Harlequin Historical July 2017, Box Set 2 of 2 by Michelle Willingham

Author:Michelle Willingham
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488021565
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Thick clouds covered the dawn sky as they settled down to catch up on sleep under the overhang. An hour later, the sky burst into a deluge that drummed against the cliffs. Clay lay awake, listening to the sound of pebbles rattling down the slope and worrying about the fault lines in the roof of the cave.

At midday, when they got up, the downpour had passed but a cool mist hung over the hilltops and the paths were slippery with mud. Mr. Hicks barely paused for coffee before grabbing a pickaxe and heading off into the mine.

“You should pan the last of the gravel in the arrastre,” he told Clay before he hurried away. “I don’t want the new ore mixing with the old.”

After extracting a promise from the girl to keep out of the mine, Clay left her in the kitchen, uncertain if he could trust her. She rewarded his faith by appearing at the creek. Without a word she took the water hose from him and directed the stream onto the pulverized ore.

As Clay cranked the handle of the rocker box, he couldn’t prevent his eyes from sliding over the girl’s slender shape. In the cave, while they practiced lighting the fuses, he had put his hands on her to pull her out, and during the blast he had shielded her body with his, but those times had been efficient, businesslike, and he had not allowed his thoughts to dwell on the kiss they had shared.

Now he gave his imagination free rein. He pictured the girl stripped half-naked, bending over the stone by the stream to wash her hair, the way he’d seen her once before. Then recalled the feel of her body beneath his, soft and warm, the way it had been when he lay on top of her by the arrastre pit. What would it be like, to combine those two memories? How would it feel, to press his body against hers without the barrier of clothing separating them?

“Penny for your thoughts,” the girl said.

Clay contemplated her, unsmiling. “They are worth much more than that. They are worth all the gold in the cave.”

“What…?” She flustered and let her voice trail away.

They both knew what she’d been about to ask. What were you thinking? As their gazes collided and held, Clay knew she could read the answer in his eyes, could see the hunger in them, and the hesitation, too.

A slow blush rose from the collar of the girl’s threadbare shirt all the way up to her tattered bowler hat. She started to speak, appeared not to find the words, and chose to remain silent.

“You can take off your hat, you know,” Clay said quietly. “You might like to wash your hair. Mr. Hicks will not come down here. You couldn’t pry him out of that cave with a crowbar.”

He could see the girl’s throat ripple as she swallowed. Her neck was slender and very white. Once again, Clay wondered how he could ever have mistaken her for a boy.

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