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He clamped a hand over her mouth and yanked her close, slipping an arm around her waist. The bushes rustled again. Then came a low, warning
growl.
Step by cautious, breathless step, they backed out of the forest. The cat followed them, the leaves rustling with every step.
Ian saw a flash of gold eyes. Branches snapped. Leaves parted with a rustling hiss.
He backed up another step, felt the soft cushion of the lawn beneath his heel. Swallowing hard, he kept moving backward, his eyes trained on the movement in
the bushes.
The grass ended at last. He felt the crunching of small stones beneath his feet. They were on the path. It was now or never.
He swept Selena into his arms and turned, racing up the steps. The tired old boards squeaked and banged under his feet.
The cat screamed.
Ian didn't look back. He ran up the steps and into the house, slamming the door shut behind him. Selena slid out of his arms.
He spun to face her, so angry he was shaking. "What in the hell were you thinking?"
She stood still, her cheeks stained a bright pink, her untamed hair a wavy reddish brown halo around her face. The last lingering trace of a smile clung to her lips. "Thinking?"
The anger left him in a rush.
She hadn't thought at all. That was the problem. She'd heard or seen something that captured her attention, and she'd followed it, a curious Alice in Wonderland.
She had no more idea of the risk she'd faced than a
five-year-old would.
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Her smile trembled. "Maeve said cats are nice to pet. Soft."
Ian released a heavy sigh. It was pointless to be angry, and he wasn't really angry anymore. She'd scared him. He'd watched her there, in the forest, a wraithlike ray of moonlight against the darkness, with her pale, slim hand offered in greeting to a wild animal, and something inside him had snapped.
He walked toward her, took her small hand in his and led her to the settee. They sat down, and she gave him a look of such eager innocence that he couldn't help smiling. She was so pathetically anxious to please him. How could he make her understand?
"Selena, the world can be a very dangerous place." She frowned. "But the kitty-" "It wasn't a kitty. It was full-grown wildcat, and it could have killed you. Do you understand?"
She glanced back at the window. Realization dawned slowly. Her eyes widened. "The cat would hurt me ... just for a pet to it?"
He hated to disillusion and frighten her, but he had no choice. She had to learn to protect herself. "You can't go outside in the dark alone, Selena. No more." She pulled her gaze away from the window and frowned up at him. "I always go out at night. I do not need the sleep that others do." "Not anymore."
She considered that. Finally she shook her head. 'This is not a rule I shall follow."
Ian was stunned. He straightened, looked down at her sternly. "You will not go out at night." She wet her lips. "Yes I shall." Ian stared at her. Now what did he do? He'd given her a direct order, in his most authoritarian voice, and this slip of a woman who thought he'd hung the moon had said no. Quietly. Simply. No. "Selena, this is for your own good."
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She nodded. "Oh, I am most sure of that. But I believe I must seek my own good, also. Too."
Ian didn't know what to do or say, how to enforce a rule that any normal adult would simply accept. Everyone followed his orders.
Except Selena.
"Fine," he said at last, "you may not go out alone."
