“And if you had known, would you have left?” she asked, backing away from him and frowning.
“Of course not,” he said, hating the sudden distance between them.
“That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
“Damnit, Shana! You had no right to deny me my child.”
“I wouldn’t have denied you, Ryan,” she said, staring at him with such a wounded expression that he felt like a heel. That irked him, because he knew his anger was justified.
Before he could make that point, she continued, “You would have never known about the child, but it would have known about you. When it reached adulthood, I would have sent it to be with you. It would have befriended you, and the two of you would have gotten to know each other. Hopefully, grown to love each other.”
Stunned, Ryan shook his head. “And you think that would have been enough for me?”
“No,” she answered. “I was being selfish. I wanted to protect your soul, and if that was wrong, I’m sorry. But in all honesty, I have to say I’d do it again. You’re my mate, and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you from harm.”
“Damnit, Shana, a man is supposed to protect his wife, not the other way around,” he grumbled as he walked to her and pulled her into his arms.
“I’m not a wife, Ryan. I’m a mate, and mates always protect each other. Do you forgive me?”
He stared down into her beautiful eyes and shook his head. “I’d forgive you anything, but in the future, promise me that you’ll fill me in on important information like this, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, smiling up at him. “We’re going to have a wonderful life together, aren’t we?”
“You’re damn right,” he said, resting his forehead against hers. “And to think we owe it all to an evil witch.”
“We don’t owe it to Moira, Ryan. We owe it to ourselves. Love can conquer anything, and we’ve just proved that.”
“Yeah, we did,” he said, smiling. “And speaking of love, how about if we get back to bed?”
She grinned impishly. “Remind me to tell Lucien that I was right. If I’d let him cast the spell over you, we would have driven him nuts.”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” he said, “but you can explain it later.”
“Yes, later,” Shana sighed as his lips closed over hers.
This was magic, she decided. Pure, undiluted, wonderful magic, and it would be like this for the rest of their lives.
The End
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Touch of Magic Page 34