Page 28 of The Ruthless Highlander's Hellion
But right now, he needed to be a father—not a war general, not some haunted shadow of a man. She shoved open the nursery door, letting warm light spill into the hallway behind them. Charlie sat near the hearth with a wooden horse in his lap, looking up in surprise.
“Charlie!” Alexandra called cheerily, dragging Nicholas forward. “Yer da’s goin’ to read ye a story.”
Nicholas stopped like he’d hit a wall, and Alexandra caught the flicker of panic across his face. His lips parted, but no soundcame out. Charlie, meanwhile, froze mid-play, his little face going pale. Alexandra felt her chest tighten at the fear in the boy’s eyes.
“Ye’ll do fine,” she whispered to Nicholas, then walked to the low bookshelf by the window. She scanned the worn spines, plucked one out with a satisfied nod and turned back.
“Here.” She pressed the book into his hands. “Ye just read it. Nothin’ more.”
Charlie looked between them wide-eyed, clutching his toy like a shield. Alexandra crossed the room and patted the wool rug near the fire.
“Come now, lad,” she coaxed gently. “It’s just a wee story. I’ll sit with ye.”
Charlie hesitated, then shuffled forward, settling on the rug beside her. His legs crossed awkwardly, and his fingers kept fidgeting with the frayed mane of the horse. Nicholas stood there like a man waiting to be struck.
Alexandra arched a brow. “We’re waitin’, laird.”
He cleared his throat, stared at the book as if it were written in Latin, then dropped stiffly onto the chair by the hearth. Opening the cover, he frowned down at the page.
“Er… once upon a time, there was a… big, —” He stopped, coughed. “—beastie who guarded a glen.”
Charlie blinked. “What’s a beastie?”
Nicholas looked up, his mouth working silently. Alexandra bit her lip to keep from laughing and said, “A beastie’s a creature. Go on, Nicholas.” Her tone was laced with challenge.
“Aye, well,” Nicholas grunted, looking back at the book like it had personally offended him. “The beastie was very ugly… and mean… but nae as mean as the—uh—bairn who threw rocks at its cave.” His voice sounded like gravel, low and unsure. “The beastie roared, but deep down, it was just lonely.”
Charlie tilted his head, interest slowly replacing fear. “Why was it lonely?”
Nicholas blinked again, clearly veering off script. “Because…” He swallowed. “Because it had nay one to talk to. Folk ran from it… thought it was bad.”
Alexandra watched him, something tight and aching blooming in her chest. His voice contained more truth than he likely meant to reveal.
“And what happened then?” she asked softly, nudging him forward.
He flipped the page. “One day, a wee lass came to the cave. She dinnae run. She sat down and told the beastie stories, though he growled at her.”
Nicholas’s mouth twitched. “And the beastie started to change… slowly.”
Charlie’s shoulders loosened. He leaned forward, eyes on the page now, while Nicholas read the rest in a voice rough with rust but steadier. Alexandra sat still beside the boy, letting the moment wrap around them like a soft blanket. When Nicholas finally closed the book, silence filled the room.
Charlie looked up, blinking sleepily. “Will ye read another?” he asked his father in a timid whisper.
Nicholas stared at him for a long moment. Alexandra held her breath.
Then Nicholas nodded once. “Aye. If ye want.”
The boy smiled for the first time that day. It was small, but it hit Alexandra like a punch to the gut. She turned her head slightly, hiding her own smile behind her hand. Maybe the beastie wasn't so far gone after all.
Alexandra watched Nicholas with quiet surprise. The man who was usually a fierce and unyielding brute had softened before her very eyes, his voice gentle as he read the story to wee Charlie. She saw a flicker of something hidden beneath his hardenedexterior—a tenderness he kept locked away from the world. It stirred a strange mix of admiration and curiosity in her, making her wonder how many other parts of him lay buried beneath that dark, brooding manner.
Charlie’s eyelids drooped slowly until he finally slipped into peaceful sleep, his small chest rising and falling with steady breaths. Alexandra held her breath, waiting for Nicholas to finish the final act of the tender ritual.
He bent down carefully, lifting the boy in his arms like a feather, moving with surprising grace. Alexandra’s eyes softened as Nicholas laid Charlie in bed, pulling the covers up to his chin with a gentleness that seemed foreign yet somehow natural on him.
Together, they stepped quietly from the nursery, closing the door with soft ease behind them. Alexandra’s eyes twinkled as she glanced sideways at Nicholas, a teasing smile tugging at her lips.
“That wasnae so bad, was it?” she said, voice light but full of challenge.
