Page 52 of While Angels Slept (de Lohr Dynasty #1)

C antia could feel Tevin’s hand on her belly.

Asleep or awake, his hands seemed to gravitate there, feeling the round firmness of her stomach and being rewarded on occasion with strong kicks.

Even now, before dawn, they lay naked in each other’s arms, burrowed beneath the covers on a cold May morning with his arms around her and his hand on her belly.

Half-asleep, Cantia could feel the strong movements of the baby.

“He is very busy this morning,” Tevin mumbled, his face against the side of her head. “How can you sleep through that?”

Cantia giggled. “I can sleep through it fine,” she pretended to be irritated and rolled away from him. “It is your talking that keeps me awake.”

Tevin’s arms tightened when he realized she was trying to move away from him.

“Nay, lady,” he muttered. “You’ll not escape me.”

Her laughter grew as he pulled her back against him, wedging himself between her legs as his hands stroked her belly and his lips nibbled sleepily on her ear.

Eventually, he lifted her leg so that it was over his hip, his fingers seeking intimate places and listening to her groan softly with pleasure.

When he withdrew his fingers and entered her from behind, very carefully, Cantia turned herself over to him completely.

This was a normal morning for them. Cantia would usually awake to Tevin making love to her.

His powerful seed had taken root sometime back in the late fall, during that time when she was worried if she’d ever be able to conceive again.

Their child was due in the summer and it was all Tevin could speak of.

In his world, it was the most important thing that blinded his thoughts to all else.

The man had always been inordinately attentive and passionate, but with the event of the pregnancy, his attentiveness, concern and understand knew no bounds.

He made it well known that there was no child ever born that had been more welcome, and Cantia was always made to feel that surely there was no woman more loved.

He clearly adored her and she clearly adored him.

Even now as he filled her with proof of his desire, all Cantia could feel from him was his deep love and devotion to her.

The fact that she was to give birth to his bastard didn’t matter.

To her, she was simply giving birth to the child of the man she loved and there was nothing more to it.

No shame, no stigma. She had told Gillywiss once that she and Tevin were married in their hearts as much as any man and woman ever was, and it was the truth.

She would give birth to this son, and then she would give birth to a dozen more just like him.

The mighty Earl of East Anglia must have his legacy.

The physical changes had come over her fairly rapidly as her belly grew quickly.

She felt fine most of the time except for occasional exhaustion, but her sexual appetite was enormous.

Because of the way the child would sit in her belly, she experienced climaxes so powerful that Tevin had to put his hand over her mouth to keep her screams down and this morning was no exception.

Cantia experienced a strong release that had her crying out in ecstasy.

Tevin simply put his mouth over hers, kissing her passionately and trying to keep the noise down as he spent himself inside her.

Never in his life had he known such desire or lust. It was beyond his wildest dreams.

“You,” he admonished, his mouth still on hers, “must contain yourself, madam. One of these days your cries are going to raise the roof and I will have a good deal of explaining to do.”

She grinned sleepily, satisfied, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Are you complaining, my lord?”

He grinned devilishly. “Never,” he kissed her again. “But I fear you are drawing the concern of Arabel. Her chamber is right below ours, you know. I think she heard you once because she asked me what you were screaming about. You know how I am when she asks me questions like that.”

Cantia laughed softly. “You become tongue-tied and embarrassed,” she teased. “The only things that can stump the mighty Earl of East Anglia are personal questions from his fifteen-year-old daughter.”

He made a face at her, kissed her one last time, and climbed out of bed.

It was still dark in the room, as it was just before sunrise, so he lit a fat taper with a flint and stone purely so he could see where he was walking.

The massive wardrobe over by the wall was his destination and he opened the doors to a neat and tidy network of possessions, long cleared of Brac Penden’s remnants.

“I have a conference in Thurrock this evening with Lord Chafford,” he said, turning to glance at her. “You remember him, do you not?”

Cantia was sitting up in bed. She made a face. “Of course,” she said, reaching for her dressing robe on the end of the bed. “A fat man with foul breath.”

Tevin grinned as he pulled forth leather breeches.

“That may be,” he said, pulling on his breeches, “but the man commands a strong force that has held Dartford Crossing for months. It would seem that Stephen has been in touch with the man and wants to meet with us both, evidently. Lord Chafford and I need to discuss strategy for that meeting.”

“Am I coming with you?”

“I would prefer that you did not. His stronghold is north of the Dartford Bridge and I must cross it in order to reach him. I do not want you on that bridge right now, not with all of the fighting that has gone on around it over the past several months.”

She didn’t like that answer. “Why cannot Lord Chafford come to Rochester? Why must you go to him?”

“Because he invited me.”

“You are the earl, Tevin. You do not bow to another’s summons. Tell him you will meet him at Rochester. ”

It was not a request or suggestion. It was a command.

He fought off a grin. Cantia had been quite the tyrant as of late, unusual for the normally sweet and accommodating lady.

He found the fire of pregnancy quite humorous at times, but he also had a healthy respect for it.

If he didn’t defer to her wishes in all things, there was often hell to pay.

The powerful Earl of East Anglia was controlled by a lovely slip of a woman and he didn’t give a lick about it. He loved it.

“If that is your wish, sweetheart, then I will send him word and tell him to come here tonight.”

“Good,” she nodded her head decisively. “Let that be the end of it.”

“You will have to entertain him and be a party to his foul breath all evening, then.”

She made a face at him. “I would rather suffer through it than have you away from me, even for a night.”

He just smiled at her as he pulled a heavy linen tunic from the wardrobe. Cantia was on her feet, pulling the robe over her head as she moved for a second robe that was heavy brocade lined with lamb’s wool.

“Why would Stephen want to meet with you both?” she wanted to know.

Tevin pulled a tunic over his head followed by another one of heavier wool.

“Because I control the south side of the Dartford Bridge along with all of the roads from Gillingham to Wellhall. Moreover, East Anglia is my stronghold and I have ten thousand men at my disposal. I am more important to Stephen than most.”

She fell silent as she sat down on the bed to pull on her doeskin boots, very warm in the cold morning.

“Rochester is far from East Anglia,” she said softly. “When do you plan to return to Thunderbey Castle?”

He glanced over his shoulder to reply, noticing she was having difficulty pulling on her shoes. Her belly was already quite large and got in the way of normal activities. He went over to her, taking the boot and gently slipping it on her foot .

“Not until this baby is born,” he said. “Many things have been put on hold because of him.”

Cantia watched him pull on her shoe. “Like our trip to Saxony to seek Louisa’s father?”

“Like that.”

“I told you that I was fine to travel in the beginning. We could have been there and back again in these past several months.”

He looked her in the eye, somewhat sternly. “I am not going to travel with my pregnant lady. I told you that.”

“So we must wait until your son is born before we do anything to that regard?” she asked, growing pouty.

“Then you will not travel with an infant, and neither will I. He will be several years old before we will be able to travel to Saxony, but what if we have more children? We will never go and we will never receive our annulment because I will never be able to travel.”

“I could always send a missive, as I have suggested.”

“And chance that it would not be received? A thousand things could happen to a lone messenger. Nay, we must all go together to ensure our request is received and approved.”

Tevin wasn’t about to suggest he could go alone. It would not be well met, at least not at this time, so he did what he usually did when she grew upset– he shifted the subject in an effort to both distract and comfort her.

“I am sure there are many different possibilities we can speak of at another time,” he said quietly.

“But in speaking of Thunderbey, to reiterate my position on the subject, I do not want to force you to travel over miles of open road in your condition, so we will wait until the child is born before I will as much as entertain the thought of returning home. Why would you ask such a question?”

Attention successfully diverted for the moment, she shrugged as she handed him the other boot and he slipped that one on as well.

“Rochester is my home,” she said simply. “Hunt was born here and this child shall be born here. Do you not like it here? ”

He nodded. “I like it very much,” he reached down and carefully pulled her to her feet. “But, as you said, it is far from East Anglia. At some point, I must return home to my castle and to my people. I do not want to be gone overlong from my lands.”