Davyss wiped a weary hand over his face; he wasn’t sure how the situation had veered so out of control but he knew he had to put a stop to it before damage was done.
“Devereux,” he murmured calmly, struggling for calm himself. “Listen to me and listen well; I am sorry you were subjected to the princess’ bitter women but there is nothing I can do to erase what I have done in the past. We have alreadydiscussed this and I told you that there would be occasion when my past indiscretions would come to light. I can only apologize for your humiliation at such occurrences. I wish I could do more, but I cannot.”
She was looking at the ground, her delicate jaw ticking with fatigue and displeasure. “You needn’t apologize,” she said. “I suppose I am simply going to have to grow accustomed to these occurrences so that I may deal with them more gracefully in the future.”
She sounded so hurt. Davyss’ heart ached for her, wanting very much for things to be right between them.
“Though I cannot undo the past, I can make a vow for the future,” he whispered. “You asked me once to swear that I would be faithful to you. Do you recall? It was when we supped at the Fist and Tankard.”
She sighed faintly, thinking back on that day. “I remember.”
“Then you also remember that I failed to answer you.” He took a few steps, suddenly standing very close to her. He gazed down on her lowered blonde head. “Sweetling, please believe me when I swear that I will always be faithful to you. I will never shame you by straying from this marriage and I have never touched a woman with the same reverenced that I have touched you. What I feel for you is unique unto itself. There is no comparison.”
She continued to stare at the ground. When she spoke, her voice was hoarse with anguish. “I feel… I feel so cheapened that so many others have sampled what has become so precious to me. You gave yourself to so many that by giving yourself to me, ’tis as if you have nothing else to give. I am simply one of the many, existing on the dregs left by others.”
He shook his head, feeling increasingly despondent. “That is not true,” he insisted softly. “There is something I have nevergiven anyone, something more valuable than king or country or even God himself.”
He watched her brow furrow though she had yet to look up at him. “What is that?”
“My heart.”
Her head snapped up, the silver eyes suspicious yet encouraged. “You… you have never loved any of those women?”
He smiled gently, shaking his head. “Not one,” he murmured. “That is the one thing I did indeed save for you.”
Confusion creased her expression. “But you cannot simply give it to me as one would a gift. I must earn it from you just as you must earn it from me.”
“You have already earned it. I will love you and only you until I die.”
The gray eyes widened and he could read her surprise in the brilliant depths. As he watched, her eyes filled with a lake of tears.
“You…,” she swallowed hard and the tears streamed down her face. “Youloveme?”
He reached up to wipe the tears away. “You are my angel. I would kill or die for you without hesitation.”
She swallowed again, moving back from him and shaking her head as if confused by the entire circumstance.
“That is only because of the child,” she told him; she sounded very much as if she was trying to convince herself, too. “You only say you love me because you believe I carry your son. If I had not….”
He cut her off, grabbing her by both arms and pulling her against him. His hazel eyes were intense as his arms snaked around her slender body.
“My feelings for you were strong before you ever mentioned the child,” he insisted. “I do not need for you to bear me a son in order for me to love you.”
She stared up at him, feeling his warmth envelope her with blissful comfort. It was enough to cause her to forget about the princess and her vicious women. All she could see and hear, at the moment, was Davyss.
“Oh… Davyss,” she sighed, her hands moving to his stubbled cheeks. “How is this possible? Do you realize what you are saying?”
He wrapped her up in his enormous arms. “Of course I do,” he nuzzled her cheek, her neck. “Although I have never been in love before, the feelings I have for you are so strong that they can be nothing else.”
She put her hands on his face and stared at him. It was more than a simple gaze, however; she was inspecting him, the lines of his face, the shape of his nose, and the depths of his eyes to determine if he was telling her the truth. Her thumbs began to stroke his cheeks.
“Then I want to reiterate something from our list,” she said.
He grinned, wriggling his eyebrows. “Ah, yes,” he muttered. “The list. I have nearly forgotten the hundreds of items that are surely on it by now.”
She returned his smile, reluctantly. “You had better not.”
He hastened to assure her, like a man who is afraid of his wife. “Only a jest, sweetling,” he pulled her closer. “What more do you wish to reiterate from our gigantic, ungainly list?”
