The Exhibitionist
Page 62

“Almost. Almost.” Nathaniel shifted his weight. “Now!”
He attacked the snake and within seconds, Cole attempted to grab the kitten.
“Got it!” Cole finally said. “Still alive.”
“Thank goodness,” Lynne said.
“He’s really shaken up.” Cole came toward us, kitten in hands, while Nathaniel disposed of the snake.
“I would think so,” I said. “Being attacked by a snake. Do you need anything?”
“No, he’s still running on an adrenaline high, trying to get away from me. Poor thing’s going to crash later.” Cole tried unsuccessfully to get the kitten to calm down. “I hate to put him down. He’ll run off and we’ll never see him again. He needs first aid, someone to love, and a bath.”
“Good luck giving a cat a bath,” Dena said.
“Hand him to me.”
Everyone turned to where Sasha stood across the patio from Cole. She’d been so quiet all afternoon, I’d forgotten she was there.
She crossed the patio to Cole and held out her hands. “Give him to me.”
Cole was fumbling, trying to keep the kitten from falling. “I thank you for your offer to help, little one, but this cat’s feisty.” He raised an eyebrow. Her bulky jeans and slouchy shirt couldn’t hide the too-thin frame and the dark shadows around her eyes. “With all due respect—”
“I said give him to me,” Sasha repeated in a firm voice. I didn’t know about anyone else, but I didn’t know Sasha could be that forceful. She motioned with her hands again.
Cole must not have known she could be that forceful, either. His eyes grew wide with shock and he nearly lost his grip on the wiggling creature in his arms. “Sasha,” he said in a low voice.
But Sasha was determined and without waiting for him to offer or agree, she simply reached for the kitten and took him. Gathering the frightened animal tight to her chest, she dropped her face into his fur and whispered things I couldn’t make out.
Cole didn’t move from where he stood, though I wasn’t sure if it was because he was still in shock over her actions or if he wanted to be close in case she needed him.
After a few minutes she lifted her head and Cole laughed. “Bloody hell, he’s purring.”
Sasha only beamed in response as Cole reached out and stroked the kitten’s dirty fur. “How did you do that?”
“I don’t know,” she confessed. “I just saw him struggling and then he was free, but he didn’t know it. I think it’s because you’re a bit intimidating, Sir. And I thought to myself, ‘I know exactly how that kitten feels,’ and I just had to hold him and tell him. I had to let him know he was safe and everything was going to be all right.”
“Damn,” Nathaniel whispered so they couldn’t hear. “I didn’t know she could speak that many sentences at one time.”
“You and the kitten are kindred spirits, little one. That was good thinking,” Cole said, and locked eyes with Sasha. The look that passed between them was so intense that for a second I couldn’t breathe and my skin prickled with gooseflesh.
“Wow, I’ve never heard him call anyone ‘little one’ before,” Daniel said. “Wonder what that means.”
“Nothing,” Julie whispered. “It means nothing. He called her that the first time he met her. Right before you whipped Peter.”
We’d been whispering so Cole and Sasha wouldn’t hear, but watching them, I thought we could have been yelling and they wouldn’t have paid us any attention. They were speaking softly, the kitten held between them. Then Sasha suddenly looked our way.
“He’s a stray, right?” she asked, looking between me and Nathaniel. “He’s not yours?”
“No,” Nathaniel confirmed. “We only have our dog, Apollo.”
“I can keep him?” She was no longer the determined woman who’d confronted Cole, but once more tentative and unsure. “I’d like to have someone to care for.”
“I know the feeling,” Cole mumbled behind her.
“Of course,” Nathaniel said, and then smiled. “We just won’t tell the kids. Elizabeth would love a kitten, but we can’t have one with Apollo around. He’s too old and set in his ways.”
“Thank you,” she said, and dipped her head into the kitten’s fur again.
“I think,” Nathaniel said in a soft voice so Cole and Sasha couldn’t hear, a slow smile covering his face, “I’ve just decided who I’ll recommend to have retrain Sasha.”
Julie and I spoke at the same time.
“Oh, hell no.”
“That might be the worst idea you’ve ever had.”
But Jeff was nodding and Daniel’s head was tilted in thought.
I looked once more to the couple bonding over the bundle of fur. The tentative submissive who’d stood up to someone intimidating in order to calm a kitten. And the man I knew to be ruthless who’d looked on her with kindness and a hint of something more.
“He’ll break her,” I whispered.
Nathaniel shook his head. “She’ll heal them both.”