Gem of Gravane (The Northern Knights) Read Online Free PDF Page B

disgust.  
    Sudden anger sparked within her.
 
    Could he not even give her a
knight’s courtesy of at least holding his emotions in until the ceremony was
completed?  The anticipation of receiving her first kiss surprised her and
the moment of excited curiosity was shattered when his lips barely brushed
against her upturned mouth before he’d quickly turned away from her. 
    She opened her eyes to find Balwain
with a hand gripped on his forearm in restraint.  Danielle witnessed the
look the two warriors shared.  A look only the two of them understood.
  She caught the visible tremor that rippled through Aric’s
massive frame before his black glare returned to hers. 
    It was too much for Danielle.
 Disappointment burned hotly inside her chest. She could not stop them and
she cursed under her breath.  
    Aric’s fury deepened even more when
he saw the fat tears rolling down his wife’s flushed cheeks.  Something
deep inside him shifted.   
    “Come.  We leave now,
milady.”  His tone was gruffer than he intended and he took hold of her
elbow in his hand, hard.   His touch gentled when she hiccupped on a
sob and he guided her from the small chapel on the side of the manor, but
not before whispering to Balwain.  “I need a private moment alone with my
wife and then we will come to the celebration.  See that those two make it
there, friend." 
    Balwain nodded.   His
angry glare already locked on the cousins.
    Danielle was still cursing under
her breath.  She did not know nor really care at the moment if Aric heard
the unladylike blasphemous words pouring from her mouth.  She
was feeling even worse as he all but dragged her down the path to the secluded
garden on the other side of the manor.
    How did he know where it was? This
was her secret place of retreat.
    She tried to quell her sobs and the
rising uncertainty as she struggled to keep up with his long, angry
strides.  The thought that he might beat her caused her to choke on a
sob.  It was well known that some men beat their wives as they believed it
was their right.  And God only knew what a Norman might do.  She almost
tripped when a hesitation came in his step.
    She swiped angrily at her tears
with the back of her free hand. Blast it!  They wouldn’t stop
coming. 
    She could hardly breathe and was
gasping when he finally came to a sudden halt under a canopy of trees that
caused her to fall into his side, with a loud sob-filled hiccup.  
    Danielle felt her face redden even
more.  How bloody embarrassing.   She could only imagine what he was
thinking of her now.  She was sure her present state did more damage than
good and probably would only further his repulsion.   
    She was truly making a spectacle of
herself.  Her chest heaved as the sobs had their way with her. 
Through it all, she told herself it was happening because the last thread of
hope, thin it was, had broken inside of her.
    He was just standing there like a
stone wall with that dark scowl on his handsome face. 
    She did not want to look at him,
but she felt the pull of his gaze and lifted her head up and met his
stare.  His dark eyes watched her intently, his brows furrowed, the scar
above his right brow, white.  Oh boy, he did intend to strike her.  
She wished she had a way to turn off the dreadful tears, but the damned sobs
gave no reprieve.  He moved so quickly that if she had blinked she
would have missed it.  
    His large hands went to his
scabbard, one hand on it and the other on the hilt of his sword.
 Danielle’s eyes widened further.  It was worse than she’d thought.
 
    Nay, he would not beat her. 
    Now that the vows were done,
Gravane Manor and all its holdings were now his.  He no longer needed
her. Was he not supposed to wait until after she’d given him an heir
before he murdered her?  Nay, Danielle cried even harder, if that was at
all possible, he probably could not bring himself to go through the wedding
night with