Chapter Seven

"Oh, Nori."

Nori couldn't seem to control the tears pouring from her eyes, even as the women surrounded her, trying to offer comfort. It was as if, once the damn was broken, every ounce of sorrow and fear and pain was released in the torrent currently erupting from her. The men were silent, and she hoped Con wasn't even now rushing below to tell Gavin his wife was a sobbing mess.

"Go," she heard Jo say.

"We're staying." That was definitely Con's voice.

"You can guard us from the hall." Jo wasn't backing down.

"Father, please."

Nori thought that was Serena, Lord Armstrong's daughter.

"Let's go. The ladies are safe in here, and I believe the queens could use a bit of privacy."

Nori had liked Lord Armstrong from the start. He'd been attentive and compassionate during the trip from the Buckingham home to Lord Kingsley's, where she'd met her husband. She thought she might have enjoyed having him for a father.

An arm tugged her from the women, and her head was tilted up to Con. She wasn't sure what he saw in her face, but she didn't see anger or judgment.

"You're a queen," he reminded her, and she did her best to gulp back her tears.

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "A queen has no need to apologize."

"I can if I want to."

His lips twitched as if he were fighting a smile. "I'll be right outside the door, my queen. Anything you need, you've only to ask."

"Thank you, Con."

He winked at her. "I have to make sure you see who's the better twin, my queen."

She gave a watery laugh, and he nodded as if that was what he'd waited for.

"I'm outside the door," Duncan told Serena, then he followed the others, pulling the door to the solar closed behind him.

"You're going to be fine," Jo told her as she wrapped her arm around Nori and led her to a chair. "You have family now. In fact, we're sisters. I've gone from having no sisters to having two very quickly."

"And we're cousins of some distance," Rory reminded her.

"I'd say as queens of the Dread Lands, we're all sisters of sorts," Genevieve stated firmly. "We have to stick together."

"Agreed," Serena put in.

"I get how overwhelmed you must be," Jo told Nori. "I remember how I felt when Theo kidnapped me. My emotions were all over the place."

"Theo kidnapped you?" Nori asked with disbelief.

Jo merely laughed. "And I'm thankful he did. I wouldn't be as happy as I am now, if he hadn't."

"What?" Nori shook her head.

"Rory was kidnapped to," Jo offered with a shrug.

"More like taken as a bounty when Jamie attacked our keep in retaliation for my father's…well, for Lord Montrose's actions."

"I had no idea. You all seem so happy." Kidnapped? Taken as a bounty? Nori couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I am happy," Rory assured her. "Jamie is the kindest, sweetest man I've ever known."

Nori worried her eyes must be so wide they'd appeared absurdly large in her face.

"It's true. He may seem like a ruthless brute to those who don't know him, but he loves me. He'd never hurt me."

"What about you and Serena?" Nori asked Genevieve.

"Marcus saved me from bandits and married me before he even got me to his castle. I fell for him instantly. He loves as fiercely as he rules the Dread Lands."

"Geoffrey came to my rescue when my father went missing. He married me the day he arrived and has spent every moment since reminding me that I'm his queen. There's nothing I wouldn't do for him," Serena told her.

"It seems you all had instant marriages," Nori noted.

"War King's take what they want without question," Jo told her. She should know, since she'd grown up the sister to one king then married another. Plus, from what Nori had learned, Jamie, Geoffrey, and Marcus spent a lot of time together.

"Gavin didn't marry me, though. Well, I mean he did, but it was Lord Armstrong who was there for the ceremony." Nori wasn't sure why that bothered her so much, but it did. She'd learned long ago not to expect to come first with the people in her life. Why would her wedding be any different?

"Please, don't think that's because you don't mean anything to him." Jo leaned close and clasped her hands with hers. "I've seen the way Gavin looks at you, the way he acts. He's never looked at another woman the way he does you."

"Our father did a number on all three of us," Rory said. "I have scars, but I suspect Theo and Gavin's wounds go even deeper. They were bastard sons, after all. Montrose had no love for any of us."

"I understand my grandfather played a part in you ending up with Lord Montrose," Nori whispered and watched Rory's face redden with anger.

"My mother died because of his lack of care when it came to his favorite niece. She got pregnant out of wedlock, and he punished her by marrying her to a man who made her life absolute hell." Rory clenched her fists on the table. "I know you love your grandfather, Nori, but I will never forgive him for what he allowed my mother to be subjected to."

"I'm sorry," Nori whispered.

"Don't apologize for him. He's unworthy of it. In fact, from what Jamie has shared, Phillp did the same thing to you. He placed you somewhere out of sight and trusted you'd be fine and happy to see him whenever he decided to grace you with his presence."

Rori wasn't wrong, so it was hard for Nori to find fault with her cousin's words.

"Apparently, he agreed to wed me to Robert Buckingham." She couldn't control the shudder that ran through her at the mere thought of being under Robert's thumb for the rest of her life. He would have made sure it was pure hell.

"More than likely, he made the agreement for the older Buckingham brother," Genevieve said. "That's the way those things usually work. Phillip tried to coerce my grandfather into arranging a marriage for me to a man of his choice. My grandfather refused."

"Same with my father," Serena put in. "And our former king isn't one to take no for an answer when it comes to what he wants. That's how I ended up married to Geoffrey. My father disappeared. Our lands were being attacked. I sent a group of soldiers into the Dread Lands to seek help, and Geoffrey came for me."

"I've heard the most dreadful stories about the pagan kings of the Dread Lands. How they kill and rape and maim. It's hard to reconcile that with Gavin and the other men I've met." Nori had overheard more than one conversation about the brutes and the uncivilized lands they attempted to rule.

"None of them are what this country's evil tales say they are. Jamie's people are loyal. They stay with him because he protects them, sees that they have food and shelter. He fights along side his men, leading them, not staying behind until the battle is done. His men respect him. Phillip holds his crown with soft hands and a conniving brain, always searching for how to manipulate a person or situation to get what he wants." Rory fisted her hands at her sides. "He sold my mother, ignored my existence, and wiped his hands of you once you were born—until you became a woman he could use."

"But I was already living with the Buckinghams. I admit that Robert's older brother, Justin, was kind to me, but there was no love there." Would her grandfather have issued a contract between her and Justin? Nori knew it was common and realized how na?ve she'd been to think she might have been spared it because of who her grandfather was.

"If he put you with them, there had to be some advantageous reason for it. It would have only been strengthened by marriage," Rory said.

"We could ask Marcus," Genevieve said. "He has eyes everywhere."

"She only needs to ask Gavin," Jo argued. "From what Theo's shared, Gavin has men who find out information for him, just as Marcus does."

"I ask Gavin to consummate the marriage." The confession was out of Nori's mouth before she could swallow down the words.

"Well, that's a change from earlier." Jo shrugged when Nori glanced her way. "You couldn't wait to get out of here. If given the opportunity, you would have tried to run."

"You knew that?"

"We both did," Rory admitted. "But you needed the air. Sometimes, it's hard to breathe when they're all together. They tend to dominate any room they're in."

Serena laughed. "They certainly do, though I only have eyes for my Geoffrey. He's all I see when he's near me."

"You love your husband." Nori didn't word it as a question. She didn't need to ask. It was written on the women's faces, reflected in the way they spoke of their husbands.

"I'm betting when you asked Gavin to consummate, he told you he'd given his word and he'd honor it," Jo said softly then nodded when Nori gasped in surprise. "He's a man who values honor. He'll protect you, Nori. He'll respect you. And when he falls for you, he'll love you beyond anything you've ever known."

"I'm a means to an end," Nori said softly. "He married me to gain my grandfather's agreement to what they wanted."

Rory shook her head. "There's one thing you should learn about my brother. He never does anything he doesn't want to. No matter what it might gain. When he decided to marry you, it was because he wanted to. Our men are hard but not cruel. They'll defend their people and their lands with every breath. But their wives, the queens who stand beside them, there's no wrath like the one they'll show to the man who puts one of us in harm."

"That's possession. Not love." Nori didn't want to be chattel. She wanted to be loved. For once in her life, she wanted to know someone loved her.

"Then show him," Jo said. "Theo took me in order to teach my brother a lesson. Instead, he found he couldn't let me go. Not because of anything Jamie had done. Because of me, of how he felt with me. He loves me. That big brute of a man is mine."

"Trust is the key," Rory added.

"It's in how he touches you," Serena suggested.

"Definitely that," Jo agreed, and all four of the women laughed.

Nori didn't join in. She'd liked the way Gavin had touched her the night before, but she'd been embarrassed when daylight came. And trust? It would take more than a few days for that to form. Love? A dream whispered in the darkest part of the night.

Gavin was kind, though. His touch was tender, gentle, however it had ignited fires beneath her skin that had settled in her core and left her aching as she'd drifted into sleep.

"Nori."

She glanced toward the door and wondered if she'd conjured Gavin with her thoughts. Then she really studied him. His long, muscular legs were displayed to perfection in leather. His chest was bare, revealing every dip and swell of muscle beneath his skin. He wore leather guards on his forearms that drew her eyes to his arms. The man made her feel things just by looking at him. And when he glanced at her? She blushed as she remembered how it felt to be naked in his arms while he was equally naked.

"What are you thinking, wife?" he asked, one corner of his mouth tugging upward. She knew the flush on her cheeks probably told him exactly what was on her mind, but she couldn't stop.

"Ladies," he addressed the others as he crossed to her, wrapping his arm around her and settling his palm against the small of her back. "Thank you for keeping Nori company."

With that he guided her from the room. If any of the others said something, she didn't hear them. She was focused completely on Gavin Montrose. War King. Husband. She didn't even blink when he led them back to the bedroom she'd practically fled from earlier. Cris and Con were outside the door.

"Ensure eyes are kept on both Phillip and Buckingham," Gavin ordered then swept her inside and closed the door.

"Why are we here?" she asked. Part of her was terrified he would give in and take her virginity as she'd asked. Part of her was terrified he wouldn't. Both had her heart beating so fast she feared she'd pass out.

"You've been crying," he whispered, running his thumbs under her eyes. Then his arms were around her. His mouth met hers in a soft brush as his palm cupped her buttocks and lifted her into him. She felt him. All of him pressed firmly against her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, opened her mouth under the coaxing of his, and held on tight.