Free The Outlaws: Rafe by Connie Mason Page A

when I put myself inside you.   It will be painful for you the first time for you're still a virgin, but it will get better each time we make love."
    "Make love?"   She mulled that over for the space of a heartbeat, then shook her head, "But you don't love me and I don't love you."
    "Men and women don't always have sex because they love one another.   They do it for gratification."
    Angela sat up abruptly and pulled a corner of the bed cover over her.   "I'm not that kind of woman."
    "You liked what I did to you.   We're married, for godsake!"
    "We won't be married for long.   It would be improper to seek enjoyment from a marriage neither of us wanted or intends to honor.   You're running from something, Rafe, and I don't think you need a wife right now."
    "How did you get so astute?" Rafe said, pushing himself to his feet."
      Angela stared at him for a suspenseful moment then averted her eyes, dazzled by the magnificence temptingly displayed before her.   There wasn't an ounce of fat on Rafe's well-honed body.   Sculpted muscles, narrow waist and long sturdy legs.   When he turned away and pulled on his trousers, she wasn't surprised to note that his buttocks appeared as hard and unyielding as his chest.   It was a sight she wouldn't forget any time soon.
      "You're absolutely right," Rafe contended.   "A wife is the last thing I need.   I have nothing to offer a wife.   Not a nickel to my name or a roof over my head.   I'll see you to the Golden Angel, then move on."
    Fully dressed now, he strode toward the door.
    "Where are you going?"
    "Obviously neither of us will get any sleep if I stay here tonight.   I don't trust myself to be alone with you.   Sharing a bed without...I just can't do it.   I'll sleep in the stable behind the hotel."   He picked up his saddlebags and threw them over his shoulder.   "I'll meet you in the dining room at eight tomorrow morning."
    "Rafe.   I'm sorry.   Fate played a dirty trick on us.   In any other scenario we would have never met, much less marry.   I felt the need to save your life, that's all it amounted to.   I don't want there to be any apologies when we part.   If I let you make love to me, there's bound to be regrets on both our parts."
    "Speak for yourself, Angel.   I have no regret about anything that passed between us.   But if you're so determined to remain a virgin, I wish you joy of your empty bed tonight.   Sleep well."
    His expression was shuttered, his eyes so bleak that Angela felt her heart constrict.
    "Rafe, wait!"
    He paused, his hand on the doorknob.
    "I...nothing.   Never mind.   I'll see you in the morning."
    The door opened and closed, then he was gone.   Strangely bereft, Angela felt a lump gathering in her throat.   What in the world was wrong with her?   She wasn't the kind of woman to have a sexual relationship simply for the pleasure of it.   She didn't know what had gotten into her.   She'd allowed Rafe to kiss and caress her, to give her forbidden ecstasy.   Her mother had raised her to know the difference between good and bad, but she never realized bad could feel so good.
    If she thought there was a chance for her and Rafe to have a normal marriage she'd be tempted to let him make love to her.   But unfortunately she saw nothing to indicate she and Rafe had a future together.   More important was the sure knowledge that if she let Rafe love her, her life would never be the same.
     
    Rafe found a an empty stall in the stable and bedded down.   He rolled up in a saddle blanket he found in the stall and rested his head on his saddlebags.   Despite his best effort, sleep eluded him.   His body was sexually aroused, unsatisfied, and still pulsing.   Thinking about Angel did nothing to alleviate his painful condition.   Come to think of it, being as hard as stone had become a natural state since meeting his Angel.
    But she wasn't his Angel, was she?   She might temporarily carry his name but that didn't make her