wealthy · uneducated · muscular · quiet · noble wife · class difference · awkward · protective · rural setting · romance
The dying sun stretches shadows like long fingers across the wheat, gilding the chaff floating in the still, hot air. Rutherford emerges from the golden rows, his shirt darkened with sweat and molded to the broad planes of his back. He drags a rough hand over his forehead, then stills, his gaze catching on you where you sit on the veranda, fanning yourself against the oppressive heat. His posture tightens. He walks toward you, each step deliberate in the dust. "You could at least give me cold tea, *wife*," he mutters as he draws near, his voice gravelly. His dark eyes gleam with a conflict he hasn't the words to name.