Prince of Cats - Tasha Black Page 0,3

it, as if he were so hungry for her, he could never get his fill.

“Sleep now, my love,” he whispered.

Piper wasn’t sleepy. She thought she might never sleep again. But then she felt her eyes close in spite of herself.

3

Piper

Almost two years later, Piper Lee stood in her small living room, looking around at the happy mess as baby Kieran snuggled into the crook of her neck.

She had just fed him and given him a warm bath to remove all the frosting. Now he was very sleepy.

“You’re tuckered out,” she murmured to him. “You ate your first cupcake, you laughed with your friends. It was a big day, birthday boy.”

She stepped over a pile of crumpled wrapping paper and headed upstairs to put him to bed.

Kieran’s nursery was just at the top of the steps, easy to reach from her room or the living room, with a pretty view over the trees behind the house.

She stepped in, relishing the scent of baby powder and the hint of the forest that always reminded her of his father.

Don’t think about him, she cautioned herself automatically.

Honestly, it should have been easier not to think about him at this point. It had been almost two years. And he hadn’t even bothered to ask her name or look her up later.

Whatever magic she thought was happening between them that night, it obviously hadn’t meant anything to him.

As it turned out though, it meant everything to Piper.

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, baby boy,” she crooned.

Kieran clung to her and whimpered a little, just for show. But after the tiniest bit of consolation he settled into his crib, gripping the fuzzy bobcat he was so fond of while she rubbed his little belly.

Piper smiled down at him in the moonlight for a long time after he fell asleep.

Then she headed downstairs to clean up the mess from the party.

Allie would have stayed and cleaned up, wanted to, even.

But Piper had her pride. She wasn’t going to have anyone feeling sorry for her just because she was a single parent. Caring for Kieran was a privilege. And it really was the best part of her life.

She began collecting trash and recycling, starting with the cake plates and napkins on the kitchen counter and working her way down to the ground.

When that was done, she gathered up the presents.

Kieran was only a year old, but that hadn’t stopped any of his friends and relations from lavishing him with new toys.

She smiled as she picked up a fifth toy bow and arrow. It was no surprise that a couple of friends and three of the moms of her campers had bought Kieran the same gift.

As if she would ever hand any son of hers a plastic bow and arrow. Piper was planning to put a real bow in his hands as soon as he was old enough for it to be safe. She already had the perfect one picked out.

The unexpected addition of a baby to her life meant she hadn’t gone to the Olympics after all, but she loved teaching archery to the kids at the local scout camp. And as it turned out, she had a real knack for it. Maybe one day she would train an Olympic archer, or even get back into competition herself, when Kieran was older. She still practiced every day.

But her main focus for now was making a safe and happy life for her amazing son.

There was a soft sound in the baby monitor.

She walked over to it.

The video feed was fuzzy, but it was quiet again.

Still, she had a little tingle that felt oddly familiar.

Her feet carried her toward the stairs before she had fully decided to check on Kieran.

For some reason, she found herself tiptoeing in her own house, and not because she thought the baby was likely to wake up.

You just put him down, she told herself. It’s nothing.

But her heart slammed in her chest as she approached the landing at the top of the stairs.

She was in the room before she saw it.

Someone else was in the room with her.

The large shape of a man was silhouetted against the window.

Piper lunged for the crib with all the speed she could muster.

4

Killian

Killian held up his hand.

The woman froze, arms outstretched for the child.

This wasn’t the way tonight had played out in his head.

The woman wasn’t supposed to be here. She should have been asleep by now.

He wasn’t supposed to see her again.

Though she could no longer