“Ari, what are you doing here?” she asked sleepily, but with the slightest measure of alarm.
“The monster came.”
“Oh, darling, I told you there are no monsters.” She tossed back the sheet—he slapped a hand down to tuck the linen in against his arse even though it was turned away from the child—and climbed out of bed.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Strutting about naked, she went to a chair and grabbed her night wrap.
“You can’t just—” He waved a hand toward him, her, the girl.
She smiled placidly, indulgently. “She doesn’t understand”—she imitated his motions—“she’s four.”
After donning her wrap and securing it into place by knotting the sash, she walked over and lifted her daughter onto her hip.
“I want to sleep with you,” Arianna said.
“Not tonight, darling.” She looked at Knight. “I might be a while. It takes some time to settle her down after a nightmare. Don’t leave.”
“I won’t.”
He watched as she carried her daughter through the door that was presently standing ajar. Arianna opening it must have been what awakened him.
After releasing a quick breath, he scrambled out of bed, snatched up his trousers, and pulled them on. Grabbing his shirt, he worked his head through the opening, his arms through the sleeves as he tore across the chamber into the hallway, and down it until he reached the room from which light spilled forth. He came to a halt in the doorway, drinking in the sight of Regina putting her daughter to bed as she’d no doubt done a thousand times or more. Once the child was snuggled beneath the covers, resting on her side, her hand tucked beneath her cheek, Regina sat on the edge of the bed, rubbed her back, and began to sing a lullaby.
His chest ached to such a degree he was surprised his heart retained the ability to beat. Never in his lifehad he ever wanted to lay claim to something more: mother and daughter, to make them his, and hold them close for all eternity. To protect them, nurture them.
Arianna said something he couldn’t hear. Her mother had gone silent at the first word, then she glanced over her shoulder. “Would you care to join us?”
Did the sun rise in the east and set in the west?
The child was very nearly swallowed in that bed. He sat at the foot of it, where there was an abundance of room because her legs didn’t stretch that far. Her blue eyes were focused on him, wide and unblinking. He couldn’t carry a tune in order to sing her a lullaby. What comfort could he bring her? “Do you know what a knight is?”
“You,” she whispered.
“That’s right. I’m Knight. And a knight slays monsters.”
“What’sslays?”
“Slaysmeans to make them go away forever.” He leaned forward slightly. “They can’t even get into dreams any longer.”
“Will you make mine go away?”
“I already have. I’m going to have a chat with Princess before I leave, so she’ll keep guard from now on and there will be no more monsters.” The smile she gave him wrapped tightly around his heart.
“I love you,” she whispered drowsily.
Even though she said that to everyone and it probably meant nothing at all, before he knew this child, he’d only ever said it to one person in his life—Regina—and it did mean something when he gave voice to the sentiment. “I love you, too.”
He caught a glimpse of Regina wiping a tear from the corner of her eye before rubbing her daughter’s back. “Sleep now, Ari.”
The lass closed her eyes, Regina began softly singing again, and Knight wanted to stay there forever.
Chapter 21
The dreams that filled my sleep had become the same as those that filled my waking hours. Moments spent with Lord K and his incredibly wicked mouth.
—Anonymous,My Secret Desires, A Memoir
