Page 82 of The King's Man
She was bemused. “Yes, Jann. We can do that.”
My breath grew short, my lungs constricting in a strange duality of thrill and grief because the image of her body full and lush, carrying my babe, was intoxicating. But if she could stopthat from happening—and avoid the risks… I couldn’t deny that it was a gift.
If she never got pregnant, I might liveyearsmore.Decades! But then she would never be a mother and that seemed so selfish…
Clearing my throat, I took my hand back and looked away, conflicted. The mental image of her pregnant withourbaby made my guts twist in weird ways. Yet, the thought of losing her made me want to crawl out of my own skin.
“Jann?” she murmured. I met her eyes, afraid to hope. “Is that really all you’re worried about?”
I couldn’t control my irritation and shock. “My death andyours—a child who grows up watching his mother destroyed, then is left as an orphan? Yes, Diadre, that’sall.”
But her eyes softened. She raised her hand to place it on my chest and that crackle between us was stronger. I sucked in, hardly daring to hope when her eyes dropped to where she touched me and she breathed,“Mate?”her tone awed. Then she looked up at me, and the bond jolted.
Breathless and shaking, I hurriedly grabbed at my shirt, tugging it up and out of my pants, hissing when her eyes grew wary—I needed to tear a strip off the hem!
She looked confused when I tore the linen at the bottom, but then her eyes widened when I’d created a long strip of the fabric and, swallowing hard, I dropped to one knee at her feet.
She blinked when I looked up at her. “Melek told me something of your traditions,” I said gruffly. “I know I am not… I haven’t… that is—I’m sure I don’t know the whole of it, but…God,Dee. You’re my mate. I feel alive in your presence. I feel… fulfilled. Let me show you. I will be your servant. I will stand at your back and bury the world that would harm you.
“I will not take your bodyorthe bond against your will. But be certain, Dee… I have never wanted a woman the way I wantyou. I was not false when I said I see you. Let me show you. Diadre… please… Give me your hand? Let me vow myself. Let me bind us together?”
She sucked in a breath and tensed when I opened my palm, but she didn’t step back
And so, I waited,beggingGod to have mercy and give her confidence in me.
31.Vow to You
~ JANN ~
“You can’t be certain—”
“I am,” I growled.
She swallowed. “We barely know each other—”
“I know enough—God, chose you for me. That is enough, Dee. I… I feel it. Can you not feel it?” My blood ran cold. I thought she’d already sensed it, was already accepting that we were meant to beone.
Her expression crumpled and she dropped her face into her hands. Leaping back to my feet, I held her face and pulled her chin up, forcing her to look at me.
“Don’t you feel it? Tell me, Dee—is the bond shrouded from you?”
Her eyes were pink and shining with unshed tears. I searched her gaze when she didn’t speak, praying, pleading, head spinning—what would I do if she couldn’t accept me?
My heart lurched and I grunted.
And Diadre gasped.
I went still. “You felt that,” I whispered, still searching her eyes. “You felt it.”
Slowly, reluctantly, she nodded. My heart swelled in my chest like a rising sun.
“Please, Dee,” I rasped. “I’ll vow to you—and mean it. Every word.”
“How can you know?” she whispered back.
In answer I took hold of her wrist and brought her palm up to my chest, clamping it there with my hands, staring into her eyes as I answered.
“I was made for you,” I growled. “And you for me. I want no one else.No one,Dee. I will take you, I will protect you, I will do everything in my power to see youfly,I am—”
