Page 33 of The New Earl’s Convenient Wife

One of them was her husband.

Having signalled her horse to halt, Juliana froze, the breath catching in her throat.

Warmth filled her as she gazed at the hard, lithe body she knew so well. His booted feet planted wide to maintain his balance, his bare shoulders glistening in the sun, his muscled arms rippled as he bent and straightened, bent and straightened, his knife flashing as he cut off a stem at its base, then rose in a swift motion to toss the cuttings into the stack beside him before bending down again.

His eyes focused on his work, Rafe didn’t notice her approach, so she was able to watch him for some minutes. Desire spiraled in her belly, intensifying her regret that there could be no tryst at the swimming site. Perhaps they might pass a more private grove on ride back…

He looked up then, spied her and smiled. Handing his knife to one of the other workers, he walked over to greet her.

‘You see, I’m earning my leisure this afternoon.’

Pulling her mind from its sensual haze, she said, ‘You’re sure you haven’t done this before? You seem…quite skilled.’

‘As I suspected, my years wielding a sword have proven useful after all. Chopping down with a knife isn’t nearly as tiring as slashing with a heavy saber. Let me grab my shirt and jacket, and we can be off.’

‘Don’t put on your shirt on my behalf,’ she murmured, giving his torso a lingering glance that should leave him no doubt about her appreciation of his body—or her desire to see more.

His eyes darkened, as if he knew she was thinking of trysting. ‘I suppose the field north of the bend in the river is fully cut, Sterling?’ he asked, turning back to the working party.

‘Aye, m’lord. The men finished it just last week. With the land more open to the sun, we should get a good new growth of grass. We’ve already pastured some cows on it,’ he replied before pacing off to answer a question from one of the workmen.

‘More’s the pity,’ Rafe murmured, turning back towards Juliana. ‘I suppose it will have to be fishing after all. Just fishing.’

‘We’ll share a meal, too. Jane has become rather proficient at putting together cold ham, cheese, bread and ale.’

He scanned her body with a hot glance. ‘You know what I’d rather have for lunch…’

The heat spiraling within her intensified. She would have to look very carefully at the groves they passed riding home. Trying to put that imagining out of mind, she said, ‘None of that until later, naughty man.’

‘Later I should like to be very naughty.’

‘Ooh, is that a promise?’ she teased.

‘Count on it.’ Turning towards Sterling, he called out, ‘Will the men finish up the coppicing soon?’

‘In about an hour,’ the supervisor said, walking back to them. ‘But you’ve done your part, though you had no need to! Good luck with fishing.’

‘I like to be useful. I like to know how to do the work of the people who work for me. As I always did in the army.’

‘Which made you a fine officer, I’m sure,’ Sterling said. ‘Enjoy your afternoon, my lord, my lady.’ With a bow, he walked off to rejoin the workers.

To Juliana’s disappointment—once they reached the river, she could have at least played her fingers over his bare back and stomach and tracked the soft hair down his chest until it disappeared in his breeches—Rafe tossed his shirt over his head and shrugged back into his jacket.

‘Ready, my sweet?’

‘More than ready.’ Like a glutton about to be offered a sumptuous meal, she intended to devour every morsel of time alone with him, all too aware of how soon such private afternoons would end.

After giving the groom who’d accompanied her leave to return to the stables, Rafe mounted his gelding and set off with her.

‘Did you gather as many branches as Sterling hoped?’ she asked as the horses trotted along.

‘Yes, we made a fine haul. Sterling will parcel them out to the farms at the eastern edge of Thornthwaite and to the cottages below the sheep crofts. There’s little growing there from which they can fashion thatch of their own.’

She sighed. ‘I am sorry Sterling chose to cut the woods by the river.’

He turned to grin at her. ‘Thereby limiting our activities?’

‘There will be no swimming together naked, alas. Though you look warm enough to enjoy a dip in the river. You could swim by yourself, if you like. While I sit on the bank and…admire.’