Read DeliveredIntoHisHands Online
Authors: Charlotte Boyett-Compo
DeliveredIntoHisHands (25 page)
Hand in hand, they strolled under the
bright light of the New Moon. In the distance a loon called out over the waters
of the silvery lake that arched to the north of Warwyck Castle. A light breeze
flowed over and around them—kicking up the hem of her gown and tugging
playfully at strands of her long hair. They were silent for he was still
processing the words she had spoken to him an hour before. His hand tightened
on hers.
“Are you sure?” he asked as he drew her to
a halt beside him.
“As sure as I am about anything in this
life,” she replied.
He looked out across the Moon-kissed meadow
where stalks of wheat waved in the breeze. The raspy sound of the wheat blades
rubbing against one another was in cadence to the chirp of crickets.
“I don’t know for how long it will be,” he
said.
“It matters not,” she replied and withdrew
her hand from his to slip her arm around his waist. She leaned in to him.
“Where you go, I follow, milord.”
“I didn’t ask for it,” he said, raking a
hand through his hair.
“I know you didn’t.”
“And I can turn it down.” He tucked her
under his arm.
“But you won’t,” she said softly. “You
shouldn’t.”
He thought about that for a moment. The war
was finally over and her people were now firmly under the rule of his. Her king
was now nothing more than a figurehead, an iconic remnant of Volakisian law.
The real power and authority over the planet would be in the hands of the Lord
High Protector of the Commonwealth of Volakis—a fancy title that meant the man
given it would, in effect, regulate the entire world.
“I’m a soldier,” he said. “Not a fucking
politician.”
She laid her head on his chest. “I don’t
believe your father considers you a politician, Ricky,” she reminded him. “And
it is a great honor.”
“It will be a pain in my ass,” he grumbled.
“All that courtly bullshit.” He waved his free hand around in a circle. “All
that pomp and circumstance and…” He growled. “Bullshit. It stinks.”
“All bullshit does,” she quipped.
He looked down at her with a stern
expression. “You know what I mean.”
“Of course, I do,” she said.
“The upside is I can bring your parents and
sister home,” he mumbled.
“Aye, you will have the power to do that,
won’t you?” she asked, hiding a smile against his shirt.
“I’ll have to bring that boy with them.”
“My little sister’s beau?” she queried.
“That would be wise unless you want a very unhappy trio of females riding your
ass.”
“I only want one female riding my ass,” he
replied. “The thought of your sister and—the goddess forbid—your mother riding
it is very unsettling.”
Her smile widened. “I’m sure it is.”
“I’ll have to find something for him to
do,” he said on a long sigh.
“My sister’s fella?”
“Your father,” he groused. “But the fella
too, I suppose. He isn’t going to freeload on your family until he and your
sister take their vows. It’s going to be a fucking nightmare.”
“You poor man,” she said, caressing his
chest. “The things you must endure for love of me.”
“Aye,” he said then sighed dramatically.
“Mayhap there is something that will help
you endure this a mite better,” she suggested.
“I don’t see how anything will make this
shit any better,” he snapped.
“Not even what shall be arriving in the
spring?” she countered.
He pursed his lips. “What did you order now
for the keep?” he asked. “You know we won’t be living here but in the capitol.”
“Not to worry. The item will be delivered
to the palace,” she said.
“And how much did this item set me back?”
“A single sperm, I think.”
“Well, at least it didn’t cost me an arm
and—” He stopped and his chin slowly tipped down until his rapidly blinking
eyes were staring at her. “What did you say?”
“You heard me,” she said smugly and
squeezed his waist.
“You’re pregnant?” he whispered.
“Comes from all the fucking we’ve been
doing of late,” she replied.
“You’re pregnant?” he asked again, a bit
louder.
“As pregnant as pregnant can be.” She
tilted her head up. “How’s them apples, milord?”
Tears filled his eyes. “You are going to
have my baby?”
“Aye, well, it’s either yours or some
mysterious nightly visitor who has been sneaking into our bedchamber and—”
She got no further for he slapped his arms
around her and lifted her from the ground. His face beaming, his smile so wide
it looked painful.
“You are having my son!” he crowed.
“Or daughter,” she corrected.
He swung her around, laughing as he turned.
Her gown billowed out behind her.
“Ricky, you’re making me dizzy!” she said,
laughing with him.
He quickly returned her feet to the ground
but kept a strong embrace wrapped securely around her.
“You will be the most cosseted woman in all
of Volakis,” he swore. “Pampered to within an inch of your sanity.”
“Or yours,” she mumbled against his chest.
“Goddess, woman!” he said, throwing his
head back. “You have made me the happiest man in the Megaverse!”
“That was, of course, my sole intent,” she
teased. “I gave little thought to how happy it would make me.”
He released her, stepped back and grabbed
her hand. “Come, I need to tell Marcus!”
She didn’t have the heart to tell him she
suspected Marcus already knew she was with child. He’d come across her twice
now when she’d been relieving herself of the morning sickness. Though he had
not asked, she had seen the gleam in his eye and the knowing smile he tried to
hide.
All the way back to the keep she couldn’t
help returning her gaze to the happy face of her husband. The moonlight was not
solely responsible for the way his eyes glowed with green fire. She thought of
his words to her in his tent that night so long ago.
“There’ll be no more escapes for you
Antonia,” he’d said. “Ever again.”
She had no reason to ever escape him. He
was the love of her life. The only man she would ever love. Her heartmate. Her
soulmate. Her lovemate. Her lifemate. He was the epilogue to her life’s book
and he would be the prologue. He was the last thing she thought of before
taking to her bed in the mornings and the first she thing she thought of when
she woke at night. He was the Wind beneath her wings. Her everything. She would
love him until a day after forever.
And they had forever stretching out ahead
of them.
Charlee is the author of over eighty books.
She was married 43 years to her high school sweetheart, Tom, who passed away in
2009. She is the mother of two grown sons, Pete and Mike, the proud grandmother
of Preston and Victoria and the giddy grandmother of great-granddaughter Amber
Dawn. She is the reluctant house mother to seven obnoxious felines she believes
are alien infiltrators from the planet Kys'r'azz Prime. A native of Sarasota,
Florida, she grew up in Colquitt and Albany, Georgia and now lives in the
Midwest.
Charlee welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and email addresses on her
author bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.
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Boyett-Compo
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Ellora’s Cavemen: Seasons of Seduction II
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5: Her Reaper’s Arms
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6: My Reaper’s Daughter
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10: Sins of the Reaper
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6: Hunger’s Harmattan
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Captive of Her Heart
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WesternWind
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Delivered Into His Hands
ISBN 9781419991523
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Delivered Into His Hands Copyright © 2014 Charlotte Boyett-Compo
Edited by Shannon Combs
Cover design by Kelly A. Martin
Cover photography by Dm_Cherry, iko, luxorphoto, F.Schmidt, Ajay
Shrivastava
Electronic book Publication June 2014
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