“Ye had to convince the lads nae to torment Tate.”
“I understood why he froze.”
“Do ye really have a fear of heights?”
“I did as a lad. I outgrew it, but I kenned how Tate felt. Blessedly, he wasna the same size back then. I dinna ken if I could catch him now without him knocking us both into the loch.” Magnus grinned.
He’d been visiting with Seamus the day the misadventure at the loch had happened. It was during the same visit that they learned what their father had done to the MacLeods of Assynt. Siùsan’s cousin from her mother’s side, Michail MacLeod, was there. He and Seamus created a truce, but it was also the visit that signaled the end of his father’s lairdship. Condemned for the deadly raid, the clan council ousted the old laird and initiated Seamus into his place. His father died within days.
“That wasna an easy visit after that day, was it?”
“Nay, it wasna. I thought Aidan was going to slay me in the bailey when he arrived. His news shocked Seamus and me to the core. It felt like the ultimate betrayal by our father. He’d sent us here, so he could send that raiding party without us kenning. He kenned we would have stopped him.” Magnus shook his head. He had no fond memories of his parents. That was a source of great hurt when he’d fostered among the Sinclairs. Everywhere he turned, there were doting parents, and none were his. Even at his age now, he knew that wound hadn’t completely healed.
“Yer father must have been a hard mon to live with.” Saoirse kept her voice soft. She knew her aunt’s history with her clan of birth. Siùsan rarely spoke of her life before she arrived at Dunbeath to marry Callum. She only did when she spoke about her brothers.
“He was an example of what I will never be. I would never lead like him, and I would never be the father he was.”
Saoirse kept her gaze on the work in front of her. “Do ye wish to be a father?”
Magnus wanted nothing more than to spin Saoirse around, lift her onto the table, push back her skirts, and sink into her so they could start trying for a family of their own. “Aye. It wasna the right time before. The right woman wasna in ma life.”
Saoirse glanced up and found Magnus watching her intently. Their eyes met, and heat sparked between them. When she caught her finger between the pestle and mortar, she grimaced. She brought it to her mouth and sucked. She witnessed Magnus swallow as he fisted his hands at his side. She hadn’t thought her action was sexual, but it was clear he found it arousing. That only made her more aroused.
“I’m distracting ye. I will take ma leave. Let me ken when ye have another basket to carry.” Magnus flashed her a smile and practically sprinted to the door. He looked back to find Saoirse appearing curious, but she merely nodded. Once he was outside, he made his way to the loch. He stripped and plunged into the water. When he surfaced, he looked around to ensure no one could spy him. He took himself in hand as he pictured Saoirse’s mouth around his cock instead of around her finger.
* * *
Saoirse listened to one of the village children speaking to his father. “Óg said he would take us fishing.”
The man nodded, and the boy ran to join the others at the postern gate. It was two days after their conversation in her workroom. They’d danced together the night before, but only when the partner changes put them together. They chatted when they could. Magnus regaled her with a story about Kirk finally knocking his father, Dedric, from his feet in the lists. He suspected Dedric hadn’t put up as much resistance as he might, but he’d been proud of his son’s accomplishment. They kept being interrupted, so Magnus could only tell the story in spurts, but Saoirse hung on every word.
“Lady Saoirse, will ye come?” Saoirse found Timmy, the milliner’s son, pulling on her hand. “Ye make the fish jump into the basket.”
“I dinna quite do that.” Saoirse laughed. She enjoyed fishing because of the solitude most of the time. It wasn’t a pastime encouraged among women in most clans, but Liam couldn’t deny his granddaughters what he’d allowed Mairghread to do. If any of the lasses took interest in fishing, hunting, climbing trees, and swimming, the family encouraged it. The clan’s children enjoyed when Magnus and Seamus used to visit because they would always take a gaggle with them. Seeing the children gathering around Magnus at the postern gate reminded her of childhood memories when she was in the group who followed him.
Magnus grinned as Timmy pulled her through the portal. “Are ye still the best fisherwoman in the clan?”
“Best fisher of all.” Saoirse grinned while stepping past Magnus. When he returned her smile, she nearly tripped over Timmy. The heat in his gaze was enough to make her break out in a sweat.
“We shall see. Mary claims she’s better than ye now that she’s eight.” Magnus’s gaze moved to a curly-haired blonde girl leading the charge to the loch.
“She doesnae ken all ma tricks. Only the ones I taught her.” Saoirse waggled her brows as she hurried to keep up with Timmy, whose short legs moved surprisingly fast at a walk.
“I recall teaching ye how to fish.” Magnus nudged Saoirse with his elbow.
“Aye. And ye dinna ken all ma tricks, either. Only the ones ye taught me.”
When they reached the loch’s shore, they helped the youngest children tie strings around the bait. Once everyone settled, Saoirse and Magnus tended to their own tackle. They remained with the youngest children, not willing to let them wander.
“Do ye fish often?” Magnus noticed Saoirse still prepared the fishing lines with ease.
“Aye. Sometimes I come down with others to catch things for Cook. But sometimes, I come here just for the quiet. It’s usually after a trying healing. People ken I like the peace. It lets me get over the suffering I saw. What aboot ye?”
“Lately, it’s only been to catch food while on patrol. But usually I was the one who volunteered. It gave me time to think—or nae think—when I was always with at least two other guards.”
“Ye dinna think it odd that I still enjoy it? It’s nae something most lasses do.”
“I would never think it odd. If ye like it for the same reasons as me, how could I?”
