"And you're going to show us the difference, right?"
"As I said, this could be your lucky day."
Before Gryph could think of an appropriate response there was a crackle of underbrush behind him. Sariana jumped in startled surprise as Etion Rakken, looking quite tattered and unkempt, made his way slowly down to the shoreline. But Gryph greeted the banker's arrival with resignation.
"Hello, Rakken. I wondered how long it would take before you stumbled out into the open. When I realized you'd gotten past the traps back at the caverns, I figured you'd probably joined forces with Miscroft to escape. You have a nasty habit of working with inferior craftsmen." Gryph indicated the gasping bandit at his feet.
Rakken tried to straighten his clothing. Then he held up his hand in a placating gesture. "Sorry about that little scene on the sled just now. It was Miscroft's idea. He thought he could take you in your sleep and thus ensure that the Shields never find out about all that prisma. I told him it would never work, but who can reason with a bandit?" He turned to Sariana. "I've been listening to what you've been saying, Sariana. Do you think you could use some expert banking advice?"
Gryph swore softly as he watched the other two regard each other with intent interest. He scowled at his wife and then at Rakken. "I'll say one thing for you easterners, you never stop dealing."
The next day Gryph and his small party arrived in Little Chance to find a contingent of Shields waiting for them at Delek's house. Delek himself limped happily out to welcome his friend.
"I just got back with the others," he explained. "We were making preparations to set out after you." Gryph displayed his teeth in a fierce, elated grin. "I'm very glad to see you, Delek. I have much to tell
you. But I think that first I had better introduce you to my wife. She has a few suggestions to make on the subject of dealing prisma."
Delek cocked an eyebrow. "Do we have a lot of it to deal?"
Gryph slapped his friend on the back and reached for his wife's hand. "Let's go inside," he said to Delek. "I want to tell you the revised, updated version of the legend of Targyn the Bandit Hunter."
"You know me," Delek said easily, "I love a good story."
Seven months later Sariana looked up from a pile of papers on her desk and smiled brightly as her husband strode into her office. He had her winter cloak over his arm. Her warm, laughing, loving smile had no impact whatsoever on his forbidding expression. Gryph glanced pointedly at the timepiece on her desk.
"I thought we agreed that you would only work half days from now until the baby arrives, Sariana. Damn it, I have to watch you every minute. This pregnancy has been twice as much work for me as it has for you. I'm the one who has to remind you to take your tonic in the mornings. I'm the one who has to be responsible for getting you to your monthly checkups with the medic. I'm the one who had to make the appointment with the dressmaker so you'd have something to wear during these last few months. And I'm the one who has to make certain you don't work too hard."
"It's all right, Gryph, you're doing an excellent job on all accounts. You are very good at handling responsibility. You thrive on it, in fact." The lizard perched on her shoulder showed its teeth to Gryph in a taunting grin.
Gryph ignored Lucky. An understandable reaction as the lizard invariably sided with Sariana. Instead, he slung Sariana's cloak into a chair and walked across the chamber to plant both hands on the circular desk. "None of your sass, lady. It's lunchtime and you're supposed to stop work for the day. I'm taking you out to a meal."
Sariana surrendered to the inevitable and stood up. Her rounded stomach was elegantly draped in the folds of a yellow velvet business dress. At least, Gryph had told her it was a business gown. Sariana still had her doubts. The lace trimmings at the collar and on the cuffs of the gown were subdued by western standards, but still seemed quite decorative to Sariana's eyes, especially for an office setting.
But she could hardly complain. When the dressmaker had arrived for the fittings of the maternity gowns, Sariana had been too busy to take much time for making decisions about clothing. As a result, Gryph had ended up making most of the decisions. Sariana's new wardrobe was a great deal more colorful than her old one.
Gryph took her arm as she came out from behind the desk. His eyes strayed possessively over her pregnant figure. "How are you feeling?" he demanded tenderly as he wrapped her carefully in her winter cloak. Lucky scrambled to find a pocket. They left Sariana's office and headed toward the front door of the villa they had recently purchased.
"Just fine."
"How about your br**sts? Still tender?"
Sariana blushed and glanced around quickly to see if any of the household attendants had overheard. "For the sake of the Ship, Gryph, keep your voice down."
He paid no attention. "I was worried after what happened last night. You should have told me they were tender."
She glared at him. "I enjoyed what happened last night. Now stop worrying about it." "I hurt you."
"No you didn't."
Glyph rounded on her, his voice rising in volume. "Ha! Don't try to tell me I didn't hurt you when I kissed your br**sts last night. I was there, remember? I felt it."
"You wouldn't have felt it if I'd had some warning," Sariana muttered. "You took me by surprise, that's all." It was the truth. She hadn't been prepared for the unexpected discomfort of her swollen br**sts and had therefore been unable to stop herself from projecting it to Gryph along with everything else she was feeling at the time. Then she hid a small grin as she remembered the exquisitely tender lovemaking of the night.
She had been deliciously aroused, thoroughly involved in the emotional, mental and physical exchange of passion. Gryph had been trying very hard to be very gentle as he always was of late. When he had lowered his head to kiss her br**sts, he had intended only the lightest of caresses.
But Sariana's taut, full br**sts had proven almost unbearably sensitive. Gryph had lightly set his teeth around one tight nipple and Sariana had nearly gone through the roof.
And, of course, because they were intimately, passionately linked at the time, she had nearly taken Gryph with her.
Gryph's startled reaction had been much greater than her own as the sweet pain had translated itself into his mind. He'd yelped and leaped off the bed, sending it into a wide swing. Then he'd started making plans to call a medic in the middle of the night. Sariana had been laughing so hard she had nearly fallen out of the swinging bed. Gryph had not seen the humor in the situation.
