Free Claimed By Chaos by Abigail Graves Page A

was. Giselle couldn't help but smile.
    “What do you do with her when she isn't sleeping?” She asked quietly. Alastair's head tilted.
    “Anything I wish, really. As long as you keep your voice low and reassuring, you could read crop reports and she wouldn't complain. But I believe infants are rather like vessels.”
    “Vessels!” Giselle laughed softly. He nodded.
    “They are waiting to be filled with anything you wish to pour into them. So many people fill their offspring with dribble and they end up useless and boring. We were fortunate to have parents that were more selective.” He made a shushing sound as Charlotte squirmed against him. Giselle leaned and picked up the book he had selected. She looked dubious.
    “Goethe? Isn't Faust a bit dark for an infant?” She whispered as she at back. Alastair shook his head gently.
    “I am confident that she doesn't understand German yet and as long as I read it as if it were about princesses and fairies, she doesn't object.”
    “You're quite knowledgeable.” Giselle teased.
    “I have spent a great deal of time with Ethan and he is quite similar in his needs and temperament. I find both to be much easier to comprehend than most of the adults I encounter.” With that, he closed his eyes and let his head fall back. It was inexplicably the most arousing scene Giselle had ever witnessed. She opened the book and pretended to read it for the better part of an hour while her entire being was focused on Alastair and the baby in his arms.

Chapter 12
     
    As the lunch plates were being cleared, Alastair requested that everyone meet in the study to discuss the plan for Giselle's return to London and hunting the last traitor. Mirabelle and Lucien managed to get lost between the dining room and the study, which left Gilles alone with Alastair and Giselle. He tried to ignore the glances that passed between them but occasionally, he got the feeling that the two of them forgot that he was in the room. They would stare a little too long at each other's lips and start to get too close and he'd have to say something or grab Alastair by the arm.
    It was very obvious that there was a strong mutual attraction and that it was only a matter of time before the two became intimate. Gilles had no doubts as to Alastair's intentions, he knew he would marry Giselle first if she would agree to it. Knowing Giselle as he did, he still found it unlikely but he wished his brother luck. Even if there would be no marriage and matters between them were more of an arrangement, Gilles still wished him luck. Both were exceptional people that had lived their entire lives outside of society, a conventional relationship might not suit either of them.
    What worried Gilles was what was at stake if things did not work out well between the two of them. He'd just been reunited with Giselle and he had already been worried about Alastair. He'd been frustrated and restless before Gilles had gone to Longwood and found Elise. She had been a welcomed distraction for Alastair but she was too independent to rely on him for long. After Mirabelle and Lucien married, Alastair became more distant. Gilles knew it was because he felt like an outsider among the couples. The only companions he had ever known kept slipping away as pairs only to return even more wrapped up each other. Gilles knew he and Elise were especially guilty.
    It had surprised everyone to see how Alastair connected with the babies. He was gentle and patient and practically beamed when he held them. When he was with one of the babies he wasn't hollow and bored, he didn't seem to notice that the other adults in the room were flirting or making plans to sneak away, that he was the only one that didn't have someone to share his life with. But once the babies were in their cribs, he began staring at the door, waiting to leave.
    Gilles was afraid that Giselle could hurt Alastair and cause him to leave, that he'd be unable to stay with the family, especially if she