“So much more. You hold my heart in those lovely little hands of yours. Life without you is going to be an empty shell, and I do not know how I am going to put one foot in front of another. I wish there were any other way.”
It was what she felt, too, though she could not have put the words together. And he was much too far away, even if it was only across the room. She jumped to her feet and half-ran to him. Catching his face between her hands, she told him her feelings in the only way she could.
Their lips caught and held, first just with the desperation of reunion after a quarrel, but the kiss quickly turned into a conflagration. Desirespiraled deep inside her as his tongue explored her mouth. How could she ever give this up?
She drew back just enough to whisper, “Could you not stay a little longer? Even a few days?”
Regret flashed in his dark eyes. “I wish I could, but I have been away too long already. The land is growing restless.”
“What does it mean, the land is restless?”
He studied her for a moment before speaking. “The King's Bond runs both ways. The land responds to me, but it is also greedy for my presence. When I told you I could not stay in England, that is why. I cannot live anywhere but Gwynedd. It has tolerated my long absence because my father still holds the primary bond. Once I inherit, I will never be able to travel like this again.”
That made no sense. “Our kings, back when they had the King's Bond, went abroad to war. Richard the Lion-Heart was on crusade for years.”
His mouth twisted. “He could do that because his Bond was weak, like all your English kings. Too many interruptions in the family line, too many foreign princesses married in. I wasbredfor this. My lineage goes back to the sixth century, and almost every man with the Bond has married a woman with ties to our land.”
It was a knife in her chest. The pain made it hard to breathe. So he had to marry a Welshwoman. She had always thought it would be her family that would never accept a marriage to Roderick, but apparently the opposite was true, too. She was English, and that was the end of it. The end of them.
She would not waste their last night together in thinking of that. If this moment was all the time they had, she wanted to make the most of it. “Come here.” She reached up her arms to link them around his neck, memorizing his beloved features, and drew him over to the bed.
Chapter 9
“AmIdisturbingyou?Chandrika thought you might be resting,” Darcy whispered.
“Not at all. I was just reading.” Elizabeth spoke in her regular tone, having already learned that Jenny was not easy to awaken. Rana Akshaya had said the infant would need a great deal of sleep, and it was true.
She set the book aside and moved into Darcy's arms, letting his familiar scent of soap and spice wash over her. The sheer joy of feeling his body against her, the absolute rightness of it, overwhelmed her. Oh, how she had despaired of ever having this again! She laid her head on his shoulder, letting the strength of him flow into her. How long would it take until she truly believed he was here and safe?
Or at least as safe as the wards could keep him. Her arms tightened around him as if somehow she could keep him from harm. Even that pressure made her breasts, heavy with milk, ache, so she pulled back quickly.
Darcy's brows drew together. “Is something the matter?”
She could not help smiling at his concern. “Simply sore.” She gestured at her chest. “Our daughter's appetite matches her desire for sleep, and my body is responding.”
“I wish it did not hurt you.”
She reached up and brushed her lips against his. “It is common for a woman after childbirth. And my strength is much better.” Especially afterCerridwen had donesomethingto her this morning. Not a healing, she had said, but a sharing of energy.
“I am glad of it.” Another kiss, a glorious one. If only her body was ready to take the next steps with him! But the midwife said she should wait a little longer.
Now, though, while his eyes were soft and ardent, perhaps this was a good moment to break the news to him, or at least a little of it. “Since I am more myself, I will be resuming training with Cerridwen. There is a particular skill she says I need to master, something from her visions. I do not fully understand it.”
He frowned. “What of Jenny? She needs you, and you have barely recovered from her birth!”
As if she had not been arguing with herself about that every minute! But it always came down to the same answer. “If I did not need to protect her from a mad dragon, I would like nothing better than to stay by her side. It breaks my heart a little, but other people can watch over her for now. I must do my part to protect her world.” Her voice wobbled a little.
He studied her for a moment before he said, “I understand.”
Darcy's long fingers entwined with hers. “I cannot help but worry that the least breeze could break her. And she is so very, very precious to me.”
She could not agree more. “Perhaps you would come with me to interview the nursemaid Mrs. Reynolds has brought in? It is not a husband's duty, but I know you want her to be in capable hands, too.” Though she doubted it would be this candidate. Someone who had been found at the last moment was unlikely to meet her high standards.
He tore his eyes away from Jenny. “I would be glad to, for your company if nothing else.”
As Darcy held the nursery door open for her, Elizabeth walked in on a scene of chaos. Three maids were scurrying about, moving furniture and foldinglinens, while a stout, elderly woman stood in the middle of it, directing the action.
“No, not there! By the window. Babies need to see sunlight, not be hidden from it!” she said, pointing.
