Page 252 of Historical Hotties
Caledonia was shaking her head before he finished getting the words out of his mouth. “You are not clumsy,” she said, turning to him. “I am. Clumsy and disoriented and overwhelmed. I’ve spent so much of the past ten years alone, without any comfort or support, that when I am show such regard—as your sister has, as you have—I feel as if this entiresituation is unreal. How can any of this be real? Am I lying in a stupor at Gomorrah, dreaming all of this? I fear that I am.”
He shook his head. “If you are, then I am dreaming right along with you and my mother would box my ears if I went to Gomorrah for entertainment,” he said, watching her smile weakly. “Therefore, the answer is nay—you are not dreaming. This is real.”
“And you are always this kind?”
He fought off a smirk. “Not always,” he said. “But for you, I will make an exception. But while we are on the subject of Gomorrah, what were you telling my sister about a nude dancing man?”
Caledonia snorted softly and wiped the tears from her face. “Yesterday, when you came to Gomorrah with your men, I had been watching a young man with fine muscles dance for me,” she said, watching him frown in disapproval. “Have no fear; I never touched him, or any of them, and they never touched me. I did not go to Gomorrah for the touch of a man. I went because there was always something to drink or eat or smoke to inhale that changed my reality. It took me away from this life I live and, for a brief moment, made me forget. That is all.”
He could understand that. “And I do not judge you for it,” he said. “But I want to make it clear that from this day forward, I do not want you to go to Gomorrah. If it is adventure you seek, I will give it to you. If it is excitement, I will provide it. I will provide whatever you desire, my lady. But I do not want you returning to Gomorrah again. Please.”
He spoke the last word as sort of a plea, one Caledonia took seriously. He didn’t order her not to go. He was asking, and because he asked, she would comply. She’d told him she didn’t want another marriage like the one she had with Robert—and based on her experience with him so far, she didn’t think Thor would be another Robert. Perhaps he would provide somethingsolid and meaningful, something she wouldn’t have to fill with hazy days at Gomorrah just to forget her terrible life.
She was willing to take that chance.
“As you wish,” she said.
He smiled faintly. “Thank you,” he said. “And I hope that if something is troubling you, you will tell me. I have never been very good at guessing women’s thoughts, so you would be doing a me a great favor if you simply tell me what you are thinking or feeling.”
She cocked her head, looking at him seriously. “Do you mean that?”
“I never say anything I do not mean.”
She lifted her eyebrows, baffled by his request and subsequent answer. “Forgive me for asking, but are youalwaysthis understanding?”
He chuckled at her bewilderment. “I have two sisters and a mother, women who are greatly revered in my family,” he said. “I also have three aunts and a variety of female cousins, so I have grown up with women. My father always impressed upon my brothers and me that women were to be treated carefully and kindly. I also have a grandmother who would thump me on the head if she felt I was being rude, and I do not like to be thumped on the head.”
She smiled because he was. “I will not thump you on the head,” she said. “But I will tell you that I grew up with men who cared nothing for what I felt or thought. My brother was a little different, however. He was kinder to me than most. Losing him was quite devastating, to be honest. Constantine’s death changed everything in my life. There were days when I both wept for him and cursed him. So… if I ever seem overwhelmed or confused by a kindness, know that I will try to become accustomed to it. It has simply been a long time since I have experienced it from those close to me.”
“I will become easier with time,” he said. “When you realize that you will be a true wife to me, and that I will do my best to be a good husband, you will learn to trust me. We will build that trust together.”
She took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders with summoned confidence. “I hope so.”
“Will you tell me something?”
“If I can.”
“Why did you cry and leave the hall? Was it something I said?”
She nodded. “It was, but not in the way you think,” she said. “You cannot know the times I have prayed for the guardian of my children to drop dead or go away and never return. I had resigned myself to her outliving all of us. But what you said… sending her away… Those are words I have only heard in my dreams.”
He could see how emotional she was about it. Lifting her hand, he kissed it. “Then may all of your dreams become reality,” he said softly. “I will admit that I am somewhat surprised that we have come to an agreement so quickly. Given the fact that we were both opposed to this marriage at the first, I thought we would be in for more difficulty.”
Caledonia had never had anyone kiss her hand like that. She could feel his hot breath against her flesh and her heart was beating furiously. It was difficult to breathe much less keep a coherent thought in her head, but she understood what he was saying. Truth be told, she was a little surprised, too.
“You mean that you thought I would give you more trouble,” she said. “Mayhap I had planned to, but you are convincing when you want to be, Blue.”
He shook his head at her nickname for him. “Blue?” he repeated. “You could not come up with something more original than that?”
She started to laugh. “What, for example?”
He shrugged as he lowered her hand. “Who knows?” he said. “Handsome? Hercules? Dolt? I have an uncle who is addressed as Bull. That is manly enough.”
She laughed softly. “Let us not forgetEl Martillo.”
He pointed a finger at her. “Exactly,” he said. “Why can you not call me the Hammer?”
“Hammerhead?”
