Redeeming-Love-By-Francine-Rivers

R E D E E M I N G L O V E
mind instead. She pulled his head down and kissed him. Michael dug his
fingers into her hair and kissed her back.
She used what she knew to wage war against him. She didn’t know anything
about building fires or cooking stew, but she knew all about this.
He disentangled himself, gripping her shoulders. “You’re so relentless,”
he said, unwilling to surrender.
Angel stared up at him and saw he wasn’t fooled. He knew exactly what
she was doing and why. She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. “It
doesn’t have to be the way you know.”
“Let go of me!” She struggled frantically. Michael saw she was hurting
herself and released her. She stepped well away from him.
“Did all that make you feel any better?”
“Yes!” she hissed, lying through her teeth.
“God help me.”
She had wanted him to feel more than physical discomfort. She had
wanted to annihilate him. She wanted to see him squirm like a worm on a
hook. She plunked herself down in the willow chair, her neck stiff, and
stared straight ahead.
Michael looked at her bleakly. Her silence screamed profanity at him. She
thought she had lost, but did she think he had won? He went outside. Does
this woman have a compromising bone in her body, Lord? Or is this what I’ve got
to look forward to for the rest of my life!? Jesus, she doesn’t fight fair.
She’s fighting you the only way she knows how.
Michael went down to the creek and knelt, splashing cold water on his
face. He stayed on his knees for a long time. Then he went to the barn for
the metal washtub.
When he came in, Angel kept her back to him. He set the tub before the
fire. She looked from it to him and away again, saying nothing. Had she
made him feel dirty? Did he need a bath now to wash her off? He spent the
next hour toting water from the well and heating it in the big black pot
hanging over the fire. He tossed a bar of soap into the water.
“I’m going for a walk,” he said and left.
Surprised, she went to the door and opened it. He kept on going until
she lost sight of him in the trees. Frowning, she closed the door. She took off
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