Page 53 of A Virgin for the Icy Highlander
“Yer what?”
As if summoned, a frantic scratching sounded at the study door, and wailing meows drifted through the wood, sending shivers up Hunter’s spine.
Oscar put up his hands in mock surrender. “I didnae say anythin’. Dinnae unleash yer lion on me.”
But Hunter wasn’t smiling anymore because he was perturbed by the noise. There were no cats in the castle, as far as he knew, aside from Snowflake. And Snowflake was supposed to be asleep in the kitchens, though Hunter was no fool; he knew the kitten ended up in Ellie’s bed most nights. But the kitten went wherever Ellie went, which meant…
Hunter pulled open the door to find the kitten and his daughter outside. Ellie was red in the face, as if she’d been running.
His mind darted back to the men he’d seen in the woods during the early morning hours.
“What’s wrong?”
21
“Why are ye nae asleep, lassie?” Hunter asked when Ellie didn’t immediately answer.
The child stooped, wheezing. Her face was as red as a boiled crab. She put a finger up as if to say,Give me a moment.Hunter quirked an eyebrow, quietly amused by the grown-up nature of the gesture, wondering who she had learned it from.
Grace?
“Iwassleepin’,” Ellie began, gulping down air between words, “but Snowflake… he keeps escapin’ me!”
The kitten sat on his haunches, innocently licking his paw, oblivious to the trouble he’d caused. Or perhaps he wasn’t the one at fault.
Carefully, Hunter crouched down to his daughter’s eye level and scooped the kitten up into his arm. The ball of white fluff didn’t hiss or spit, though he set to work kneading Hunter’s chest, his sharp claws extending and retracting with each push.
“Ellie,” he said, softening his voice, “I ken ye love this wee beastie, and I’ve nay doubt that he loves ye too, but he’s half-feral and a laddie that likes his freedom. Ye cannae force him to do what ye want him to; ye have to let him make his own choices.”
The little girl’s lower lip began to quiver. “But I… need him with me. To sleep.”
“Aye, but ye wouldnae want him to be uncomfortable, would ye?” Hunter reasoned. “If ye let him make his own choices, then when hedoeschoose to stay by yer side all night, it’ll mean so much more.”
Ellie’s mouth moved as if she were chewing on the inside of her cheek. Then, her eyes suddenly narrowed with childish curiosity. “Like what ye’re doin’ with Gracie, ye mean?”
He blinked at her in disbelief, wondering if he ought to check her dark hair for strands of gray, because she’d suddenly become a little too wise for her age.
Ailis had warned him that children were smarter than people thought, but he hadn’t expected her to bequiteso intuitive.
But Ellie was wrong. That wasn’t what he was doing with Grace, of course. He wasn’t waiting for her to choose him, but hewasgiving her a choice. And when he finally told her about the past—hispast—he would be giving her even more of a choice, with no expectation whatsoever that she would want to stay in the castle, much less at his side all night.
“Nae quite,” he said, holding the kitten out to Ellie.
The little girl took Snowflake gladly, draping him over her shoulder like a shawl. “If I were ye, I’d just keep Gracie anyway,” she confessed, misty-eyed. “She’s… the only one who likes talkin’ to me.”
“That’s nae true,” Hunter replied, frowning.
Does she really think that?
“Lady Lilian and Lady Madeleine like talkin’ to ye,” he continued. “And I like talkin’ to ye.”
Ellie’s face scrunched up, and she snorted through her nose. “Ye’re bein’ funny, Faither!” She giggled again. “Ye dinnae talk at all.”
Hunter was about to interrupt, feeling compelled to insist that he wanted to hear everything she had to say and that he truly wanted to talk to her more, but she carried on before he could.
“Otherpeople talkaboutye all the time,” she said blithely.
Hunter tilted his head to the side, suddenly intrigued. “Which people?”
