“Are you hungry? Do you need to be changed?” He felt like a fool asking her questions. She might be the smartest baby in the world and understand every word he said, but she couldn’t talk yet. Maybe a few words, but she was still mostly human and that meant even intelligent babies didn’t have a huge vocabulary of words they could actually say – understand maybe – but not pronounce.
Ginger lifted her hands and made a couple of gestures, clearly conveying something to him.
He frowned and leaned toward her. “Do you sign? Is that how you communicate with Pepper and the others? With your two sisters?”
The little girl nodded her head several times, her gaze clinging to his. He had time to study her face. She was beautiful, her little face oval with high cheekbones and large, very dark eyes. Her lashes were black along with her wavy dark hair. He thought her hair might be thicker than normal for a baby her age, but her hands and feet were very small.
“I’m not the best at signin’. My brothers and I used to sign when we were kids and didn’ want Nonny to know what we were plottin’.” He took a breath. “Which of course was very bad on our parts and we’d never do such a thing now.”
The baby smiled at him. For the first time he allowed himself to relax a little. She didn’t look as if she’d go all viper on him and strike out with those tiny little teeth that he already found quite charming in her.
She signed with her fingers. She had to do it three times before he caught what she was saying.
His heart clenched again. He shook his head. “No, baby, why would I want to kill you? I don’ want you dead. You’re safe here with Nonny and me. And we’ll keep Pepper safe too. Ezekiel and Malichai will help me get your sisters free if we can. As long as you’re in my home, I’ll make certain no one hurts you.”
He tried to sign as many words as he could remember, even as he said them aloud to her. He was going to have to build a seriously lethal arsenal and get his home secure.
Don’t mislead her.
Pepper lay quite still listening to the sound of Wyatt’s soothing voice. She loved his drawl. The slow easy charm. The smile in his voice. His cool confidence. She’d never come across a man like him, not in all the men she’d met in training. She wasn’t supposed to feel attraction to the actual man. He was supposed to feel attraction to her. She had a sex drive to end all sex drives, but it was only that – being in heat. She detested her body most of the time, especially around men. She didn’t want them to find her attractive. That only made it much more difficult to keep her resolution.
Until Wyatt. She had lain in the bed with him and breathed him into her lungs. She’d touched his soft, wavy black hair and her heart had nearly melted in her chest. Every time he spoke, whether it was in a low soothing voice he was using now, or his sexy, commanding one, she felt slick heat gathering between her legs. His voice also wrapped around her heart and became the thing of all her fantasies.
Still, she couldn’t allow him to charm Ginger into thinking he would stick around with his voice and his ability to make a child – or a woman – think they weren’t alone in the world. She couldn’t allow that to happen.
Don’t tell her something that isn’t true. She’s been lied to her entire life.
Wyatt turned his head to look into Pepper’s violet eyes. There was no diamond starburst, only pain. His gut knotted. He didn’t like his woman being in pain. He might tell himself different, but he was going to claim her whether or not it made sense.
Pepper’s voice slid in his mind, warm honey pouring into every empty, broken crack, filling him with warmth, with the knowledge that he wasn’t alone. His body reacted, coming alive, every cell humming, but not necessarily in a sexual way. Pepper was definitely stronger. He could feel the difference in her.
I’m not. Nonny would never allow us to leave two small babies in a place like that. This house is safe for them. We’re GhostWalkers. Maybe you haven’ heard the term, but we’re like you, no matter whether or not you think you’re the only flawed one. We’re all flawed, Pepper. Clearly you haven’ been around any of us.
We have to keep moving. It’s the only safe thing to do. These children can’t go to a school, or be around other children until they learn discipline.
There was no note of hope in her voice, but still, he felt it through their connection, probably a remnant of hope she didn’t even recognize she felt. She’d been utterly alone for a very long time with an overwhelming responsibility. The three children couldn’t be let loose on the world, not when they were teething. Not when they truly didn’t understand consequences.
First, that’s your trainin’ talkin’, sayin’ you got to keep movin’. They’ll expect that, he pointed out.