Wild Embrace by Nalini Singh Page B

babe gingerly into his arms, Stefan looked very carefully into the child’s face. “Your son’s eyes are Tazia’s,” he said at last.
    Tazia’s brother grinned and looked to his wife. “Did I not say the same when he was but two days old?”
    Tazia’s sister-in-law, a sweet woman, smiled affectionately. “You did.” Turning to Tazia, she said, “He insisted our son’s second name be Tazir.”
    Tears burned Tazia’s eyes again, and then she was being hugged by her brother, who whispered, “Why did you never sneak in to see me?” A question that held hurt and anger both. “I waited for you.”
    Tazia sobbed. “I thought you were angry with me.”
    â€œI was—but you are my sister.” A crushing squeeze. “I will always protect you.”
    And that was how it continued for all the hours of the day, family and only the most trusted friends allowed in. Mina and her family, her father’s dearest, oldest friend and his wife. That friend also happened to be the village official authorized to marry people.
    â€œI will make the legal papers,” the white-haired elder told them solemnly when he met with her and Stefan. “But I will not file them. Instead, I will give them into your keeping. When and if you can, you will file them.”
    â€œThank you,” Stefan said. “We’ll do so the instant it becomes safe.”
    The older man nodded. “It is a thing for the world. You will be married in the eyes of the family and the village as soon as the dawn ceremony is complete.”
    Stefan disappeared for an hour after that, and Tazia worried until she saw his tall form beside her father and brother in the courtyard, where he was helping to put up the wedding pavilion of hanging silks. Not strictly according to tradition, for the groom wasn’t meant to be at the bride’s home until the time of the wedding, but the family was being flexible.
    It was hard to sleep that night, and she twisted and turned. Part of her hoped Stefan would teleport to her, but she knew he was too respectful of her family to do so. The hours passed torturously . . . and heatedly, as she imagined the intimacies they would share once they were man and wife. She wanted to touch him, wanted to kiss him again and again, wanted his hands on her, wanted . . .
    Sheets tangled around her legs, she came awake to her mother’s soft, “Tazi, my Tazi. It is time to bathe and dress for your wedding.” A gentle hand brushing back her hair, a kiss on the forehead, a smile in Kaya Nerif’s dark gaze. “He loves you very much, your Stefan.”
    â€œI know,” Tazia whispered. She didn’t need words, saw the truth in those eyes that said so much.
    It wasn’t until a half hour later, after she’d bathed in rose-scented water that left her skin soft and silky, and her mother came in to help her dry her hair, that Tazia realized how her mother knew the truth of Stefan’s love. “Oh.” Her lower lip quivered.
    In her mother’s arms lay the beautiful aqua and silver outfit she’d admired, complete with the stunning scarf of fine silver lace.
    Smiling, her mother laid out the clothing and cupped Tazia’s cheeks. “You did well, daughter. A quiet man who does such things is worth far more than a man who says much and forgets to care for his treasures.” Another kiss on her forehead. “Now sit and let me dry your hair. Today, my daughter gets married and I would have her look a princess.”

Chapter 10
    Tazia felt exactly like a princess when she entered the wedding pavilion in her finery. Stefan, dressed in formal black but for a black and silver man’s scarf she recognized as her father’s, waited for her.
    Oh, but she
could not wait to call him her husband.
    The ceremony was simple and poignant, the embraces afterward warm and loving.
    â€œI wish we could