Tananguard 02 - To Love a Lord (26 page)

“He’s a boy,” he said softly.

Maggie smiled. “A boy?”

Thomas nodded.

Kara was suddenly by his side. Where had she come from, and where was she a moment ago! She took the baby from him and handed him to Maggie.

“I think you’ve done enough down here,” she said
to Thomas. “Move up next to her. Help her with the baby. I’ll take care of this.” She looked toward the chamber doors and frowned. “Where are those fool women?” She looked back to Thomas. “If you’ve got fresh blankets or anything to clean him with, that would also be useful. Apparently, the help are taking their time getting here.”

Thomas nodded
to Kara. Then he crawled on his hands and knees up toward Maggie to kiss her forehead. “Bravest woman I know.”

He didn’t remember much after that. Perhaps because his eyes went black and he found himself quite a while later, lying in his bed with his wife and baby next to him.
He would never live that one down. William and Robert had been called to carry him to the bed because he’d
fainted like a woman
. However, he would not complain. Both Maggie and her little one were healthy and well, and he would get to share their bed tonight…and every night for as long as she was his.

*

Maggie held her baby in her arms. Little Gabriel. She’d named him after her father. She
was five when he died, but he had loved her. She remembered he loved her. Her mother tried to support the family afterward, but it was difficult. They were starving, and Maggie was the youngest. It was winter. Maggie hadn’t eaten in days. So her mother took her to the Hoffman manor and left her there with Mrs. Murphy.

“I’ll come back for you, Maggie. The boys and I are going to the city. When we’ve settled, I’ll come back for you,” her mother had told her. But she never came back. M
rs. Murphy raised her, but Maggie was a servant the moment she stepped into that manor and had been one ever since…until she met Thomas. He showed her a new world, taking her from the one she’d known. She smiled. She loved him so much. How had she ever thought that what she had with Lucas was love? It was all she had ever known at the time, but Thomas had shown her so much more. The fact that they had been together for nearly eight months as husband and wife without a physical relationship other than him holding her at night and the occasional stolen kiss, spoke wonders for Thomas. He loved her beyond the physical. He loved
her
, Maggie. And she loved him.

She needed to tell him, to share her bed with him. Tonight would be that night. Her son was two months old. If Thomas truly wanted her as his wife in all ways, Maggie wanted to give that to him, and more importantly she wanted it
. She stood from the rocking chair with Gabriel in her arms. Mrs. Murphy knitted casually in the corner.

“He’s asleep, and Helen will be in when she is done with little Robert,” Maggie told Mrs. Murphy as she placed her baby in the cradle. Helen was Muriel’s nursemaid for her new baby Robert. When Maggie and Thomas first arrived here, Muriel was far pregnant with her son. It was a blessing Kara and William had decided to come with them. Kara saved Muriel’s life and her son’s. The baby was feet first, and Kara literally cut him from Muriel’s belly.
Muriel had taken a long time to recover, but with Kara and Maggie and every other maid in the household caring for her, she did make a full recovery.

“He will be fine. You see to that husband of yours. You won’t be disturbed tonight unless it is absolutely necessary,” Mrs. Murphy told her.

Maggie felt her cheeks redden. This was the first night her son would sleep in a separate room than she and Thomas, so she’d needed to explain her reasoning behind it. She wasn’t certain how to arrange a night alone, so she had confided in Kara. Kara in turn took her to Muriel and explained the situation. Muriel took action immediately, making the needed arrangements. So of course, Mrs. Murphy and Helen knew what Maggie’s intentions were tonight. And since both Muriel and Kara knew, that probably meant Robert and William knew as well. Maggie’s cheeks reddened even more. Everyone seemed to know except poor Thomas. Miraculously, they had all kept it secret from him.

“Thank you
,” Maggie said. Her fingers lingered on her baby’s sleeping body for a moment before she sighed and forced herself from the room. Her son was in good hands. She needed this night as did Thomas.

Maggie found Thomas in the main hall, enjoying a meal with William and Robert. She had taken hers earlier so she could tend to her baby before too late.

She watched
Thomas with the other two men. He was the youngest of the three by a good six years, and William was the eldest. William was not related to Robert and Thomas, but looking at the three men together made him look as if he was. He could have been the elder brother. He had reddish brown hair that was graying and a mustache to match. He was tall and broad like Thomas and Robert, and he had hazel eyes. Robert was the thickest, but he too had reddish brown hair and matching beard like William, but he had Thomas’s gray eyes. He was slightly shorter than the other two men, and his personality wasn’t as calm. He was rambunctious and quick to temper, where both William and Thomas were good-humored and relaxed men. However, looking at Thomas, he didn’t look very relaxed at the moment.

Robert said something to him, laughing and
patting Thomas harmlessly on the shoulder. Thomas shoved the hand away almost violently and said something in return with a dark scowl on his face. William tried to hide a smirk, but it was there as well as a look of sympathy for his friend. Maggie wondered what they were talking about that had Thomas in such a mood. She studied him further. He had been growing distant as of late, but that was why she had finally decided she needed to act. He had been with her through everything, given up so much for her, and after the birth of her baby, her time had not been her own. So much of it was spent with her son. Thomas was being left behind.

*

“Och, Thomas.
It was a joke. What has you tight as a knot? You’re mood’s been foul for a good two weeks now,” Robert said as Thomas shoved his arm away. “You act as if you’ve been without for far longer than it’s been.”

“You’ve no idea,” Thomas growled tightly.

“Bed her and be done with it,” William said with a dry smile. He winked at Robert as if sharing a good joke, and Robert laughed in return.

Thomas scowled. William knew he couldn’t do that! But he was still giving Thomas grief
. Both men were! Neither would shut up about it!

“It’s been merely
a month or so since the babe was born. You’ll bed your wife again soon enough,” Robert said. “No need to make the rest of us suffer because of your dry spell.”

Thomas sighed irritably. His brother truly had no idea. It had been two months to be exact since Maggie had birthed her son. And that was nothing compared to the eight grueling months of lying next to her, wanting her and not being able to have her. Simple kisses were the most he’d gained from her, but he had known this when he’d married her, known he would not take her as his until she was absolutely ready for him. He had been prepared to wait, and he
was still prepared to wait. What ailed him was not knowing how much longer he would have to wait. And not just that, but seeing how happy she was with the birth of her son. The babe was still so very young, but aside from the eyes, he looked like his father. Thomas could see it, and anyone who had ever seen Lucas could see it. Thankfully, nobody here was the wiser. They saw a fair-haired baby with brown eyes, Maggie’s eyes. Thomas passed for the father well enough, but he knew better and so did Maggie. He couldn’t help but wonder if her sudden joy was holding Lucas’s child in her arms, and Thomas’s frustration grew because of it. Would she ever grow to love him, or would she decide to take Lady Burgundy’s offer? That thought pained him the most. That letter had offered Maggie the world, and they hadn’t spoken of it since the birth of her son. What if she was now contemplating going? What would he do?

“Thomas,” Robert said, pulling him from his thoughts, “your wife
waits.” He motioned toward the east side of the main hall where an entrance from the east wing of the keep met with the hall.

Thomas glanced toward the entrance, and saw Maggie standing there, watching them. She was alone.
That was the first thing he noticed. The next was the smile she gave him when their eyes met. She was a beautiful sight, and he yearned to hold her as a man should. But he had promised, and he would wait no matter how much it pained him.

“I think she desires you,
” William said with a smile.

“
You shouldn’t make her wait. Take her tonight, even with the babe in your room. He will keep while you’re about your business,” Robert added quite seriously. “When Muriel was ready, I—”

“Stop!”
Thomas stood, holding up his hand. “I don’t want to hear it,” he growled. It wouldn’t be like that for him and Maggie. Besides, he couldn’t make love to his wife for the first time with the baby in the room, not that he would get the chance anyway.

He sighed as he walked away from
the two smirking men to go to his wife.
Bastards,
he thought to himself. It was as if they knew something he did not.

He tried to erase his cranky disposition as he walked to Maggie. She didn’t need to see his frustrations.

Maggie’s smile grew as he approached. Her eyes sparkled in…excitement. The ache within him grew. He was so accustom to it, yet it drove him mad at the same time. She stirred a fire within. He had always found her beautiful, but her happiness made her even more desirable.

“You read my mind, Thomas,” she said with a laugh.

“I did?” he asked casually.

“Yes, I desired you to come to me, and you did
.” She reached down and clasped his hand in hers. Then she turned and pulled him into the hallway with her out of sight of watching eyes.

She pulled him several steps before stopping. She turned slightly to look at him, cocking her head to the side. She was up to something. He raised an eyebrow as she tugged on his hand, urging him toward her. He took a step as did she, and then he smiled slightly. She desired a kiss.

Eight months of being with her, and he had never truly kissed her, not in the sense he wanted. He’d always given her chaste, closed-mouth kisses that would never lead to anything. How he ached to kiss her so thoroughly he left her panting in desire. But he wouldn’t. He would wait.

He dipped his head to meet her lips when she surprised him by sliding her free hand up around his neck. Th
at was new—the fact she desired a kiss was new! He gave her the kiss, but as he went to pull away, she held him in place and deepened the kiss, parting her lips and sliding her tongue slightly between his. He was so stunned he fumbled with the act, not being able to react at all. Then he overreacted, hands shoving her fine body up against the wall so he could ravage her mouth with his. He was hungry for her, and he couldn’t seem to stop his hands from roaming over her curves and sliding up into her hair. He wanted it down from the bun, but several pins held it in place. He worked at the bun as he kissed her enthusiastically, pulling two of the pins free.

She pulled from his lips, but he simply moved his kisse
s down to her neck, forgetting about the bun altogether.

“Thomas,” she whispered,
her breath coming in quick uneven gasps. “Thomas, we’re in the hall. Someone will see us.”

“Let them see us,” he breathed against her neck.

“Thomas!” she said more sternly.

He groaned within. Every part of him said to ignore her, but…d
amn it, she was right! It took every ounce of willpower he had to stop. He braced his hands against the wall behind her and forced control. Just because she’d kissed him in a very…
good
way, did not mean she was ready for more. The agony this caused! He wanted her beyond anything!

He
managed to pry himself from her, pulling away completely. He was shaking and breathing heavily. He needed fresh air and a cold river to dip in. He didn’t realize he started walking away until she called to him in alarm.

“Thomas
, wait! Where are you going?”

He turned to her
. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were wild with heat, and he was ready to scoop her into his arms again—drag her upstairs if he had to!

“I need…cold,” he managed to say.

“But I have something for you, and there is something I wish to tell you,” she said quietly. “Please come with me?”

He blinked several times, trying to clear his mind.
She had something for him, and she wanted to tell him something? He could do this, be with her and retain control. He nodded and allowed her to take his hand again. He followed her numbly, letting her guide him through the keep and to their chambers. She pulled him inside and shut the doors…no, locked the doors.

He simply stared at her. She looked…nervous. He held his hands behind his back in an attempt to refrain from hauling her into his arms. It suddenly dawned on him how quiet it was in here. Even asleep, the baby usually made some noises. Thomas looked at Maggie then at the door behind her, and finally he searched the room.