Read Online His Favorite Mistress by Tracy Anne Warren - Free Book Online

to care for them.”
    “I am sure she will, but I heard she took a fright this morning after one of the kittens was nearly trampled by a horse. That’s when she moved them out of the stables and apparently stuck them here.”
    “If she’s with them, they will be fine.”
    “Not if it snows this evening as Cook predicts,” she pronounced with a firm shake of her head. “They must be moved where it is warm and safe. Now, hold out your arms.”
    He gave her an arch look. “For what purpose, might I inquire?”
    “You will see. Arms, please,” she persisted.
    He raised an arrogant brow as if unused to being given orders, then with a slight twist of his lips, he stuck his arms straight out toward her.
    “No, not like that,” she corrected. “Fold them a bit.” Still on her knees, she demonstrated the shape with her own arms.
    “Ah, I begin to see.” Repeating the motion, he formed a kind of cradle against his chest. “Might I proffer a suggestion, however? Rather than use me as a basket, why do we not go inside the house and find a real one?”
    Before Tony had a chance to say more, Gabriella ducked beneath the bush again and stretched out onto her stomach. In amazement, he watched her, unable to resist leaning closer to get a better view of her very attractive bottom as it wiggled beneath the folds of her cloak.
    I suppose I ought not to notice such things, he mused, since she is Rafe’s niece and all. But how is a man expected to ignore such a fine show when the performance is going on right before his eyes?
    Agile as a cat herself, Gabriella emerged a few moments later, a trio of crying kittens tucked against her chest. “Here,” she said, rising smoothly to her knees, then onto her feet. “Take them. There are more.” Gently depositing the squirming noisemakers into his arms, she dove downward again.
    “Good God!” he commented aloud, wondering how many more there might be. Holding the kittens, he hoped none of his little charges would try to escape. But the black-and-white balls of fluff simply meowed, terror shining in their small, round green eyes. “Hush, now,” he murmured, “I’ve got you and there is nothing to fear.”
    “These are the last,” she declared in a triumphant if faintly winded voice, when she reemerged a minute later. Cradled in her arms were two more kittens—one with bright orange stripes, the other gray with patches of white. Following their siblings’ lead, they added to the chorus of high-pitched meows.
    “Shall I take those as well?” he asked over the racket.
    “Five seems rather much. I’ll carry my two.”
    “And where is it we are headed? Back to the stables?”
    Her eyes widened. “Gracious no! Their mama will only move them out again. No, I’m taking them into the house.”
    A laugh escaped him. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? After all, with so many guests arriving, the staff isn’t going to appreciate having a litter of kittens underfoot, to say nothing of Rafe and Julianna.”
    A momentarily wounded expression crossed her pretty face. “Rafe and Julianna like animals; Julianna told me so herself not twenty minutes ago. And the kittens won’t be underfoot, not in my bedroom. I’m sure they will disturb no one there.”
    Her bedroom! He considered pointing out a few difficulties inherent in such an arrangement, but at her look decided he would be better off holding his tongue for now. “Lead on, then. I am yours to command.”
    She flashed him a smile that made his blood heat—leaving him suddenly glad his arms were full of kittens—before she turned and started across the garden. Managing his furry cargo, he allowed her to precede him toward a rear garden doorway. Just as he reached out to turn the knob, a streak of orange and black caught his eye. Glancing to his left, he found a calico cat seated a few feet distant, keenly monitoring their progress.
    “Our missing mama cat, I presume,” he observed in a low voice.
    Gabriella nodded. “I