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“Aye, the little darling is welcome to stay.”

“I am grateful,” Sky said and turned and headed for the door.

“Looks like you won’t be going anywhere without her,” Euniss said with a chuckle.

Sky turned to find the kitten at her feet meowing. She scooped her up and the kitten curled herself in the crook of her arm, letting her know Euniss was right, she wouldn’t be going anyplace without her.

“You rescued her. She is not going to trust anyone but you,” Euniss said.

“She is such a sweet thing, a little angel,” Sky said.

“Angel. A good name for her,” Euniss said. “I will send a bowl of milk to the Great Hall for Angel.”

“Thank you,” Sky said and left. As she made her way to the Great Hall, she gently lifted the kitten, kissed her small head, and whispered, “You are safe with me, Angel, I will always protect you, and I could use a dear friend right now.”

The kitten’s tiny tongue peeked out to give Sky’s cheek a lick and with a smile Sky returned her to the crook of her arm. She no longer had any worries. She had an angel with her.

Slayer watched Sky enter the room, glad she had returned, and glad Ross had taken his leave. He had gotten annoyed when he woke this morning and found her gone. His annoyance had grown when he had gone in search of her and did not find her in the keep. He wanted time alone with her before starting the day. He had never thought of his arms as feeling empty, but they felt that way now, not being able to hold or touch her.

He gave a quick glance at the spot beside him, so she knew to sit there. When she did, the flowery scent that had been on her pillow drifted off her teasing his nose and senses and arousing him as it had done this morning when he turned in bed and it had greeted his face. It worsened as he watched her gently stroke the kitten cuddled in her arm, recalling memories of her stroking his manhood, and he wanted to rush her back to their bedchamber.

Annoyed that he allowed thoughts of her to overpower him, he said gruffly. “I gave you no permission to leave the keep this morning.”

“I did not think I needed it. I believed myself safe within the confines of the castle walls,” Sky said, her soft smile never wavering.

He loved that she forever wore a soft smile and the way her two different colored eyes gazed upon him with pleasure as if she had missed him and was happy to be there with him. No one had ever been happy to see him.

“With your life in danger, it is wiser that I know where you are at all times, or I can have a warrior follow your every step,” he said, an easier solution than constantly worrying as to her whereabouts.

To have her every move watched upset her and she pressed her leg against his beneath the table. “Please don’t do that, my lord. I would feel a prisoner not able to move about at will. And would your clansmen not question my trustworthiness if a warrior must forever keep pace with me?”

Feeling her leg pressed so firmly against his made him want to feel more of her. Not being able to touch her, show the simplest of affection or comfort was far more challenging than he expected and that she referred to him so properly annoyed him even more. Then there was her remark that made sense but did not help the situation.

His father had told him that Sky spent much time alone and probably did not possess a bright mind, but he had found just the opposite, sharing the last few weeks with her. Her mind was quick to see things and make sense of them.

“You know from our many talks, I so favored, that I spent much time walking in the woods and, though I know I cannot do that here, I would not mind walking through the village.”

“Why, if you feel no one will befriend you or speak with you?” he asked, curious.

“A brave soul or two might, but if not, it still allows me to learn about your people and the village. I do not want to be ignorant of its workings and I cannot learn if I do not see for myself.”

“You observe like I do,” he said.

He never let anyone have any insight into him, it could prove dangerous if the enemy were to learn his ways. Yet Sky’s kind and trusting nature made it easier and easier to share with her.

She smiled. “Observation is the key to learning. The forest teaches, the animals and people teach, the rivers teach, and the sky as well. Knowledge surrounds us if we but take the time to observe it.”

How could he confine her any more than he already had by bringing her here and keeping her contained behind the castle walls?

“I would never want to rob you of gaining knowledge, for it is important to learn and better understand things. So, I will allow you to walk through the village unfettered if you agree to one thing.”

“What is it?” she asked, hoping it would be something easy for her to do since the idea of constantly being watched, being followed would make her feel like a prisoner all over again.

“That you share your observations with me,” he said, and her eyes brightened, and she looked ready to kiss him and he so wished she could.

“I would love to share my observations with you,” she said, then whispered, “I wish I could kiss you right now.”

He kept his voice to a murmur. “I want more than kisses from you.”