Page 58 of Sky’s Edge

“I’ve never heard you laugh before.”

Uh-oh.

“Tanyn,” I whispered again.

“It’s beautiful.”

Oh gods.

“You’re beautiful,” he continued.

Gods!

“I’m so bloody happy you ordered those boots, because I would never have been able to come here if you hadn’t come with me.”

Shit!

He was going to make me cry.

Regrettably, he wasn’t done.

“This was her place. Her project. Her passion. She’d glide up here several times a day, to feed, change dressings, check on the cats and play with the kits. She was studying to be a veterinarian, intending to specialize in wildlife, when she met my father. She was at her happiest either when she was with me or when she was up here, with them.”

I rested my hands on his chest because I couldn’t stop myself.

I had to.

“When Manny found her, there were three lynx circling her. They’d sensed her distress and were taking care of her as best they could. She was gone. To them, she could be easy food. But because she was who she was to them, she was not.”

Yup.

I was going to cry.

And I started to do that, the scarlet tears freezing the instant they hit my cheeks.

His head dropped so his forehead rested on mine, and he grunted, “Don’t.”

“I hate you lost her,” I whispered.

“I do too.”

“I wish I could have met her.”

“I do too.”

I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to wrap my arms around him.

I didn’t do either, because he lifted his head from mine, dropped his hands, stepped away, and said, “Now, I have the memory of Catla Truelock climbing a fence in her zeal to get to some kittens, and giggling as they toddled all over her.”

I frowned.

“I wish I’d pulled out my Palm and vidded that shit,” he continued.

My frown deepened.

“It was fucking adorable,” he finished.

“Stop speaking,” I demanded.