Free Eria's Ménage by Alice Gaines Page B

waist. The next pair approached.
    Enough. She didn’t have to take any more of this. Besides, this wasted the precious minutes she still had to spend with her mates.
    She stood. “You all have my permission. Now, get out of my sight.”
    A murmur of surprise went up, but they’d seen her anger often enough to find urgent business elsewhere. Only Kapt hesitated, but she glared at him until he left too.
    The strength went out of her legs, and she sat between Tad and Brath again.
    None of them spoke for a moment. What did you say in this situation? “Have a nice trip Alice Gaines
    Eria’s Ménage
    - 60 -
    back?” “I’ll invite you to our daughter’s wedding?” The sooner they forgot about each other, the better.
    Finally, Tad cleared his throat. “You’re sure you’re with child?”
    “As sure as the last time you asked.”
    “You haven’t seen a doctor,” he said. “How can you know?”
    She covered his hand with her own. “I know.”
    Brath didn’t say anything or even move. He might have been carved from the mountains surrounding the castle. His silence fairly screamed of emotion to someone who knew him.
    “I don’t like leaving you,” Tad said.
    She pressed her fingertips to her forehead and massaged at the pain just over her eye. “What we like doesn’t matter.”
    “Damn it.” Tad rose and paced in front of her. “You’re going to have our child.
    What sort of lout would leave you to face the birthing yourself?”
    “That’s what you agreed to when you came here,” she said.
    “Impossible.”
    “You agreed!” she repeated. “You know our customs.”
    “I don’t give a fuck for your customs. You’re carrying my child, and I won’t leave you.”
    “By the deities. Brath, make him see the sense of it.”
    A disapproving rumble came from Brath’s chest.
    “Not you too,” she said.
    “We killed two of your suitors.” Tad stopped and glared at her. “A devious and violent pair. A government that would send two bastards like them will retaliate.”
    “I can defend myself.”
    This time, Brath growled. More disagreement. What was wrong with these two?
    Oh, hell. They cared what happened to her. They’d shown that in dozens of ways. If she were an ordinary woman, she’d accept that concern -- even hope it developed into Alice Gaines
    Eria’s Ménage
    - 61 -
    more. She’d keep them with her, let them see the birth of their daughter and share in her life. The queen couldn’t share anything with them.
    “No,” she said. “You have to go.”
    Tad recoiled as if she’d punched him in the stomach. Brath let out a sound full of pain.
    “Don’t do this!” she cried. “I don’t have any choice. It’s custom.”
    “We have customs too,” Tad said. “You haven’t solved my riddle, so I don’t have to release you.”
    “But, I have.” She’d thought she’d only solved the first two parts, but the third came to her in a flash. “The solution is you. By that, I mean both of you. You two burn me with your touch, and yet, my heart freezes because I have to let you go.”
    Something like hope entered Tad’s eyes. “Go on.”
    “You’ve given me a new life inside me, and now, you’re killing me.” Damn, she wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t.
    Brath took her chin in his hand and turned her to him. His own eyes held a sheen of moisture. She couldn’t hold back the tears, and her vision blurred. “I found you two only once, but I’ll see you everywhere. For the rest of my life.”
    “Wrong.” Tad’s voice came out unsteady.
    She turned to glare at him. “What do you mean I’m wrong?”
    “You are,” Tad said. “You’ve failed.”
    Her breath caught on a sob. “How can I have failed? That’s how I feel.”
    “That’s not the right answer, is it, Brath?”
    “And he knows what it is?” she said.
    “It’s love,” Brath said. His voice was rusty with disuse, but the words came out clearly enough.
    “You love me?”
    “I do.”
    She turned to Tad. “And