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“I’m going to keep you both safe,” Essos swears. He moves one hand to the small of my back, firmly holding me, while the other skates up my body, over the swell of my stomach to my breast. His thumb rubs over my nipple, which is firm and alert thanks to the water and cool wind that kisses my skin. We’re bathed in a sliver of moonlight that I swear is made brighter thanks to Esmaray, wherever she is.
“Can we not talk about it? Can we pretend, just for a night, that life is normal? At least, the old normal we knew before there were god-killing weapons and everything happened with your brother.”
Essos releases me, letting me swim away. At first, I’m too short to reach the sandbar, but then I feel the sand come up to meet my toes as they stretch. Another Kai move to be thankful for.
“We can pretend anything you want.”
His need to touch me wins out, because even though he’s just released me, he swims up behind me to hold my back to his chest. He peppers kisses along my shoulder.
We tread water and swim until I submerge myself entirely. Essos remains where he is, but I swim around him and pinch his butt. He jumps a little but catches me before I swim away.
I yelp as he pulls me out of the water and presses a fevered kiss to my lips.
“Should we discuss names?” he asks, breaking for air.
“No.” I don’t offer any further explanation, but my husband knows my heart. There is no need for me to tell him why.
“Shall I regale you with reasons I love you, instead?” he offers, dragging my mind away from the dark places in my head that the fear lives in.
“I’ll never say no to that.”
Essos presses a soft kiss to my pulse point, and I feel my heart speed up in response to him. The smile I feel spread against my neck tells me he feels it too.
He opens his mouth to speak, but I cover it with mine.
Between kisses, Essos fills the quiet night air with tales of what I missed mixed with pulling out favorite memories of our shared life.
Gradually, I see exhaustion weighing on him. His blinks get longer, and his speech slows.
“To bed with you,” I whisper in his ear, my arms wrapped around his shoulders. He grips my wrists gently, dropping his head onto my shoulder, our clothes forgotten on the beach.
“To bed,” he confirms. I close my eyes, knowing what comes next. The world drops out from us in the water, and when I open my eyes, we’re in our bathroom, dripping wet. Essos grabs a plush bathrobe and wraps it around me.
It’s just over my shoulders when I push it off and lunge for the toilet to throw up. He’s right behind me, pulling my hair back into a clip with a twist. Essos rubs my back until I’m done.
I sit back on my haunches, reaching forward to flush the toilet. In my peripheral, I see a glass of water appear in his hand.
I grope for it, nearly missing it entirely, but Essos holds it tightly so I don’t drop it. I lean against the wall and look up at him.
“Did you miss having such a sexy wife?” I ask, my throat burning when I talk. I take a sip of the water and swish, then spit it out. Essos sits on the floor in front of me, having thrown on his sweatpants again. My stupid pregnant libido marks each ripple of his abdomen as he joins me on the ground, and I remind myself that I could probably just hook my leg over him and ride him like the stud he is.
“My love, if I wasn’t afraid you would throw up all over again, I would lay you down on this cold tile and worship you the way you deserve.” He kisses me, ignoring that I was sick only moments ago. “As it is, you’re still looking a little green.”
“I’m feeling much better, but you’re probably right.”
As much as the idea of jumping my husband’s bones appeals to me, I’m hit by a wave of exhaustion and hunger, and the desire to have sex is gone just as quickly as it came.
My head falls onto Essos’s shoulder. His free hand reaches up and traces the curve of my cheek.
“I think we’ve had enough excitement,” he says. “Let’s get you to bed.”
I don’t object, even knowing what we will face tomorrow.
CHAPTER20
If the Queen of the Dead is needed for this ritual, I’m going to dress the part.
Essos is still asleep when I wake up, and the moment I take to study him is too brief. His rosy lips are parted gently, and his normally tame hair is wild and mussed from the ocean and sleep. He looks peaceful with a dark curl on his forehead as he lies on his side, reaching for me. The thin sheet manages to cover just one leg and ass cheek. The rest of the covers are bundled on my side, stolen away in the night. I admire his exposed body, his normally tight muscles relaxed in sleep.
