Her hair was loose and ran down her back, accentuating the curves of her body. As he stood behind her, examining every inch of her figure, he longed to pull her against him, pressing her tight to his body and listening to her moans as he pleasured her.
He looked away and cleared his throat.
“I wondered if you might have any whisky,” she said, turning toward him, the glow of the fire glancing off her hair, making it look as though it were made of flames.
“Aye.” He walked to the drinks cabinet, keeping one eye on her as she moved about the room. “Accustomed to a dram, are ye? This is strong stuff.”
Leah gave him a knowing smile. “Oskar made sure I’m well-versed in the best whisky in Scotland,” she said confidently. “I hope yours is up to par. He insisted that his was the best dram in all the Highlands.”
Magnus could not help smiling at the thought of someone so small being able to hold their drink in such a way.
“He’s a dobber if he thinks his whisky is better than mine.”
He poured the amber liquid into two glasses and handed her one. She was fidgeting, apparently unable to sit still, and it was putting him on edge.
“Sit down, lass, or ye’ll wear a hole in me floor.”
She looked at the two armchairs in front of the fire and took a seat as Magnus did the same.
For a long while, they watched the flames leap in the grate, enjoying the companionable silence.
Magnus thought of a time in the future when he and Leah would lead separate lives. She in her castle, he in his. There would be no opportunity to sit before a fire in comfortable silence then. It was not a pleasant realization.
“Are ye worried about tomorrow?” he asked eventually, speaking the words that had been bouncing around his skull since she entered the room.
Leah swirled the whisky in her glass and glanced at him, frowning. “Are you?” she asked.
“I was married before,” he muttered, unsure what to say in reply. He watched with some amusement as her jaw clenched.
“It is not the wedding I had envisioned.” Her words were almost a whisper. “And I know this would not have been your choice either. You made that very clear.”
Magnus downed the rest of his drink and went to fetch another, feeling nerves flutter in his gut that she was somehow displeased with him.
“Ye have it wrong, lass,” he murmured as he poured the whisky into the glass. “I dinnae wish to trap ye into a life ye dinnae wish to live, that is all.” He returned to the fireplace but felt too agitated to sit back down. “Ye need nae worry about yer honor or yer future. Ye will live as though ye were a spinster. We shall be separate from one another in all but name.”
He could feel her watching him, and when he finally turned to look at her, those high cheekbones were a little pink around the edges.
This time, it was Leah’s turn to avert her gaze.
“And what if…” she trailed off, both hands coming to cradle the glass on her lap.
“What if what?” he asked, intrigued by her obvious uncertainty.
“What if that is not what I want?”
“Ye will have everythin’ ye could need. I will make sure ye are able to live the life of yer dreams,” he said sincerely, recognizing as he spoke the words aloud that he truly meant them. He wished to see her happy.
“What if I want something more?” she asked, taking a tentative first sip of the whisky with apparent enjoyment and glancing at the glass with an appreciation that warmed his heart.
“What do ye mean, lass? Ye want to live inthiscastle instead? Is that it?” He almost laughed.
“No.” Her voice was quiet and tentative as she glanced up at him, the blush on her cheeks deepening. “What if… I want to repeat what happened at dinner?”
Her words might have been soft, but her gaze was bright as fire as she looked up at him through her long eyelashes.
Magnus felt a throb of heat as he looked down at her. In their current positions, as she sat below him in the chair, it looked for all the world as though she might move to the floor, kneel before him, and beg him to take her as he wished.
He could feel himself hardening between his legs, and he looked away, his fingers tightening around the rim of his glass.
