Ashlynn giggled. ‘I beg you will be gentle, my lord.’
‘Gentle? Why so?’
‘Because I’m going to have a baby.’
The words stopped him in his tracks and all amusement faded. For a moment he stared at her, thunderstruck. ‘A baby? When?’
‘Next winter.’
‘Ashlynn, are you sure?’
‘Quite sure.’
A slow grin lit his face. ‘That’s wonderful!’ Then another thought occurred to him and he regarded her with concern. ‘But you should have told me before, lass. I wouldn’t have been so rough. Have I hurt you?’
‘No, you haven’t hurt me.’
Feeling somewhat relieved he set her down gently, letting his gaze travel the length of her but could detect no sign of the child beneath the smooth surface of her gown. ‘How long before it shows?’
‘Not long. Another month perhaps.’
‘How long have you known?’
‘I have suspected for a while, but I wanted to be sure before I told you.’
He took her hand and raised it to his lips. Ashlynn regarded him askance.
‘Nothing terrible will happen if you kiss me again, Iain.’
Nothing loath he accepted the invitation. Immediately he felt the familiar spark leap between them but he controlled it now, unwilling to do anything that might harm her or their child. And so the kiss was gentle and tender, conveying without words the thoughts of his heart. Then they sat together on the rock, enjoying the solitude and the sunshine and the secret knowledge they now shared.
‘If our child is a son I would have him grow up to be a warrior like his father,’ she said. ‘If a daughter, then fair and wise.’
‘Aye,’ he replied, ‘and with her mother’s spirit.’
‘I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.’
‘Not so. I would not have a milk-and-water maid in her place.’
‘Whatever this child grows up to be, it will know its parents’ love.’
His face grew serious and he nodded. ‘Aye, lass, so it will.’
Having spent his youth finding out what fatherhood was not, he had a more than fair idea of what it should be. It was a role that, hitherto, he had only considered from a distance. Now it was about to become reality. The notion both scared and delighted him.
Unable to follow his thought Ashlynn eyed him quizzically.
‘Will you mind very much if the child is a girl?’
Drawn back to the present he returned her gaze. ‘No, lass. I won’t mind as long as you and she are well.’ He grinned. ‘Besides, there is time aplenty to sire sons.’
She laughed. ‘You sound very certain of that, my lord.’
‘I am.’ He bent and brushed her mouth with his. ‘For I could never long resist the enchantment you have cast. I think the spell will not be broken while I live.’
The sun was past its zenith when they strolled back to the quietly grazing horse. Having lifted her on to the saddle he mounted and turned for home, keeping the grey to a gentle easy walk. Ashlynn relaxed against him, enjoying the warmth of his chest against her back, secure in the protective circle of his arm. Here, with him, in the glory of the spring sunlight the shadows of the past receded. All around them new life quickened like the child in her womb giving promise and hope for the future, a future that, not so long ago, she could never have dreamed would be hers.
Unable to follow her thoughts Iain bent and kissed her cheek. ‘Happy?’
‘Very happy. And you, my lord?’
‘More than I could ever have hoped,’ he said. And meant it.