Rooted to the spot, he watched them step into the cottage together. Just before Gawain stepped inside, the other man speared him with a look that clearly said he thought Nikolas had lost his damn mind.

Nikolas couldn’t blame him—or Sophie. He had lost his damn mind. Glancing around one last time, he clamped down on his self-control and strode into the cottage.

Inside, he found Sophie on her knees, offering a small blue jacket to Robin. Looking befuddled, the monkey blinked as he took it. She said gently, “It’s okay if you don’t like it. I just thought you might get cold sometimes.”

From nowhere, her compassion struck Nikolas with an evil kind of accuracy, deep inside where he wore no armor. Pressing his knuckles against his mouth, he watched as the monkey ooh-oohed silently and turned the jacket over and over in his spidery hands. Sophie helped the puck slip into it, and he sat looking down at himself, fingering the gold buttons.

“I brought you a cake too,” she whispered to Robin. “It’s three times your size, and you can have all of it.”

Robin’s eyes were shining. Ooh-ooh, he mouthed and set his hand against her cheek. She covered his small hand with hers.

She brought the puck a jacket and a cake, Gawain said to Nikolas. And she bought flowers and hot chocolate and coffee. That’s all she wanted from town. Flowers, for fuck sake. She shines with spells, and she can make magic bullets. Every single fucking one of our men is going to fall in love with her, Nik. Every single fucking one. Hell, I might even fall in love with her a little myself.

You can’t, Nikolas thought, as his hands clenched again. She’s mine.

The naked aggression on his face caused Gawain to check, and comprehension dawned on the other man’s face. “Oh, boyo,” Gawain said softly while his gaze darkened. “Like that, is it?”

Her interaction with Robin over, Sophie stood and looked at them. She asked, “What’s like what?”

“Nothing,” Nikolas said harshly. He gave the other man a warning stare. “Tell us what happened with Morgan.”

“Okay, but I get to have some of that brandy you bought yesterday while I do it.” She pulled out a chair, sat, and put her head in her hands while Gawain broke open the bottle and poured some of the amber liquid into a glass for her. She took a deep, bracing swallow, then told them everything.

Just listening to how she confronted Morgan over Isabeau’s cruelty had Nikolas heading for the brandy bottle himself. He poured a hefty amount into a glass and knocked it back. It burned all the way down. Then he pivoted to glare at her.

“What is wrong with you?” he demanded. “Are you suicidal?”

Her beautiful, luscious mouth, that mouth he wanted to eat right up, dropped open. She glared back. Then a kind of hilarity entered her expression.

She muttered, “You really are an asshole, aren’t you? You almost tricked me into believing otherwise, but nope. Still an asshole. Honestly, I don’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed by that fact. My head is turned upside down. Mostly I think I’m just disturbed.”

“You knew he was a killer, and you confronted him anyway.” Nikolas advanced on her, rage blinding him. A belated rage born of fear that came much too late to be of good to anybody. “While I’ve been congratulating myself on being modern and reasonable by letting you go to town by yourself, you could have been kidnapped, killed, or tortured every bit as badly as Robin had been or worse. Do you realize what he could have done to you?”

He was shaking from the force that raged through his body. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gawain shift away from leaning against the counter, but Sophie beat the other man to it as she stood and advanced quickly to Nikolas.

Toward him, not away, just as she had done that first night in the pub. Just as she had done during the attack. Just as she had done to Morgan. This woman, this woman—she might be the death of him.

“Hey,” Sophie said in a soft voice. She spread her fingers over his chest, and he clamped his hands around her wrists. “I know what a serious trigger Morgan is for you, and I’m sorry for that. He was a pretty serious trigger for me too when I found out who he was. But it’s okay. For the moment, everything is okay.”

Nothing was okay. His head, his thinking, his emotions, they were all in shambles. Looking into her luminous gaze, he said telepathically, I would not be okay if you put yourself at risk and you came to harm because of it. You must take better care of yourself, my Sophie.

Her eyes widened, and she looked as vulnerable as he had ever seen her look. She told him, I have a terrible temper, and when I lose it, all sense flies out the window. I know it’s a flaw, and I will try to do better. I promise, Nik.

Her quiet words, along with her touch, soothed him, and the shaking fury eased. He gave her a curt nod.

She lingered, studying him, and said aloud, “Okay?”

“Okay.” Touching her felt too good, and he didn’t want to stop. Releasing her wrists, he stepped away, back to the counter to pour himself another brandy.

Sophie felt her way back to her seat and sank into it, while Gawain rubbed his face hard with one massive hand.

“Morgan may be a great many things, but he’s also a man of his word,” the other man said. “He said he meant you no harm for the moment, but he also gave you plenty of warning that will change. Are you sure he believed you when you said the dog disappeared?”

“Yeah,” Sophie said. She ran her fingers through her hair, turning it into even more of a wild, unruly mane. “I’m confident of that. You know the feeling when you’re sure you’ve gotten off a good shot or struck the right blow? I had that sense.”