"How long have you been staring at me?"

"Since you fell asleep." Richard laid beside her, his body close enough to help keep her warm as he repositioned the blanket over them. "It's the first time I've seen you relax in a few days."

She grinned as she rolled onto her back, snuggling closer to him as he trailed his fingers down her chest and to her stomach. "I believe that me being relaxed is what brought us here."

"That's not what I meant. Kahlan, I haven't seen you sleep in days."

Her hand ran over his, moving up his arm, shoulder and over to his chest. "Sleeping isn't exactly my priority when you're with me." His eyes closed as her hand continued downward, slowly pushing her fingers into his skin. "But you're right." She pulled hand from him and sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I should sleep more."

"Spirits Kahlan," he said breathlessly as she pushed himself against her, trying to pick up where her hand had stopped.

He pressed his lips to her shoulder, kissing slowly as he moved his left hand down her stomach. Her hands fell to the bed and took hold of the sheets as his hand moved lower. Pushing herself into his touch, Kahlan whispered his name in a long moan. He kissed over her chest, sliding his tongue over her skin as he laid over her. She brought his face to hers, kissing him as though they had be apart for months. Rolling them over, she sat up, holding his hands to her hips and as she settled above him.

He couldn't hold still long enough. Sitting up, he pulled her against him, sliding his hands up her back and coming to rest at the back of her shoulders. Her fingers grasped his face, holding him in place as their bodies drank from the other. As her magic left her, she fell into his arms as he emptied himself within her.

He gasped for air as he rested his cheek against her chest, closing his eyes as she began running her fingers through his hair. "You're right. We never actually sleep."

"I don't mind."

Pulling back, Richard slowly moved his hands over her sides, watching as her eyes closed as she parted her lips. He loved watching her like this. When his touch was all that made her weak, made her breath quicken and her head lean back. His eyes moved over her, skimming down the length of her porcelain neck, slowing down as he came to her chest and breasts. They were beautiful, covered in freckles that made it a game to connect them all with his tongue. A game that she enjoyed almost as much as he did.

Without thought, he traced his fingers around the round globes, the only thing that was better than holding or kissing them was the feel of them against him as they were lost in passion. His eyes looked back to her face as she pushed into his hands and released a soft moan. No matter how many times they made love, it was not enough. They always wanted more. Squeezing his hands closed around them, he pushed and pulled at the weight, smiling as he realized they had grown slightly larger. Nothing could make her undesirable to him and he knew that as their child grew within her, she wouldn't feel as beautiful as she was to him; he noted in his mind to never let her believe that it was true.

Leaning forward, he slowly, deliberately flattened his tongue between her breasts and dragged it up until she shifted her body and pulled his face closer to her. She was leaning back, holding herself off of the bed only by his head as she began rubbing herself against him. Smiling at her growing need, Richard released one of her breasts and snaked it between her legs, giving her the pressure she craved. A cry to the spirits left her lips as she rocked against him, her body now numb with pleasure. Reaching down to his hand, she urged him on for a moment before stopping him and reaching for him.

"You," she panted, as she took him in her hand. The contact broke his concentration, forcing him to pull back for a moment as she lowered herself onto him. "Spirits," she whimpered as she brought her hands to his shoulders and slowly circled her hips, moaning as his hands moved to her back and pulled her down just a little bit harder. Pressing her forehead against his, she gave a quick smile. "I love you."

Reaching up to cup her face, Richard pushed her hair back and out of her face. "I love you too."

Their lips collided passionately, their hands locked on each other's faces, holding them close as their bodies completed the other. They couldn't get enough of their kiss, their tongues pushing out and dancing wildly. Kahlan's hands fell to his shoulders once more, using them to give her more leverage as she moved above him. Kissing down her neck, he stopped just where it met her shoulders and began to suck. Her head fell back as her nails pushed into his skin, lightly drawing blood.

Long moans became short and more frequent, telling all who could hear that she was nearly there again. From the way Richard grunted in her neck, she knew he was holding back, waiting until she was free before he followed. Grabbing one of his hands, she brought it to her breast and squeezed. A silent cry of pleasure left her lips as she quickened her speed, dropping herself almost completely upon him before lifting and repeating. Three more and she was gone, taking him with her as they both searched for their lovers lips.

Falling back to the bed, Richard rolled her onto her back and hovered over her, being sure not to lay any of his weight upon her as she settled into the sheets beneath them. He wanted to touch her, to run his hands over her once more, but she was exhausted. The magic always took more of her than they liked, but it rarely slowed them down. Easing her down, he took her hand in his and lowered himself beside her. They were still touching, unable to be apart while the air blew over their sweat covered bodies. Pressing his lips to her shoulder, he lifted her arm, laying her hand beside her head as he slowly began running his fingers over her.

"If you keep doing that, I'm going to end up crawling back over you."

He pulled his hand back, seeing that it once again rested on her chest. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize what I was doing."

She grinned, laying her hand on top on his and holding it in place as she still struggled to find her breath. "I don't mind."

"You will when we spend the day in here."

Rolling to face him, she inched in closer, pressing her chest against his as she snuggled her face under his chin. "I think that we can both agree. We need our rest."

"But that isn't what is going to happen."

She grinned, pulling back to look at him. "Do you really think that you can keep me from falling asleep?"

"Easily." He pushed her gently, moving his hand between them, drawling a moan almost instantly from her lips.

Holding his hand still, Kahlan brought her eyes to his and grinned. "That's not fair."

"You didn't say that it had to be fair."

Turning back into his arms, she returned to her previous position and sighed. "Neither of us moves."

"They're not going to get any better. They might as well be thrown back into the farms," Cara said loudly, wanting the men to hear every word she said.

Richard had been training a large group of men who, since Darken Rahl was gone, wished to join the D'Haran army and fight for their new leader. Months had gone by and even he was starting to believe that they may never understand the ways of battle. He grew more tired by the day and the persistent ring of the Mord'Sith's words in his ear was making it more difficult.

Wiping the sweat off of his forehead, he looked up at the sun and sighed. "Let's start from the beginning. Maybe if we tried something different."

"It's not going to work; you're too tired to push them harder."

"They're doing their best. I'm not going to push them until they break."

Grabbing his arm, she turned him to face her, taking the sunlight off of his face. "If you hadn't been spent the entire night awake with the Confessor, you would be able to see that they're not going to get better until you make them."

"I'm not going to push them, Cara and what Kahlan and I do-"

"She's already pregnant, you don't need to waste your energy pushing into h-"

"It's not wasting my time and it has nothing to do with this. Most of them have never picked up a weapon. You can't expect them to be able to take down an entire army. How did you know that Kahlan and I-"

The blonde rolled her eyes and sighed. "The entire city knows what you two do. We can feel her release through the walls!"

For a moment he smiled, remembering the past few months of lying in her arms and forgetting that anything else existed. "We should get back to work. I want them with the rest of the army by the end of the week."

It had grown harder for him to be away from her as her stomach grew, showing that their child grew within her. He couldn't count all of the nights he had stayed awake and stared, in awe of what their love had created. He was tired, but it didn't change anything. Just as before, the moment they were alone, nothing could pull them apart. He didn't regret a moment. He would rather make love to the woman he loved and be tired than to sleep and miss a single minute with her.

As they did at the end of every day, Cara and Richard said goodbye to the men and made their way back to the palace. He could feel her eyes on him, staring as she waited for him to pay attention to her. "I'm not going to stop loving Kahlan so that I can push the men harder."

"I didn't say you had to stop loving her; you just have to keep your hands to yourself. She's getting fatter, you couldn't-"

He stopped and turned to face her, crossing his arms. "She's carrying my child. She's not getting- Cara, I know that it may be hard for you to understand, but the way that I feel about Kahlan has only grown and each moment that I am with her, I can't keep my eyes off of her. She's beautiful. She's-" he smiled and shook his head, realizing that nothing he said would make a difference. "You can train the men tomorrow. Do it your way and you'll see that it's not the method."

"If I am going to train them, you're not going to sleep with the Confessor, I need sleep."

Opening the door, Richard pushed his head in through the door to see if he had woken her. She was sitting in the center of the bed, surrounded by paper with a frown on her face. From the sight, she had been up all night and was more exhausted than usual. Walking closer, he pulled the shirt over his head and dropped it on the chair beside the bed.

"Have you been up all night?"

"Is it morning?" she questioned softly, looking from him to the window. "I didn't realize how late it was."

Picking up a few pieces of paper, Richard tried to read them. "What are these about?"

"You. The council wants to find a way to join our lands."

"How are they?"

Shaking her head, she laughed. "Terrible. None of these are as good as what we have now. There are too many demands and our people cannot make them. All of these would be unfair to them."

Moving more of the papers out of the way, Richard crawled into the bed and pulled her into his arms. "What can we do make it work?"

"I don't know. Everything is already going so well. I do not think that there is a reason to push them together. The people of Aydindril respect you as one of their leaders. There is no benefit to join the lands."

"Not for me, but there is for you and the council."

"I don't understand."

Grinning, he leaned back and pulled her against him. "That's because you don't think that way. Kahlan when we join our lands, you gain more power. The council gains more power and from what you've told me and what I have seen, that's what they want."

Holding his arm around her chest, she shook her head. "We can't let them have it."

"But we can let you. Kahlan there is no one would do a better job at this. No one cares so much about the people than you. They need you."

Shaking her head again, she looked up at him. "I don't think that it's a good idea. Where have you been?" She suddenly realized that it was morning and she was just now getting to see him.

"I stayed in Cara's room. She said if she didn't get enough sleep, she would agiel all of the men who showed up today."

"What do you have to do with her getting enough sleep?"

He let out a soft laugh, tightening his hold on her as one of his hands began moving over her. "She says we keep the city awake every night."

Turning around in his arms, she ran her hands over his chest. "We keep them all awake?"

"All night."

"It's not night any longer."

A long moan flowed from within him as her tongue slowly ran over his chest. Her hands began to untie his pants as he pushed his fingers into her hair. She heard him mumble something about the papers that covered their bed, but she couldn't stop herself. Her body craved his, needing to feel him against her and fast. He pushed over her as she shoved his pants from his waist. Pulling at her nightgown, he broke through the buttons and tossed it from her body and onto the floor.

As he kissed over her body, he found himself grinning as he reached her stomach. Knowing that their child was in there; was so close to them made him happier than he imagined. He had often wondered why they hadn't had a child yet when they were together more times than he could count. He began to wish that the world knew about their child, but the only person they had told was Cara. It hadn't been their intention, but when the blonde walked in on them, Richard kneeling down before her with his lips against her stomach, they had to tell her the truth.

He had wanted to shout it from the courtyard so that everyone would hear, but she didn't. Kahlan was afraid that something would happen and they would lose their child, she didn't want anyone to know until she was sure that they would be a family. He understood her fear; he just wished that she didn't have it. One night, he had finally asked her why she was afraid and her answer had been more than expected. In his whole life, he had never imagined that someone would harm a child, but what she told him made it seem impossible. For as long as there have been Confessors, there have been people who try to destroy them. When a Confessor was with child, they were attacked and beaten to death to ensure the death of the child.

It made him sick to think of someone doing it and to the woman he loved and his child was worse. He had sent Cara with her every time she left the palace. He gave her permission to do anything to protect her and each time they returned he was relieved that it hadn't been needed. No one would dare attack a Mord'Sith and a Confessor. Together, they would be unbeatable.

As he ran his tongue over the small bump of her belly, he began to worry that soon the world would know and she would be a target. The way she rubbed herself against him pulled him from his thoughts, making his mind go blank of all things except the feel of her skin, taste of her lips and the soft intoxicating sounds of her moans in his ear. Since she had gotten pregnant, he had found that her senses had heightened and a simple touch in the right spot was all it took. Many times, he had barely removed her clothes and as she settled over him, her head would fall back with a long cry as she released it all. It never kept them from continuing. He couldn't help but laugh at the thought. The way her body seemed to need his constantly, taking him at anytime and holding him until they could no longer move.

After a moment, she grew desperate and reached for him, telling him silently what she needed. The sound of her cry as he entered her almost took him, making it impossible to focus as she pushed against him. As her fingers dug into his shoulders, he cupped her breasts in his hands, trying to give her a little more. She whimpered in pleasure, her hands falling to the sheets and pulling as she encouraged him to quicken his pace.

Kahlan pushed her head back in the pillow, biting her lower lip until she drew blood. Within seconds, Richard pressed his lips to hers, kissing away the blood that slowly stained her skin. As she cried out in her release, she grabbed his shoulders, holding him against her as the magic flowed from within her. The feel of her around him as she reached her height took him away, pushing him off of the edge and into her arms.

A soft laugh escaped him as he laid his head down on her chest, holding her tightly as they found their breaths. "I think that Cara was right. We do keep them all awake."

"I don't think that we woke anyone."

Lifting his head, he withheld a laugh and beamed down at her. "You woke the city."

Grinning, she playfully pushed his shoulders. "I woke them, did I?"

"Yes."

Rolling over him, she slid her hands down his chest. "If they're already awake, they won't mind if we continue."

Running his fingers through her hair, he smiled widely. "No, but I don't think I can move yet." Her disappointed pout made him laugh, knowing that her desire for him was still strong. "Come here." He shifted her body above him, watching her face to find the exact position that she needed. Sitting up, she slowly moved against him as his hands ran over her, doing their best to keep the look of pleasure on her face. "Spirits Kahlan," he said breathlessly as she held one of his hands against her breast, a low moan fleeing her lips as she once again began to lose control.

Turning her head toward the noise, she opened her eyes and found him. "How long have you been awake?"

"A few hours. I rolled over one of these." He held up two long scrolls, the ones she had been reading when he had entered the room that morning. "Kahlan, some of these are ridiculous."

Smiling, she rolled the rest of the way toward him. "I know. The people shouldn't have to-"

"It's not just the people, Kahlan. The things the council wants from you. Did you read all of these? How can they ask this of you?"

"It's not just me they want you-"

Richard began shaking his head, as he read the papers, he had grown more upset than he had wanted to. "It's not about me. Kahlan do they understand what you would have to do? To get most of these to work, you'd have to..." his words trailed off as she shifted beneath the blankets. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"I know. It's all right." Sitting up, she pulled the blanket closer to her as she moved next to him. "Which ones are you reading now?"

Handing her a stack of papers, he sighed. "I don't understand how they can want this to happen."

Taking the papers, she began reading through them, trying to see what had made him so upset. "What do you mean?"

"They want you to renounce your title of Mother Confessor." Confused, she quickly flipped through the pages, trying to find it. "Kahlan, you can't trust them."

Looking at him, she dropped the papers in her lap. "I don't understand. Why would they do that? Richard these were written by every member of the council. For it to make it to me, they all must have agreed."

"I don't understand it either, but it doesn't matter. You're not going to do it."

"Why not? Richard if I do it, we can leave here and we wouldn't have to worry about something happening to Sarah."

"It's who you are, Kahlan. You shouldn't have to give it up because they want- You want to leave?"

"I don't want to worry about our daughter every time I leave the room."

"I don't want you to have to give this up. Kahlan, you've worked too hard for this and the people love you. If you left, they-"

"It's not the people I am worried about. Richard, I love them, but I care more about you and Sarah than I do them."

A smile crossed his lips for a moment as he pulled her closer to him. "So do I, but we can't leave them with the council. They need you."

"They'll have you."

Shaking his head he picked up the papers from her lap and looked through them. "No they won't. If you're gone, I am gone. The council takes it all. I will not stay if you give up."

Pushing him away from her, she frowned. "I'm not giving up. I'm protecting our child."

"You can do both, Kahlan."

"Maybe I don't want to." Her voice came out softer than a whisper with her shoulders pushed back and head held high. "I cannot pretend that I care about them as much as our daughter."

Tossing the papers off of their bed, Richard leaned back, pulling her into his arms and letting her head rest on his chest. "All right, but we're not going to leave. Not like this."

He knew her eyes were open, staring out as she thought, but he knew that she didn't want to talk about it anymore. She was upset, her heart pounding in fear and anger as she tried to keep calm. Lifting out of his arms, she held the blanket to her chest and turned away, ignoring his soft whisper of her name. She dressed quickly, lacing the front of her dress with a speed he hadn't seen before. Without a sound she walked across the room, dropping a few of the papers onto the floor as she made her way to the door.

"I need to go into town."

"I'll get dressed."

"No." Holding out her hand, she shook her head and turned to face him. "You should get some sleep. I'll take Cara."

"Kahlan," he wanted to tell her to come back to bed, that they could spend the entire day together, but he didn't. The hurt in her eyes asked him not to. "She's taken the men to the river."

Nodding her thanks, Kahlan turned and walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her. As she walked through the palace she began to understand why Richard wanted her to stay. She had often imagined their child running through the halls, laughing as they chased them. Maybe Richard was right, this was the place for them. She stopped for a moment, wanting to go back to him and tell him that she was wrong, but something stopped her.