“In the rooms we gave you. I have a feeling she is sleeping. After the adventure you had earlier and then the way we can so completely overwhelm someone, I suspect she was badly in need of a rest.”
“Thank you. Any new blessings?” he asked, referring to the stray children the bachelors in the family produced at regular intervals.
“Three since I last saw you. No gifts that require announcement or investigation. Just the usual. Although Gawain, who is Cousin Morris’s boy, can not only see and talk to ghosts but, if he touches you, can help you to see and hear them too.”
“Ah, and therein lies the tale of why his mother left him to you.”
“I fear so. Tell me, Bened, is this Primrose the one?”
“The one what?”
“The one you always said you would keep.”
“I do not know. I am waiting for all this run-away, fight, hide, and run-away-some-more business to fade so we can look at it all in the normal light.”
Penelope nodded. “That might be wise but watch closely, Bened. You might see at some point that it would be better to speak up or you could lose.”
Bened felt the weight of those words as he slipped into the bedchamber they had taken Primrose to. It took only one glance around to see why Lorelei had given Argus an odd look. This was a suite of rooms meant for a married couple. There was another bed in an attached room here, which meant he could sleep with Primrose or he could sleep alone. On the other hand, they would still be together to talk, to see each other, to occasionally kiss, and to keep whatever was between them still growing. Crafty Argus, he thought as he went to sit on the bed next to Primrose, then to carefully stretch out on his side next to her.
Primrose stretched and felt her leg brush against something. Thinking it was Boudicca, she opened her eyes and had to swallow a screech of surprise. It was Bened lying right next to her and calmly watching her sleep.
“What are you doing in my bedchamber? Someone could see you.”
“No need to worry about them seeing me, they know.” He got up, walked to the door to the other bedchamber, and opened it, nodding when she gasped and blushed. “A suite for a married couple or, as in our case, ones who may or may not be lovers so they may have the need of an extra bed. A room with a choice.”
“That is just a little embarrassing.”
“Do not let it trouble you. All those children out there? Most of them are by-blows. But my family is very strict on the duty of any man who breeds a child. He will see to their care and make certain that child does not suffer for who he is or, in our case, what he can do. It was the mothers who tossed them into our Pen’s lap and she was not much more than a child herself. There was a lot of trouble with her stepfamily but we sorted that out. She is very good at teaching them how to deal with their gifts and so she still takes them in when needed.”
“But their fathers do not do it?”
“Most of them would make poor parents since they are more gone than home and Penelope loves it,” he said as he returned to the bed and took her into his arms. “She has all the support she needs and when the fathers can be with their children they come and stay.”
“But she becomes the mother for them all.”
“Exactly and they do need that. We are very fortunate that she found a man who, along with his own family, accepts that completely.” He looked around for the dog and frowned. “Where is Boudicca?”
“Out in the little garden. The doors to it were left slightly open,” she said even as the dog stuck its head inside, looked at her, and then went back out. “She keeps doing that as if she fears I will disappear but appears to enjoy the garden too much to give it up completely.”
Primrose quickly forgot what she was talking about as he kissed her neck. He slid one big hand around to begin undoing her gown and even the thought of protesting that left her mind when he kissed her. She was faintly aware of how he was removing her gown as he kept her drugged with his kisses, but she did not care so long as he did keep kissing her, keep stirring up the thrilling desire he brought to life inside her.
“The doors to the garden are open,” she said when he finally gave her a moment to breathe and clear some of passion’s haze from her mind. “Someone could come in.”
Bened got up and went to close the door. As he did so he removed his coat, then his neckcloth, and finally his shirt. Once the door was shut and latched he turned to come back to the bed only to pause. He cocked his head as if listening to something, reopened the door, and, with a heavy sigh, allowed Boudicca back into the room before latching the door again.