Through it all, he said nothing.
Not a word of recrimination.
Not a single empty promise.
Not ‘It will all come right’or‘Hush now, it’s not as bad as all that.’
He was her rock, her safe harbor, his heart a slow and rhythmicthump-thumpunder her ear.
Eventually, the heaving gasps of her lungs softened, the warmth of him finally seeping through her.
How wonderful to just be . . . held. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been hugged or embraced in any meaningful way.
That unnamed black terror had always lingered.
But now, knowing and trusting that Kieran would do nothing physically without her permission, the fear had retreated.
And within the vacuum it left, she could finally understand.
Her body was starved, as if her very skin required the sustenance of another’s touch. And maybe not just anyone else’s. Maybe just . . . his.
She closed her eyes, allowing herself to melt into Kieran, to give him the weight of her body, her heart, her thoughts. She pressed a hand to his chest, her fingers feeling the round metal of her wedding ring beneath his shirt. The promise of it.
He answered with the steady thump-thump of each heartbeat—one hand on her waist, the other pressed between her shoulder blades, his chin resting on the crown of her head.
Her body greedily drank the comfort he offered.
Finally, she found the courage to return to the snippet of memory that had surfaced.
She had lit a fuse. Had it truly been the fuse that caused the explosion which destroyed the ship?
And if not, why else would she remember it with such excruciating detail? As if it were some vital memory?
She simply could not fathom that she would . . .
That she had . . .
Surely, she had loved her unborn baby enough not to do something so risky? Hadn’t she?
She swallowed, taking in a long, slow breath.
Kieran mimicked the motion. She could hear the air rushing in and out of his lungs.
“Tell me . . .” She trailed off.
He stilled, his chest seizing under her cheek.
“Tell ye?” he whispered.
“Aye.” She licked her lips. “Tell me how much I loved our babe.”
Eilidh’s words werea punch to the stomach.
Tell me how much I loved our babe.
How could Kieran give words to that? To relive those days when he had thought he would be a father?
But she washere. In his bed. In his arms.
