“Piper must have told you,” she said, not wanting to be caught in a lie.
“You’re shivering,” he said, avoiding her remark and waved her out. “You’ll catch your death. Come out of there now.”
“Put my clothes down and turn around,” she insisted.
“Do as I say,” he ordered.
“You dare dictate to me?” she challenged.
“I dare to love you,” he said and dropped the bundle to the ground, quickly shed his plaid and sandals, and stepped into the river.
She backed away, slipped on a rock, and was about to fall beneath the water when his hand reached out and caught her. He had her in his arms instantly, her body pressed firmly against his.
She felt not only her own desire surge between her legs but also his. And damn if she didn’t want him to bury himself deep inside her and make her forget, if only for a while. However, she fought against surrendering, fought her own rising passion.
“We stand naked in each other’s arms and that is the way it will always be…we hide nothing from each other; we trust and we love and then nothing can ever come between us.”
How lovely to think that could be so, but there were things between them; her secrets and his lone decision.
She felt the sudden change in him just before he took a step away from her, though his one hand took firm hold of her wrist. She knew then that he had felt the bulge in her stomach and wasn’t surprised when his hand moved gently over it.
“Our child,” he said with such gentle reverence that she almost fell into his arms in tears.
She merely nodded, unable to take her eyes from his; they were filled with such joy and love.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He shook his head. “Did you ever intend to tell me?” He shook his head again. “Tell me now. Tell me what you intended to do.”
She shivered.
“Damn,” he muttered and scooped her up and carried her out of the river.
He took the towel her clothes were wrapped in and briskly dried her off, though was ever so gentle when he came to her stomach and she smiled inwardly. He didn’t get dressed himself until he saw that she was fully clothed and had stopped shivering, only then did he slip his plaid and sandals on.
She thought he would demand an answer to his query then, but instead after wrapping her soiled clothes in the towel he took her hand and walked her through the woods. She was surprised that he knew where he went and in the dark, but soon they were both walking through the door of his cottage.
Once the door shut he turned to her. “Tell me now.”
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I had no plans. I didn’t know what I would do.”
“Did you once think of telling me?”
She smiled though it faded quickly enough. “I dreamt of telling you, but it was no more than that…a dream.”
“Didn’t you think of me?” he asked with a thump to his chest. “How I would feel? What I would want?”
“Did you think of me when you made the decision to wed me without asking?” she accused.
“That’s different.”
She laughed. “It’s always different when it comes to a man’s opinion.”
He shocked her when after a pause he said, “I’m sorry. You must have worried over what you would do.”
She was too stunned to reply. She had expected him to rant at her, perhaps even shake his fist, but never had she thought he would apologize.
He smiled then, though not that charming grin he so often wore and that could entice. No, this smile made him look like a young lad overjoyed with a gift he had just received.
“I’m to be a father,” he said proudly. “This is wonderful. We are wed and we are to have a child.”
She walked away from him so that the table was between them. “This changes nothing.”
Now there was that famous charming smile of his. “Come now, Alyce,” he coaxed with a swagger as he rounded the table. “All has turned out well.”
With his approach, she inched away from him. “All has turned out in your favor.”
“You can’t tell me you don’t love me. I know I’m not wrong about that,” he insisted.
“I do love you; I will not deny it.”
“Then why be obstinate about it?” he asked and eased closer to her.
“Obstinate?” she repeated, stepping further away from him and noticing that they had almost made a complete circle around the table. “I’m being obstinate when you show up—”
“Wait,” he interrupted. “Let’s phrase it correctly…when the man who loves you and who you love shows up.”
“That’s even better,” she said. “The man I love and who loves me shows up, tells me we’re wed and that I will be returning home with him, never once considering that I do not wish to leave my home.”