Dripping water onto the floor, Richard shut the door behind him and walked towards the center of the front room where he could see into the bedroom. Staring through the door at Kahlan as she laid their daughter in the corner of their bed in a small cradle she had made for her out of a blanket. Pulling his wet shirt over his head, he laid it down beside the crackle of the fire, before removing his pants and doing the same.
"It's warm in here." she said, looking up and seeing him walking, naked, towards her. Her eyes traveled along his body as he walked closer.
Crawling into the bed, Kahlan moved quickly, leaving him no option but to lay behind her and pull her against him, her back pressed firmly against his damp chest. He felt her breathe out a sigh a content as his arms tightened around her. His body ached with need for sleep, but he couldn't take his eyes off of them. He watched Kahlan's eyes stare at their daughter as she slept, a smile on her lips as she clung tightly to his arm.
They laid there for a while, both staring at Addison as she slept peacefully, not knowing the dangers and trouble that would be coming for her. Richard wanted, more than anything, for them to remain this way. Safe and together. Turning her head, Kahlan looked at him and smiled widely.
"You're wet."
Letting out a soft laugh, Richard leaned forward, rubbing his wet hair onto her cheek. "Am I?" he asked as she wiggled away from him, turning her head to keep the water from getting on her face.
"Yes!" she laughed as he rolled her onto her back and shook his head, shaking water onto her. Grabbing his head, she held it still as she blinked away he water drops. Moving quickly, she pulled him down to her, kissing him. She moved her hands quickly, running them over his shoulder and over his back.
The dust of the bed few into the air around them as he pushed her into the feathers of the bed. His hands moved smoothly over her skin as his lips roamed over her chin, neck and chest. Entangling her fingers into his hair, she held him to he, arching her back forward. A soft moan escaped her lips as his mouth continued to explore her body.
The sound of the rain drowned out the cries and moans of passion. Both holding on to each other as they had each time.
Tip-toeing away from the bed, Kahlan hugged their daughter to her, hoping that she wouldn't cry and wake him. Coming to the front door, she opened it, letting in the cool breeze. Addison closed her eyes and turned trying to get more of the wind. Leaning up against the door frame, Kahlan took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, suddenly feeling better than she had in a long time.
"Hey." She turned to the sound of his voice. He was close behind her, smiling widely as he put on his pants. "You changed." He said as he took in the sight of her in the tight black dress that Emma had packed for her.
"I didn't want to spend all day in a dirty shirt." she smiled as he stepped behind her, looking down at their daughter bundled up in her arms. "I didn't want to wake you." Slowly, Kahlan turned towards him and handed her to him.
"You didn't. I just don't know how to sleep without you." Looking down at their daughter, his smile grew even wider as he began to make slily faces at her. Laughing, Kahlan leaned back against the door frame once again and watched him. "You're so beautiful." he whispered to their daughter.
She would never get tired of watching them together, watching as he rubbed his nose lightly against hers before kissing her little cheeks. "What if we stayed here?"
He looked up instantly at her words. "What?"
She stepped around him, walking inside as she took in a deep breath. "What if we never went back to Aydindril?"
"What? Kahlan, it's your home." he said softly as he turned around a walked after her.
"No it's not." she said as she turned around. She stumbled back a bit when she realized how close he was. "Not any more. Richard, we can be happy here."
"We were happy there too." He argued softly. "Kahlan, it's your home. It's your people."
"They want to murder our daughter."
"I know, but you can't leave them to lead your people." Stepping closer, he saw her eyes and he frowned. "Kahlan, Aydindril is who you are."
"Maybe it's time for me to chang-"
"I don't want you to change." he interrupted, closing the distance between them. The only thing that separated them was their child. "We'll fix this. Kahlan, we're going to to go back and you're going to be happy."
With a smile crossing her lips, she looked down to their daughter for a moment, then back to him. "I am happy. Richard last night, here with Addison, no duties that pull us away from each other. I always wanted this."
He smiled, unable to stop himself at the words that flowed so freely and unafraid from her lips, but he knew her better than this, maybe he even knew her better than she did. "What about your people?"
"They have my sister." She answered quickly.
"Kahlan," he whispered her name as he stepped back, away from her. "You can't give up who you are." He had known that this was coming, but he thought that he had more time.
"I don't want to go back."
Her voice suddenly soft and filled with a fear that he hadn't heard from her before. "Why?" He knew the answer, but he wanted her to say it. He needed her to.
Looking down at the ground she waited a moment before speaking, almost as though she thought her words would become reality. "I don't want to lose her." When she looked up, her eyes were wet with tears that he knew she refused to let loose. "I can't."
The look on her face and in her eyes pained him, he could suddenly feel his heart pounding within him. He felt the same way, but he would never keep her from her home, her people and the life that he knew she loved. "We won't lose her."
"You heard them, Richard. They want blood. Her blood. How long can we protect her?"
"As long as we have to. Kahlan, we're going to fix this. They're not going to hurt her." Moving back towards her, he hoped that she would listen to him. "I'm going to make them pay for threatening our daughter. Our family. You don't have to worry about anything."
She waited a moment before she spoke, trying to find her words as she looked into his sure eyes. "There is only one way to keep me from worrying about it."
"I know."
Tilting her head, she almost smiled. "That's why Cara and Zedd haven't come yet, isn't it? You told them to-"
"Kahlan, they were going to come after us. I wasn't going to let them hurt her, but I knew you wouldn't want to go back and put Addison at risk. Not when I knew that you would give up everything that you knew and loved for her. For us to be a family and I am willing to do whatever it takes for us to stay this way."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I saw enough worry in your eyes to give you mine." He whispered as she walked closer to him. "We'll be safe here."
Stepping to his side, she looked up at him and smiled warmly. "Thank you." Leaning forward, she pressed her lips against his, giving him a quick and light kiss. "She's asleep." she whispered, looking down to Addison for a moment before looking back up to him. Taking his arm, Kahlan pulled him toward the door to the bedroom.
Tightening his arm around her, Richard held her firmly to his chest, stopping her from pushing away. "I'm not ready to let go." His voice soft and out of breath. He had rolled from her body, as not to crush her and pulled her into his embrace, not wanting to loose contact with her warm, sweaty flesh. "She'll be fine for a few more minutes."
Addison had begun making small noises only just moments before and as a new mother, Kahlan wanted to be sure that everything was alright. "She may be-"
"She's fine." he smiled, "She's already gotten quiet."
Nodding against his chest, she couldn't help the smile that covered her face. "She's fine." she repeated his words, letting them sink into her mind. For nearly the entire pregnancy, she was afraid that they would lose their child, but there she was, laying inside a small basket beside the bed. "She's fine."
Rubbing her his hand along her arm, he too smiled, unable to stop himself. "We're all fine."
"Better than fine." she said as she lifted herself up onto her elbow. Leaning down, she connected their lips for a brief moment, but long enough to have him stretch his neck to follow her, needing her lips once again.
Quickly, before she could get far, he pulled her back to him and rolled them over, laying himself over her, pinning her gently to the bed beneath him as he moved his lips along her neck and chest. He would never get enough of her. The taste of her skin beneath his tongue, filled him with a fire that he never wanted to burn out. With her fingernails digging into his back, she arched her chest forward into him, needing more contact.
Both jumped at the sound of a tiny cough. Moving to the edge of the bed, they looked down to find their daughter staring wide-eyed up at them, almost as though she knew what they were doing.
"You think she's upset that she may not be our only child for long?" Richard laughed.
With a smile, she pushed him from her, making him sit up to straddle her as she sat up. "I guess you should stay off of me."
He pulled her to him as he laid onto his back, making her sit over him. "Or you should stay off of me."
Leaning down, she kissed him quickly and pulled back enough to look into his eyes. "I don't think I can." With a soft growl, he pulled her back to him, clashing their lips together in another passionate kiss until Addison began to cry. "I think that you were right." She smiled as she moved off of him, grabbing her black dress and dressing as he watched her every move.
Lifting their daughter into her arms, Kahlan began swaying and humming as she calmed her. He watched them for a moment, taking in the sight of the two beautiful girls before him before getting up to dress himself.
"I'll find us something to eat." He said before giving her a quick kiss and walking out of the room.
Sitting down on a chair, Kahlan adjusted her dress and began to feed her, unable to stop smiling. Her eyes closing as her mind filled with thoughts of what their life could be like. She loved Aydindril, but being here with Richard, being able to kiss and make love to him whenever she wanted has made her happier than she was before. Her days there were spent with a longing for him, his touch, his kiss and to just see his face. She spent most of her days arguing with the council about him while attending to her duties. Knowing that he was a Rahl, they assumed that their child would be a male, since the entire family of Rahl's have always been males.
She now wished that she had not told them that she was with child. Maybe that was her mistake. Richard had wanted to the world to know because he was so happy, but maybe they shouldn't have told the council and let them find out when she was unable to hide it any longer. Then, they would allow her to continue to carry the child without once asking her to destroy it.
She looked down, noticing Addison staring up at her in wonder as she ate. A large smile crossed Kahlan's lips as her mind lost all thoughts. "Hi." she whispered to her before crinkling her nose with a smile as she shook her head, making her hair fall over her shoulders and brush against the baby's face.
The moment she fell asleep, Kahlan stood and laid her carefully down in the small basket beside the bed. She watched her for a few seconds, making sure she was alright, before turning and walking into the other room to start a fire. She hadn't realized how cold she was, but she had been laying in Richards arms and he was more than warm. She smiled at the thought as her body began to imagine his embrace as she rubbed her hands together over the growing fire.
Standing at the door, he watched her for a few moments, marveling at her stunning beauty. He smiled as she knelt down, leaning closer to the fire as she clenched her teeth together to keep them from chattering. He walked quickly towards her, wrapping her in his arms to help warm her. "Spirits, you're cold Kahlan." he whispered as she turned into his embrace.
"You're just warm." she replied as she wrapped her arms around him "Really warm."
Slowly, he lowered them to the floor, keeping her as close to him as possible. Instantly, she turned around, pressing her back against his chest and pulling his arms tightly around her. "Where's Addison?"
"She fell asleep after I fed her. I laid her down so that I could start a fire to get warm." Closing her eyes, she leaned into his arms and let out a soft sigh. "How fast do you think we need to move to catch up with Cara and Zedd?"
He fought back a smile and tightened his hold on her. "I don't know. We'd have to gather up some supplies first, that could take some time. Then we'd have to make something to hold Addison in while we traveled."
"You already gathered the supplies didn't you?"
He was shocked by her words and how well she knew him. "How did you know?"
"I didn't. I knew that you wouldn't want to stay here and forget about everything, but then I started to think about it myself and I realized what you were doing."
"What's that?"
"Giving me a chance to think clearly." She replied tilting her head to look at him. "You knew I would change my mind didn't you? You knew that I wouldn't be able to sit around here when they tried to- When do we leave?"
"As soon as you want to."
Closing her eyes, she held tighter onto his arms. "Not just yet." she smiled. "I'm not quite warm yet."
Pressing his lips to her neck, he pulled her closer to him, his hand slowly running over the front of her body. Laying her head back, she tilted it to give him more room to kiss. He watched his own hands roam along her body, watching intently where his hands were each time she released a soft moan. His tongue snaked over her skin, making her reach up to him, holding his head to her.
"Are you warm yet?" he whispered in her ear, his warm breath making her moan.
"No." she lied, in a soft airy voice, before she turned her head, capturing his lips in a passionate kiss, making him forget his own question.
She eagerly pushed him onto his back and moved over him, pulling at the strings of his pants as he lifted her dress. Her arms, tightened around him as he sat forward, pressing his chest against hers as their tongues fought for dominance in their lovers mouths. He pushed forward, needing to feel the pressure between them.
Releasing soft grunts into her shoulder, Richard held onto her legs as they wrapped around him, holding him to her as her finger raked into the skin of his shoulders and back. The sheer force of her magic flowing from her, shook his entire body, making him pull her impossibly closer to him.
Rolling off of her, he let out a light laugh as she moved to her side to face him, her left hand laying over his chest. "We'll never catch them if you keep letting me have my way with you."
Smiling, Kahlan pressed her lips against his neck. "I guess, I'll just have to have my way with you from now on."
A soft growl was all he was able to release before her lips roughly pressed against his. It was brief, too brief of a kiss. Pulling away, she smiled widely as she stood up. "What-"
"You're right, we'll never catch them if we keep doing this." Moving slowly, she backed out of the room and into the bedroom, her eyes never leaving him. "I'll get Addison."
She returned moments later to find him coming through the door with two large packs. He stopped at the sight of her walking towards him with their daughter. He knew that it was a sight her would never get tired of seeing. "We should have more than enough food and supplies to last until we get to them."
"Let's go." she smiled as she took the hand he stretched out towards her.
The moment their hands connected the bright light returned.