Page 92 of The Moonstone Governess
Brenna was about to put him down because he was the size of a Claymore, which meant he was already almost as big as she was even though he was only six years old. But he was all lanky bones.
When she tried to put him down, Matthew reached out for Daire instead.
“All right, up you go.” Daire wrapped him in his solid arms.
The boy threw his arms around Daire’s neck. “I love you, Uncle Daire.”
Brenna’s heart burst with joy.
Daire looked at her, his heart no doubt fuller than it had ever been. “I love you too, Matthew. Never doubt it.”
Matthew was still hugging Daire as he asked, “Am I in trouble?”
“You ought to be,” Daire said, not sounding very severe, “but Brenna and I just spent a very good night, and we are feeling quite…pleased with ourselves at the moment.”
She smothered a laugh. “Does anyone know you are gone?”
Matthew shook his head. “I dressed myself and was quiet as a mouse. Then I ran out of the inn and came up here.”
She ran her fingers through the boy’s hair to put some order into his windswept curls. “You could have gotten lost, Matthew. What you did was dangerous.”
“No, I wasn’t lost. I followed the lights.”
Daire shrugged as he exchanged a look with her. “Greggson put out the lights last night.”
Matthew shook his head. “Not those lights. The ones across the poppy field.”
“Like dewdrops?” Brenna asked, wondering how the morning dew might form a glistening pathway up to the house.
“Yes, in all pretty colors from the water all the way up to the house. I just followed the pretty colors.”
Daire grinned at her. “I had no idea my essence was so potent.”
She laughed. “Oh, Daire. Put away that silly grin. Yes, you were wonderful and masterful. Satisfied?”
“Not nearly, but I hope to be after we get this young man back to the inn. Matthew, can you stay in here and play quietly with your tin soldiers while Brenna and I get dressed?”
The boy nodded.
Daire led her back to their bedchamber, closed the door, and then leaped onto the bed, falling onto his back on the mattress with a softwhoop. “He said he loves me.”
Brenna came to his side. “Hearing it from his sweet lips… It was wonderful, wasn’t it?”
He grabbed her by the waist and hauled her atop him. “Almost as wonderful as burying myself inside you.”
“Daire!”
“All right, I am elated. It is nothing I ever thought to hear. Certainly never expected it so soon.” He kissed her on the lips. “But I love you too. Everything good has come to me because of you.” He untied the string of his robe and started to take it off her. “Do not turn prim. I am merely assisting you to undress and wash up. Then we’ll have to find you a gown to wear.”
“That boy is going to wander in here if you don’t stop wasting time nuzzling my neck.”
“Is this what fatherhood will be like?”
“Very likely. Do you mind terribly?”
“Sharing you with others? Especially miniature others who resemble me or you?” He laughed. “No, little dove. I will endure it with manly aplomb.”
Despite Daire’s attempts to distract her, Brenna managed to wash and then pull out one of her gowns from the duchess’s dressing room. Daire was already dressed and then helped her, taking his naughty time about it. They finally returned to Matthew and walked him back to the inn.
