Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

M agnus tried to get settled on the pallet he’d had brought in and set up in the corner of his bedchamber. He was tired of trying to get comfortable in the chair and since it didn’t seem like Ciara was going anywhere any time soon, he refused to try sleeping in it anymore. He’d talked to Domhnall about moving Ciara to her own quarters, under guard of course, but his brother had refused, telling Magnus he didn’t trust anybody but him to watch her.

As he lay in the darkness, staring up at the ceiling, Magnus grumbled under his breath and shifted on the hay-stuffed mattress. He reflected on the past few days—ever since that moment they had shared in the corridor. His stomach had turned over on itself and his heart had beaten to a drunken rhythm in his chest. He couldn’t get those sparkling green eyes of hers out of his head, nor the way looking into them had made him feel. It was a feeling he’d been carrying around in the pit of his belly for days now and he didn’t know what to do with it.

Just like when they’d been in the river together on their trek to Dunvegan, that moment they’d shared in the corridor had been seared into his mind. They’d been close enough to touch, their lips just inches apart, and the air between them had crackled like the air right before a lightning strike. Just thinking about it now made the hair on his arms stand on end as gooseflesh rose all over his body. He’d wanted to kiss her—he still wanted to kiss her—and he’d gotten the feeling she’d wanted him to. But he hadn’t. Why? Why had he not acted?

He sighed and turned over on the pallet, his mind racing as fast as his heart. Magnus didn’t understand it, but Ciara stirred something deep inside of him. Things he couldn’t recall ever feeling before. Things he didn’t comprehend. Magnus’ entire life had been devoted to his family, to his clan. He was a loyal soldier and had never made room in his life for anything but duty. Nothing else had ever mattered to him.

But Ciara had him feeling things he’d never expected to feel. She had him twisted up in knots and the more he tried to understand it, the more the answers seemed to elude him. All he knew was that she was lodged firmly in his head. When he wasn’t with her, he was thinking about her, and when he was with her, he had a difficult time not giving in to the desires that raged through him. It was made all the worse by the fact that, not only had Domhnall ordered her to watch her every minute of every day, but they were also forced to share quarters. The forced proximity made things all the more confusing for him and he had no respite from her… or the things she made him feel.

“Would ye go tae sleep already?” she snapped, her voice slicing through the darkness. “All yer bleedin’ tossin’ and turnin’ and sighin’ is keepin’ me awake.”

“Ye can give up me bed and sleep on the pallet if it offends ye so much.”

“Nae likely,” she responded. “If ye’re forcin’ me tae stay in yer stinkin’ bedchamber, then I’m goin’ tae be comfortable. And before ye think it, ye’re nae sharin’ the bed with me.”

“I didnae ask.”

“Just in case ye were thinkin’ about askin’, the answer is nay.”

Despite his frustration, Magnus chuckled to himself. That was something else about Ciara—she knew how to make him laugh. He wasn’t a man who laughed often, but she somehow managed to bring it out of him, seemingly, without even trying. It was just another one of those things about her that compelled Magnus and drew him to her. Another one of those things he found so intriguing about her.

“May I ask ye a question?” she asked.

“Ye can ask, but I’ll nae be sharin’ the bed with ye,” he deadpanned.

“Ye’re nae funny.”

“I’m a little funny.”

Even in the darkness, he could see her rolling her eyes as she blew out a frustrated breath. Magnus chuckled to himself.

“Ask yer question,” he said.

“How long am I goin’ tae have tae stay here?”

“Until we’ve been able tae confirm yer story,” he said. “And find out what Fairfax is up tae, and if he’s sendin’ an army our way.”

“Ye realize if ye let me go, ye’d avoid any trouble with Fairfax or me faither,” she said. “If I’m nae here, they’ll have nay reason tae bring an army ontae yer lands.”

“The English have been lookin’ fer a reason tae invade our lands fer longer than I’ve been alive,” he replied. “If word got back to ‘em that ye’re here, they’ll use it as a reason tae invade whether ye’re here anymore or nae. Right now, we’re just tryin’ tae gather information.”

“It doesnae sound like any of that has anythin’ tae dae with me?—”

“It daes. All of this is because of ye.”

“Nae tae point out the obvious, but none of this would’ve happened if ye’d nae abducted me back in the bleedin’ first place.”

“We took ye because we thought ye were a threat tae the clan.”

“But I’m nae.”

Magnus sighed and paused for a moment before speaking. “I ken.”

The bed creaked as she sat up. “Ye ken?”

He nodded, even though she couldn’t see him in the darkness. It was a truth he had been circling for a while in his mind but one he hadn’t really given voice to. But the more thought he gave it, the more he couldn’t escape the certainty.

“Aye,” he said quietly. “I’ve come tae believe ye are who and what ye say ye are and that ye’re nae here workin’ fer Fairfax.”

“Then why are ye holdin’ me here still?”

“Because I dinnae want anythin’ bad tae happen tae ye,” he said quietly.

“I can take care of meself.”

“I ken ye can,” he said. “But if Fairfax is already marchin’ on our lands, there’s nae any sense in turnin’ ye out. ‘Tis safer fer ye behind these walls than out there in the wilds.”

She fell silent for a long moment as she seemed to be absorbing his words. That was the truth of it. Over the days she had been at Dunvegan, Magnus had come to feel protective of her. And try as he might to put the onus of all this on her, if he was being truthful about things, the thought of a man like Fairfax taking her and doing God knew what turned his stomach and filled him with the blackest of rages.

“Ye and yer family are puttin’ yerselves in danger,” she said. “Ye dinnae ken Fairfax?—”

“We ken who Fairfax is. We ken the evil things he does. We’re well aware of the danger we’re in. Ye’ve nothin’ tae dae with that. The bleedin’ English have been tryin’ tae steal our lands and wipe out our clan fer a very long time now,” he admitted.

“Daes yer family share the same opinion?” she asked hesitantly.

“Katherine daes,” he said. “Domhnall doesnae ken what tae believe right now. But I dinnae think he believes ye’re a threat.”

“Ye should let me go.”

“I dinnae want tae,” he said then quickly added, “I’m responsible fer ye. And so long as I am, I willnae let anythin’ happen tae ye.”

The bed creaked again as she laid back. Magnus turned his head, trying to see her through the darkness. Part of him feared he’d said too much. That he’d come too close to confessing the secret feelings he kept deep in his heart even though he didn’t understand them himself. But she remained silent, not making the moment any more awkward than it already was.

And for that he was grateful.