Untamed by Sharon Ihle

Author:Sharon Ihle [Ihle, Sharon]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: ePublishing Works!
Published: 2012-04-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Marriage.

The full implication of what she was about to do didn't actually hit Josie until Caleb walked her down the chapel's short aisle and she found herself standing before her husband-to-be and a priest. In fact, she didn't think about much of anything as the sisters draped her body in a pair of bedsheets they'd tacked together to form a reasonable substitute for a wedding gown, then topped her off with a veil made out of a lace altar cloth. Now all she could do was think—and fret about whether she was making the right decision.

Josie stole a glance at her groom, noting that he was the model of composure, his expression as solid and impenetrable as a pair of new barn doors. In profile, Daniel's strong, straight nose and serious brow gave his Indian heritage the dominant edge over his features, making him look the part of a full-blooded Cheyenne warrior. He'd tied his shoulder-length hair at the nape of his neck with a leather thong sporting stone arrowheads and a single eagle feather, a hurried bit of grooming that did nothing to lessen the image.

Someone—the priest, Josie assumed—had lent Daniel a clean white shirt and a long black coat that reached to mid-thigh. In keeping with his Cheyenne name, Daniel Two Skins, he wore his buckskin trousers and beaded moccasin boots beneath the jacket. No longer an invalid, he stood straight and tall, his two feet planted firmly on the floor, the picture of potent masculinity. Never before had Daniel struck her so profoundly as the product of two nations—or as a man. The very thought that soon she would call him 'husband' made Josie go weak in the knees.

Marriage.

She heard Father van der Velden say the words, "Dearly beloved," then caution that the vows of marriage were sacred, not to be taken lightly or frivolously. Josie immediately saw in that statement the opportunity to back out of this idiotic plan and take her chances in Miles City, without benefit of Sweetpea. She hadn't forgotten Daniel's insinuation that she was as trapped as he by this marriage.

"Do you, Josephine Baum, take Daniel McCord as your lawfully wedded husband?"

"Josephine?" Daniel whispered, laughing under his breath. "Josephine?"

His amusement over her given name rattled Josie so that she completely forgot she was having doubts about going through with the wedding. Before she realized what she'd done, she'd promised to love, honor, and obey Daniel McCord until death did them part. Surprisingly enough, he made those same vows to her in return, all without so much as a whispered protest.

It didn't seem real, this long religious ceremony with constant references to God and blessings and children, and yet when it finally drew to a close and Daniel was invited to kiss his bride, Josie's were the lips he brushed with his own. A moment later, when the priest christened her Mrs. Daniel McCord, she almost fell over in a dead faint. What in the world had she gotten herself into?

Josie did

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