Heavy furniture made of dark wood was grouped before a large stone hearth. Colorful rugs covered the floor. A tray of meat and cheese and a jug of wine sat on a tray on a small table.
A soft rustling sound drew his attention and he glanced over his shoulder to see Katlaina enter the room.
"Navarre!" Tears of joy welled in her eyes as she flew across the room.
"Katlaina." He breathed her name as he gathered her into his arms. "Katlaina, Katlaina." Only her name, over and over again. His hands roamed over her body, marveling at the fullness of her breasts, the swell of her belly. It was true, he thought. His seed was growing within her. A part of him would be left behind.
"You are here," she murmured. "I prayed and prayed that I would see you again."
"How are you?" he asked. He spread his hands over her belly, then cupped her breasts, weighing their heaviness in his hands as he imagined his babe suckling there.
"I am well," she said. "But you... my poorNavarre , trapped in that awful cage, alone."
She took his hand and led him to the settee. When he sat down, she curled into his lap, her head resting on his shoulder. "You're here," she whispered. "Really here."
"What will happen to you after the child is born?"
"I have been told I will be sent back to my family with a large dowry."
Sent home, he thought. With a large dowry to appease her future husband for the lack of a maidenhead.
Impotent anger welled within him at the thought of her marrying another man, bearing another man's child.
"Kiss me,Navarre ," she urged. "The minutes are passing so quickly..."
"Katlaina..." With a low groan, he covered her mouth with his, drinking in her sweetness, losing himself in the touch of her hands.
Honeyed fire spread through him as their bodies pressed together, the need between them heightened by the months they had been apart.
He marveled at how beautiful she was, her body swollen with his child, her eyes shining with love. He nuzzled the cleft between her breasts, wishing they were already filled with milk so that he could taste her.
He reached for her, and she was there, opening to him, her body welcoming his invasion, closing around him, making him forget that he had only months left to live, that he might never see her again. For now, there was only this moment, this woman, warm and willing in his arms, her voice low and husky as she whispered that she loved him.
Too soon, Markos came to take him away.
His cage seemed smaller, more confining, after the opulence of Katlaina's chamber. His bed was small and empty, his days bleak, the hours of darkness an endless torment as he thought of her, dreamed of her, yearned for her.
Night after night, he begged Markos to take him to see Katlaina one more time. And night after night, the guard refused.
Five months had passed since the last time he had seen her. Five long months, and with each passing day, the sense of time closing in on him grew stronger. Katlaina. She was ever in his heart, in his mind, in his thoughts. Every time he closed his eyes, her image appeared before him, her belly expanding as his child was nurtured within her womb. He had to see her, just one more time.
"Please, Markos."Navarre pleaded with the guard as he had every night for the last five months. "Please take me to her again."
"You don't know what you're asking." Markos let out a sigh of exasperation. After five months, his patience was wearing thin. Every night it was the same,Navarre begging to see the woman again. And yet, in spite of his resolve not to weaken again, Markos couldn't help but pity the man. Poor wretch. What a miserable life the Fates had decreed for him. Born and raised in a cage, bred as if he were a prize bull, and what was to be his reward? Death at the hands of a bloodthirsty goddess.
For the first time in months,Navarre felt a flicker of hope as he studied Markos's expression. Was the man weakening?
"Please, Markos," he whispered.
"I've told you and told you, the danger of being caught is too great to risk again."
"Please! I'll beg the goddess to give you a dozen sons, wealth beyond your imagination, only take me to her again."Navarre 's hands closed around the bars until his knuckles were white with the strain. "Please, Markos, I have