Page 31 of Chosen

Chapter Twenty

Sig

My heart was in my throat and my eyes were so wide they hurt when Truth threw herself between me and harm's way. I hadn’t even seen the flash of the dagger. I just saw something coming fast and then I heard him groan when they connected. Blood started to pool around the pair of them. I helped the guards untangle them and pulled my wife toward me.

“Are you alright?” I demanded, while patting her down.

She didn’t appear to have any injuries, but she wasn’t answering me, either. She was frozen, with her gaze locked on the dying traitor.

“Hey,” I rubbed her cheeks and kissed her. She blinked and looked at me.

“You did the right thing,” I assured, before shock could set in.

“I know that.” She flinched and took my hand in hers.

I’m not sure which of us was more shaken by the incident. There wasn’t time to reflect on our own feelings, my mother was openly crying.

“Clear the room,” I demanded, while gathering her into my arms.

Truth got her a handkerchief, and she dried her eyes.

“That was… so… close,” my mother stressed. “Too close. No one can ever get that close again. I want those guards punished.”

“Mother,” I raised my tone just enough to reel her in. “It was no one’s fault. Everyone did what they should have. The guards were too far away. We will change protocol and receive complaints from a further distance.”

“Indeed,” Truth encouraged. She rubbed my mother’s arm and much to my surprise, my mother offered a weak smile.

Her hands trembled when she took Truth’s and used her thumb to stroke the scar on Truth’s knuckles.

“Would you walk with me? After lunch?”

Truth nodded in agreement.

“Good. I shall meet you both then,” Mother announced, before giving her hand a final squeeze and taking her leave.

“C’mon… Let’s get out of here.” I nodded toward the door and Truth readily bobbed her head in agreement.

We walked as fast as we dared, but once we turned the last hall to our chambers, we sprinted to our room. I shut the door behind me and collapsed against it. Truth turned on me, pinning me between her and the large wooden door.

“Your mother is right. Don’t ever let anyone get that close again… or I shall kill you myself.”

The woman had a way of issuing threats where most would utter sentiment. It sort of turned me on, but right now, I wanted to hear it. I grabbed her waist and rolled so that she was pinned beneath me instead.

“Are you saying you would have been sad? That you would have grieved?” I stared into her big green eyes and challenged. “You have a care for me…”

Just as I suspected, she couldn’t handle emotion.

“Don’t be stupid. Of course, I don’t want you to die. What if I am carrying your child? Hm?” She looked bored and tried to push her way past me. I left my weight on her and kissed her. A single soft, little peck. Her lips were firm. I came in for a second kiss and lingered, massaging her mouth with mine. Slowly, she melted, and her tongue met mine with a vengeance when I deepened the kiss.

Rather than push against me, she hooked her arms around my neck and brought her legs up to lock around my waist. Sex was a weapon with her. It was how she expressed herself most comfortably. So, I shut up and let our bodies do the talking. It was easy to forget whatever hesitations I had about her when her body was snug against mine and her hands were in my hair.

I was just reaching down to unfasten my belt when a knock sounded at the door we were leaning on. There was no privacy. Not during daylight hours in the Bay. Luckily, I wasn’t worried about being seen.

“Come in,” I called, shifting her toward the wall. Truth’s hand shot toward my own.

She held mine, preventing me from disrobing while her ladies entered with our lunch trays. It amused me. She’d been a slave. Surely, she didn’t have an ounce of shame in her when it came to her body. The question must have lingered in my eyes.

“You are their king,” she whispered, pulling me in close where no one could really see what was going on between us.

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