Page 33 of A Highland Bride Disciplined

His stomach clenched.

His mind, so sharp with strategy and figures and control, failed him entirely.

It would be so easy. One step. One breath. One hand at her waist and his mouth on hers.

Shut her up.

Claim her.

Remind her she was still his, no matter how many ledgers she balanced or orders she barked.

Scarlett looked up at him then, as if shefeltthe turn in the air.

Their eyes locked.

He saw her throat move with a swallow. Saw her lips part, just slightly. Her breath grazed his chin, and hers caught as if she’d only just realized how close they stood.

She was about to say or do something.

He couldn’t let her.

Couldn’t lethimself.

Kian cleared his throat and stepped back half a pace. “Ye’ve a way with her,” he said, forcing the words out. “The child.”

Scarlett blinked once. The spell broke.

He gestured to the cradle. “Ye seem to ken what she needs.”

Scarlett folded her arms, defensive. “I’ve been the only one botherin’ tolearn. It doesnae come natural.”

Kian ignored that jab. “That kind of calm… it doesnae come easy. Not wi’ infants. I’ve seen grown men fall apart at the sound of a baby cryin’.”

She raised a brow. “Are ye includin’ yerself in that?”

He yawned, feigning indifference. “I’ve not cried yet, have I?”

“Ye’ve growled plenty.”

“It’s in me nature.”

Her mouth twitched. “Is that supposed to reassure me?”

He nearly smiled. Nearly.

But his hands were still clenched at his sides, his pulse hammering behind his ribs.

Christ, I want to take her right here and now. Her and that sinful tongue…

He wanted to bend her back against the wall and kiss her until she stopped challenging him. Until she forgot every cruel thing he’d done. Until she melted.

But instead, he stepped away from her and said, “The fire’s dyin’. I’ll throw another log on.”

He needed anything to do with his hands besides reaching for her. And he felt her eyes follow him the whole way across the room, burning a hole in his tunic.

Scarlett hadn’t moved from the cradle, arms crossed beneath her chest, one bare foot half-tucked under the other. The firelightbrushed across her in warm gold, casting her features in soft shadow and making her look damnably like she belonged in this room, in this role, more than he ever had.

Kian forced himself to look at the baby instead.