Tears fell one after the other. If he truly loved her, and she believed he did, then she had nothing to fear. It was her own fears that threatened her. Fear that the unexpected news would change something between them and somehow divide them.
She could reason it was his fault for not paying heed to what she had told him and remind him that the blame was his. But she did not want blame laid on him for the child they had conceived out of love.
“Tell him and be done with it,” she whispered to herself. “You owe the truth to yourself as well as him.”
She brushed away her tears, not wanting him to see them.
The door opened and she sniffled the last of her tears away as quietly as she could, lifted her head, and tried to smile. Tears sprang loose once again, and she blamed the loss of control on the bairn that snuggled safely in her stomach.
Rannick’s heart felt like it tore in two when he saw her tears and he rushed to scoop her up and place her on his lap after sitting on the bed.
“I am not going. I am not leaving you,” he said, wiping at her tears. “I am sending two troops of warriors to escort Annis and Brogan here. I would bring Elysia here if I could, but Odran is right keeping her safe where she is since she is with child.”
Words failed her, not so a response. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.
“I love you so much,” she said a bit breathless after her vigorous kiss.
“I am a lucky man to have such a trustful wife,” he said and returned her enthusiastic kiss with one of his own.
Breathless once again, she barely got out the words when the kiss ended. “I need to tell you something.”
“Later,” he said, turning with her in his arms to deposit her on the bed, then shedding his own garments, he dropped down to rest over her. “Right now, I need you.”
He needed to say no more, for she felt the same. Her heart swelled with love for this damaged man who had managed to survive endless pain and suffering and emerge more courageous for it.
“Not as much as I need you,” she whispered by his ear, then nibbled along it.
He shuddered against her, her warm breath and her teasing nibbles soared his passion. When her hand slipped down to take hold of his manhood, he tensed.
“Be careful or this will be over fast,” he warned.
“Then we will start again,” she said and stroked his shaft.
He grinned and the next instant she found herself with her legs in the air and over his shoulders. “We do it my way.”
She gasped when he grabbed her bottom in his hands and lifted her, so that he could easily guide his shaft slowly inside her.
“I want to watch you explode with pleasure, not once but twice before I savor my own,” he said and with a tight grip on her backside slammed her against him driving his shaft deep inside her.
She cried out with pleasure always welcoming the feel of him snug inside her.
All thought was lost as he took control and she gladly surrendered to her growing passion. It swirled in her and around her mounting in leaps and bounds, robbing her of any sound thought or reason. Pleasure, born of love, was all there was, and she allowed herself to sink deep into it.
“You are mine and always will be,” Rannick said, reminding her, though more reassuring himself.
He withdrew until only the tip of his shift tickled her entrance and she cried out, pleading, “Rannick!”
He glared at her not with anger but with an intense love and he drove her passion to new heights.
“Mine,” she said on a rushed whisper. “You are mine always.”
He drove into her as he dropped down over her, and her arms went around him to hold on tight as his every thrust sent her closer to the edge of oblivion.
He cried out along with her as they tumbled together into endless pleasure, clinging tightly as they exploded, wave after wave consuming them.
Afterwards when she lay on her side, Rannick wrapped snug around her, the blanket drawn over them, he whispered in a sleepy voice, “You had something to tell me.”
Bliss kept her eyes closed and kept an even breath, feigning sleep. A few minutes later her husband’s even breathing sounded near her ear… he had fallen asleep.
She had to tell him of the bairn but found herself unable to. She could not wait, and she lay awake thinking of the best way to see it done.
CHAPTER 26
Bliss stood outside the healing cottage watching the snow falling lightly. She was excited for her sister to arrive but knew it would be a few days before she did so. She had stopped herself from telling her husband about the bairn even though the guilt ate at her. Not knowing how he would feel, she thought it best to wait until after her sister left.