Chapter 44

When Bash entered Kenna's chamber, she was asleep. He stepped to her bed and looked down at her, lovingly. They had wasted so many years, he thought. Three long years. He wondered, whether everything would have turned out differently, if he hadn't been so hot tempered. She had asked him for a new beginning. And only because he had thought, that she wanted to trick him, he hadn't claimed the baby as his. He suddenly remembered the heated argument they had had after their passionate reconciliation sex, before everything went down.

"Are you pregnant with Renaude's child?"

"How could you possibly have guessed? I haven't told a soul."

"Delphine has the gift of sight. She thought I already knew, being the proud father. How long have you known?"

"A few days. A few weeks."

"So that's why you got me into bed, so suddenly, so remorseful. You wanted me to believe the child was mine. Surely I would take you back."

"No, I wanted it to be yours."

"To save you from ruin. To save you from having a traitor's child, a man who was hanged for trying to kill our king."

"Please, Bash, don't abandon me! I cannot have this child without you."

"If you had come to me in honesty, I might have considered it. But you lied to me and tried to trick me."

"Because I saw no other way! Please claim this child. You know what it's like to be born a bastard. The shame and the scorn."

"Stop using this child only to save yourself. We are finished!"

He closed his eyes. The memory was too painful. He wished, he had known back then, that the baby was his. Daniel never would have grown up fatherless, in his first years of his life.

"What are you thinking about?"

Startled, he looked up and saw in Kenna's warm brown eyes. "I didn't want to wake you up. Go back to sleep!" he said and forced a smile.

"You didn't wake me up." Kenna sat up. "I was already awake." She bent forward. "You look thoughtful." She stroked him gently over the wrinkles on his forehead. "What is bothering you?"

"Nothing." He reached for her hand. "Mary talked about the wedding preparations and that she wished, that the wedding would take place at the Castle."

"She did?" Kenna asked surprised. "Well, we talked about celebrations in general. But we haven't talked about a particular wedding date. She is fast, when she has already plans for our wedding."

"She doesn't want to waste time. She told me, you urged her, to start with the preparations."

Kenna looked at him confused. "I can't remember that I said that. But..." She stopped when she suddenly realized, why Mary wanted the wedding, as soon as possible. "Oh yes. I... might have mentioned something like that to her."

"So, it's time to set a date, I guess." Bash forced a smile.

"You don't seem happy about it." Kenna noticed, frowning. "Or, are you having the wedding jitters?"

Bash squeezed her hand tighter. "That's not the reason. I was only thinking of you, if the memory of the first wedding is still too painful for you."

Kenna shook her head. "Not anymore. The wedding ceremony was gruesome. But it was only the wedding day. Everything else, that came afterwards, I liked very much." She grinned mischievously. "Remember, when we made love, and the bed collapsed underneath us?"

Bash laughed. "And you could not wait to tell your lady friends. That was embarrassing!"

Kenna shrugged her shoulders. "We were married. We couldn't get enough from each other."

"Can you remember what you told me once?"

"I told you so many things. What do you mean exactly?"

"I think, it was during the consummation, the first time we had sex. You said, that you wanted, that I would always remember how you feel."

"Oh that." Kenna nodded. "I remember well." She smiled. "And did It work?"

He nodded. "I've never forgotten, how it feels to touch you." he said quietly.

Kenna pulled him closer. "You don't have to remember anymore. You can feel it now yourself." she said in a seductive voice, while she was reaching for his hand and was guiding it to her breast. "Did it feel like that in your memory?"

Bash suppressed a groan. If she would try to seduce him now, he wouldn't have the strength to reject her. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. But he also wondered, whether it was too early after her coma. But Kenna didn't give him enough time to think about his doubts. She had already started to undress him and was now trying to open the zipper of his trousers.

"Kenna..."

Resistance was pointless, because her hands were suddenly everywhere. All straight reasoning was turned off, and he pulled her nightgown up and tugged it over her head. For a moment, he could only stare at her, mesmerized, before he slowly slid next to her. She felt different, softer, he noticed, after his hands had skimmed along her body. Her breasts were fuller, and her eyes seemed bigger and darker. There was something different, he noted. He just couldn't tell what it was. She arched her back to meet his, and as she wrapped her legs around him and pressed her lips to his, he stopped thinking and followed her lead.

Much later, they were lying side by side, snuggling up to each other.

It was the perfect moment to tell him about the baby, Kenna thought. After a brief hesitation, she took Bash's hand and placed it on her belly. Her heartbeat and breathing accelerated.

"Do you remember our last night, before you left for England?" she asked nervously.

Bash nodded. "Of course. How could I forget." He lifted his head and looked at her, frowning. "Why do you ask?"

Kenna took a deep breath. It was now or never, she thought. "You told me, that you always would remember this moment, no matter where you're going."

Bash nodded again. "And?"

She put her hand over his, which was still lying on her belly. "Now we have a permanent reminder of that night." she said quietly.

"I don't understand."

Kenna stifled a laugh, as she saw Bash's confused look. He still seemed to be completely clueless. It was time to enlighten him.

She turned, that she could look into his eyes. "We're having a baby..."