Relic - Jaid Black Page 0,26
accepted. Octavia and him had to share his dagger so they could both eat.
“Thank you again for this beautiful dress,” Octavia said with all sincerity to Lady Iohanna. It truly was a huge gift for this time period—and beyond gorgeous. The blue and gold gown fell to the floor, but was form-fitting. A gold chain dangled from her hips and little blue shoes completed the ensemble. She left her hair loose, unplaited, honey-brown curls cascading down to the middle of her back. “I adore it.”
“You are most welcome. I am humbled that the laird chose to wed with you here. I have three more dresses I’ve instructed my maids to put into a valise for you.”
“I couldn’t—”
“’Tis an honor,” Lady Iohanna insisted. She held up a hand before Octavia could say another word. “The dresses belonged to my daughter afore she died. ‘Tis meant for you to have them and make use of them else you wouldn’t be the exact same size.”
Octavia couldn’t say no to that. It was too kind of a gesture. And she really did need clothing that fit in with who she was supposed to be. “Thank you so much. I will treasure them forever.”
She and Angus had briefly discussed Octavia’s bizarre situation and decided to go with most of the story she had crafted. She was a Roman noblewoman on the run from an evil knight who sought to wed with her. While fleeing, though, she was captured by the English in the Lowlands who Laird Karrik had freed her from and wed himself. Angus had even sent two of his men to ride out before their party so they could give the news to the clan before their arrival. He had told her it would take the two riders no longer than two additional days at the pace they’d be keeping. Their party, on the other hand, would probably take four days—a fact she could blame herself for because of Niall’s injury.
They had time for the wedding, time for a wedding breakfast, but no time or privacy for some good old fashioned consummation. As Octavia climbed up onto Angus’ mount, she whispered, “I put a ring on it.”
He flashed her a grin. “Aye, you did. Dinna worry, wife. You will get what you’re wanting soon enough.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so.”
“What is your definition of ‘soon enough’?”
“I’ve wed a wanton.”
“Uh huh.”
He laughed. “When we arrive home.”
“Four days?”
“Don’t make me think aboot it,” he whispered down to her. “I dinna wish to make you too tender to keep up the pace we’ve set. If I take you afore we arrive home, ‘twill force us to slow down to accommodate your tenderness.”
She recalled the length and girth of his manhood. Whether he thought her a virgin or not—and she highly suspected not—he was no doubt correct that his size would leave her sore. Octavia hated to admit it, but Angus was, as usual, correct. She’d have to wait. She’d carry a serious case of female blue balls in the interim, but she’d wait.
“’Twill be a hardship for me as well,” Angus said as if reading her thoughts. “Dinna worry, wife. You will have more sex than you know what to do with the soonest.”
Wife. She was Angus’ wife. As their party took off, a bemused expression settled on her face. She had never thought to be any man’s wife before the alien invasion and after it, well, she had never thought to end up as anything more than food. But this… this felt right. It was the first time she’d ever felt completely like a woman in the presence of a man. And this was but day number four.
He didn’t want to change her—not anything about her. That thought struck her with staggering intensity. She turned it over in her mind for the better part of the next hour, analyzing and reanalyzing it.
Men in her time had been intimidated by her; the medieval warlord was not. He found her bravery commendable rather than a stain on her morality. He, this living relic, had been able to accept Octavia in her entirety whereas men of her time had not.
It was no wonder he’d gotten under her skin so quickly and so thoroughly. He had done the impossible. Laird Angus Karrik had said “I do” to both the woman and the warrior within her.
He would be an easy man to come to love. Hell, she was half there already. It might have only been four days, but they were