AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nonsense,” Bliss scolded with a smile. “It was no trouble, and the visit has made me happy to know how much in love you both are. But now I bid you good-night.”
With a quick hug to Willow, she went to retrieve her cloak off the peg. Stone was beside as she did and placed the cloak over her shoulders.
“I will walk you out,” he said.
Bliss didn’t object; she knew he wished to speak with her in private.
“You have set things in motion, and there is no stopping them now,” he said. “Be careful.”
With a hug, he was gone, the door closed. It was just as well. She was too tired to enter in any discussion right now. All she wanted was to go to bed and sleep well into morning.
“Bliss.”
She turned immediately, recognizing the voice. “Roan.”
He stepped out of the shadows and offered his hand. “Langward has taken ill.”
Bliss didn’t hesitate; she went with him.
“Give yourself a few days, son,” Carmag advised, “though be careful. Your mum can sniff out a secret like a prized hound.”
The brothers laughed; Trey didn’t.
Bryce clamped a hand on Trey’s shoulder. “We will wish you well whatever your choice.”
“I would pay heed to da’s words though,” Reeve said. “Mum is as good at uncovering secrets as she is in keeping them.”
“You should go and talk with Leora,” his da said. “Since her arrival, she has talked with no one. All she would say is that she wanted you.”
Carmag spent a few more minutes outlining who would be sent to scout the soldiers’ encampment and the area around it. They also discussed briefly the failed attempt of having a spy infiltrate the king’s castle. Though none would say it, they all knew that time was drawing near, and what they had worked so hard for would soon be upon them.
They would fight to the death if necessary to see the true king claim the throne.
The meeting dispersed, the men going to find their women and Trey reluctantly heading for his bedchamber and Leora. His father’s words haunted him.
Love doesn’t die easily.
He had been devastated when he had believed Leora dead. He would have given anything to get her back, and now that he had her back?
His father’s words rang strong in his head again.
Love doesn’t die easily.
He agreed. Love didn’t die easily, and, therefore, he had to ask himself if he ever truly loved Leora, for right now he wanted nothing more than to hurry to his wife, climb in bed with her, hold her close, and never let her go.
Instead, he did the honorable thing and he rapped lightly on the door to his bedchamber before opening it and entering. The room was quiet, the hearth’s glow the only light.
He walked toward the bed though he slowed his steps as her familiar scent drifted around him. After he had lost her, he had spent many a night with his arms wrapped around her pillow, breathing in her sweet scent. She had always smelled like a field of freshly bloomed wildflowers.
It had upset him when her scent began to fade. It had been like losing her all over again.
He approached his bed to find her sprawled across it, the wool blanket tangled around her. He had to smile, recalling how many times he had woken to find himself clinging to the edge and chilled from having no covers.
The thought hit him suddenly like one of Bliss’s visions. He slept wrapped around Bliss. They fell asleep cuddled together, and they woke that way. And whenever in bed, they were always wrapped in each other’s arms.
He stepped closer and saw that one leg lay exposed, pale and slender and silky soft. Leora was always soft to the touch and had responded to his touches most willingly—a good portion of the time.
Bliss had simply surrendered to his touch all of the time. Her passion constantly simmered at the surface, and all he needed to do was place a hand on her, and desire would stir in her eyes.
