Page 257 of Historical Hotties
For Nicola and Darius, it was the best night of their lives.
*
“What did yousay?”
“I said it has been one of the best nights of my life.”
Caledonia stared at Thor a moment before breaking into a grin. “I thought that was what you said,” she said. “I suppose I had to hear it twice to believe it.”
“Why?”
They had reached Thor’s chamber, the one with the windows that overlooked part of Westminster’s outer bailey, and Thor was in the process of lowering the oilcloth blinds that would keep out the light and dust and weather as Caledonia stood awkwardly near the end of the bed.
“Because you speak of our wedding night,” she said. “It is true that tonight has been quite pleasant. Surprisingly so. But my only experience with a wedding night, with Robert, was hellish. It is difficult for me to think of any night that has to do with a wedding as a wonderful thing.”
Thor smoothed down the end of the oilcloth he was working on. “Given how de Tosni treated you, I can only imagine how bad it was,” he said. “If you wish to tell me, that is your choice. I will not force you to.”
She lowered her gaze. “I feel as if all I do is complain and tell you horrible things, but the reality is that everything I tell you is the truth.”
“Then what is the truth about your wedding night with de Tosni, if only so I do not make the same mistake?”
She drew in a long, pensive breath. “You will not,” she said. “But the truth is that my father sold me to Robert. I was a bride for a price.”
Thor secured the bottom of one of the oilcloths to the nail on the windowsill. “Hesoldyou?”
She nodded. “De Tosni had been married before,” she said. “His wife died and he had two daughters, who also died, so he offered my father a high price for me—and my father, beinggreedy, accepted. Instead of Father paying Robert a dowry, Robert paid a groom’s dowry that went straight into my father’s coffers. On our wedding night, Robert got drunk and wanted a son so badly that he insisted the priest who married us pray over us as we consummated the marriage. I lay on my back as my husband forced himself upon me, and all the while a priest stood over us and prayed that I would conceive a son. Our eldest daughter was born exactly nine months later.”
Thor was looking at her in horror. After a moment, he shook his head in disgust. “God’s Bones,” he muttered. “I am so very sorry that happened to you, Caledonia. You did not deserve that.”
There was something vindicating in his sympathy, something that made her feel comfortable in telling him the horrors of what she’d experienced. She’d never really spoken of them to anyone, and Thor was so easy to talk to that it simply came out whether or not she wanted it to.
“That is not the worst of it,” she said, trying not to feel ashamed. “My husband bedded me six times during our marriage, and each time, he had the priest come and pray over us. Every single time. Once I conceived, he would not touch me again until he wanted another child.”
Thor grunted in revulsion. The more he heard about Caledonia’s life, the more pity he felt for her. He was a man with a heart, something he’d struggled with as a mercenary those years ago because mercenaries were men who were, by definition, heartless in most cases. They were only in it for the money. It was true that Thor had been driven by coin because, as a second son, he had to earn his way in life, but he struggled with the unconscionable things that mercenaries sometimes did. He endured it for a few years before he finally came home, eager to return to a position that was more honorable than fighting for money and not faith or loyalty. But even in all of thesituations he’d experienced in his life, some good and some bad, Caledonia’s tales of woe were difficult to hear.
The demons she had went deeper than he’d thought.
“I am glad that you feel you can tell me these things,” he said after a moment. “I cannot imagine it is easy for you to remember them, much less speak of them. You honor me.”
She looked at him. “I tell you because I think you should know,” she said. “We are married and you should know that right now… What we are about to do… I am so terrified that I want to run. It is taking a great deal for me not to.”
He went to her, reaching out to take her hand. “You have been, since I have met you, one of the most courageous people I have ever known,” he said. “You are fearless as few people are. You speak of horrors from your past without breaking down and screaming about them, and I cannot imagine how much control that takes. But I want to promise you that although we must consummate this marriage, I will make sure you are comfortable with it.”
She looked at him, contemplating his words. They were strong and sincere. “Are youtrulythis kind?” she finally asked.
He laughed softly. “You have asked me that before,” he said. “Would you prefer I push you around and shout at you?”
She grinned. “Not particularly, but I keep waiting for you to lose your temper or do something unsaintly,” she said. “Truly, you are too good to be true. You are an angel. Mayhap I should call you that instead of Blue.”
“I’m no angel,” he assured her. “Remember—I was a mercenary. I kill on command. And a host of other unsavory things I will not discuss.”
“But you will not have a priest stand over us tonight when we… as we…?”
He shook his head so she didn’t have to finish. “I’d throw him out the window if he tried,” he said. “What we do tonight should only be between the two of us. We do not need an audience.”
That seemed to give her comfort. At least she was convinced that this wouldn’t become a spectacle. She looked at the chamber, at the dresses that were still lying on the bed where Nicola had left them, at shifts and shoes and other things that were lying about.
“Then I suppose I should pick up these things your sister brought so we can clear the bed,” she said, moving to collect the yellow and blue and red garments. “I like her, by the way.”
