Beyond the Highland Myst(108)

"Hawk!"

"Will you be teasing me again like this, my love?" he murmured.

"Absolutely," Adrienne replied saucily.

"You will?"

"Of course. Because I know my husband would never leave me wanting. Just as I would never tease him without completely satisfying his desires. So, satisfy me, my sweet highland laird. Take me to Valhalla, husband."

He laughed softly, then thrust into her carefully and gently until they came in perfect tempo. The intensity of their union    , so perfect in body and soul, made Adrienne cry aloud with the wonder of it.

Later, the Hawk shut the nursery door and carried his sleepy, satisfied wife to the Peacock Room, where he held her in his arms through the night, marveling at the completeness of his life with her in it.

* * * * *

Lydia smiled when she heard the nursery door close soundly above her. All was well at Dalkeith-Upon-the-Sea. She paused a dreamy moment imagining the wee bairns that would grace the nursery soon.

Life had never been sweeter.

But it could be even sweeter still, Lydia.

Lydia's eyes narrowed thoughtfully on Tavis MacTarvitt's back as he stood pensively before the fire. A wave of guilt crashed over her as she recalled how he'd come back to her that night after talking to the Hawk, and she'd turned a cold shoulder to him, and retreated once again into the familiar safety of formality.

The strain in his patient smile was all the reproof he'd betrayed.

My love, he'd called her, and she'd felt so guilt, for having love when her son had been so alone that she had refused to acknowledge it. How much more time do you plan to waste, lass?

Very quietly, Lydia unpinned her plaits, freeing her wavy chestnut hair. Her eyes never wavering from Travis's back. With a smile of anticipation she tossed her head upside-down, finger-combed her hair into tousled curls, then flipped it back over her head, allowing it to fall in a wild tumble down her back.

So many years?

She tugged nervously at her gown, studied his back another moment, then shrugged and unbuttoned a few pearl buttons at her collar. She took a deep, trembling breath as the butterflies took silken wing inside her belly.

"Tavis?" she called softly. Once decided, she fully committed to not wasting one more precious moment.

Tavis's back straightened and he peered briefly over his shoulder at her.

She almost laughed aloud when his eyes flew wide and he jerked completely around to face her, his gaze roving over her wild mane, her loosened collar, her parted lips.

"Lydia?"

She heard a hundred questions in his one word, and was thrilled by the knowledge that she finally had the right answer to give him. "I've been wondering a thing, you see, old man," she said patting the bench beside her. "Those hands of yours…" Her voice trailed off, a wicked sparkle in her eyes. Coquettishly, she wet her lower lip in an invitation older than time itself.

"Aye?" There was a hoarse catch in his voice.

"Being that they're so talented and strong…"

"Aye?" His brows rose. His breath snagged in his throat as Lydia made a suggestion for those hands that shocked and delighted Tavis MacTarvitt to the very seat of his soul.

* * * * *

When Grimm finally left the rooftop that night and entered the Great Hall, he stifled an oath and scrambled, in full retreat, right back out the door. In the hall, of all places! Lydia! And Tavis!

"Och! Love!" he grumbled to the stars that twinkled above him with dispassionate splendor.

* * * * *

Three months later the healthy cry of a baby boy resounded through the halls of Dalkeith-Upon-the-Sea.

Hawk Douglas, bursting with pride, sat at Adrienne's side on the bed.

"Look at him, Hawk! He's perfect!" Adrienne exclaimed.

"He's not the only one," Hawk said huskily, smoothing her hair back from her forehead.

Adrienne smiled at him. He'd held her hand through her labor, alternating between cursing himself and cursing her for letting him get her pregnant in the first place.

But there would be many more such times, Adrienne thought, because she fully intended to have half a dozen babies. Hawk was just going to have to get used to the process of bringing them into the world.

Adrienne touched his cheek wonderingly. "You're crying," she whispered.

"Happy tears. You've given me a new life, Adrienne—a life I never dreamed I'd have."

She gazed at him adoringly, their baby snuggled between them.

Adrienne could have remained like that for hours, but Grimm entered the Peacock Room just then, briskly ordering the guards about. "Place it there, by the bed."

Hawk glanced over his shoulder. "Ah, the cradle. I finished it last night. I suspect he will not be seeing much of it for a while." Hawk possessively drew their tiny son in his arms. "He should sleep with us for a time, don't you think?"