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He paused, and in the dim lantern light he saw her face turn horrified.
 Oh, no, she said.  Did I ruin it by mentioning the baby?
 Of course not. Though to be honest, he would have to reconvince himself that they were alone in the
room.  I just realized there ll be a good side to living in Asermos. You in skirts, for one.
 And more kinds of food, so I can get nice and fat. She grinned, but then her smile turned pensive.
 Thank you for not telling me what to do. I know you re worried about the baby, more than most men
would be.
He pushed the old images away.  I know better than to insist with you.
 I do tend to do the opposite of what people tell me.
 I ve noticed that. He pulled his shirt from his trousers.  So I insist you close your eyes while I undress.
She smiled, openmouthed, so that when she laughed, he saw her tongue.  No.
He slid his shirt off, slowly, tossed it in the corner, then moved to stand within her reach.  I insist you
keep your hands off me.
 No. Her palms started at his calves and slid up the backs of his thighs. They met in front where his
trousers bulged, her fingers covering the length of his shaft.
He sucked in a sharp breath.  I insist you keep your mouth off me.
 Sorry. Rhia unfastened his trousers, then pushed them down along with his drawers.  But, no. She
took him between her warm, wet lips, and his knees nearly gave way.
He had less breath than before, for fewer words.  Look away from my face. She ignored him, taking
him deep and kneading the flesh of his buttocks with her strong fingers.  I insist, he somehow managed
to add.
Her head tilted so that she could gaze up at him without taking him out of her mouth. The sight tightened
his loins.
 Stop, he said.  I insist I mean please. He knelt between her legs.  I want to make love to you
now. Not later, after I ve recovered. Now.
Her eyes wide and playful, Rhia placed a finger over his mouth.  Don t insist. Just do it.
He slid inside her, bringing a sharp gasp from both their throats. She lay back on the bed and wrapped
her legs around him, raising her hips to meet his. The skirt fell above her waist so that he could see where
they joined. It was beautiful, and it took every scrap of control not to release himself at that moment.
He held her beneath him.  It ll be over too soon if we re not careful.
She smiled.  It s been a long time, hasn t it?
In fact, it had been since the night they conceived the child inside her. Less than twenty-four hours later,
he became a Descendant prisoner, and they d almost lost each other forever.
Marek shook his head, releasing the regrets of the past and the fears of the future. He wanted to live
inside the now that dwelled within Rhia, to feel every twitch of her tiniest muscle, to fill every breath with
her scent.
 Much too long. He thrust deeper inside her. Their groans grew in pitch and volume, and in their surge
of shared ecstasy, he felt, for the first time in months, hope.
Hope that didn t disappear after he collapsed on the bed beside her. It didn t disappear when she
removed her wedding dress and joined him, naked, beneath the warm blankets. And when she woke him
hours later to make love again, the feeling remained. Despite the cruelty of the Descendants and the
eternal mysteries of the Spirits, he and Rhia would find a way to be happy, as long as they never let each
other go.
10
 A lanka, will you marry me?
She didn t reply, just scanned the forest from the deer blind that doubled as a guard station. It was
tucked into the low, bare branches of a hemlock tree and allowed a clear shot of the path to the river.
Endrus hummed a short tune behind her, then tried again.  Alanka, how come trees aren t purple?
His random questions had created a background hum in her head since before sunrise. Endrus s weird
sense of humor used to leave her cheeks aching with laughter. When they were younger and training to
be hunters, they would often try to ruin each other s shots with a well-timed remark.
 Alanka, what s the smallest spider you ve ever eaten?
She couldn t remember the last time she d laughed. It should worry her, but the same heavy cloak that
kept her solemn also kept her safe.
 Alanka, where does bark come from?
 I could hear intruders much better if you d stop nattering.
 Just trying to cheer you up. The tip of his bow poked her shoulder blade.  Or get you mad. He [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]