AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I waited in the car for a moment, then got the distinct impression I was being watched. Turning my head slowly, I saw him standing in the open doorway with the baby in his arms. Daddy Caelan was just about the most erotic thing on the planet. White t-shirt, denim jeans, bare feet, messy hair, tired eyes and a big grin, not to mention those ridiculous forearms.
I took a deep breath and left the car, switching to mummy and wife mode, plastering a smile on my face. He kissed me on the doorstep and I rubbed my nose to his, staring up into his concerned eyes.
“It was quiet and that picture you sent made me yearn for home.”
Caelan steered me indoors and there was Jet, waiting patiently in the middle of the hallway, tongue hanging loose, panting. He’d been told by his master to wait, and he would wait. Shelties were clever enough to know that a human like Caelan must be obeyed.
“Come, Jet. Come!”
At that, he came bounding to me, nearly jumping right over me.
I caught him against my chest and found two very bright brown eyes gazing up into my own, his hot breath in my face, his front paws on my shoulders, his tail wagging between the arms that held him to me. He was shedding terribly now the weather was heating up, but it was impossible to be annoyed at anything he did, his glorious tan and black coat silken and thick, so beautiful. He was a supermodel dog.
“Beauty,” I giggled, and for that compliment, I got a lick in response and started spluttering with laughter.
Logan was fast asleep in Caelan’s arms as my husband gestured for the kitchen. Caelan must’ve only just got him to sleep and was afraid to put him down. Meanwhile Jet snuggled on his bed in the corner, well trained. Caelan held the baby as he put the kettle on.
“I canna believe they got to ye,” he said, because he knew me well enough now to know when something was wrong.
I sat down and shook my head. “You won’t believe the conversation I had today.”
Chapter Two
Caelan put Logan down in the living-room crib, having just heard from me what went down at work today. I’d paced a lot while explaining the King’s command, and now found myself much in need of the sofa cushions to fall into. Caelan stood at the back of the room before the French doors that led to the patio out back, eyes fixed on all the green out there—perhaps a calming view. Jet had moved stealthily to lay by Master’s bare feet.
“Are you shocked they’ve taken it to the very top?”
“Aye, a little,” he admitted.
“But not entirely shocked.”
“Nae, no when I ken what it is that’s gone doun.”
He always seemed to don his true accent whenever he found himself at home in Scotland, or in this case, in a pickle. Since we’d been mostly in London this past year, with the Notting Hill house renovations having kept him busy, he’d pretty much slipped into that in-between tongue (only slightly Scottish) whenever he had a gang of cockneys to placate—or intimidate. He seemed to be one of those people, a chameleon, who could easily assimilate.
“I take it you’re not allowed to tell me what exactly has gone down?”
He shook his head, that dark look in his eyes.
“And what about what’s stopping you?” I said, watching him like a hawk.
He dipped his head and looked across the room—at our son.
That had changed the game for him, entirely.
He wouldn’t leave our son. I could protect Logan, but not nearly in the same way Caelan could.
“What about if Logan and I head to Scotland, to the lodge?”
He shuddered at my words. Perhaps it was the thought of getting stuck in again; it made him shake with excitement. Or else, it was my willingness to let him go.
“I only want you to do what you think is right, Caelan. I don’t want you to regret it… if something happens to Eric and the others.”
He agreed with me, nodding, then turned his back to me. I watched him stare out into the back garden, which was my domain. When I’d been heavily pregnant and could only get around comfortably on my hands and knees, I’d taken to scrabbling around. We’d had it landscaped already by that point! I really didn’t realise I’d inherited it off her, not until I had my own garden. Then I realised, there was such joy to be found in a garden. I was green-fingered, after all.
“You’d go to the lodge?” he asked, still with his back to me.
“If you needed me to be safe… away from here.”
