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Tears clouded her eyes, but she kept her head high. “For the moment.”
He grumbled beneath his breath. He couldn’t bear to see her cry again. She had shed enough tears and had suffered enough hurt. He didn’t have to cause her more, and it hadn’t been his intention. Again he was thinking of himself, being annoyed that she had left the keep, in a sense leaving him. But if he truly understood his wife, he would have realized that her absence spoke loudly of her love for him. By returning to her cottage, she felt that she somehow was protecting him.
With his anger abating, he took a cautious step forward, and when she didn’t order him to stop, he took another and another until he stood beside her. He didn’t reach out and touch her; he didn’t trust himself. Once he did touch her, he’d have her in that bed making love to her, and things needed to be discussed between them first.
He started with words that he truly meant. “I’m sorry.”
Her eyes popped wide, and a tear broke loose and slipped down her cheek.
“You are right. I have not taken this curse seriously enough.”
She sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist, laying her head on his chest.
His arms went around her as her warmth spread over him, chasing the chill that had crept into his bones and the ache that had settled in his heart.
“I will do whatever it takes to get this curse off you,” he said.
She looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you for understanding.”
“It’s about time that I actually did,” he admitted. “To me, it seemed an easy thing to be rid of, but I haven’t lived with the curse and the heartache it brought. And I want no more heartache for you. I want you free to love and live.”
“You have no idea how much I have wished for that.”
“You shall have it; I’ll make sure of it.”
“I believe you,” she said as if just realizing it. “I truly believe you.”
He grinned. “Finally, we both understand each other.”
“Now what?” she asked eagerly.
“I’d like to scoop you up and carry you to bed and make love to you, but—” He paused and gave her a quick kiss. “I have something I wish to discuss with you first.”
“I’m listening though I am just as eager to make love.”
“Damn I lo—”
She pressed her fingers to his lips. “Not yet, I know what you want to say, I can feel it, but not yet.”
“When the time is right, I’m going to shout it.”
“A soft whisper in my ear would serve just as well.” She kissed him soft and sweetly.
He eased her away from him as he took a step back. “I need a bit of a distance, or the discussion will be forced to wait.”
“Tell me,” she urged anxiously as she moved farther away from him.
“You know that I have been trying to locate a powerful witch—”
“You have found one?” she asked, excited.
“No,” he said, and was sorry to see her joy plummet. “I have found a powerful prophet.”
“What good does that do?”
“He could tell us the future, warn if there is danger ahead for me, and perhaps let us know where to find the witch we need.”
“I never thought of that,” she said, nodding. “You’re right.”
