Page 42 of Jace

He caressed her cheek, and she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

All he wanted was to lead her back to bed and pleasure her all over again.

But there was much to do before that could happen.

“We should get ready to survey the land,” he told her regretfully. “And we’ll try to find something nice to eat.”

She opened her eyes and stepped back.

“Of course,” she said. “Let me just see if I can find something else to wear.”

16

Susannah

Susannah jogged out of her bedroom, happy to be in clean, sensible clothing.

Thank the stars, her cupboards had been filled with things in her size, most of which were warm and comfortable. For their excursion, she was wearing a simple work dress over cotton cling breeches and a pair of tall boots that seemed to adjust their size to her feet as she pulled them on.

“Wow,” Jace said as she joined him on the front lawn.

Baby Zeke was in a carrier on his chest. He began kicking and smiling as soon as he laid eyes on her.

“You like it?” she asked, smiling and twirling once for them.

“Do you like it?” Jace asked.

“Of course,” she told him. “It’s very comfortable, and the boots are perfect for walking. Why?”

“Well,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s just that you were wearing that… gown when I met you.”

Just the thought of the impractical, low-cut dress instantly annoyed her. Not as much as wearing the thing had, but it was close.

“I hope you’re not expecting me to dress like that all the time,” she told him. “The agency made us wear those.”

“Why?” he asked, looking honestly stupefied.

“They said something about honoring the babies from Imber,” she said. “An Imberian poem that says your mother greets you with a purple robe.”

“Rings of Rethebubb,” Jace declared.

“What?” she asked.

“The purple robe is referring to the, uh, placenta,” he explained.

She blinked at him for a moment.

“So, I wore a low-cut purple gown and matching slippers on a trek through the system and across a frontier moon to be dressed up like a placenta?” she asked him at last.

He nodded slowly, his eyes wide.

She began to laugh, the hilarity of the situation hitting her from several angles at once. She laughed so hard tears ran down her cheeks and she had to gasp for air.

As her laughter finally released its hold on her, she realized Jace wasn’t laughing.

“You don’t find this even a little bit funny?” she asked him, wiping the tears from her face. “I mean my gosh, what you must have thought of me, showing up for a long journey wearing an evening gown and slippers.”

She started giggling all over again.

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