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“The Picts have been our friends, and I do not believe there is any deception on their part, but one can never be sure, especially during these troubling times. I would suggest that you take your time and think this through, not for the sake of the true king or your family, but for you.”
“What do you mean?” Reeve demanded. “He’s been made a fool of once—”
“The precise reason he needs time to think this through,” Bryce said. “Don’t you think he’s asking himself that very question? Don’t you think he now wonders if Bliss truly loves him? Don’t you think he wonders if love is even worth the trouble it has caused him?”
Reeve nodded and looked to Trey. “I may have faced possible death in wedding a death bride, but I had no doubt that Tara loved me, and that made all the difference. Bryce is right—you need to make sure for yourself.”
“I agree,” Duncan said. “I never once doubted Mercy’s love for me, but I wonder if I would have been so easily accepting of it if I had been deceived by a woman. Though I must say Bliss has been a good friend to our family. She healed Mercy and she healed you and she keeps the secret of the true king’s identity.”
“But does she truly love me?” Trey asked, voicing his concern aloud.
“If you feel you must ask that, then you are not the man I thought you were.”
The men turned to see Bliss standing a few feet away, her cloak sprinkled with snow and her cheeks flushed red from the cold.
At that moment, seeing the hurt in her eyes, Trey knew that he was a fool ever to allow himself to think that she might not love him. He felt as if he had betrayed their love, a love he had come to know, to accept, to revel in as honest, solid, and everlasting.
He stepped forward, and her hand went up in a flash as she took a step back.
“Do not come near me. You are not the man I wed. Untilhereturns to me, bother me not.” And with that, she hurried from the keep.
Chapter 30
Trey didn’t hesitate; he ran after her. The snow was falling heavily again, and he could barely see her, but it didn’t matter. He had to make this right. He had to make amends for being an idiot.
He thought he saw her duck around a cottage, no doubt in an attempt to lose him, and so he was fast to follow, but she wasn’t there. She seemed to elude him at every turn, and it upset him. He drove her away when only a short time before he had let her know how eager he was to be with her. How had he ever allowed himself to doubt even for a moment that her love was real and no ruse?
He had come to know his beautiful, unselfish wife in the short time they had been together. She hadn’t hid herself from him, she had been open and honest and loving. And it hadn’t been possible for her to hide her desire for him. She had responded like only a woman in love could, but, then, hadn’t Leora done the same.
He stopped, paying no heed to the snow that accumulated more heavily on his hair and shoulders, having failed to grab a cloak before chasing after his wife. Taking a closer look, he’d have to admit that it was different with Bliss than it had been with Leora.
Bliss responded to his every touch, whether innocent or intimate, it didn’t matter. It was obvious she desired him. It was as if her passion for him simmered on the surface and waited eagerly for his touch.
He turned hard with the thought.
Damn, now all he could think about was making love to her, burying himself deep inside her and hearing her moan with desire for him. It was like an addictive melody to his senses, one he longed to hear and would never grow tired of.
Instinct finally kicked in, and he turned and caught sight of her; he followed. She was headed to the woods, her haven. It would shelter her and keep her safe, so attuned was she to its magic.
He hurried after her. He had no intentions of letting her spend the night alone in the woods. She belonged with him, in his bed, and that was where he intended to take her.
He hastened his pace, catching up quickly, and soon he’d be able to reach out and...
Bliss stopped abruptly and spun around, holding her hand up to warn him not to come any closer. “I want to be alone.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Trey said with a shake of his head. “You’re coming home with me.”
“We need time apart. It is what I saw and what must be.”
He shook his head again. “Not this time.”
“You can’t deny fate.”
“I’m not,” he said, and took a step toward her. He was glad she didn’t retreat. “It was never distance that you saw that would separate us; it was doubt and fear.”
“I have no doubt that I love you, and as far as fear?” Her smile was sad. “My only fear is losing you.”
“I feel the same.”
