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She wished she could sense something, have a vision, anything that would help solve the pending problem. But what she got would offer little help.
“You don’t sense anything, do you?”
Bliss yawned and eased down alongside him. “I only know that the answer will soon present itself.”
In no time, they both drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms.
Trey woke just before dawn, and while he wanted to stay beside Bliss, be there when she woke and make love to her, duty to the true king came first, especially now, when battle lay much too close on the horizon.
He eased out of bed, tucking the covers around her. He took a moment and looked at her, as if just realizing she was his, they were wed, and she carried his child. It amazed and pleased him that they belonged to each other. It all had happened so fast. One day he was mourning the death of the woman he had loved, or thought he had loved, and the next he was falling in love.
Fate.
He smiled. Perhaps fatewasmuch wiser than he had believed. Though the lesson had been a difficult one, fate had given him the opportunity to distinguish lasting love from passing love. He couldn’t be more grateful or more grateful that fate had given him Bliss. If not for her, he would no doubt have been thrilled with Leora’s return, only to later discover her betrayal and once again mourn, only this time he would have mourned a love that was never true.
He kissed his wife softly on the cheek, and whispered, “I love you.”
She smiled, as if hearing him, and cuddled beneath the blankets. He wished he was there beside her, touching her, kissing her and...
He got up and dressed lest he surrender to his passion and climb into bed with her. He could delay no longer; his brothers and da needed to know what he and Bliss had discussed last night.
Reluctantly, he left his sleeping wife.
Chapter 31
Trey entered the great hall, knowing that his da or one of his brothers would be there. He wasn’t the only one to rise before dawn. His da, mum, and Bryce were there, talking, and though he wanted to join them, he slowed his steps. As soon as he reached the table, before he even sat or said a word, his mum would assault him with questions.
He hastened his step, figuring it was better to get it over with and smiled when he saw his mum’s mouth open before he reached the table.
“Don’t you go grinning at me,” she warned, shaking her finger at him. “I want to know why you haven’t taken your time in deciding if this marriage is right for you. You just learned that the woman you thought loved you never did and that she betrayed you.” She shook her head. “Why are you grinning like a fool?”
“Why wouldn’t I grin? I don’t feel an ounce of guilt over falling in love and loving another woman more than I ever loved the woman who betrayed me. If it wasn’t for falling in love with Bliss, I’d be, at this very moment, not only mourning a love that never existed but angry as hell for ever having loved Leora in the first place.”
“And you’re not the least bit angry?” his mum asked.
“More upset that I’ve been duped—”
“We all were,” Bryce said. “We all accepted and trusted her as a member of our family. Never once would any of us have believed that she was a spy. It still seems more tale than truth, but then, desperation causes people to do desperate things.”
“My concern is that you don’t get hurt again,” Mara said.
“Bliss would never hurt me,” Trey said, and was quick to raise his hand to silence his mum before she could argue. “My love for Bliss is far different than what I felt for Leora, and I have only realized that since falling in love with Bliss.”
“I think Bliss will make a good sister,” Duncan said, entering the room.
“I don’t know,” Reeve said, following behind Duncan. “She knows too much. There’ll be no keeping anything from her.”
“That’s a good thing,” his mum pointed out. “Then your wives will be able to keep a closer watch over all of you. Besides, you shouldn’t be keeping anything from your wives.”
“See what I mean,” Reeve said, grinning and shaking his head as he took a seat at the table.
“You don’t need a seer to have your wives know what you’re up to,” Carmag said. “Wives have the uncanny ability to know everything.”
Mara gave her husband’s shoulder a playful slap. “Even before you know it yourself.”
They laughed.
Trey didn’t want to interrupt the playful banter, but there were things that needed discussing. “We need to talk.”
