Song of Blood and Reign

Chapter 34

"So, in this case, it's safe to say you missed me?"

This time, a whimper.

"You're still such a baby, Ro, but I love you for it," she smiled when he met her eyes, leaning forward to kiss him again. "But I missed you, too."

Lyv took a few more minutes just to love on him since he obviously needed it. He almost fell asleep with his head in her lap after he practically forced her to sit on the stone beneath them. Her smile wasn't going anywhere as she rubbed her hand along his jaw, just like he liked, making him hum in comfort.

"Looks like he missed you just as much as the rest of us did," a voice called from the open doorway back into the kitchen.

Her mother was standing there, still in her nightgown and wrapped in a thick blanket. Her burgundy hair was piled in a knot on the top of her head with a few strands falling down by her ears. She would have been the picture of ease had her eyes not held just a hint of worry and hesitation still.

"How long have you been up?" Bridget asked, stepping forward into the warmth of Roshan so she could brush Lyv's hair back behind her ear.

She reached up, grasping her hand in hers as she smiled up at her. "A little less than an hour, I think. I left Jai sleeping since he couldn't seem to the night before."

Bridget raised an eyebrow, giving her a knowing smirk. "Really, now? I'm sure there was another reason you two didn't get much sleep. Gideon likes to talk a little too much and Thia might have interjected here and there, too. I remember when Alberich and I were in those first few years of being mated. Every time I looked at him, all I wanted to do was..."

Instantly, Lyv's face turned bright red, especially since those memories instantly appeared in her mind. "Momma."

She laughed, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "I've missed having you around to bug you about your mate. At least Gideon and Thia can do it for me when I'm not there. I'm just waiting for the wedding now. All of us are."

"Don't really think that's going to happen with everything that's going on," Lyv told her, her face still flaming as she shook her head.

"You never know, Lyv. It might be something we all need. Maybe an official proposal is something I mention to Jai. And Alexea."

Lyv rolled her eyes at her mother's insistence, but couldn't help the butterflies that erupted in her stomach. Out of habit, even though it had been months since she was actually able to do it, Lyv touched her ring with her thumb. Brushing over the metal had her heart stumbling, especially when she remembered Jai's teasing about actually proposing again.

Roshan shifted enough for Bridget to sit down beside Lyv, curling back around the two females and dozing off again. Her mother wrapped an arm around Lyv's shoulders once they were all settled, pulling her closer before kissing the side of her head. Closing her eyes, Lyv leaned into her side and snuggled close.

"I've missed you," Lyv whispered to her then.

"Oh, darling, I've missed you, too," her mother told her, kissing her head once again. "I can't imagine what you've been going through over these past few months. And I know...I know you don't want to talk about it just yet, but I'll be here whenever you're ready."

She nodded, not saying a word. She couldn't just yet. Not when she hadn't really come to terms with it all herself.

"You know, I went out to search for you right after you were taken," Bridget began then. "Jai and the others weren't the only ones. All of Dalcaine and Escarral had been looking in every single possible place we could. We worked together. Alberich and I even went over to Escarral when Camilla and Soren did to meet with Bence to coordinate the search."