AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She grinned and laughed briefly. “Even when it is time to birth the babe?”
He cringed. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“It is for me alone to do,” she said.
He shook his head. “I never want you to think that you do anything alone. We have each other; we’re never alone ... unless you prefer to be.”
“I have always embraced solitude, perhaps because I had no choice. But now, since falling in love with you, when I think in terms of solitude, you are always included. There may be times I need quiet, time to think and focus, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want you near.” She smiled. “I have come to enjoy having you around.”
“That is good,” he said with a playful tap to her nose, “for you are stuck with me.”
She shook her head slowly. “Never. Never will I feel stuck with you.”
He tucked her closer to him, too afraid to kiss her again since his groin was tightening by the minute, and he knew that if he kissed her again, he’d spring as hard as a rock.
They sat silent, enjoying the heat of the fire, his hand having gone still, afraid it would inch down and find her moist and ready for him. And then ... there would be no stopping.
She dozed off, and he watched her sleep, this woman whom he had magically fallen in love with or whom fate had delivered to him, or who had always been meant for him. It didn’t matter; he didn’t care how they came to be, he was simply glad they had. He couldn’t imagine life without her. He couldn’t imagine not being connected with her. He couldn’t imagine loving an ordinary woman instead of an extraordinary one.
She belonged to him, and he belonged to her, and nothing, nothing would ever change that.
She stirred after only a few minutes, her eyes going wide. “I’m famished.”
He laughed. “Hunger woke you from your brief respite?”
“Hours haven’t passed?”
“No,” he confirmed. “You closed your eyes only a few moments ago.”
“I feel refreshed, as if I have slept for hours, and more hungry than I ever recall being.”
Bliss scrambled to her feet before he could help her up, and he laughed. “You truly are hungry.”
She hurried them on with their cloaks and pushed a laughing Trey out the door. It didn’t take them long to get to the keep, Bliss’s rushed steps setting a fast pace.
The keep had quieted, all the warriors having gone off to their prospective duties. The MacAlpin family were the only ones left, along with Dolca, who looked to be having a grand time with her great-grandbabies.
It was obvious to him that Mercy knew that Dolca was her grandmother, but why hadn’t others been made aware of it?
“I asked them to wait until I was here,” Bliss answered, as if he had spoken the question aloud.
He eased their gait, not wanting to get too close to his family before he had a chance to say, “It seems that since learning that you carry my son, your ability to know and hear my thoughts has multiplied substantially.”
Bliss stopped with a gasp and turned stunned eyes on him. “You’re right. Your thoughts have gotten clearer in my head. It’s as though I feel and know your every thought.”
He shook his head. “That’s not good. There are things you do not need to know, things that do not concern you, and things I do not want you worrying over.”
She smiled. “How about things you want to keep private?”
He laughed. “Is that even possible? Keeping something private from you?”
Her smile vanished, and he knew he had made a mistake.
“I’ll just erect that shield, then you’ll have all the privacy you want.”
He chuckled. He couldn’t help it. “I have never known you to get angry with me. You’re delightful when you’re angry.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she looked ready to give him a tongue-lashing when suddenly she stopped. “Where is this anger coming from? This is not me. I do not like it.”
