Chapter 22
“Get up!” Ann gasped as soon as her brain registered that the sun was starting to peek through the curtains. “Get up!”
Tazim was instantly alert and looking around for the threat. But that’s when he noticed Ann literally running for the bathroom, gloriously naked. His interest perked up, but he couldn’t shake off her initial words and the tension in her voice.
Pushing off the sheets, Tazim followed Ann into the bathroom. She was already in the shower. She didn’t bother with her hair, although the tresses were becoming damp in her haste.
“What’s the rush?” Tazim asked, not sure of the time, but knew that they’d gotten only about four hours of sleep.
“Archer!” Ann gasped, stepping under the spray of water to rinse off. “He’s going to be up and running around and, if he finds us in bed, together and naked, he’s going to have questions that we won’t want to answer.”
Tazim understood now, but he didn’t like the implications of her statement. Instead of offering her a solution, he stepped into the shower behind her. When she started to move towards the exit, he gripped her waist and held her still just long enough to kiss her bare shoulder. “Good morning,” he said, then let her go and stepped under the water. He showered quickly, wanting to support Ann however he could. If she needed to be dressed and ready when their son woke up, then he’d do that. He didn’t bother to tell her that his guards wouldn’t allow Archer into their room. She’d figure out the new order of her world soon enough.
When he stepped out of the bathroom and grabbed a towel, she’d already found the robes that they’d discarded the night before. She wrapped herself in one and handed him the other. But not before she let her eyes move up and down his body. The pretty blush that stained her cheeks told him that her mind had gone in the same direction as his had.
“Thank you,” he replied as she rubbed toothpaste over her teeth with her finger. He pulled open a drawer and grabbed one of the new toothbrushes still wrapped in its original packaging. Ann hesitated, then took the brush with a grateful, if nervous, smile.
He walked over to the door and whispered to the guard standing outside, “Send someone to my fiancée’s house to get her some clothes, please.”
The guard nodded, then spoke into the radio, relaying the message to one of the other staff members.
When he turned around again, Ann was pulling on the silk cocktail dress from the previous night, her hair damp from her shower but she looked absolutely stunning to him. Her face was free of makeup and she still had that happy glow that could only come from a night of passionate lovemaking.
“Marry me.”
The two words hung in the silence for a long moment. Ann froze, still holding the dress over her bra. Her wound still ached, but it was a dull thud that was overshadowed by her pounding heart.
But it was the bewildered confusion on her face that made him chuckle. He lifted the dress, helping her pull it over her wounded shoulder. He’d completely forgotten about the wound last night. “Did it hurt last night with all of our exuberance?” he asked, stroking a finger gently along the skin several inches from her wound.
“No,” she replied. “It’s healing really well. Plus, I’ve been keeping up with the pain meds more easily over the past twenty-four hours. I didn’t even think about it until I was in the shower.”
His finger stopped. “You need a new bandage.”
“The bandages the hospital gave me are back at my house.” She shifted her shoulders as he walked behind her, pulling the zipper up so that the dress hung on her properly.
“I sent someone to your house to get you clothes. I’ll ask them to grab the bandages as well.”
“You…what?” she gasped, horrified at the idea of someone pawing through her personal stuff. “Who is going to…?”
“Ann,” he said, interrupting the upcoming tirade. “You’ll need to get used to servants. I have an entire staff who will take care of all of our needs in Androna.” He kissed her mouth. “You will never need to do laundry, clean the bathrooms, or even cook for yourself. Never again.”
“But…!” she spun around, lifting confused eyes up to him. “I haven’t agreed to marry you, Tazim.”
“You will,” he said, then lifted her hands, kissing her fingertips.
“I will?”
“Yes. You love me. I love you. We have a child together.” He nipped at her knuckles. “And I would love to have more children. With you.”
“I love you?” she whispered, her words choked by the roiling emotions inside of her.
“Yes. You love me.”
“How…how do you know?”
He pulled her into his arms, relieved when she melted into him. “There are women who can have sex with a man without emotion, Ann. But you’re not one of them. Last night, you showed me just how much you love me.”