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She blinked, and all the muscles in her body seemed to simultaneously go lax in my arms. “I’m so tired,” she admitted.
“Then sleep, my lady. I’ll make sure you both get tucked into your beds, warm and snug.”
Her head wavered a second before she let it settle against my shoulder. I felt her lashes sweep across my skin as she shut her eyes.
“This is just another dream, isn’t it?” she asked, her voice thick with sleep.
“Of course,” I lied, kissing her temple. “Do you really think a wonderful mother like yourself would ever need me to help her settle her crying baby?”
“Oh good,” came the muffled reply against my nipple. “Because this would be quite improper if it were really happening.”
“Quite,” I agreed, kissing her hair this time and inhaling the scent of her flowery soap.
“You’re not wearing a shirt,” she slurred. “You’re so warm. I like how smooth and muscled you are.”
My chest rattled with a silent laugh until her hand smoothed up the side of my torso, causing me to groan. When her tongue licked over my nipple, I tensed, gouging her in the bottom with the strength of my erection.
“Vienne,” I warned, clutching her hair, but she’d already gone lax and dropped off to sleep.
A light snore answered me.
“God, you tease me,” I murmured into her hair, kissing her temple one last time. “But whenever you need me, I will come. Always.”
She had no response as she remained slumped deadweight against me. I smiled again, my heart heavy with affection as I managed to stand with both her and her baby cradled in my arms.
I laid her on the bed first, then managed to pry Anniston from her arms without waking either of them. The baby let out a final sniffle and curled into a warm little ball when I settled her into her crib. I stared at the infant a while, because once she was asleep, it was hard to feel any kind of irritation toward her. She was honestly that cute with her rump in the air, her legs tucked up under her and her lips parted as she dreamed.
Reaching out, I lightly stroked Anniston’s cheek. “Someday, I hope you realize how lucky you are to have a mother who loves you so much.”
Then I retur
ned to Vienne and pulled her blankets up over her. She slept on, so I sat beside her to watch her sleep for a few moments longer.
When I returned to my room, I fell into my bed almost immediately and slept so soundly, I don’t remember what Vienne and I dreamed about. I must’ve slept in, too, because when I woke, there was a tapping at my door.
“My lord,” Emmett, one of my servants from High Cliff, queried hesitantly as he eased the door open. “Are you awake?”
With a groan, I flopped onto my back and yawned up at the ceiling. “I am now,” I mumbled, even though my brain seemed to be having a hard time focusing. “What do you need?”
The servants never usually woke me. If I slept in, they simply left a breakfast tray in my room and let me be.
“Apparently it’s a holiday here in Donnelly today. Their fifty-seventh anniversary as a kingdom, I believe. That’s what the young princess Nicolette told me, anyway. And she said… She bade me to ask you, since she thus has no tutor lessons and you also do not have training with your army on such a day, that if you’d like to take a stroll with her through the garden at half past ten, she’d be most honored.”
When I merely blinked at him, trying to digest everything he’d just said, he flushed and cleared his throat, adding, “She also told me to add that she’d be inviting her favorite cousin-in-law as well as her infant along for the walk.”
I sat up suddenly, definitely awake now. Giddy over the prospect of getting to see Vienne, I shoved the blankets off me and climbed out of bed. Emmett grinned knowingly and nodded. “I rather thought that might be your answer.”
I sent him a moody scowl as I stumbled around for something to wear. “What time is it?”
“A quarter after ten, my lord.”
“Fuck!” I shook my head, hoping to clear my vision. Then I frowned at Emmett, who kept smiling at me as he lovingly touched the red mark at the corner of his own eye. “Could you stop grinning like a dumbass and help me out over here? I have no clue what to wear.”
Since I had never requested help dressing before, Emmett jumped in surprise before he lurched into action. “Certainly, my lord. Might I suggest your blue tunic? It matches your complexion well, and—”
“Yes, sure. Whatever.” I snatched the piece of cloth from his hand as soon as he opened a drawer and pulled it free. “Thanks, Emmett. You’re a godsend.”
Even with his help, however, I was nearly late for my stroll with Nicolette…and her favorite cousin-in-law.
