Page 127 of The Seeker
“He can.”
The woman nodded silently before she departed and went back to Ata’s side. They exchanged a few more words before Ata turned to them. Her eyes were narrowed and thoughtful.
“She knows something is brewing,” Rhys said.
“She does.”
Rhys leaned over and plucked half an apricot from Meera’s plate, feeding her as he whispered in her ear. “Wake tomorrow morning, go out to the cane fields, and sing the rising song she taught you. I’ll come with you. If she wants to talk to us without all the formality, that will give her a chance.”
“Good idea.” Meera took a piece of melon from Rhys’s plate and took a turn feeding him. “What a smart scribe myreshonis.”
“The very smartest,” he said around the bite. “Heaven above, Meera Bai, howdidyou get so lucky?”
“I love you,” she blurted.
The teasing light fell from his eyes. “Meera—”
“I mean, IthinkI love you. I…” She looked down, ignoring the festivities going on around them. “This moment was chosen poorly. I have been feeling… thisfeelingsince the night we were first together in the bayou. I was resisting it because I didn’t want my emotions dictated by fate. Or my parents. Or… anything really.”
“You don’t love me because of fate,” he said roughly.
“No, I love you because you’re the one man who is a match for my mind, my body, and my heart. And I am the same for you.”
He fought against a smile. “Must you besucha know-it-all? Even now?”
“I’m only telling you things you already know.”
“Exactly.”
Meera asked, “So why are you arguing with me?”
The smile broke through. “Because you’re infuriating.”
“I am infuriating because I’m right.”
He slipped an arm around her back. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Blasted woman.”
“Heaven picked me. Blame heaven.”
“Never.” He leaned over nipped her earlobe. “You are my mate, Meera Bai. Tomorrow and for the rest of time.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rhys rose before dawn. The land around him was silent save for a few night birds calling.
What had woken him?
Meera.
He felt her before he heard her. He rose and walked to the door, opening it just as she crossed from the kitchen garden to the cottage path.
Though he made no sound, she looked up.
Reshon.
