Page 68 of Redemption

Gently, Rhea pushed Peter deeper into the house as Arianna kept her arm wrapped around him. Percy followed and closed the front door behind them. Arianna raised her eyebrows at the sight of him, but simply nodded her head as she quietly greeted Percy.

“Arianna would you mind looking after Peter while I tend to Percy’s arm.” Her sister’s gaze jerked toward Percy’s arm, and her eyes widened with surprise. When her sister’s gaze jerked back to her, Arianna gasped in horror. Startled, Rhea met her sister’s shocked gaze and arched her eyebrows.

“What?”

“Your jaw.” Arianna stared at her in horror and Rhea reached up to touch her face. She winced then shrugged slightly.

“It’s nothing.” At her careless reply, Percy quickly moved to her side and turned her to look down at her. His eyes narrowed before a look of raw fury hardened his expression.

“Did Edgar do this?” The note of dark fury in his voice told her that her jaw had to be far more bruised than it felt. At Percy’s question, Arianna gasp and Rhea quickly looked at her sister.

“You mean Ruckley’s Edgar?”

“He was troubling a young girl.” Rhea said quietly as she met her sister’s eyes.

Pain darkened Arianna’s gaze as she acknowledged the reason why Rhea had interfered. Deliberately changing the subject, Rhea motioned for her sister to take Peter upstairs. Arianna gently pulled Peter away from Rhea and Percy to guide him upstairs with the promise of a soft bed, a hot meal, and a warm bath.

The child responded positively until the mention of a bath. He protested, but Arianna made it quite clear that a bath would be unavoidable. A quiet chuckle made Rhea glance over her shoulder to see amusement lighting Percy’s face as he watched Peter climbing the stairs. Their eyes met, and Percy’s amusement disappeared as he frowned at her once more. Before he could say a word, she nodded toward the salon.

“Wait for me in the parlor. I need to find needle and thread for that cut.”

She didn’t wait to see if he would comply, but hurried to the kitchen to secure the items she needed to tend to Percy’s injury. When she returned to the salon several minutes later, Rhea halted just inside the salon door at the sight of Percy sitting on the couch bared to the waist. His head tipped to one side, he was examining the wound on his shoulder. He took her breath away.

The pounding of her heart echoed so loudly in her ears, she was surprised he couldn’t hear it. Swallowing hard, she used her hip to close the door behind her. At the sound, Percy looked up and watched her approach. She set down the bandages and lavender cream along with the bowl of hot water. Avoiding his gaze, she turned to examine his shoulder. A sigh of relief broke from her lips as she finished her examination and shook her head slightly.

“It’s not too deep and once it’s stitched up it will heal nicely,” she murmured. In response he grunted something incoherent.

Unwilling to engage in conversation, Rhea quickly set about tending to the gash. Carefully cleaning the wound, she removed the dried blood then reached for the lavender cream. As gently as she could, she applied the natural analgesic to the skin around the long cut. When she’d threaded the needle that looked like a fishhook, she met his gaze.

“This is going to be uncomfortable. The lavender poultice only numbs the area so much.”

“I’ll survive,” he muttered.

Rhea nodded and proceeded to pinch the gash closed with her fingers. The first stitch caused Percy to suck in a sharp breath. She glanced up at him then back down at her task.

“Breathe through your mouth,” she said quietly. “For some reason it makes it easier.”

“I’m fine,” he growled softly.

“Of course you are,” she said with blatant sarcasm and she pushed the needle through his skin again.

“Hell fire and damnation,” he bit out between clenched teeth.

“I’m sorry.” At her contrite apology, a strong hand gently brushed across her cheek. A tremor rippled through her, and she didn’t move for a moment concerned her trembling could cause him unnecessary discomfort.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” he said in a voice that wrapped around her like a sinfully warm blanket.

“Yes,” she choked out as his fingers tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. The gentle touch made her feel treasured somehow. “It means you’re going to be sore for a couple of days.”

“No, it means I have to ensure you’re always with me anytime I get cut.” His remark made her stiffen, and she raised her head to look at him. He quirked an eyebrow at her, and the warmth in his gaze made her swallow hard. She quickly ducked her head and continued the task of sewing up his wound.

“Rhea—”

“What exactly did Ruckley do in your vision?” she asked breathlessly, worried that he had been about to broach a subject she didn’t want to discuss. Percy frowned.

“I didn’t say Ruckley did anything,” he said in a tight voice.

“You didn’t have to, Percy,” she said softly as she pulled thread through his flesh and he grunted. “But don’t you think it would help if you told me what you saw?”

“No.” The harsh rejection made her flinch and she looked up at him. His handsome features could have been carved in stone, and his mouth was thin with tension.

“Whatever you saw must have been disturbing or you wouldn’t look so formidable.” She pulled the last suture through his skin, knotted it and snapped off the remaining thread with her teeth. She dropped the needle onto the table and reached for the bandages.

“Leave it be, Rhea.”

“When it comes to Ruckley, I can no more let it be, any more than you can.”

“Why do you have to be so damn obstinate?” Percy tugged her into his side with his good arm. The unexpected movement caused the bandages to fall out of her hand, and before she could speak, he kissed her hard. Instantly she melted into him. Hands pressed against the hard muscles of his chest, she sighed as his mouth left hers to lightly brush across her tender jaw.

“Marry me,” he said gruffly in her ear.

Despite the expectation that he would offer for her, his proposal still caught her by surprise. She immediately tried to retreat, but he kissed her again. This time his mouth lingered and teased hers into an eager submission. The warm male scent of him filled her senses until all she wanted was for him to hold her like this forever.

It was a dangerous thought, and as he lifted his head to look into her eyes, panic spiraled through her. Although she’d anticipated his proposal, Rhea hadn’t been prepared for her reaction. Never had she dreamed it would take every bit of will power she possessed not to fling her arms around his neck and say yes. Her heart beating frantically in her chest, she realized she was on a precipice about to fall into the abyss.

Fear washing over her, she pushed herself away from the edge of the cliff. She couldn’t afford to give way to her emotions. She needed to rely on cold reason to save herself from doing the unthinkable. She’d already given up a piece of her heart to Percy. The prospect of giving up everything to him was terrifying.