Unbroken (Unarmed Trilogy #2) (16 page)

"It's just a bruise. A bad bruise, but it's better than a break," Tamzin said as she showed him her injured hand, which had been resting on her side. Will touched it gently, cradled it like it was something precious, before he kissed her injuries. There were moments in their relationship that Tamzin could not believe this gentle man had killed countless of men. She knew Will as kind and caring, despite what he did on the battlefield. Could Gregory Thurston be the same?

No, she decided.

He was the opposite. Tamzin believed Gregory had been a good and kind King, but he may have been lying to everyone. Only Will knew the true man and he appeared to be ugly.

"You went to see Jacque after the meeting with your father?" Will asked as he rose from his seat and turned to face her. Tamzin wore a light nightgown with thin straps and only went to her thigh. It was only appropriate to wear in front of her husband, but Will was sure she wouldn't be able to wear something like that in Bradford. He didn't mind as he reached and touched the hem of her nightgown and used it to bring her closer to him.

"I did," Tamzin said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You and I need to have a discussion," she said as she felt Will pull her nightgown up and placed his hand on her lower back. "What is going on between you and Garrett?"

She knew. Will knew Tamzin was aware of Seraphina, but she was fishing.

"Things like this happen after tragedy," Will offered, though it was a weak excuse. Tamzin's face told him that she was not buying it. "We're like brothers. Brothers fight, right?"

"And the girl?"

Yes, she knew.

"Her name is Seraphina. I don't know much else about her, other than she is a Northern comfort girl. She used to work in the Thurston castle, but she worked in the kitchen. You probably had no interaction with her," Will said as his hand dropped from her back. He knew that she would not allow him to have her tonight; as he watched, her brown eyes began to glow with curiosity.

"Does Garrett normally take in pregnant comfort girls?" Tamzin asked before Will looked at her with shock. "Jacque has informed me that she isn't very far along, but she goes out of her way to hide it. Am I right?"

"How did you know?" Will asked.

"I could see the curve of her stomach when the wind blew against her dress and I knew Jacque would know. It can only be a swollen belly, from a child. Let me guess, it's Garrett's?" Tamzin asked as she removed herself from Will's arms. She crossed her arms over her chest, but Will couldn't quite gauge if she was angry. After Will didn't answer for a few moments, Tamzin pressed. "Just tell me. It's bad enough that you haven't told me until this point."

"She says the child is his," Will spilt. "But she is a comfort girl. It is possible she was lying with other men, so I can't say definitively that the child is Garrett's, but he believes so."

"Is there a chance the child is yours?" Tamzin asked abruptly and Will looked at her with wide eyes.

"No, absolutely not!" Will exclaimed as he reached forward and placed his hands on her arms. "I am not lying when I say that I haven't been with anyone else since I have married you. No child of mine will be born unless you bear it, I promise," Will said as he trailed his hand up to her face, where he cupped her cheek. "I should have told you," he said as his thumb swept across her lower lip.

"Yes, you should have," Tamzin said as she shrugged off his hand. "He wasn't faithful to Kendall?" Tamzin asked as her eyes watered. "It's awful enough that she is dead, but he couldn't have..."

"I know," Will said as he ran his hands up and down her arms to comfort her. "This is why I didn't tell you. You've been so much happier here and I didn't want you to become upset. I also didn't want you to hate my best friend."

"I don't hate him," Tamzin wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Before what happened in Thurston, I would say that I did hate Garrett. But now I know what it really means to hate someone. This would have hurt Kendall, yes, but she would still be alive. Garrett should not have done what he did, but it wouldn't have resulted in her death," Tamzin said as she looked up at Will. "However, if you had done this, I would make you wish you hadn't."

"Understood," Will tried not to grin as he let his fingers dip underneath the thin strap of her nightgown. "If we take a dip in the ocean, does that mean you will have to take this off?"

"I am angry with you," Tamzin said as she pushed his hand off her shoulder. "You wouldn't have told me if I hadn't asked."

"Would you have been open with me about your past relationships if I hadn't asked?" Will countered as he watched her shuffle towards her bed, where she sat down.

"That is different," Tamzin replied. "I'm not still with those men. My actions haven't hurt you..."

"They did hurt me!" Will nearly shouted, but lowered his voice when he saw Tamzin's reaction. "You had to dance with them in front of me? You had to laugh at their jokes?"

"So you expect me not to speak to any men? I'm not like you, Will. I like being around people and I like laughing and parties and dancing. You don't like to dance, so you think I should just sit next to you and be bored?" Tamzin asked angrily.

"I already know I don't measure up against the great men of Roth," Will said sarcastically. "But you don't need to throw it in my face that you would have been happier with a man here. I know that you would not have picked me if you had a choice."

"That's not true," Tamzin whimpered. "If you loved someone else, it would kill me. I don't feel anything for the men in this territory or any other one. Why don't you trust me?"

"I do trust you," Will said as he clenched his hand at his side. "But I'm not good enough for you. I cannot love you enough to make up what I lack."

"And what do you think you lack?" Tamzin stood and approached him, with her hand on her belly. “Tell me."

"I'm not charismatic; making friends has been the hardest task of my life. It takes me hours to solve a problem that takes my father only minutes, so I'm stupid. I whine about my problems, so my men don't respect me. Because my men don't respect me, Kings like Johansson think they can come into my home and burn it to the ground. Your father would marry you off the second those men turn on me and kill me in battle..."

"And I can add 'crazy' to your list," Tamzin interrupted as she placed her hand in his. "You are respected, which is why your soldier stopped when he wanted to hurt Rolf and you told him not to. They follow you to the ends of the Earth and only listen to your plans. You may spend hours making a battle strategy, but they are brilliant plans that always work out. As for being charismatic, I think you are."

"Really?" Will laughed bitterly. "And how am I charismatic?"

"You always charm me out of my dress," Tamzin teased as she wrapped her arms around him again. "Everything you said about yourself, it's all in your head. You think that way because your father taught you to think that way. Why would a man want his heir to feel insecure?"

"He wanted me not to be arrogant or to think that I can't always better myself..." Will offered before Tamzin silenced him.

"No, he doesn't. And you know that, deep down," Tamzin offered him a sad smile. "Sometimes, I do wish you were friendlier to be people, the same as you wish I wasn't. But I would never trade in our nights of playing chess and our snarky conversations during dinner for anything in the world," Tamzin said as she caressed his cheek. "And now that you're attempting to teach me how to shoot a bow and arrow, what more could I want?" Tamzin laughed and felt relief as she saw Will's lips lift slightly into a smile.

"You have been terrible at it, so far," Will smirked as he wrapped his arms around her. "I wish we had more time to get to know each other better."

"You don't think we know each other well?" Tamzin asked as she took his hand and led him back towards her bed, where they sat down together. "I think I know you better than you think."

"And what do you know?" Will asked.

"When you have trouble sleeping, you respond very well when I have our sheets washed in lavender water, which tells me your sleeping problems are from anxiety. From how much you read and study, it tells me that you think being intelligent is a person's most important trait. You are more interested in building your muscle than being fast, which says that you always face your fights, instead of running from them..."

"What? How did you..."

"I watch," Tamzin shrugged her shoulders. "I watch and see what others cannot. For example, Rolf may continually go after you, but he respects you. When people go after each other so much like you two do, someone has something to prove," Tamzin said. "Rolf isn't worth going after."

"You're an amazing woman," Will grinned as he reached down and placed his hand on her belly. He tapped his fingers over her stomach and he smiled broader when he felt his child kick. "Do you still think he is a boy?"

"I'm not an expert, but I have had dreams about the baby being a boy. If the baby turns out to be a girl, I won't be disappointed. I know how happy you will be if it's a girl," Tamzin said as she placed her hand over his. "Do you have suggestions for names?"

"I thought you had total control over names?" Will smiled before he pressed a kiss against her stomach.

"Well, I have final say, as I am giving birth to this baby, but are there any names you're particularly fond of?" Tamzin asked before she leaned against his body.

"I don't know, honestly. I never thought about naming children. I never thought I would be married and expecting a child," Will said as he kissed her hair. "I hate the name William, however."

"Hate it?" Tamzin laughed.

"Despise it. It's the worst name in the world," Will joined in her laughter before he laid down on the bed and she followed. "What do you think Bradford is like?"

"I don't know," Tamzin said as she unlaced his tunic and ran her fingers over his chest hair. Her nails skimmed over his scars that ran down his sternum. "No one really knows much about them. They keep to themselves."

"That is very strange," Will remarked.

"They stay out of wars almost completely and they are open traders. They make most of their money from use of ports. No Northern territory wants to use the ports in Johansson, so the furthest they will go south is Bradford. The few times my father has traded with Johansson, he only uses Bradford ports and their vendors to do so," Tamzin said as she continued to run her nails over his chest. "I don't think my father has actually met your grandfather, or anyone else in the Bradford family."

"My father met them when he married my mother, but hasn't seen them since," Will replied as he stared up at the ceiling. "I've never received any type of correspondence from them. I cannot say, for certain, that they even know my name."

"Doesn't Aunt Isabelle keep in contact with them? Her children may have been raised in the North, but doesn't she want them to have something of their Southern roots?" Tamzin asked.

"I assume she keeps some type of contact, but it's bare bones. She is very angry with them about something. She says her family did not treat her the way she deserved," Will said before he kissed her forehead. "We should sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day for me."

"And I thought I could persuade you to have some fun before we went to bed," Tamzin teased, but didn't press further. "I am tired." She yawned and felt Will pull them back towards the bed. With his head against the headboard, Will sighed. However, as he turned his head, he smiled as he smelt the lavender on the sheets.

~~~

Will awoke to the sounds of people frantically setting up. For once, Will heard noise before midday and it sounded like people were moving various large objects. With his eyes open, Will wiped his eyes clean of sleep and looked around blearily. Tamzin was still asleep next to him, on her side with her head resting on his chest. Over the course of the night, Will shrugged out of his tunic and his breeches, leaving him bare underneath the sheets. Tamzin continued to wear her nightgown, but found it hiked up to rest under her breasts.

Silently, Will let his fingers trail over her stomach with featherlike movements. She stirred lightly in her sleep but didn't wake fully as Will continued to run his fingers over her torso. Slowly, he lifted the nightgown completely over her head and left it to rest just below the headboard. Continuing with his gentleness, Will began to press kisses to her torso as his fingers pulled down her small clothes. Tamzin moaned lightly in her sleep as Will's fingers traced over her nipples and his lips pressed kisses between her breasts and down her stomach. His beard left a slight red trail as he pressed kisses down her stomach to in between her legs.

Tamzin opened her eyes when she felt Will's rough beard on the inside of her thighs and his tongue flick against her bud. She smiled as she let her legs rise from the bed and felt Will put them over his shoulders. His warm breath made her quiver as she felt him press the tip of his tongue inside of her before he began to suck on her. Her hand trailed down her belly as she threaded her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer.

Will smiled against her before he slid a finger inside of her and began to suck gently on her bud. He wanted this to be long and luxurious; he wanted her to enjoy feeling close to him as his way of saying thank you about last night.

Tamzin muffled her moans and bit her lip before there was an abrupt knock at the door. Before Will could remove his face from between her legs, Turner Roth walked in.

And he screamed.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled as Will removed his face from between Tamzin's legs and sat up on his knees. He wasn't sure if he should cover his own nakedness first or to cover Tamzin.

"Get out!" Tamzin screamed as she grabbed the sheet and pulled it over her body as Will scrambled to find his breeches on the ground. "Father, it's called knocking!"

"I did knock," Turner said angrily as he turned around and covered his eyes. "You're supposed to be in your booth for the tournament! And here I find you!"

"I'm with child. How do you think it happened?" Tamzin continued to argue as she rolled out of bed and grabbed her robe and shrugged it on. "We're clothed."