A Kiss of Fire

by Jacquelyn Frank

  It was two weeks later when she called Mason and Jutsin into one of the meeting rooms, Sin and Lindo standing to one side of the room as she had Mason and Jutsin take seats. She did not sit herself. She was too anxious.

  “I need your help,” she said, clasping and unclasping her fingers nervously.

  “We will always do anything to help you,” Jutsin said amicably.

  “I wish to live in Kilt with Sin, and I need a way to resolve that with my role as a leader for the people.”

  She had expected an explosive response, though she had hoped they had adjusted to the possibility of just such an outcome after these weeks of seeing her and Sin together. They had made no secret of their feelings for one another. One only need look at them together and they would realize what their feelings were.

  Her co-rulers surprised her, however, by taking the news seemingly in stride.

  “Do you mean to give up your place as triumvir?” Mason asked, his tone slow and serious.

  “I…I was hoping it might be possible for me to somehow maintain my role as triumvir in spite of being so far away.”

  “That does not seem practical,” Mason persisted. “It takes a week and a half to trade messages by fast horse. We cannot wait so long to act on many occasions.”

  “I have faith that on most matters you and Jutsin will be more than capable of ruling without me. I trust your judgment in all things. However, on matters of great import that do not require a quick response…I would have my say.”

  “Ariana, you are trying to hold on to your place here and trying to hold on to Sin at the same time. That is not possible,” Jutsin said. “We need a third who can be here, who can help us make decisions quickly. If you go with Sin you will be helping him rule his people. You cannot rule both countries. It is not possible for anyone to manage such a feat.”

  “But…but my loyalties would lie here,” she said anxiously.

  “Your loyalties should lie with your husband and his people. But we will take comfort in the fact that you would never forget us. That we would always remain friends.”

  Tears leapt to Ariana’s eyes. “But if I leave, who will you choose for your third? I will still own property and the third largest army of all Saren. I will not ever give up my holdings. They will eventually go to one of my children.”

  “Normally we would choose your immediate heir to take your place, but we all know Gretha is not a good choice. So we will find the leader of the fourth largest army in Saren lands and we will offer him or her the position of triumvir.”

  “You mean Kinsella Apin,” Ariana said. She had already suspected this was a possibility and had researched just who the most likely person would be to replace her. But she had so wanted to maintain her rule. Now that she was realizing she had to give it all up, there was a hole left in her heart and her chest ached.

  “Do you know her?” Jutsin asked.

  “I know of her,” Ariana said.

  “I know her,” Mason said. “She is a woman of great substance. She is a cunning woman and knows how to command a great deal of men. She was a great leader of our forces during the war. She knows how to wield power and does so equitably. Yes…she is a good choice.”

  A part of Ariana was saddened by how easily she could be replaced.

  “But she will never hold a candle to you,” Mason said.

  Arian felt her heart tumble over in her chest. The gruff Mason was not one to hand out compliments lightly, so she took his words very much to heart. It made her feel marginally better.

  “So that’s it then? You’ll simply leave us?” Jutsin said, a frown on his lips and sadness in his eyes.

  “There is nothing simple about it,” Ariana assured him, moving over to him and combing affectionate fingers through his hair. She brushed her fingertips along his square jaw. “But I must follow my heart.”

  “And what assurances have we that he will treat you well?” Jutsin asked.

  “I have faith in him. He is not the barbarian we all mistook him for. He was merely a man acting desperately for the desperate situation of his people. I hope one day everyone will be able to understand and forgive him for that.”

  “That is asking a great deal of people,” Mason said.

  “I know. And I don’t expect it to happen overnight. But perhaps this marriage will go a long way to repairing that.”

  “Now you say marriage…but I know for a fact that you won’t be considered married to him until you’ve produced an heir. I won’t have you disrespected or made to be some sort of baby producer.”

  “Producing children are a part of any marriage,” Sin said. “I will take as many or as few as she wishes to give me. And though she may not be considered my wife in the eyes of my culture until she has given me a son, she will forever be a wife to my heart and no others will come in her wake. You have my word on this. She will become my raji one day, I have all the faith in the world in that.”

  “Perhaps sooner than expected,” Ariana said, a pink blush diffusing across her cheeks.

  Sin paled before her very eyes. He reached out and steadied himself against the back of one of the chairs surrounding the table.

  “What are you saying?” he demanded hoarsely. “Are you breeding?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “You make it sound like a horse.”

  “But we’ve been…” He hesitated and looked at Jutsin and Mason. “But we’ve been making love.”

  “Yes. That’s how I got this way,” Ariana said, amusement tinging her voice.

  “Yes but…we’ve been…” Again he glanced at the two men in the room who were looking on with avid interest. “Quite vigorous,” he said on an exhale. “Is that not dangerous?”

  Ariana burst out in a fit of giggles. He frowned in consternation. “I do not think this is funny,” he said with pique. “This is the health and well-being of you and my child we are discussing.”

  Ariana tried to be appear somber, but she failed miserably. “Of course,” she agreed. “But it will not hurt the child to be,” –this time she glanced at Jutsin and Mason—“vigorous.”

  “How do you know this?” Sin demanded of her. “You could be wrong. I would never forgive myself if something—“

  “My love, if it will make you feel better we will discuss it with a doctor or a midwife.”

  Sin’s eyes softened and he stepped up to her. He pulled her into his arms and touched her face with tender fingers.

  “Say that again,” he commanded her.

  She didn’t need to ask what he meant. “My love,” she said.

  He sighed and bent his head to kiss her mouth slowly.

  “Well, I don’t know about you Mason, but I’m convinced,” Jutsin said with amusement.

  “I’m beginning to see my way clear to letting her go,” Mason agreed. “But never forget what a treasure she is. If you do, then you will have us on your doorstep.”

  “You have no need to worry,” Sin said, caressing her face once more. “She will be treated like the queen she is. And my child will have everything it could ever desire.”

  “I think that if it is a boy it should inherit all of your lands and titles,” Ariana said. “And if it is a girl then it will inherit all of mine.”

  “That sounds very reasonable,” Jutsin said. “And she will be next in line for triumvir.”

  “We will make sure Kinsella knows her title as triumvir is only to be until such time as you produce and raise that heir.”

  “This is true,” Jutsin said. “You control the third largest portion of this country. It belongs to you and yours by birthright. But have a care that you do not leave us any time soon for we will not stomach Gretha as your heir.”

  “I will remove her from succession as soon as I am able. But have no fear, I am in no rush to leave you,” Ariana said.

  “Childbirth can be a dangerous thing for a woman,” Mason pointed out.

  “I will care for her as if she were the most precious of things…for to me she is. She will no
t die.”

  “He has said it will be so and woe to anyone who says, thinks or does otherwise. God himself should tremble,” Ariana said with humor lighting her eyes.

  “I do not like to speak of your death. It chills my heart,” Sin said.

  “Then we will speak of it no more.”

  Sin hesitated a moment before saying, “Are you certain this is what you want to do? I would not want you, in later years, to blame me for taking away your birthright.”

  She took hold of his hands in hers and squeezed them. “My place is with you now. I can offer you so much as your raji. I am not giving anything up rather I am just changing countries. You will hear my voice in your government quite loudly I assure you. As long as you promise me my position there, then I am content.”

  “And then so am I,” Sin said, bending his head to kiss her. “So am I. At last.”

  “I would have you wed in the Saren tradition before you go,” Mason said firmly. “I know it will not hold in your laws, but if you want her heirs to have rights to her property then you must make it official under our laws.”

  “Only if it is done quickly,” Sin said. “We must travel home as soon as possible. I will not have her making the journey late while she is advancing in pregnancy.”

  “I think that can be arranged. It will have to be something of a to-do. The people will want an extravagant wedding. I will have it made as publicly and positively as we can manage. It will go a long way to soothing hostile feelings,” Mason said.

  They discussed the plans for the wedding.

  They were married only two weeks later. Sin was anxious to get back to his country. Missives from his mother said that all was well, but there had been no further sign of his brother. The quiet disturbed Sin.

  The wedding was large, the minister long-winded. Ariana’s troops guarded the proceedings with prodigious care. There were no uprisings against the marriage that she was made aware of.

  The newlyweds only remained another night before heading out by horse and by carriage. Sin refused to allow her to ride horseback for the journey back…so she and Mariah were once again riding in a carriage to Kilt. Only this carriage was infinitely more comfortable.

  When they reached the Kiltian borders there was heavy snowfall on the ground and no way for a carriage to pass. So they purchased a sleigh from an obliging innkeeper and she and Mariah rode side by side, tucked beneath blankets, with Sin driving the horses.

  Ariana was relieved when the temple finally came within sight. She was tired, her body ached, and she had begun to grow more frequently dizzy and nauseated. There was no question that she was pregnant…if indeed there had been doubts about it before this.

  As they pulled up to the temple, Fatima hurried out to meet them.

  “I am so glad you are back,” she greeted her son. “I have news of your brother. He has gathered a small army of loyal followers and is coming this way. He heard you were not here and seeks to take over the temple before you return. Clearly his spies are not as good as he thinks they are or they would have known you were due back any day.”

  “We made good time on the sleigh.” Sin reached to pull Ariana from amidst the lap robes and set her on her feet before his mother. “Mother, Ariana will be raji soon. In a few months’ time I may have my heir.”

  “Oh my son! I am so glad for you!” She reached to kiss her son’s cheek and then took Ariana in her arms. “Welcome, daughter. I have missed you.”

  “And I you,” Ariana said with a smile. “Your calm wisdom is a balm for a troubled soul.”

  “And is your soul troubled?”

  “It is in turmoil. There is much to be done and I hope I am not overwhelmed by it all.”

  “I have faith that you will rise to the challenge. If you can make my son happy, then you can do anything.”

  She hugged Ariana once more and then turned to lead her into the temple.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Sin sent runners to every corner of his land to drum up troops for the defense of the temple. There were some there, but not enough to repel an invading army. Now the race was on, to see if Sin could garrison the temple before Vich could arrive and lay siege. Sin’s first instinct was to send Ariana away.

  “No. My place is here with you,” she said stubbornly. “I will not leave when you need me most.”

  “I would protect you,” Sin said, equally as stubborn. “Think of our child if nothing else.”

  “I am not made of glass,” she said with exasperation.

  Sin had been uncommonly gentle in his treatment of her. That included their lovemaking. Not that she minded gentility, but she was missing the desperate fire with which he had wanted her in the past. The trouble was, no matter what she did, she could not coax the beast out to play. Apparently her well-being trumped his animal passion for her. But at least he had not stopped making love with her altogether. He had threatened as much already and only a consultation with both a midwife and a doctor had assured him that it was safe to have coital relations while she was pregnant.

  A very good thing too or she would have been hard pressed to seduce her husband beyond his limits every night…and then he would have felt guilty for it in the morning. She wondered if he still did in spite of the doctor’s reassurances.

  Sin had also ordered the best Saren doctor be delivered to the temple with all haste. He realized that the Sarens had far more advanced skills in medicine than the Kiltians did and he wanted the best available at all times.

  Just in case.

  This kid glove treatment meant he was being overbearing in all other ways as well, all in the name of protecting her or caring for her. Until finally she threw up her hands in exasperation.

  “I am not leaving and that is my final word on the matter.”

  “You are leaving,” he argued adamantly.

  “Don’t you think I would be safer here? Protected by a large amount of troops, rather than traveling about with an under-protected household?”

  This gave him pause. She leapt on his hesitation.

  “Don’t you think I would be better off under your watchful and protective eye rather than out of sight where you cannot know from one moment to the next if I am being properly cared for?”

  He gave her a mean look.

  “You’re playing me,” he accused her.

  “Is it working?” she asked playfully.

  “Yes, damn it, it is. And don’t look so victorious about it. You won’t like being under my protection if you do stay. I will positively suffocate you.”

  “I would expect nothing less,” she said. “Now won’t you come take your poor, lonely wife to bed?”

  Sin growled. “I know that look,” he said hotly.

  “Good. Then you know I am not wanting to go to bed because I am tired.”

  He ringed an arm about her waist and yanked her up against himself. His hand splayed across her fanny and he fondled her in a heated slide of his fingers.

  “Damn but you smell good,” he said, his voice low and rough as he put his nose to her neck and took in a deep breath through it.

  “I smell good in other places too,” she said silkily.

  She ran her hands up his chest, then back down again, her fingertips skimming down the buttoned fly of his breeches. She then cupped him through the gloving material. “I like the way you smell too,” she said, touching her nose to his chest and taking in a deep breath of his clean, masculine scent. “And I really like the way you feel.”

  “And I like the way you feel me,” he said with a chuckle. Then he sighed. “But I have to do a few things before I can come to bed.”

  “I must be losing my touch,” she said, fondling him again, feeling him grow harder in her hand. She began to unbutton his fly and then slid her hand inside so she could wrap him up in her fist.

  He groaned and thrust his hips into her touch for a brief, glorious minute. But then he cursed and grabbed hold of her wrist, removing her hand from him. “We can finish this later
,” he said. He pressed a heated kiss to her frowning lips. “I promise.”

  She pouted as he stepped away from her and he released a blue expletive at the expression. “Don’t make me feel guilty,” he begged her.

  “I don’t want you to feel guilty,” she assured him before grabbing him up into a hot kiss. “I want you to feel lonely. So lonely that seeking out your wife is the only comfort you can have. That way you will rush into my arms all the quicker.”

  “There is nowhere I’d rather be but in your arms,” he promised her.

  “Tell me where you are going and what is so important. Perhaps I can help.”

  He looked doubtful and she narrowed her eyes on him. “Barely married a fortnight and you are already forgetting to treat me as your equal in your rule? I won’t be mollycoddled or treated like a pretty figurehead. I will be useful or I will be going back to Saren where I am needed and respected.”

  “No! You are very much needed here. And I respect you deeply. Please do not threaten to leave me. It terrifies me.”

  She immediately felt guilty for saying the one thing she knew he feared most. He was not a man of many fears, but when it came to her he was full of them. Fear for her safety. Fear for her happiness. Fear he would never deserve her. He told her this constantly and it was unfair of her to use it against him.

  “I won’t leave you,” she reassured him with dulcet sincerity. “I love you. My home is here now. With you and the child we have created. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I simply don’t want you to forget that I am a woman who can rule. My opinions and my actions can help you. Please use me to your advantage.”

  “Then tell me what you would do…would you send troops to intercept him on his march toward us, leaving us vulnerable in the absence of protection, or would you wait for him to come to us and keep all of our soldiers protectively about us.”

  “He should not be allowed to get close to Temple City. The city is made up of buildings most of which are only half built. They would provide little to no protection to the citizens and you have no city walls built as yet.”