“You tempt me, woman. Keep your distance from me and leave here soon,” he warned with a snarl. “Or I will see that you stay the winter and poke you nightly, then send you on your way with the first sign of spring. You will find no home here. No man who cares. No love. Only endless pokes that mean nothing.”
Rannick stood, turning away from her, annoyed with himself. Had it been seeing her naked or the trust she had placed in him that made him say such a foolish thing? And yet the thought to have her warm his bed for the winter would not leave him. It nagged at his mind and body. Bliss was not his wife. She would be in no danger if he did nothing but poke her. He could see her sent off in the spring with good coin and a place where she could settle safely.
INSANE!
Aye, it was insanity to even think it. Why then had he? It did not matter. It would never happen. He would make sure of it, starting now.
He turned to face her, his snarl returning. “Think hard on my words.” He shoved his plaid aside, his hand grabbing hold of his rock-hard shaft. “For I will slip into you every night with no thought but to satisfy myself.” He turned away and swerved back around just as fast. “You need to know I am evil—pure evil—and evil can easily destroy bliss.”
He turned his back to her once again, grabbed his shirt, and stormed out of the cottage.
Bliss stared at the closed door. His warning had sent a chilling shiver through her right down into her bones.
Leave as soon as you are well, she silently warned herself.
“I cannot,” she whispered, she had to protect Elysia and Annis.
She should be grateful, for he unknowingly made her task easier and a bit more frightening. If she spent the winter with him, she would surely get with child, though some thought her past child-bearing years. A foolish thought since she had delivered bairns from women older than herself. Her only worry was that since her first monthly bleed had begun it did not always come when it should. That could make it difficult to tell if she was with child.
She shook her head. There was no need to worry about that until the time came. She had been offered a way to see this task accomplished without much difficulty. She could not let fear stand in her way. The image of his sizeable shaft flashed in her mind. She had learned that some shafts could be too large for some women. She hoped that would not prove a problem for her. Though, something else might.
I will slip into you every night with no thought but to satisfy myself.
A slight shudder ran through her. She had tended enough women to know not all of them enjoyed the marriage bed and for various reasons. Some simply disliked coupling, calling it disgusting, some felt their husbands selfish, some quite enjoyed it, and some felt their husband lacked skill. Some women laughed about it, others cried, and some were simply indifferent toward it, claiming it was part of the chore of being a wife.
Bliss wondered where she would fall among those women. Her hope was that sharing the marriage bed with Rannick would at least be tolerable. Tolerable was something she could manage. Though truth be told, she had envied the women who had spoken with not only delight about the marriage bed, but also with pride in their husbands’ skills.
She yawned, finding herself tired, though she had slept well. Her body was letting her know she needed more sleep to heal, and she did not fight it. She let herself drift into a light sleep.
Rannick clinched his fists, wanting to pound something but wisely refrained from doing something he’d regret. A broken hand would serve no purpose. How had he allowed himself to even let the foolhardy thought slip past his lips?
A way to get rid of her.
That was it. He wanted her gone and what he had said to her would chase her away as soon as she was fit to leave. He wished that was today, but she was not nearly healed enough to leave. And it had annoyed him that she was right about what would be assumed if he delivered her to the keep for his mum to look after. His father would have them wed in no time.
Then Bliss would die.
Anger shot through him at the thought, but so did a tingle of fear. He would not want to see anything happen to her. She was an innocent woman caught in the evil that surrounded him, much like the insects that get caught in a spider’s web. Once captured there is no escape only certain death, and like the spider, he was the evil that delivered that death.