Page 60 of Highland Spy

The only people in the castle now were Liv, Percy, and Murdoch.

Surely it couldn’t be Liv.

She hoped it’d been Murdoch. He was seldom there and was always courteous when he was.

Her heart flinched.

How could she face Percy’s sweet face daily when she knew the other woman had heard her cry out in pleasure?

Connor had made his way to the door and stopped.

Ariana gave a final tug at her bodice cords and tied a hasty knot that would fool no one in its lopsided state. Her heart hammered so loudly in her ears, it was a wonder she could even discern the creak of the door opening.

But open it did.

Revealing a dark hallway.

A dark, empty hallway.

Whoever had been there was now gone.

Connor chuckled then, a rich, warm sound. He bent and came upright with something gray and fluffy in his hands.

He closed the door before speaking. “We’ve a wee visitor.”

Ariana strode toward him, drawn by curiosity and the blue eyes peeping at her from the mound of fur. “How precious! Where did she come from?”

Connor shrugged, his large hands cupping the kitten. “Most likely one of the cats in the stable. I’m no’ sure how she got in here.”

“Do you think she needs her mother?” Ariana leaned against him for a better look and placed her hand on the swell of his muscular arm. He was so firm beneath her fingertips, so powerfully strong.

The warmth between her legs went hotter with a renewed intensity.

“Ach, no, she’s no’ that young.” Connor turned toward her and the smiling lines around his eyes smoothed. “We shouldna have been—I shouldna have kissed ye. We’re lucky it was only this wee thing outside the door.”

He handed her the kitten, which she readily accepted. She tried to focus on the decadently soft fur she cradled against her breast rather than the ache beneath.

She had not regretted their passion.

It appeared he did.

“There’s too much at risk,” Connor said. His tone was almost apologetic. He took a breath to continue, but Ariana cut him off, not wanting to hear any more.

“I know,” Ariana agreed quickly. As if saying it fast might make it easier to endure the hurt.

The little kitten climbed up her bodice with needle thin claws she didn’t feel beneath the thick fabric. She followed its body with cupped hands lest the poor thing lose its grip and tumble to the ground.

“I assume you leave soon to follow MacAlister,” she said. “I want to go with you.”

Connor watched her with an unreadable expression on his face. She wished suddenly she could hear his thoughts as she heard the beat of her own heavy heart.

“It’s a three-day journey there.” He said it as if the statement might actually dissuade her. “I’m no’ sure how long I’ll be gone.”

“I rode the whole way from London, except when we were on the boat.” She tried to keep the pride from her voice. “I’m stronger now and even more able to keep a quicker pace.”

The kitten curled up against her cupped palm, its warmth settling just above her bodice. The vibrations of purring hummed against her skin and she couldn’t help the smile stretching over her lips.

“And I know Isabel MacAlister,” she continued. “I can get us inside the manor.”