Read Online Winter Rose by Rachel A. Marks - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rachel A. Marks
Tags: Romance
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baby between us like a protection against the urgency that blossoms in the air. It warms the blood, the skin, the earth at our feet. Like a leaf uncurling from the cold ground, the connection awakens something in me I never knew was there, buried deep in the ice of my heart.
The baby cries out again, breaking the spell. We move apart, but only a little. Luke smiles down on the bundle between us and shakes his head. “Naughty girl. Your mommy and I are busy.”
I release a nervous laugh and try to hide my shivering. There’s so much...so much inside me, spilling out.
Luke doesn’t seem to notice. He’s grinning so big his face looks like it might crack.
He takes the baby from my arms and she stills a little. He kisses my forehead then hers and says, “I have something to show you.” He puts his hand in mine and leads me down a path in the trees. “I found them while I was hunting today. I was going to bring you out here tomorrow, but since we’re out now...”
He stops near a ledge, lit with a spot of sun. A cluster of rocks and roots clutch at the edge.
And there, breaking through the snow, is color.
“Iris,” I say, amazed at the violet faces staring up at me.
“I thought we could name her after them. Aren’t they pretty? Just like her.” He brushes the baby’s tiny nose with his finger.
I look up at him and smile, feeling the sun warm my cheeks like it warmed the rock, allowing the flowers to grow.
Luke’s my sun.
“I think it’s perfect,” I say. I reach out and pluck one of the buds from the cluster in the snow and then lean my head on his arm.
We look out, over the ledge, across the peaks that are dwarfed by our own. Topped with snow and the dark shadows of the forest, they stretch out, like a sea of white. As far as the eye can see.
But there, just at the edge. I think, I see green. An emerald ribbon of life at the fringe of it all.
“Iris,” Luke says again, testing the name on his tongue. “Isn’t it lovely?”
And it is. All of it.
The baby cries out again, breaking the spell. We move apart, but only a little. Luke smiles down on the bundle between us and shakes his head. “Naughty girl. Your mommy and I are busy.”
I release a nervous laugh and try to hide my shivering. There’s so much...so much inside me, spilling out.
Luke doesn’t seem to notice. He’s grinning so big his face looks like it might crack.
He takes the baby from my arms and she stills a little. He kisses my forehead then hers and says, “I have something to show you.” He puts his hand in mine and leads me down a path in the trees. “I found them while I was hunting today. I was going to bring you out here tomorrow, but since we’re out now...”
He stops near a ledge, lit with a spot of sun. A cluster of rocks and roots clutch at the edge.
And there, breaking through the snow, is color.
“Iris,” I say, amazed at the violet faces staring up at me.
“I thought we could name her after them. Aren’t they pretty? Just like her.” He brushes the baby’s tiny nose with his finger.
I look up at him and smile, feeling the sun warm my cheeks like it warmed the rock, allowing the flowers to grow.
Luke’s my sun.
“I think it’s perfect,” I say. I reach out and pluck one of the buds from the cluster in the snow and then lean my head on his arm.
We look out, over the ledge, across the peaks that are dwarfed by our own. Topped with snow and the dark shadows of the forest, they stretch out, like a sea of white. As far as the eye can see.
But there, just at the edge. I think, I see green. An emerald ribbon of life at the fringe of it all.
“Iris,” Luke says again, testing the name on his tongue. “Isn’t it lovely?”
And it is. All of it.
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