection. He had
noticed how the other Mackinnon men watched her.  She seemed unaware of her allure. 
She carried herself confidently, but Gavin was sure that she had no idea of her
quiet grace and her irresistible beauty. Gavin was sure that every man in the
clan had noticed her.  Hell, their desire for her played openly across their
faces.  He would need to do something about that.  Somewhere deep inside, he
knew that Emma