Page 25 of Kilted Abduction
“I know a small lodge me family uses tae hunt that’s nae far from here.”
“Wonderful. I can hardly wait,” she said.
“Or I could leave ye out here tae freeze tae death.”
She gave him a smirk. “I have a feelin’ yer older braither would be upset if ye left me out here tae freeze tae death.”
Magnus glowered at her and made no effort to hide his surprise at her having overheard his conversation with Kai. She was right. Domhnall would skin him alive if he didn’t get back to Dunvegan with the spy in tow. Especially after sending Kai ahead to tell him they had her. As intriguing as he found her, he also found her irritating. Most of all when she was being smug.
“Let’s go,” Magnus grunted.
Moving as quickly as they could, Magnus led her down the trail, branching off of it at one point and traipsing through the woods. Every moment they were out there, the air about them was growing colder and when they rounded a bend near the river, Magnus saw the first fat snow flurries beginning to fall. The storm he’d been fearing finally caught up with them.
“’Tis snowin’,” she said.
“I’ve got eyes.”
“’Tis gettin’ colder too.”
“That happens when it starts to snow.”
She frowned and gave him a distinctly unladylike gesture that made him laugh. Magnus followed the river trail and let out a small breath of relief as they rounded another bend, and he spotted the familiar lodge up ahead.
“That’s yer family’s huntin’ lodge?” she asked.
“Aye. What of it?”
She shrugged. “Given that ye come from a family of nobles, I suppose I expected it tae be a little… grander.”
“I never said me family was noble.”
“Nay? Because ye carry yerself like a stuck up, entitled nobleman.”
Magnus glowered at her and said nothing, knowing she was trying to get under his skin. Unfortunately, for him, she was succeeding. He led her to the lodge, a small building made mostly of stone, mud, and wood. They journeyed out to make repairs and improvements to it most every year, the structure had stood for generations. It was solid, sturdy, and the perfect place for them to ride out the storm.
He pushed the door open and ushered his prisoner inside. The floor was hard-packed earth and it had two windows—one on the wall to the left of the door and one to the right. Those had been covered with pieces of wood, usually taken down when the weather grew warmer. A large stone hearth dominated the wall across from the door, and there was a stack of furs in a box beside it.
Ciara walked in and looked around, a look of distaste on her face. She walked over to the single table that sat against the wall and sat down in the rough-hewn chair his father had made. It seemed clear she believed she was too good for the place. She turned to him and pursed her lips.
“Why are ye starin’ at me?” she asked.
“Because ye’re lookin’ at the place the way a spoiled, pampered noblewoman would,” he replied, relishing the chance to throw her words back in her face.
Thunder rumbled overhead and the snow flurries outside got thicker. The ground around the small lodge was already growing white and the air was growing ever more frigid. It was going to be a long and difficult night.
“Ye just stay put,” he said.
“Where are ye goin’?”
“Nae far. Just goin’ tae collect some wood tae get a fire goin’. If I dinnae, we’ll freeze tae death in here,” he said. “And just so ye ken, if ye’re so desperate tae escape that ye go out into that storm that’s on us, so be it. I ain’t goin’ tae come lookin’ fer ye and I’ll let ye freeze tae death and deal with me braither when I get back.”
She stared at him for a long moment and seemed to hear the ring of sincerity in his words because she lowered her head and seemed to shrink back into the chair without another word.
“Good lass.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
As they finished up a meager meal of dried meat, cheese, crusty bread and a paltry excuse for wine from a skin, the wind howled outside sounding like the voices of the damned set loose upon the earth, filling the small lodge with a bitter cold not even the fire Magnus had built in the hearth seemed to cut through. They sat side by side wrapped in furs, not quite huddled together, but close enough to draw body heat from one another. It felt like hours since the last word had been spoken between them and Ciara was bored. And angry. And frustrated.
