Sword of Darkness

Chapter 7



It was almost dawn before Seren completed the tunic.Stretching her cramped muscles, she yawned. She was tired, but her joy at having finished her project overwhelmed her. It was truly her finest work ever. The scarlet cloth practically glowed in the candlelight.

Even her embroidery around the neck was exceptional. If only she'd possessed gold thread to stitch it, but even so, the black had turned out quite well. Surely even a man as temperamental as Kerrigan would like it.

Smiling at the thought of pleasing him, she stretched her cramped muscles once more before she rose and left the room. For once her door wasn't locked—most likely because there was no one else here besides them, and where could she go since they were on an island in the middle of a sea she didn't know?

She pushed the door open to step tentatively out into the hallway, where she half expected Blaise or Kerrigan to show up and force her back into her room.

She wasn't sure where Kerrigan might be. The most likely place would be the hall since he'd said that he didn't sleep. She wasn't even sure where that was in this large, cold place. Still, it seemed only natural that the great hall would be on a lower floor in the center of the castle.

Relying on instinct, she made her way through the darkened corridors and down the spiral stairs until she reached the first floor.

Sure enough, it opened onto a giant hall that was lined with trestle tables. Ornate banners that were mostly threadbare hung from the rafters over her head. But she wasn't paying attention to them. Her gaze focused on the man before the roaring fire who wore armor blacker than sin.

Kerrigan sat quietly in a large carved chair with his legs propped on a small wooden stool. At first she thought he was still awake until she drew closer.

His head was propped against his fist, but his eyes were closed, and they didn't snap open at her silent approach.

So much for his prideful boasting. The man slept after all, and that knowledge made him seem much more human.

Shaking her head, she took a moment to study the angles of his perfectly sculpted features that were relaxed for the first time since she'd met him. Dark whiskers lightly covered his chin, cheeks, and upper lip while his long black hair fell over his forehead. He was without a doubt the most handsome man she'd ever beheld.

The firelight danced in the darkest waves of his hair and caressed the planes of his face. He no longer looked like a harsh demon out to destroy everyone in his way. He looked like a man, pure and simple. One with a most kissable mouth. Indeed, he was quite inviting like this. Quite approachable.

And before she could think better of it, she reached out to touch the lock of hair on his forehead. Her hand had barely brushed his brow before he jerked awake with a speed so fast that she was unaware of his movement until she felt something hot and sharp in her stomach.

Her eyes wide from pain, she looked down to find Kerrigan's dagger buried deep there.

Kerrigan blinked twice as he felt the warm, sticky blood run over his hand. It took a full heartbeat before he woke up completely to see Seren standing before him. Her lips trembled as she dropped the red cloth in her hand.

She stared at him with tears in her green eyes that were wide in disbelief.

"Seren?" he breathed.

She staggered back.

Kerrigan pulled his dagger out from her stomach, then caught her against his chest as she fell. "What were you doing, little mouse?"

"Gift…" The word came out as a pale whisper. "For you."

He looked to the cloth. Unable to comprehend her intention, he lowered her to the floor. Her long blond hair fanned out around her while her blood soaked her dress.

She choked on her own blood as she stared up at him accusingly.

Kerrigan wiped at the blood on her chin as a foreign emotion gripped his heart. It was sharp and painful, a bitter ache the likes of which he'd never known.

What had he done?

"Shh, little mouse," he whispered, picking her up to cradle her against his chest as strange emotions tore through him. Fear, sadness, confusion. But the strangest of all was the grief inside him that didn't want her hurt. The part of him that actually ached with the knowledge he'd harmed her.

She was trembling from the pain as her face paled even more. She was dying and he knew it.

"Blaise!" he shouted, summoning the mandrake. He didn't have the powers to help her. His magic could only be used to harm others, never to help.

The air around him stirred an instant before the mandrake appeared.

Blaise gasped as he saw the two of them entwined on the floor. "Morgen?"

"Nay. She surprised me while I dozed."

Blaise sucked his breath in sharply as he crossed to the space between them so that he could kneel on the floor by Seren's side.

Kerrigan grabbed the collar of Blaise's tunic in a tight fist as he glared at the mandrake. "Save her." He growled the order in a low, deadly tone.

He saw the surprise that registered an instant before the dragon hid it.

Kerrigan rocked her gently in his arms as Blaise placed his hand to her wound. Summoning his powers, the mandrake whispered the ancient words, "Arra terac sisimea dominay narah." He repeated them over and over again.

Seren went completely limp in his arms. A tremor of fear swept through him that she was gone.

But she wasn't dead.

Kerrigan let out a slow, deep breath as he felt her heart still beating. Her skin was still warm.

Aye, she would live. Thanks to Blaise.

He wasn't sure why that knowledge brought an instant relief to him, but it did.

Holding her close, Kerrigan closed his eyes and flashed them from the great hall, back to her room where he could lay her down on the large bed so that she could sleep in peace. Even with Blaise's spell, she would need rest to regain her strength.

"You are a senseless little mouse," he breathed, covering her with a blanket.

He hesitated as his gaze fell to the large bloodstain on her gown, and his stomach actually clenched. He'd damned near killed her, and the sight of what he'd done sickened him.

Waving his hand over it, he changed her gown to a soft cream silk that was as unblemished as her innocence.

He placed the heavy blanket over her and then paused to lay his cold fingers against the blush of her cheek. Her skin was so warm and soft. The delicateness of her cheeks was only emphasized by the brutish strength of his callused fingers.

He could tear her apart…

Instead he only wanted to kiss her.

How very strange. In truth, he didn't like these odd feelings inside him. He had never been a kind man or a kind child. He'd always believed in striking the first blow before it was delivered to him. Better to stun his opponents so that when they struck their blow it would be less forceful. Less painful.

He knew of kindness only from watching other people receive it. And that had made him even more bitter. More cruel. Why should other people have something he'd always been denied? What had been so wrong with him as a child that no one could ever look at him with fondness in their eyes? Or gently touch him?

In time, he'd convinced himself that he didn't need kindness or fondness.

Now, he no longer even wanted it.

"Gift…for you."

Her pain-filled words echoed in his head. What gift had been worth almost dying for?

Curiosity got the better of him. Sealing her door to make sure she didn't leave the room again and find danger, he returned to the hall, where he saw the dark red cloth on the floor.

There was no sign of Blaise, who had most likely retired to his rooms.

Wiping the blood from his hand on his armor before he reached for it, Kerrigan retrieved the cloth from the floor. He held it up to see a tunic that was obviously designed for a man. One that was made of tiny, delicate stitches.

Thoughtful, handmade stitches.

Something inside him shattered. And that made him angry. How dare she make him feel like this! No doubt that was her intention. She would ply him with kindness until she had him tamed and mastered. Until he fed from that delicate hand of hers as she led him about by his nose.

F*ck that. He was no woman's pawn. He bowed before no one. Ever.

Balling the tunic into his fist, he moved toward the fire. But as he started to toss it in, he paused.

The cloth was so soft against his skin. It was her precious cloth that she had wept over. Cloth that had meant everything to her. Why would she give it over to him? He would never give up something he held in such regard to another for any reason.

Burn it!

To keep it would make him weak. It would give her sovereignty over him. It would leave his heart open.

And still he couldn't make himself throw it into the flames.Do it! The words echoed forcefully through his mind over and over again.

Closing his eyes, he brought the cloth to his face. Seren's scent clung to the fabric. That woodsy rose smell filled him with a desire so raw, so potent that it was all he could do not to return to her.

Instead he did something he hadn't done in countless centuries. He melted his black steel cuirass from him and pulled off the black tunic he wore beneath it. He replaced the black wool with the scarlet tunic and hissed at the softness of the fabric against his skin. It was as gentle as the brush of a fey's wings.

And it smelled of Seren.

He ran his hand over the perfect material. It fit him as if she'd had his measurements. His little mouse was certainly talented. Her work was without fault.

"Thank you, Seren," he whispered in the silence of the hall, knowing that he would never be able to say those words aloud to her. Only a weak-kneed milksop would ever thank someone.

He felt the heat inside him build as he summoned his armor back onto his body. He would keep her gift, but no one would ever know it.

Not even Seren.

Seren came awake with a start. She was stabbed! Her heart hammering, she waited to feel the painful throb that had burned like fire in her stomach.

But there was no pain to be felt.

Was she dead?

Terrified, she opened her eyes to find herself alone in her bed. She was beneath the heavy covers, and bright sunlight was spilling in from the open windows.

Had she dreamed it? She looked to the floor where the remnants of her sewing was still exactly where she'd left it. The thread, the shears, the scraps of cloth…

Nay, Kerrigan had stabbed her. She was sure of it.

Frowning, she pushed the covers back, then hesitated at the sight of her new cream gown.

Kerrigan had been here. After he'd stabbed her, he must have returned her to her bed. But then why didn't she ache from the wound?

Kerrigan stood silently invisible in the shadows, watching Seren as she awoke. He'd been here all day while she slept, wanting to make sure that she really was fine after his attack.

By the changing expressions on her face, he could read every thought in her mind. At least he could until she lifted up the hem of her gown.

His blood fired as she unknowingly bared the whole of her lower body to him while she looked for a scar from her wound. There wasn't one. Blaise's healing had left her completely unblemished.

The cream fabric pooled at her waist as she ran her hands over her flat stomach. Her thighs were slightly parted, and all he could focus on was the light triangle of hair that teased and beckoned him with thoughts of the part of her it concealed. She lifted one leg up, exposing herself even more to his hungry gaze. It was more than he could stand.

Without thought, he stepped forward.

Seren frowned as she ran her hand over her stomach. There had to be a wound. Didn't there?

She wasn't insane. Kerrigan had most definitely stabbed her.

She pushed herself up on the pillows so that she could better see her skin and raised one leg for balance. All of a sudden, something warm and firm brushed up against the center of her body.

She gasped as a hot, searing pleasure swept through her. "Kerrigan?" she breathed the name.

All that answered her was another stroke of pleasure that was followed by another and another. Her entire body trembled from the force of it. Never had she felt the like. She shivered and groaned.

Surely it was indecent to enjoy something so wickedly pleasant. But even so, she didn't want it to stop. Biting her lip, she parted her thighs even more. The strokes moved even faster against her, teasing her with ecstasy as she arched her back.

Kerrigan knew he should leave her, but he couldn't. The sight of her enjoying his touch was too much to stop. He let her wetness coat his fingers as he closed his eyes and imagined himself deep inside her.

Aye, that was what he wanted, but he wouldn't take that from her. So instead, he claimed her lips with his.

Seren moaned at the taste of a man she couldn't see. But she knew who it was. There was no mistaking the taste of Kerrigan. The feel of his mouth on hers.

It was so strange to be able to feel him and not see him. It was like some vivid, erotic dream.

She shivered as he left her lips and kissed a blazing trail down her throat. He pulled her gown up higher, until she was completely bared for his pleasure.

Seren cried out as she felt him take her breast into his mouth and gently tease her nipple with his tongue. No man had ever touched her like this. She'd never even imagined it. No wonder women turned wanton. It was hard to even think while her body pulsed and danced in response to his masterful touch.

The entire room seemed to spin as she felt the most incredible pleasure imaginable. It was wonderful.

And just when she was sure she could stand no more of it, her body seemed to splinter into a thousand shards of ecstasy. She actually screamed as wave after wave of delight shuddered through her. She had no idea what this was, but it was incredible. Sublime.

She only wished she could see Kerrigan. That she could return this sensation to him and please him in turn.

Her breathing labored, she lay there not sure if a person could still be alive after such a thing. Unbidden, a single tear of joy slid from the corner of her eye.

Kerrigan took form immediately by her side. She saw the deep concern in his eyes as he looked down at her.

"You are still intact, Seren," he breathed, taking her hand into his. He led it down to the extremely sensitive flesh between her legs. Using his own finger, he pressed her index finger deep inside her until she could feel her maidenhead. "I didn't take your virginity from you. I swear."

A foreign tenderness flooded her at his words…at the concern he was showing for her. She knew how rare such a thing was for him.

And in that moment, she wanted the very thing she'd never known before. She wanted him…mayhap it was wrong, but she already knew that she had no way back to her world, to her place. Morgen. Kerrigan. The Lords of Avalon. They wouldn't allow her to return to her loom in Master Rufus's shop. Ever. All of that was behind her now. Even if she escaped, so long as they believed she was destined to fulfill some kind of prophecy about Merlin, they would bring her back. She'd seen enough of their magic to know that she couldn't fight them or elude them.

All she had to protect her from the others was Kerrigan. A man who claimed he held no heart, and yet he'd been nothing but kind to her.

And she wanted to show him how much she appreciated his protection. How much she appreciated him…

Her heart quickening, she stared up at those dark, soulless eyes and offered him a tender smile. "Can you show me what it would feel like to have you inside me?"

His eyes blazed red a moment before she felt something thick and hard inside her. Seren shivered at the unexpected pleasant sensation. She hissed as it pounded through her in the most wickedly sensuous rhythm, but Kerrigan was still fully dressed and lying by her side. It wasn't he she felt inside her, but rather a facsimile of him.

His eyes continued to flame as he watched her with a feral tic in his jaw. She saw the strain he felt as he gave her pleasure without taking any for himself. It was inconceivable to her that this man who lived only by his own rules would be so giving. It wasn't in his nature to be like this, and that only added to the delectation she felt.

Again the intense pleasure built as her body shivered uncontrollably. It was unlike anything she'd ever imagined. And she wondered how much better it might be to have him there instead.

Seren couldn't speak as she bit her lip and squirmed in ecstasy. She reached out and seized the vambrace armor on his forearm as her body again shattered.

Kerrigan couldn't breathe as he watched her climaxing again. He wanted inside her so badly that he could taste it. The need was all consuming, and yet he found the strength to keep himself from yielding to his lust.

He wouldn't take that last bit from her. Her body was the one thing that was hers alone to give. No matter what it cost him, he would leave her virgin.

Just when he was about to move away, she opened her green eyes and pinned him with a heated stare.

That look held him captive.

"That wasn't what I meant, my lord."

Kerrigan cocked his head in confusion as she released his vambrace, then moved her hand to touch his. She led his hand over the curve of her stomach, down to the short crisp hairs at the juncture of her thighs.

"I wanted to feel you inside me, Kerrigan. Not your magic."

He lightly skimmed his fingers over her mons as disbelief filled him. "Why?"

"Because I want to give myself to you."

Anger coiled through him. He pulled back, only to find her rising with him.

"I have no need of your gift," he snarled.

"And that is the beauty of a gift, my lord. If someone needs it, then it is charity. It is only when you give someone something that they want and have no need of that it becomes a real gift."

Still he glared at her, and still she showed him no fear. "This will change nothing between us, little mouse. One physical act will not endear you to me in any way."

"I know."

She shivered as he dissolved her gown from her. Kerrigan held his hand out to conjure the far wall into a mirror. He pulled her from the bed to face it.

Seren swallowed at the sight of her nudity as Kerrigan placed her before the mirrored wall. Still fully dressed in his armor, Kerrigan stood behind her, his eyes piercing her with an unfounded anger.

She looked so small compared to him. So insignificant.

"Is this what you would offer me?" he asked softly in her ear.

She nodded.

He brushed her blond hair back from her neck before he leaned down to inhale deeply against her skin. His breath was hot even though his touch was cold.

He looked up to lock gazes with her in the looking glass wall. His eyes were flames that flickered with an unholy light an instant before his armor vanished. All except his sword, which now lay on the ground at their feet.

Seren trembled at the fierce sight of his naked body. Maybe she should be afraid, and yet she wasn't. She couldn't explain it, but somehow this seemed right. She didn't want to be the bride of some unknown knight. Nor did she wish to be a pawn.

Her life no longer seemed to be her own, and yet this moment was completely in her control. It didn't make sense that she was here with Kerrigan like this. She knew he held no real love for her.

But some part of her craved him with an unreasoning madness. She couldn't imagine being with anyone but him. That need, that hunger, they came from him and she wanted to do this.

Kerrigan reached around her to cup her breasts in his hands as he pressed himself up against her back. Leaning against his chest, she closed her eyes as pleasure swept through her.

"Open your eyes, Seren," he said thickly. "I want you to see me take your gift so that you can never accuse me of having stolen it from you."

From the way he said those words, she could tell that someone must have accused him of such a thing in the past. "I am well aware of what I'm doing, Kerrigan."

His face hardened. "No Lord of Avalon will ever have you once they know you have been defiled by me. You will change your destiny."

She took his hand into hers and led it to her lips so that she could kiss the hard calluses there. She turned in his arms until she could look up at him. "I was born the daughter of a weaver, and being a weaver is the only destiny I have ever sought. This will change nothing where I'm concerned."

Kerrigan couldn't understand her madness. She was throwing away a chance to live as royalty. A chance to live in the gilded halls of Avalon with color and laughter.

If it wasn't for the fact that he could sense no magic, he would think it was a spell making her submit to him. But there was nothing here but the two of them.

Why was she doing this?

Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

But how could he not? "You accept a demon as your lover?"

"Only if the demon is you."

Then who was he to argue with her? She was a woman full-grown, far past the age to have known a man carnally. She consented of her own free will to be with him…

Kerrigan dipped his head down to taste her lips one more time. He growled at the taste of her as he held her naked body close to his. Never before had he taken a virgin, but he knew that for them the first time would bring pain.

And the last thing he wanted was to hurt her.

Again.

His heart hammering, he closed his eyes and summoned his magic.

Seren gasped as all the walls and the ceiling above became mirrored so that she could see them from all angles. His eyes blazing, Kerrigan swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bed that no longer had a canopy. He laid her down gently before he joined her.

She should be afraid of this, yet she wasn't. Kerrigan had been right, she was changing her destiny by being with him. Master Rufus would never again want her. He would throw her out of his house. Not that this would have any bearing on his decision. He would have tossed her out anyway for having been gone this long without permission or a chaperone.

Like Gilda, she'd be tossed to the nearest stew.

There was no way to return to the life she'd known. The life she'd intended to live. It had ended the moment she'd taken Kerrigan's hand and allowed him to pull her across his horse.

And she knew nothing of the Lords of Avalon. Not really. They were vague, dreamlike entities. Story characters who might or might not be what she'd heard from others. Gawain and Agravain had certainly not been what she'd expected.

But Kerrigan was real and she knew him—at least better than she knew any of the others. And for some reason she couldn't name, she wanted to be with him. To stay by his side.

There was something more to him; she could feel it. He was like a feral beast in the wild that lashed out at anyone who came near it, and yet such a beast could be tamed. A patient hand could bring even the wildest of creatures to friendship.

As a girl, she had been picking berries with her mother when they had found a wolf in a trap. The wolf had tried to attack them, but her mother had very carefully fed and watered the animal while talking gently to it. By the time the wolf had finished its meal, her mother had been able to approach it and free it from the trap.

Afterward, her mother had taken her aside and set her on a stump with her basket of berries in her lap. Her mother's blue eyes had been bright as she held her hands and spoke softly to her."One day, my Seren, you'll find another beast such as this one. He, too, will be hurt by the thoughtless cruelty of others—by their fear of him. Remember that no matter how feral he seems, no matter how much he snaps, he is only trying to protect himself. It will take time to show him that you only want to help. Time to teach him that not everyone means him harm. Then he will be yours alone and he will fight to the death to protect you."

Odd how she hadn't thought about that in years. Her mother had often been possessed of visions. It was why they'd moved so often. As soon as others learned of her mother's wisdom, they would grow nervous and start whispering of witchcraft.

Now Seren wondered if on that day her mother had been speaking of the man in her bed…

Kerrigan most certainly fit her mother's description. He was like the wolf in the wild that snapped every time they neared it.

He'd been hurt; she sensed it. It was why he was so wary of everyone. Wary of her when all she wanted was to touch him.

Reaching up, she cupped his face in her hands. He was so beautiful in the sunlight as he moved to place himself between her legs. It somehow seemed wholly natural that he should be her first, and something inside told her that he would most likely be her last. She couldn't imagine ever wanting another man like this.

Her heart softening, she brushed the hair back from his face an instant before she kissed him. His whiskers scraped her palms and lips. She moaned at the feral taste of him. At the rawness of his touch.

He pulled back to give her a look so tender that it brought an ache to her chest. He might claim not to have changed toward her, but that look denied all his protestations.

Gently, he moved to kiss a path down her stomach. Seren hissed as her body erupted in chills. Her head spinning, she watched as he spread her thighs wide an instant before he leaned down to take her into his mouth.

She groaned deep in her throat as she balled her hand in his dark hair. It was the most incredible sensation she'd ever known. Biting her lip, she looked up to watch him in the mirror above as he pleasured her.

At least until she felt a strange, pleasurable burn at the center of her body.

"Kerrigan?"

He pulled back to look at her. "You are a maiden no more, Seren."

"But you haven't…"

He led her hand back to the center of her body to show her that her maidenhead was already gone. Then he pressed her hand against his swollen shaft.

She saw the pleasure on his face as she gently wrapped her hand around him. He was so strangely soft and hard against her palm and fingers. He shuddered in her arms as she explored the length of his shaft. "Did I hurt you?"

"Nay," he breathed as if he were indeed being tortured.

Seren had never given thought to what a man would feel like in her hand. But she liked the feel of him there. The look of pleasure on his face. Carefully, she circled the moist tip as his breathing turned ragged. He moved slowly against her hand, letting her feel the way his soft flesh moved in contrast to his hardness.

It really was like petting a ferocious animal. She knew tenderness was not in his nature and the fact that he was being gentle with her now made her feel special. Wanted.

His eyes flared brighter an instant before he kissed her deeply, then moved her hand away from him so that he could bury himself deep inside her.

Kerrigan couldn't breathe at the tightness of her body welcoming his. Using his magic, he made sure that she wouldn't feel anything except the pleasure of his touch.

That would be his gift to her.

In truth he'd never known anything better than the feel of her skin sliding against his. Of her hands skimming over his back as she lightly scraped his skin with her nails. He'd never known real tenderness in his life. His past lovers had always been passing itches with no emotional attachment for him.

But with Seren, it was different. He didn't want to rush to get this over so that he could leave. He wanted to hold on to her. To watch her enjoy his body as much as he enjoyed hers.

More than that, he wanted to be as deep inside her as he could get. Rolling over, he pulled out of her.

She gave him a shocked look. "Is it done?"

He smiled at her innocent questions. "Not yet." Kerrigan pulled her up to kneel on the bed as he moved behind her. He paused as he saw her looking at him in the mirror. Their gazes locked, he spread her thighs wide before he sank himself into her again, going even deeper than he had before.

Moaning, she reached up over her head to sink her hand into his hair while he cupped her breasts in his hands. His heart pounding in tenderness, he thrust against her.

Seren couldn't breathe as she felt the hard thickness of Kerrigan inside her again. She could watch each of his strokes in the looking glass. She'd never imagined how good a man could possibly feel inside her. There was something wild about this. Something that made her feel even closer to him. Like he was a part of her now somehow.

She knew he most likely would never feel that way, but it was true where she was concerned. She felt a connection to him. A warmth that might even be the stirring of deeper affection.

She honestly didn't think that she could have chosen a better man, and for this one moment in time, she was glad that the guild had denied her cloth. Glad that she'd run away from the others and found Kerrigan.

Maybe this had been her destiny after all…

Kerrigan could barely breathe as he claimed her. He'd taken more women over the centuries than he could count, and yet none had ever made him feel like this. He wasn't just another lover to Seren. Another prick to pleasure her until someone else came along. She wasn't Morgen to have an additional man in bed with them, waiting for him to grow tired.

He was the only man Seren had ever welcomed into her body. The only one. In that moment he felt a wave of fierce protectiveness toward her. She was his in a way no woman had ever been his before. And that knowledge did something strange to him. It made him want to claim her. To possess her.

To keep her.

And in that instant, he did something he'd never done before. He lost complete control of himself. Growling deep in his throat, he felt his orgasm tear through him. It surged with a wave of overwhelming power.

He clutched Seren to him as he buried himself deep inside her and his body exploded in ecstasy. Still he wanted more. He hated that it was over so soon when all he wanted was to stay inside her for a while longer.

Their bodies still joined, he pulled her back to lie against his chest as he settled himself on the bed with her lying atop him.

Seren drew a ragged, contented breath as she laid her head back against Kerrigan's shoulder. She could see her naked body reflected in the ceiling above while Kerrigan's tan hands toyed with her breasts.

She shivered as he withdrew from her body.



His dark eyes burned into hers. "You are virgin no more, Seren."

"I know."

Using his legs, he spread hers wide so that she could see the evidence of their play. His seed was mingled there with her blood.

"And what if you find yourself with my child?" There was an odd note to his voice. One that she couldn't name.

"I will do what I've always done whenever things didn't go as I planned. I will cope."

Kerrigan didn't understand this woman and her calm acceptance of misfortune. "Will you not be angry at me?"

"Nay, Kerrigan. I offered myself to you. Why should I fault you for my actions?"

His face hardened as he stared up at her in the mirror. "I won't ever care for you, Seren. There's no place for a wife and child in my world."

Seren sighed heavily at his inability to simply enjoy what they'd done. "I ask you for nothing, Kerrigan. Can you not understand the term ‘gift'?"

His voice was dark and ragged. "No one gives something unless they want something in return."

Her green eyes stared at him accusingly. "Fine then. I did want something."

"I knew it. You were using this to soften me."

She rolled over to look down at him, face to face. His hard body felt strange beneath hers, and yet she felt no shame. "Nay. After what had happened with Morgen and her spell while you fought, I wanted to know what it would be like to bed with you. You were right. I am a woman full-grown, and for many years I have wondered at what it would feel like to have knowledge of a man's body. Now I know, and that is what you gave me in return."

His eyes flared to red flames. "You are ever witless, little mouse. And I have given you much more than that."

As she opened her mouth to ask him what he meant by that, Blaise's voice echoed in the room around them.

"Lord Kerrigan, come quickly. We're under attack."