only a fool would pay him any attention. But all she could do was seek Alec’s black-asnight gaze, hoping to find some sort of reassurance there.
Unfortunately, what she saw reflecting back at her was an expression she couldn’t quite read. In fact, she didn’t think she’d ever seen him wear such a look before.
“Go on,” her father urged, pushing Alec in her direction.
“Tell her the good news, or she’ll faint dead away. Look at her color.”
Alec finally smiled at her as he crossed the distance between them. He grasped her hand in his and brushed her knuckles with his lips. “Sorcha Ferguson, your father has given me his blessing to marry you.”
Relief filled Sorcha’s lungs. Then she squealed with delight and threw her arms around Alec’s neck. He held her tightly for a minute before he stepped back and placed her from him. “He’d like for us to say our vows in the morning, lass. Is that acceptable to you?”
In the morning? She was surprised her father had agreed so readily. “Where shall we make our declarations?” She nodded eagerly.
Behind them, her father loudly cleared his throat.
Alec shook his head. “No declarations, Sorch. It seems the Duchess of Hythe was kind enough to secure a special license for us.”
The Duchess of Hythe? Sorcha couldn’t help but frown.
How could the duchess have possibly secured a license in so short a time? She’d barely ruined herself verbally before she and Alec, Eynsford, and Cait… It was Cait. She knew it in her heart. For once, that meddlesome witch had done something grand.
She wasn’t quite certain what to think about her friend’s interference, and she shook her head. “She kent all along.”
Alec’s dark eyes twinkled. “It appears as though she did. Someone must have been whispering in Her Grace’s ear for the license to have been procured more than a sennight before my arrival.”
A giggle escaped Sorcha’s throat. “That’s why ye were invited. Maddie couldna figure it out. Ye were no’ the same as the others.”
Which was an understatement. Alec’s brow rose in question, and then he shook his head. “Don’t tell me. I’m sure I don’t want to know what you meant by that.”
Sorcha’s father stepped forward and clapped a hand to Alec’s back. “All right, lad, ye better be off if ye’re ta be here bright and early in the mornin’. And I have ta go pay a visit ta our good vicar.”
“Ye’re throwin’ Alec out?” Sorcha protested.
“Ye’ve got the rest of yer life ta spend with the man, Sorch. One last night for yer old Papa is no’ too much ta ask, is it?”
Tears started to well up in her eyes, and she shook her head. Tomorrow, she’d leave her father’s home for good.
One last night was not too much to ask at all. “I’ll just see him out then.”
Her father winked at her as Sorcha linked her arm with Alec’s and ushered him toward the main entrance.
As soon as they were alone in the corridor, she glanced up at him. “What did he say?”
“He said aye.”
She smacked his arm. “That’s no’ what I meant at all, and ye ken it. Did ye tell him? I mean, did ye tell him everythin’?”
Alec shook his head. “He told me. He knew it all. What I am, that you were predestined to be my wife, everything.”
So there was nothing to hide from her father. She breathed a sigh of relief. How wonderful not to have to keep any secrets from Papa. She smiled up at Alec and noted that he looked a little pale. Havers! It had been too long since he’d fed. “Alec, ye doona look well. I think ye need a bit of blood.”
He stopped dead in his tracks. “I can’t, Sorch. Not right now.”
What a ridiculous thing to say. It wasn’t even a secret that he was a vampyre. Her father knew and seemed all right with the circumstances. “Why ever no’?”
A pained look spread across his face, and he pulled her into his arms. “Because, lass, I want ye more than anything. And I don’t think I’ll be able to stop with just a bit of blood.”
She didn’t want him to stop with just a bit of blood. She could tug him up the steps to her room, and there’d be no reason for him to stop this time. “Then take all of me.”
He groaned. “I’ve managed this long, Sorch. I can manage one more night.”
“But—”
“You mean more to me than just a bit of blood, Sorcha. Let