Page 22 of Yesterday's Scars

He turned to give her a scornful look. 'I said you can forget the acting now,' he told her harshly. 'You got your revenge.'

'I did?' She sounded surprised.

'I'm marrying you, aren't I?' He sat down on the bed. 'I underestimated you, angel, you've learnt a few things since you've been in America. I hope you learnt a little more than how to trap a man into marriage, I hope you learnt how to satisfy him afterwards.'

'Rafe!'

He shook his head. 'I wouldn't have believed you capable of anything this low. I hope you're prepared to take the consequences once we're married, because I intend to exercise all my rights as your husband.'

She knelt in front of him, her hands on his thighs. 'We can't get married, Rafe, not like this!'

He pushed her hands away. 'You've made it impossible for us to do anything else.

'I have?' She looked up at him as he strolled into the bathroom.

'Well, that was the general idea, wasn't it? I'd told you that there was no way you would get me to marry you. You came to my room with the intention of reaching exacdy this end.'

Hazel marched angrily into the bathroom, facing him in the mirror. ‘I wasn't the one who invited you into bed, it was the other way round!'

'But you didn't still have to be here this morning:, you could have gone quietly back to your room before anyone discovered us. But oh no, that wouldn't have benefited you in any way,' he said bitterly. 'Well, don't think I'm going to make this marriage easy for you— you've trapped me into this and I'll make your life hell.'

'Rafe, please listen to me. I------'

He turned hex roughly and pushed her out of the bathroom. 'I'm through listening to you, you listen to me for a change. You may not necessarily have planned for this to go as far as marriage, maybe you just wanted me to sweat a little, to disgrace me in front of the staff, but nothing less than marriage would satisfy Sara in the circumstances. But you knew that, you even asked me once how I thought she would react to finding us together. Well, now you know. She's almost as much a part of this family as you are, and I won't have her hurt.'

'What about me?' she demanded.

'You've made your bed and now you can lie in it— literally,' he said coldheartedly. 'Because you will be in my bed, Hazel, so you'd better rid yourself of this aversion you have to my scars. Once you're my wife you'll occupy my bed night and day if I want you to.'

'This is wrong, Rafe,' she protested. 'You're marrying me for all the wrong reasons!'

'I wouldn't be marrying you at all if I hadn't been forced into it,' he told her brutally. 'Now leave me to get dressed, I have work to do.'

'You can't work today, you collapsed yesterday.'

'So? That was yesterday, today I'm fine.'

'I'm sure Dr Byne wouldn't------'

'Let's leave David out of it,' he interrupted. 'And while you're at it you can forget every other man you ever knew. You'll be my wife and you'll be faithful to only me.’

'And you, will you be faithful?'

'As long as you prove entertaining enough.' Rafe closed the bathroom door in her face.

Hazel stared dazedly at the closed door, until anger took over. Just who did he think he was? If she proved entertaining enough indeed! She dressed in jerky angry movements, her thoughts not pleasant. If Rafe wanted entertainment from her he would get it, but not in the way he meant.

He might think marriage was her revenge, but he would soon learn that she hadn't even started yet. He was expecting this marriage to be a real one and until their wedding night she wouldn't disillusion him. But then he would learn—oh yes, he would learn!

With her new resolve she was able to go back to her bedroom to shower and change before going down to breakfast. She could hear the sound of raised voices from the dining-room as she approached the door.

Sara came hurrying out of the room. 'I shouldn't go in there just yet,' she warned. 'Miss Celia has just found out about the wedding.'

'Oh!'

'Mm,' Sara grimaced. 'And she isn't too happy about it.'

Hazel thought that was the understatement of the year. 'I didn't think she would be.' Not after her warning of the other night. She braced herself for the onslaught. 'Oh well, I have to face her some time.'

Sara put a restraining hand on her arm. Tm not sure now is the right time. Miss Celia has never been one to mince her words, and right now she's furious.'

Hazel made a face, but her determination wasn't lessened. 'I have to go in, Sara,'

The housekeeper shrugged. 'All right, but don't say I didn't warn you.'

Hazel took a deep breath and entered the dining-room, standing in the doorway unobserved for several minutes.

Celia's face was scarlet with rage. ‘If you had to sleep with the girl couldn't you at least have made sure the servants didn't find out?' she was demanding angrily of Rafe. 'Taken her to a hotel or something? Or used that cabin of hers, as you did once before,' she sneered.

'How the------'

'Ah, here she is now,' Celia scorned, spotting Hazel standing over by the door. 'Come in, Hazel, you might as well join in the conversation—after all, you're the main topic'

'Celia!' her brother snapped. 'Just drop the subject. Hazel and I are getting married and that's all there is to say on the subject.'

'All! All?' Celia echoed shrilly. That isn't all by a long way. She's tricked you, Rafe, made a fool of you with this desire you feel for her. But how long will that last?' She looked Hazel up and down contemptuously. 'How long before you realise you're just another scalp to add to her belt? You don't think you're her first lover, do you?' She gave a harsh laugh. 'You're just one of many!'

'But I was her first lover, Celia,' Rafe said quietly. 'I know that for a fact.'

'And how many do you think she's had since then? Have you seen that gold and onyx brush and comb set in her bedroom? Well, she told me they were a goodbye present. Like hell they were!’

'But they were,' Hazel spoke for the first time.

'From a man?' Celia persisted.

Hazel blushed, remembering her pleasure when Josh had given her the present. ‘Yes, they were from a man, but I------'

'You see?' Celia pounced on her admission. 'She's nothing but a paid whore!'

Rafe's fingermarks stood out lividly on her cheek, the cold anger in his eyes silencing her as nothing else could have done. 'Don't ever say anything like that about her again, do you understand?'

Celia held her throbbing cheek, hatred in her eyes. 'But she------'

'Do you understand, Celia?' he softly repeated the question.

'Yes,' she said through gritted teeth. 'I understand that you care more for her skinny body than you do for your self-respect.'

Rafe gave a cruel smile. 'I still have my self-respect —and incidentally, her body is not skinny.'

'You're disgusting, both of you! If you marry her I won't stay in this house a moment longer,' Celia threatened.

He turned away, shrugging. 'Please yourself. The wedding goes ahead as planned.'

'I mean it, Rafe.'

'So do I.' He sat down and began drinking his coffee.

Celia gave him one last furious look before turning on her heel. She stopped with her hand on the doorknob. 'As I said the first night she came home, you two deserve each other.'

Hazel took a step towards her. 'Try to understand, Celia. We------'

Celia's eyes spat her hatred. 'Oh, I understand! You had this planned from the start—you've always wanted to be mistress of Savage House.' She gave a harsh laugh. 'Well, now you're going to be. A pity you have to marry a scarred cripple to get it!'

Hazel shook with a violent rage, her hands trembling at her sides. 'Get out of here. Get out of here!'

'I intend to, and I never want to come back.'

'You won't ever be allowed to if I have anything to do with it,' Hazel told her tightly.

'And you'll have everything to do with it, won't you, Hazel? A middle-aged man infatuated with a girl almost half his age! I wonder how long it will last,' Celia finished spitefully as she left the room.

Hazel turned quickly to look at Rafe, noting the greyness beneath his tan, the bleak look in his eyes. She rushed to his side, cradling his head to her breasts. 'Don't, Rafe, don't!' she pleaded. 'She didn't mean half what she said.'

He pushed her away from him. 'She meant every word of it,' he snapped. 'It's funny to think that's the opinion my own sister has of me.'

She could feel his pain, feel the deep excruciating pain he would never admit to her. 'No, Rafe, no! She------'

'A scarred cripple,' he repeated tonelessly.

'Oh, Rafe, please------'

'But that's what I am, Hazel, we both know that.' He gave a cruel smile. 'Is the revenge worth being labelled the wife of a scarred cripple?'

He kept saying those two words as if he enjoyed torturing himself with them, and her heart bled for him. To be called that by his own sister must be unbearable for him, and yet he hid his hurt behind a cruel mask, behind his sarcasm to her. And she would take it too if it lessened his pain.

'It's worth it,' she said quietly. She would suffer anything to marry the man she loved.

'I see. The onyx brush and comb set, who did you get them from?'

'They were a goodbye present------'

'Who from, Hazel?' the steely inflexibility in his voice demanded an answer.

'Just a man. He------'

'Who?' he interrupted again.

'Josh,' she admitted reluctantly.

'Josh Richardson?'

She nodded miserably. 'Yes.'

'Throw them away,' he ordered coldly.

She looked horrified. 'Oh no, Rafe! They're beautiful and I-------'

'Get rid of them. And while you're at it you can throw out any other little baubles your—boy-friends may have given you. I won't have my wife keeping gifts from her lovers,' he added stonily.

'Oh, Rafe, it wasn't like that! Josh was a friend.'

'So much of a friend that you admitted he could be the father of your baby if you were pregnant!'

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