Silence stretched between them as Scar carried her through the keep, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable one. Instead, need and heat shivered through Analise’s body, winding tighter and tighter the nearer they got to his…their bedchambers.

He didn’t rush, his steps measured, but within minutes he pushed the door open with one huge shoulder and carried her over to the bed as it shut behind them. He didn’t put her down, instead looking at her like she was the sun, the moon and the stars combined. It was the kind of look she’d dreamed of getting her whole life, and her heart filled with joy.

“Ana…are you sure about this?” He frowned, his expression concerned. “We can wait. As long as it takes, I don’t care…just having you back, in my arms, is enou—”

She pressed her lips against his, cutting his nonsense off mid-flow. A deep rumble sounded in the back of his throat and he held her tighter against him. Only for a moment, before he started and eased up as though scared he would hurt her.

Exasperated, she broke the kiss. “Scar…I won’t break! I’m pregnant, not bloody ill! Now kiss me…take me to bed and claim me, or else!”

“Or else what?”

His eyes darkened, heat filling them as he slid her down the front of his body. Pressed against him the way she was, she felt every hard plane of muscle and divot of definition. She felt everything. Her arms wound around his neck as her toes reached the floor, her lips turned up for his kiss. The thick bar of his cock pressed insistently against her soft stomach, and she sighed into his mouth. Wanting…needing him to touch her, to hold her.

“Or else.” She pulled back to mutter against his lips. Her hand slid boldly down the front of his body to stroke against the raging erection constrained by his leathers. “I’ll have to claim you.”

He groaned, a world of desire in the sound, and looked down at her. His hair framed his face, and his eyes burned with need. For her.

“That would be worth it,” he whispered. “You touching me, after everything, is more than I dared hope for.”

His hands joined hers, unsteady as he tore at the lacings over his groin. Her breath caught in her throat as he opened them, his cock leaping into her hand. Watching his face, she wrapped delicate fingers around the thick length and stroked. Not gently, but firmly, just as he liked.

He groaned, tension snapping his body tight, but he didn’t move to stop her. Instead, he watched her, the only movement he made when his tongue snaked out to wet his lips. Her gaze riveted to his face, she watched him watching her as she pleasured him in long strokes. His nostrils flared, the tiny lines at the corners of his eyes creasing and, barely a minute or two later, he covered her hand with his.

“I can’t… Snow help me, I’ll fucking explode,” he murmured, crowding her back against the bed.

She gave a little cry of surprise and delight, clutching at his shoulders as she fell back onto the soft surface. Within a heartbeat, he was braced over her, his lips covering hers in a torrid kiss filled with desperation. Sensing his need went beyond the merely physical, she welcomed him into her embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her fingertips played in his hair, sliding through the long strands as he plundered her mouth with a hard tongue.

She wasn’t all compliance, though. Instead, she teased and evaded, then fought him for dominance. He growled, but she didn’t care, digging her nails into his back to warn him in return. That small action broke the dam of his control. With a harsh grunt, he pulled at her skirts, yanking them up around her waist. Breaking the kiss on a harsh breath, he leaned his forehead against hers. “I wanted this to be soft and gentle,” he said tightly, “but I can’t. I need you too much.”

She smiled, bunching his hair at his nape with her hand. “My husband isn’t either soft or gentle…and I wouldn’t have him any other way.”

He closed his eyes, and she got the feeling he was praying or sending thanks, then he opened his eyes, and the hot look there speared her to the core. “Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She smiled, then gasped as he pressed the broad head of his cock against the entrance to her body.

With one quick move, he buried himself so deeply inside her, she wasn’t sure where she ended and he began. He froze, their gazes connected and in that moment she felt the soul-deep link that connected them. He felt it, too…she saw it in his eyes.

Then his eyelids fluttered and he started to move. Far from being hard and fast as she’d expected, his body moved in a sensual rhythm against her. Over her. With each long stroke of his cock within her, he built the fire between them, fanned the flames and worked it up toward an inferno.

Soft moans in the back of her throat, she followed his lead, wanting nothing more than to stay like this, with him, for the rest of her life. With each thrust and retreat, each lean down and soft kiss, he wrapped her heart closer to his with ties she knew would never be broken. Ties of a love that had started to blossom when they were younger, only now brought fully to fruition.

It didn’t take long. His thrusts sped up, becoming closer together and harder. The bed rocked beneath them. Emotion wrapped around the heat building in her body and before she knew it, he’d brought her to the edge of ecstasy.

“Aevar…” She moaned, wrapping her legs around his lean hips as she offered her throat. His growl of need was all she needed to hear as he bent his head.

His fangs broke the skin just as he thrust into her a last time and stiffened. He roared as he came, the sound muffled by his hold on her shoulder. She didn’t feel pain, instead, utter pleasure exploded through her as she shattered apart in his arms. A perfect cascade of sensation as he held her, claimed her, bonded her as his forever more.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and gave herself up to pleasure.

She was no longer Scar’s whore…instead, she was his mate.

Eight months later…

“Are you sure you’re holding her right? You drop my daughter and I’ll gut you alive.”

Analise hid her smile as Scar fussed around Arick, readjusting his hold on the tiny form the big warrior held in his hands. The poor man looked terrified, his eyes wide as he looked down at the little girl, who smiled and cooed back up at him.

“Scar! Behave yourself. You’re scaring him to death. He’s holding her just fine. They’re not as fragile as you think.” Analise broke in before Arick could have a meltdown.

She was just glad they’d gotten him to agree to be Rina’s godfather before he’d realized he’d have to hold her for the ceremony; otherwise, she wasn’t sure he’d have said yes. As it was, it was delightful watching the big man being so very careful with his precious burden. She smiled as Scar stepped back, folding her into his arms. The last eight months had been the stuff dreams were made of. She had a husband who loved her and carried a child they both very much wanted. Thankfully, the delivery had been relatively easy, even if Rika had had to threaten to have her son removed from the birthing chamber, father of the baby or not, if he didn’t sit down and stop growling at anyone who went near Analise. They’d had a daughter safely. Rina. A perfect child who had her hair and her father’s dark-on-dark eyes.

Less than a month later and she had everyone in the keep wrapped around her tiny little finger.

“The priest…” she murmured to Arick, nodding toward the man stood in front of them. “He has to bless the baby.”

Arick nodded, moving to step forward, but just at that moment, the door to the hall opened. Analise couldn’t help the small gasp as she recognized the hulking figure framed in the doorway.

“Magnus Asmundr…”

“Lord Magnus…”

Her father limped forward, the injuries that had nearly killed him evident in the way he favored his left leg. Scar stepped forward, an arm out to keep her safely behind him, but something about the look on her father’s face made her push it out of the way and step forward.

“Father?” she asked, searching his eyes.

The once-proud man stopped in front of her and looked at her, actually looked at her.

“You look so much like your mother,” he admitted finally. “Not your height, or—” He waved at her slight figure, still curvier than normal after her pregnancy. “But in the eyes. Your spirit.” His voice cracked a little, but he coughed and carried on. “I lost her, but every day I saw her in you, and I couldn’t bear that she was gone.”

He dropped his head forward, every line of his body broken. When he looked up, her heart ached for the torment she saw there.

“I’m sorry for…everything. I should have been a better father. I wanted you to know I’m sorry. And…” He looked around her, his gaze suddenly hopeful as it latched onto the bundle in Arick’s arms. “I was hoping I might be able to meet my granddaughter. Just once? If you’ll permit me?”

In that moment, she knew she had the ultimate power on earth. With one word she could let hate rule her heart and destroy an already broken man. Or she could start to mend what had been broken.

Reaching out her hand, she offered it, smiling as he enveloped it in his bigger one.

“Come on,” she said, pulling him with her to where Arick stood.

Carefully, she smoothed the blankets from around her daughter’s face. The baby opened her eyes and smiled.

“Father, I’d like you to meet your granddaughter, Rina.”

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