Chapter 10 Octavia #2
Opening the garage door, Knight leads me to his car instead of the ATV, opening the door and lifting me into my seat before I can ask why.
Out of instinct, I reach for the seat belt, but Knight gently pushes my hands down and fastens the belt across me, running his knuckles over my breasts more than once under the guise of making sure the strap is flat and securely fastened.
Closing my door, he circles the car, then climbs into the driver’s seat. Starting the engine, he taps on the screen of his cell, and the garage door begins to rise. Once it’s fully open, he drives forward and away from the house.
Instead of heading across the open expanse of grass toward the trees and the fence that separates Knight’s property and the Barnetts, he turns onto the graveled drive, following it down to the road, before turning right and toward the main entrance to the Barnetts’ land.
My heart beats faster and faster the closer we get to the Barnetts’ home.
It’s Saturday, so unlike the last time I was here, most, if not all, of the Barnett clan will be here.
Individually, they’re all great people, but en masse, they’re a little intimidating, simply due to the sheer number of them.
There are a lot of cars parked outside the house when Knight slows to a stop. “Maybe we should come back another day. It looks like everyone is home,” I suggest.
Not speaking, Knight ignores my suggestion and kills the engine, opening his door and climbing out. Rounding the car to my side, he opens my door, unfastens my seat belt, then boldly lifts me out of the car, placing me on my feet in front of him.
“Why are you upset?” he asks.
“I’m not upset. I’m nervous. Betty is my friend and my boss. Plus, this is crazy.” I gesture between the two of us. “We barely know each other, and we got married. It’s insane.”
“There’s nothing insane about this. I’m yours, and you’re mine. Why would we bother wasting time when we could just be together and get on with our life?” he says so…rationally that he makes me want to scream.
“Knight,” I say with a tired sigh.
Instead of speaking again, Knight takes my hand and tugs me away from the car and toward the front door.
When we reach the door, I brace myself, but instead of lifting his fist to knock, Knight reaches into his pocket and pulls something out.
He then lifts my hand and slips a ring onto my finger, pushing it down until it sits above my wedding band.
“What is that?” I ask, pulling my hand from Knight so I can see.
Positioned on my finger is the most stunning ring I’ve ever seen in my life. A black diamond cut into the shape of a pear is mounted in the center with white diamonds cascading down the sides of the band, all set in gleaming white gold.
“Oh, my…”
Before I can finish my exclamation, Knight knocks on the door, and it’s opened almost immediately by a smiling Bonnie Barnett, her stomach swollen with a baby.
“Hello, Knight, how are you?” she says, then spotting me, she squeals. “Octy, you’re back.”
Still focused on the gorgeous ring Knight put on my finger without an ounce of fanfare, I let him curl his arm around me and walk me into the house without being completely cognizant of what is happening.
“Octavia and I got married.”
At the sound of his voice, I slowly turn to stare at him, my lips parted in shock at the way he just announced we got married, just like that.
For a long moment, the entire room is silent before it explodes into noise.
My ears ring, and even though I can hear the shocked well-wishes and offers of congratulations, I feel like I’m underwater until the sound of Knight’s voice drags me to the surface.
“I’m confident that my wife will be impregnated in the next two to three months.”
Impregnated. Me. Is he talking about knocking me up? What the actual fuck? We haven’t talked about babies. Babies have never been mentioned. And I get the Depo shot. I can’t get pregnant.
Since we met, Knight and I haven’t ever been careful.
Jesus, we haven’t even had the I’m clean chat.
He told me it’s been two years since the last time he had sex, and I got tested after I broke up with Abel, but we definitely should have talked about it before we started the four-day sexathon we’ve been having since he came to get me from Rapid City.
A baby.
He wants a baby, and now, by the sounds of it. It’s too soon. Far too soon. Years too soon.
“You got married,” Betty hisses, appearing right in front of me, her eyes so wide they’re practically bugging out of her head.
“Err…yeah. It just kind of happened,” I admit, feeling embarrassed at how stupid that sounds.
“This fucking town,” Betty says on an exhale, with none of the anger from a few days ago in her voice. “Are you allowed to come and talk to me, or is Knight going to lose his shit?” she asks sarcastically.
As if he were listening to mine and Betty’s conversation, Knight tightens his grip on me, then slowly releases me.
It’s clear he’s giving me some space to go and talk to my friend, but there’s something about him willingly letting me go that makes a fresh batch of butterflies flutter to life in my stomach.
“What the hell is going on?” Betty asks once she takes a seat on the massive sofa, her pregnant belly stretching the fabric of her shirt.
Parting my lips, I try to speak, but nothing comes out.
“Octy?” Betty says, her pitch getting higher as her agitation rises.
“We got married,” I say lamely.
“So I heard. But I want to know what the hell is going on. The last I heard, you were in Rapid City, then you and Knight show up here, and he’s all over you, growling like a freaking beast. I try to talk to you, and he carts you out of here over his shoulder, and you disappear for days.
Now you show up again wearing a wedding ring.
So I’ll ask again. What the hell is going on? ”
Inhaling sharply, I slowly exhale. “He turned up at the Airbnb I was staying in. He said he was taking me home, but instead of bringing me here, he took me to his house. It’s beautiful. Did you know he owns the land next door? Thousands of acres.”
“Who cares about fields?” Betty snaps. “Explain how he went from your ride to your husband.”
“He told me he built the house for us. That he knew the moment he saw me that he was mine and that I was his wife.”
“He called you his wife when you were here last time. So when exactly did you get married?” she demands.
“He had a judge come to the house Wednesday morning. We got married in the garden,” I say, with a dream-like quality to my voice, because this all does feel a little like a dream, or maybe a nightmare.
“Octy, did he force you? Coerce you? Do you want this…him?”
“He didn’t force me, I don’t think. I said I do.”
“You don’t sound that sure about that. Blink twice if he’s holding you hostage, or three times if he’s got something over you and he blackmailed you into marrying him.”
I can’t help it. I laugh. It’s not a pretty sound. In fact, it sounds more like I’m crazy than amused. “I’m not a hostage.”
“Hey, it’s not as crazy as it sounds. Once Cody found out I was pregnant, he basically kidnapped me. He took me to a cabin in the middle of the woods, told me we were getting married, and wouldn’t let me leave. Huck did the same to Cora. This town makes people fucking crazy.”
“Cody kidnapped you?” I question, my mouth hanging open in shock.
“Yes, but that’s not important right now. Do you and Knight even know anything about each other?”
“He seems to know a lot about me. He follows my socials. He bought me clothes and bows, and he decorated a room with vintage pinball machines and arcade games.”
“Well…I mean, that’s kind of adorable. But just because he’s your stalker doesn’t mean you should marry him.”
“I know. And I know this is crazy. I feel crazy…but—”
“But it feels right, even though you know it shouldn’t,” Betty says, finishing my sentence.
“Yes.” I nod. “He takes care of me in a way I didn’t know was possible. He’s…obsessed, and it’s…addictive. It’s probably wrong, and I’m probably doing exactly what I did with Abel—”
“No,” Betty snaps loudly, interrupting me. “Abel was a fucking asshole. He was abusive and a fucking douchebag of the first order, and Knight is nothing like that.”
“But I let him myself get lost in him, and isn’t that exactly what I’m doing with Knight? I married him after knowing him for less than two days.”
“No, what you and Knight have is different from what that asshole did to you. Does Knight put you down? Does he want to isolate and control you? Does he make you feel less than?”
“You’re defending him now?” I question, shocked. “Two minutes ago, you thought he’d kidnapped me.”
“Knight is a good guy, and this town and its stupid love at first sight crap is rarely wrong, so if he says you’re his, then you should probably believe him. I was worried about how fast this all happened and how out of left field it seemed, but when I think about it, you and he make sense.”
“I think the baby hormones are making you crazy,” I tell her.
“They really are, but that doesn’t make me wrong. Did he really build you a house?” she asks, smiling as she leans forward toward me.
“You didn’t know?”
“We knew he’d bought the land, because he offered Buck and Nero and some of the others some land to build their own homes. But I didn’t realize the house was finished, or that he was building it for you. What’s it like?”
“It’s beautiful and huge.” I laugh lightly as I remember something. “He told me if I didn’t like it, he’d knock it to the ground and build me something new.”
“That’s…” Betty trails off.
“Insane,” I say with a chuckle.
“I was going to say adorable. I didn’t know Knight could be adorable. Truthfully, I like him, but he’s always been kind of an enigma. He and Warrick are the jumpers I know the least about.”
“He’s…a lot, but—”
“He’s yours?” Betty offers.
Scoffing, I shake my head lightly. “I’ve known him for less than a week.”
“But he’s yours,” she says again.
I try to deny it, but what would be the point?
“I think maybe he is, but it can’t be real.
Marrying a complete stranger can’t end well.
I just want to enjoy it while I can.” My eyes fall to the ring on my finger, and my stomach twinges at just how perfect it is.
It’s the ring I’d pin on my dream engagement ring board if I had one.
“It can’t end well,” I say again, quieter this time.
I look up, my mood suddenly melancholy, and find Betty smiling at me. “You’re wrong,” she says, her voice strong and determined. “You and he are perfect for each other. He’s yours, so don’t just enjoy it while you can. Just enjoy it. This is your life now, and I’m really happy for you both.”
“Well, while you still think he’s perfect, I should probably let you know that he’s having some separation anxiety, and apparently, he quit his job and intends on coming to work with me every day.”
“Of course he does,” Betty says, throwing her head back and laughing. “Cody’s been telling me we need a security guard. Looks like we found one.”