Lacey's Warriors (Bondmates #6) - Ann Mayburn Page 0,53
cried out from somewhere nearby.
Spinning around, Lacey’s heart leapt as she saw a pink haired Jillian sprinting across the smooth brown stones of the landing area. Ignoring the group following Jillian, Lacey met her daughter in a few steps, easily catching her little body as Jillian threw herself into her arms with a sob. Pure, overwhelming maternal love hit her so hard, she gasped, a strange keening noise coming from her that was a mixture of joy and sorrow.
Dimly, she registered that her daughter wore a pink sparkly dress that matched the pink streaks in her hair, and that the odd white and blue creature from the video was scurrying around her feet making a chirping bark, but it was the feel of Jillian in her arms that utterly absorbed Lacey. They’d been apart for long times before due to deployments, but the homecoming had never been this sweet. She felt like she glowed with love as she rained kisses all over Jillian’s giggling face.
“I missed you, Mommy,” Jillian said as she snuggled close, petting Lacey’s hair. “Your hair looks pretty.”
“So does yours, Jillybean.” Lacey smiled at her daughter’s pink head.
“It matches my dress!”
“It sure does.”
“Mommy?” Jillian asked, putting both her hands on Lacey’s cheeks to make her look right at her, tears filling the little girl’s big brown eyes. “Please don’t go away again, okay? Grandma said you don’t have to go back to your job in the military anymore. That we can stay together now, right?”
“Yes, baby,” Lacey managed to choke out. “I’ll never leave you again.”
Turning her head, she took a deep breath of Jillian’s hair, the usual mango scent of Jillian’s favorite shampoo missing, but the smell beneath was the same. On some deep, primal level her entire being relaxed as she finally held her daughter again. Jillian shook in her arms as she cried, and Lacey startled for a moment as another set of arms wrapped around her, holding her and Jillian both.
She looked up to find her mother, appearing oddly decades younger, giving Lacey a trembling smile.
Dressed in a flowing black gown and an amazing necklace made of glittering green and amethyst shifting stones, her mom looked every inch the Kadothian Matriarch. She even had the dark, liquid black bondmarks on her cleavage that announced to the world who she was. But despite the exotic clothes, elaborate upswept hairstyle, and wrinkle free face, she was still Lacey’s mom.
“Oh, my sweet girl,” her mom whispered, the tears on her cheeks glistening in the odd golden sunlight. “Oh, my sweet, sweet girl. We have missed you so much.”
Speech was beyond her as Lacey laid her head on her mom’s shoulder. All the terror and pain she’d felt over these last few weeks came out all at once.
“Lady Lacey,” Wythe’s sharp voice came from right next to her. “You must shield yourself.”
Startled, she looked up through her tears at his face, filled with sorrow, tears shimmering in his own eyes. “What?”
“Your emotions, they are seeping into those around you. We didn’t mind it when it was your love, but please reign in your grief.”
Giving her eyes a brisk wipe with the back of her hand, Lacey glanced around and found they were mostly alone, and the Kadothian Warriors that remained all had tears streaming down their faces.
Jillian shifted in her arms and said, “Mommy, please don’t be sad.”
Realizing she was somehow projecting her emotions, she worked hard on building a mental shield around herself like Chel and Gwarnon had taught her during their training.
Right away, Wythe let out a sound of relief, echoed by two male grunts behind her.
Turning, she watched with wide eyes as two handsome men, one with a beard who was very lumberjack sexy, and one with red and black hair that had a somewhat feral quality to him, lean down and kiss her mother. Both men were dressed in the loose black pants, high leather boots, and fitted black shirts with low collars that her crystal implant said were the normal casual wear among Kadothian Lords. Around their necks they wore thick gold chains, each bearing a large gem that matched her mom’s jewelry.
They made a lovely picture together, her mother beaming as she looked up at the men who had to be her bondmates. The men looked back at her mother with equal adoration, and Lacey’s chest swelled with emotion as Jillian cuddled close. Her mom was happy, really happy, and so in love with her bondmates she practically glowed with it.