“They’re alive?” his wife whispered, unable to tear her gaze from the babies.
“Aye. And breathing.” He held his son close, vowing that he would do everything to protect him. “They’re going to live. Both of them.”
He laid the children in her arms and embraced the three of them, feeling as though they’d been given a second chance.
Laren sent him an exhausted smile. “Neither of us will sleep much over the next few months.”
“But we’ll manage,” he said. “Together.”
Epilogue
Three years later
“Ifeelguilty,leavingthe children,” Laren admitted. She held her husband’s hand as they walked together to the circle within the forest. The afternoon sun speared through the tree branches, casting shadows across the standing stones.
“Do you want me to take you back to them?” Alex asked, drawing her back against the cool limestone.
“Not yet.” She drew his mouth down to hers, kissing him deeply. “I want this time with you.”
In the privacy of the forest, Alex undressed her. The sun was warm and Laren lay down upon the cloak he’d spread upon the ground. Her husband discarded his own clothing and lay beside her, drawing her on to her side.
“Your men will wonder where you are,” she said, moving her hand over his broad chest. “Weren’t you supposed to be training them?”
“If they knew I was with a beautiful naked woman, rest assured, any man alive would understand my absence.”
She smiled against his mouth, and his hands moved over her skin in reverence. With his mouth and tongue he tasted her flesh and she felt him growing thick and hard against her feminine core.
“I love you, Laren,” he murmured, his mouth caressing her stomach and outer hip. He parted her legs, then kissed her erect nipple, teasing it while her flesh grew wet beneath his stroking fingers.
“Touch me everywhere,” she commanded.
Alex’s expression grew sinful. With a single finger, he touched her eyebrow. “There?”
Laren shook her head, smiling at his playful change in mood.
“Or did you mean here?” His hand moved to her elbow, where he began caressing the tip.
“I could touch you here,” she teased, stroking his chin.
“Or did you mean here?” he whispered, sliding two fingers into her wetness.
The unexpected invasion made her ache with longing and she returned the caress by taking his erection in her palm. With each time she stroked him, he rewarded her by using his fingers to coax a stronger response.
“Or here?” he whispered, using his wet fingers to arouse her breasts. A moan escaped her and she shuddered as he provoked a staggering response that echoed deep in her womb.
“Kiss me again,” she murmured.
But instead of moving to her mouth, he drew his kiss to her breasts, licking her skin until he took the nipple with a gentle suction. He kissed her ribs, the swell of her hip, then he laid his mouth above the core of her womanhood. Gently, he licked her, arousing her hooded flesh. His tongue stimulated her, moving in a rhythm that stole her breath.
She shivered with delight as he worked her flesh faster, begging him not to stop with words that were hardly coherent. She arched against him, her fingers digging into the ground as he found the place that made her shatter apart. Dark waves of ecstasy broke over her, mindless physical fulfillment that pulled her body over the edge.
“I want you,” she pleaded, and with one thrust he was within her wetness. She felt molten inside, her body receiving him with aching shivers.
He never ceased his lovemaking but penetrated her over and over until she could hardly breathe. Another release crashed through her, and she didn’t think she could take any more. But he kept going, thrusting hard, until he emitted a ragged groan and took his own pleasure.
Alex rested against her, the sweat of their bodies mingling. Then he rolled her on to her side, bringing her leg over his hip. She was still shivering with aftershocks, and he covered them both with the cloak, holding her close.
“Did that please you?” he asked against her cheek, before sending her a feral smile.
