Page 39 of The Mountain King
Chapter Thirteen
He ledher to the lake’s edge. A thick blanket lay spread on the ground, secured at the corners with hunks of rock. Two cushions and a small woven basket. Her lips curled. Even if he’d had his staff set up the picnic, the fact that he’d thought of such a sweet, old-fashioned gesture warmed her. And for once, she didn’t tell herself that the gesture was better suited to one of her daughters rather than wasted on herself.
She wasn’t dead, and she wasn’t old. And if she hadn’t already proven that she was a woman by birthing and raising three girls… what proof did anyone require? Why did she keep trying to convince herself her prime years were over? They weren’t, and even if she was a bit past the age most human women settled down with a man—she wasn’t dead yet. There was plenty of life left in her, plenty of passion. And, if her and Maddugh’s suspicions were correct, she wasn’t even fully human. Meaning that physically, she mightnotbe past her youth.
Kailigh glanced at Maddugh, who watched her with warm, sensual eyes, the narrow pupil slits round again.
“Wait until you see what’s inside,” he said, smug.
Settling on the blanket, she arched a brow, curious. What would make a Lord, the richest man for several counties, feel smug?
When he pulled a gleaming bottle of wine out of the basket, and a box of chocolates with a name on the label she recognized as a premium brand that had survived even the War, her eyes widened. These chocolates cost a month’s land lease.
“I’m impressed,” she said. It didn’t matter if he was rich, and could afford it—plenty of rich men were cheap, and would no more shower a woman with a frivolous gift than they would a dog.
And then he pulled out a square, pale-blue box.
“Maddugh.” She heard the amusement in her own voice, and the fine tremor. “All of this isn’t necessary. I’m a practical woman.”
“Be quiet,” he said. “You may be practical, butIam not foolish. Only a woman testing a man tells him not to bother.” His eyes glinted. “It’s a trap—to see if I’m stupid enough to believe your shameless lies.”
Kailigh took the box, held it in her hands, and stared. The constable had brought her a loaf of fancy bread and a container of honey butter as a gift years ago, when she thought she might want a husband after all. It had been a sweet, practical gesture to make towards a working single mother. Food to feed her family. But Maddugh was already providing food, shelter, clothing even.
She opened the box and said nothing for a long minute.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
The necklace was two delicate chains of platinum with pearls interspersed between the links. A dragon dangled on the end, holding a ruby in his claws and with a winking diamond for an eye.
“It’s perfect,” she said. “Forgive me for my silence. I’m unused to receiving gifts of this type.” Or at all.
Because itwasperfect. Just enough that she could wear it on an average day and feel a little special, or don it for an evening’s entertainment and not feel underdressed. Anything gaudier and she would have tucked it away in a drawer.
Kailigh looked up. “It’s perfect,” she repeated. “Will you put it on for me?”
He took the necklace from the box, and she leaned forward so he could clasp it around her neck. “It’s not a brand,” he said. “But when you wear it, they will know who gave it to you.”
She was certain ‘they’ would. Leaning forward again, she placed a kiss on the edge of his mouth.
His lips turned down. “Surely—”
Kai lifted a hand. “You aren’t about to pout that I owe you a kiss in exchange for the gift of jewelry, are you?”
His eyes narrowed. After a moment, “Of course not.”
She smiled. He sounded far too sulky to be a man his age. “Good.”
He also had a selection of cheeses and fresh fruit as well as crusty bread in the basket. She relaxed enough to stretch on her back and munch while staring at the clouds as they passed.
“I wonder,” Maddugh said, “if our first child will be a girl? What will a girl be like?”
Kailigh choked on the grape she was chewing, and had to sit up. He patted her back. “Didn’t Persia mention something about a cart and a horse?”
He waved a hand. “It’s only a matter of time. We’re both in our prime and there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t give into me any day now.”
The arrogance… but it was such an open, good-natured arrogance she couldn’t drum up the energy for indignation. Kailigh sighed, and laid back down. “Well, you met us because of what it is ‘like.’”
His expression darkened. “That will never happen again. You were without protection—” He stopped talking when her gaze turned pointed. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, woman. I know you can defend yourself. If you’d been mine—”
