Faery Kissed

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Look at your skin."

She glanced down at her hands. "Oh." Her gaze flickered back to me and a smile slid across her face. "We did it," she whispered breathlessly. "I'm with child, and so quickly too."

She ran her hands across her abdomen, and I couldn't help but struggle with my warring emotions. I closed my eyes and turned away from the sight of her touching herself in such joy.

"Bran?" The word coursed through me in waves, making me long for her.

"I know this is probably a happy time for you, and under normal circumstances I would be thrilled to find out my wife was carrying my child. However, I'm in mourning for the child—my child—who will never know me and will be raised with the knowledge that I'm evil and he, or she, should kill me." I clenched my hands at the pain in my chest, turning to face her again. "Do you have any idea what that feels like? My child will never call me father. Who will raise him? Another man? Another lover you've seduced?"

Tears fell from Eirian's eyes, and she shook her head. "For me, there will only ever be you, Bran. You hold all the places in my heart. Only you."

We stared at each other without speaking, and in that moment I could see all she thought she was giving up just to be with me for this moment in time.

"Please, try to find a way to forgive me, if you can," she spoke. "I know what I've done to you was wrong, but it wasn't done out of malice. Yes, I was greedy and unthinking—I just wanted to be with you. This is the custom of my people. It's how I was raised, how I was told to protect our civilization."

I moved to the nearest window, once again observing the distant people beyond. She was right to some extent. She was a victim of her own society and upbringing. Children often believed what their parents taught them to believe.

"You make it seem as if you have no conscience of your own to guide you."

She didn't even try to reply to that remark and the silence loomed between us.

"What will you teach our child?" I turned to face her.

"Excuse me?"

I went to the bed and sat next to her. "What will you teach our child? Will you say I'm a monster? Teach him or her to hunt me?"

Her eyes looked haunted as she considered my words. "I've never thought of that, Bran."

I tried to ignore the frustrating shot of pleasure.

She crawled to her knees, grasping my face in her hands. "But you have my vow—I will never teach our child to hate or despise you."

"Eirian," I began. I immediately realized my error, and she covered my mouth with her own— her kiss silencing me. "No," I said, gently trying to push her away.

"Please, Bran, please. Just kiss me one last time before you take everything away from me."

I closed my eyes, struggling to resist her. "Why don't you just enchant me again? That would make things much easier on both of us."

"Because, I want you to have your own free will. I've taken too much from you already."

"Eirian," I whispered, holding her back when she tried to kiss me again. "Come away with me. You said there are ways to overcome the bloodlust. Run with me, be my wife, and let's raise our child together. There's no way of returning to my old life, so let's start a new one together. Family is all I had, it's all I know—come with me and let's be a family. I might not be able to give you the riches you are used to, but I could give you a home and happiness and we could raise our child together."