Free Seduced by Magic by Cheyenne McCray Page A

commanding. This was notime for gentleness. He must deal with the situation and be done with it.
    Airell shifted on the bench to meet his gaze. Her blue eyes looked glossy, almost as if she were ready to burst into tears again.
    Not tears. Not the godsdamn tears again
.
    He kept his gaze focused on hers. With their blue eyes and blond hair, they were sure to have children of the same looks. Yet he could not imagine having a child with Airell. She was too young, too frail-looking.
    But definitely not too innocent.
    At that thought he ground his teeth. Finally he said, “Your dallying with Urien needs to be dealt with at once.”
    Airell’s lower lip trembled and he saw the tears threaten to trickle from her eyes.
    Shit
.
    He wanted to look away from the tears that were surely about to fall, but he needed to keep his features stern so that she would be clear on his intentions and on his words. “If you do not wish to engage in sex with me at this time, then you can choose a Pleasure Partner from the village or you may abstain. I will not risk your getting with a babe with Urien.”
    The tears started rolling down Airell’s cheeks, but he did his best to ignore them. “When we are handfasted, we will attempt to produce an heir, no matter how many times we must join. After that you may have sex with any Pleasure Partner you wish to, but you will
not
dally with Urien or any other man of the court for that matter.”
    â€œI am with child.” The words came so softly from Airell’s lips that at first he thought he had misheard her. When it sank in, his body went rigid with shock. Her tears continued to run in rivers and all Tiernan could do was stare. A babe? Urien’s child?
    Airell looked away from Tiernan and down to her belly where her hands were now clenched. “I have not told him.”
    â€œA child.” He spoke harshly as his temper flared. He had always wanted children, yes, but he did not want to raise another man’s child, knowing that he was not the true father. “Godsdamn, Airell.”
    He pushed himself from the bench and began pacing.
    â€œWhat will happen to me?” Airell looked up at him, her eyes red and swollen, her voice cracking with every word. “To Urien?”
    Tiernan shoved his fingers through his hair. His mind raced. He could not allow Airell to face the humiliation of being marked and the horror of being cast out of the Fae realm. But neither could he marry a woman who carried another man’s child. He could do many things for duty, for honor, but raising another man’s child when all he longed for were his own? Must all his dreams be set aside for the sake of others?
    â€œUrien and I could run away,” she said, a hopeful tone to her voice. “We could be together then.”
    â€œYou would be found within hours, if not minutes.” Tiernan stopped his pacing and rested his hands on the hilt of his sword. “The forests are filled with Fae. You could never escape, Airell.”
    She hiccupped and lowered her head. “There is nothing I can do, then. I will be marked and cast out.”
    Tiernan’s body was so tense he felt as though he was being stretched between two bars. He sank back down on the bench beside Airell. He released a sigh that came deep from his belly and leaned forward, his forearms braced on his leather-clad thighs.
    He looked away from her and stared into the trees at the foot of the gardens. “I would never want to humiliate you, Airell. As I would not want Urien to face a more serious fate.”
    When he looked at her again, she was dabbing at her eyes with a kerchief she must have drawn out from a pocket in the folds of her skirt. “You would marry me still?”
    Tiernan slowly shook his head. “I cannot be joined with you knowing you carry another man’s child.”
    Airell’s features crumpled once again, and the tears came harder and faster as she stared at her