She'd handed it over without the least bit of reservation. It didn't make any sense to him. How could she have given away that kind of power?
She placed her hands over his. "I understand you now. The sword speaks to the worst part of you. To the animal that wants only to consume and kill others." She looked up at him from beneath her long lashes. That open, honest look burned him. "Let go of it, Kerrigan. For once, stand here with me without the sword whispering to you."
The sword cursed him in his head and demanded he hold tight to the hilt.
Kerrigan had always listened to it.
For once, he didn't. He let go of the sword so that it fell against the stone floor, then cupped her face in his hands.
Seren trembled as Kerrigan claimed her lips. His scent invaded every part of her while he explored her mouth with his. Their breaths mingled as she ran her hands over his back.
Giddy with her victory, she pulled back so that she could hug him close.
Until her eyes fell to the floor where the sword lay.
His foot was on it.
"Kerrigan!" she castigated as she pulled away. She put her hands on her hips before she looked back up at him. "You cheated."
He offered her a wicked grin. "A man can only do so much," he said unabashedly.
She shook her head at him. "You really can't let it go, can you?"
"I spent the whole of my youth hungry and beaten, wanting and aching for things that were beyond my grimy grasp. So long as I carry Caliburn, I know that no one will ever be able to mock or belittle me again. No one."
She heard the anguish in his tone. The pain that not even the centuries could erase. "But that sword is cold comfort on a lonely night."
"There you're wrong. It comforts me on a level unimaginable."
"And I would offer you even more comfort. If you would take it. Put your weapon away, Kerrigan. For one afternoon."
She knew the sword was still whispering to him. Somehow she could hear it now.
Stepping into his arms, she embraced him again.
Kerrigan couldn't think as Seren reclaimed his lips. The taste of her mouth nourished him in a way that defied description. She pressed her body closer to his as her tongue swept against his.
He could feel her nudging the sword away from him with her foot. It should anger him, but it didn't. It only amused him. Pulling away from her, he kicked the sword up from the floor and placed it in the brackets that were embedded in the stone above the bed. It would be within arm's reach, but not in their way.
He turned back to find Seren pulling her tunic over her head to bare her body to him. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the puckered tips of her small breasts.
Using more magic than he should, he conjured a large gilded tub of hot water and placed it before the hearth.
She gasped as it appeared.
"I thought you might wish a bath," he said as he closed the distance between them to help her remove her breeches.
"Aye, thank you."
As she stepped out of them, Kerrigan paused. He was kneeling before her with his gaze level on her belly. Deep inside her, his child was already growing.His child. A tiny part of him and her??/p>
He looked up to find her staring down at him with a tender smile on her face as she played idly in his hair. In all his life, he'd never known anything like this one quiet moment.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, fingering the frown on his brow.
"Nay." He rose up from the floor so that he could pick her up and place her into the tub.
Seren sighed as the hot water lapped against her cool skin. Kerrigan kissed her lightly on the lips as he gently stroked her breasts with his cool hand. She wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer to her.
His breeches melted from him an instant before he joined her in the tub.
"Careful, my lord, you're expending your strength."
"I know, but I didn't want to wait for you."
She tsked at him. "Some things are best when savored."
"And others are best when devoured."
Seren bit her lip at the wave of desire those words conjured.
He sat back in the tub, then pulled her forward to straddle his waist while he soaped a small cloth.