Giving her space
1284 Words
*Callista*
I'm shaking so badly that I don't think I will ever be warm again. Briony adds wood to the fire, but I still feel cold, so very cold. She drapes a blanket around my shoulders, but it doesn't bring any warmth with it either.
"I can't stay here," I whisper.
Briony kneels before me and takes my hands. "It'll be all right."
I shake my head. "Ryan told me that you had married Chase and that he had been so cruel that you left after only a week."
I see a spark of anger ignite within the green depths of Briony's eyes.
"Is that what he said?" She asks.
I nod. "I can understand why you left him."
Briony starts to work the brush free of my hair and smiles softly. "No, I don’t think you do understand. I was promised to Chase. A few days after we were married, he realized that I loved Wade, and that Wade loved me, so he gave me an annulment."
"I wish he’d give me one." I mumble.
Briony begins to brush my hair. "I will never forget what he said to me that night when he let me go."
I don't want to know anything more about the man I have married, certain I know all I need to know. He has a temper worse than any I have ever seen, that ignites like a piece of kindling.
Yet I remember earlier in the day how he had banked his temper when his niece had tugged on his trousers. The lemon drops. His unwillingness to let Rowan speak for me during the ceremony. Against my will, I hear myself ask, "What did he say?"
"'I don’t need love, Briony, but I think you do, and if you find it with a man who dreams of raising horses, know you do so with my blessing.'" Briony stands and hands me the brush. "I will leave you with a little secret. Chase does need love… more than any of us. I know your marriage hasn’t begun under the best of circumstances, but I think if you give him a chance, he will worship the ground you walk on."
*Chase*
My elbows digging into my thighs, I stare blankly at the low fire flickering within the hearth in my office. I remember the day I married Briony. I saw disappointment in her eyes, a touch of sadness, but also hope and trust.
I think about the day she married Wade. She glowed with love and happiness.
I hadn't expected the she-wolf I married today to glow, but neither had I planned to fill her with raw fear. What was I thinking to marry someone I had never met? I arranged to marry her as though she were little more than a carefully selected brood mare. I can't blame her for being offended, wary, and frightened.
"I fixed the door," Wade says.
Without turning my attention away from the fire, I merely nod. "'Preciate it."
"You scared the hell out of Callista... again." He tells me.
I grimace. "I know." I sigh deeply. "I know how to bed a w***e. I have got no earthly idea how to go about bedding a mate."
"You didn’t seem to have any problem when you were married to Briony." He huffs.
I glance up at the anger reflected in my brother's voice. I have offended someone else without trying. "You know as well as I do that we never got that far. With Briony getting kidn*pped on our wedding night and you getting shot when we rescued her, I barely had the opportunity to kiss her. I never saw her standing in front of the fire in some flimsy gown that was little more than shadows. Callista has legs that go clear up to her shoulders."
Wade gives me an understanding smile. "I know all about shadows." He clears his throat. "Look, Chase, this is none of my business, but there is no law that says you gotta bed her tonight. Knowing her pa, she probably didn't have much say in this marriage. What would it hurt to give her a couple of days to get used to it?"
I stand up. "Yeah, I have been thinking the same thing. It’s getting late. Do you and your family want to stay here tonight?"
"'Preciate the offer, but there’s a good moon tonight and a clear sky. We’ll be fine." He says.
I follow my brother from my office and stand at the stairs, waiting while Wade walks through the front door. I glance up. The stairs have never before seemed so high. As I begin to climb them, I start running apologies through my mind, trying to find the right one, the one that would undo all the damage I have unwittingly inflicted on my Luna’s peace of mind.
When I reach my bedroom, I tap lightly on the door and wait an eternity for her to open it.
*Callista*
I peer out at the formidable man standing in the hallway. I open the door farther, giving him access to the room, offering him access to me. I watch as his Adam's apple slowly slides up and down.
"Be ready to ride before dawn," he says gruffly and turns toward the stairs.
Stunned, I step into the hallway. "You mean to ride a horse?"
He stops walking and stares at me. "What the hell else do you think we ride? Cows?"
I shake my head. "No... I just... I have something to wear. I have just never... ridden a horse."
I think if I release a deep breath, he would fall over and tumble down the stairs.
"You've never ridden a horse?" He says, blinking.
"Father said it was too dangerous. I always traveled in my coach." I admit.
He shakes his head. "There is no way in hell my wife is going to travel around the countryside in that weird red contraption. I had your brothers take it with them."
"Oh." I press my hand to my throat, trying to think of something to say.
"I have got a very gentle horse you can ride, and if you don't want her, you can ride with me." He says.
Quickly I shake my head. "The gentle horse is fine."
"Good. Then I will see you before dawn."
He spins on his heel and stomps down the stairs. I slip back into my room, close the door, and lean against it. I press my fingers against my mouth. He had made my brothers take the hideous coach away.
Tomorrow, I am going to start riding a horse around the countryside.
I wrap my arms around myself. He said he would see me in the morning. Does that mean I will be safe tonight? Can I sleep alone?
I walk to the bed. It isn't until I reach up to pull the blankets down that I notice the flowers resting between the pillows.
Wilted now, their fragrance still wafts over the bed. I pick up a yellow flower and trail my finger over the fragile petal. They grow over the prairie. Easy enough to find. Not much trouble to pick.
Yet tears well in my eyes. So simple a gesture. I want to believe Briony left them for me, but somehow I know they have been a gift from Chase.
I walk to the far side of the room, draw the heavy draperies aside, open a door of windows, and step onto the balcony.
In the distance, I see the silhouette of my husband sitting on the top railing of the corral, his shoulders hunched, as he gazes in the direction of the moon.
- Writer
