"What's yer wish?" She lifted her chin, that stubborn pride back in place. "Ye won the wager. So what dae ye want?"
Ye.I want ye. Want tae strip away that wet dress and the blanket and lay ye down right here and show ye exactly how much I desire ye.
But he couldn't say that. Couldn't do that. Not when she was still recovering from near-freezing. Not when she already thought he found her undesirable.
"I havenae decided yet," he said instead. "I'll let ye ken when I dae."
"Fine." Ada moved stiffly toward her horse. "We should go. Before I actually dae catch a chill."
Magnus helped her mount despite her protest, then swung onto his own stallion. They rode back toward the keep in silence, the easy camaraderie from earlier completely shattered.
And Magnus cursed himself for being a fool the entire way.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
"Can ye walk, or dae ye need me tae carry ye the whole way again?"
Ada looked up at Magnus from where she sat in the saddle, wrapped in his cloak. The ride back from the stream had been mercifully short, but her legs still felt shaky from nearly falling into it.
"I can walk," she said, though she wasn't entirely certain that was true.
Magnus dismounted first, then reached up to help her down. Ada's legs wobbled the moment her feet touched the cobblestones, and she grabbed his arm to steady herself.
Magnus rolled his eyes and held her hands and led her toward the chambers.
"People are watchin'."
"Let them watch."
"This is humiliatin', it is the second time this has happened now," she muttered.
Magnus's arms tightened on her hand. "Ye fell into a stream today. Ye're covered in dirt and smellin' like stagnant water. Consider yerself lucky I let ye walk instead of carrying ye."
A young guard near the entrance let his gaze linger a moment too long on the blanket-covered bundle in Magnus's arms. Magnus's head snapped toward him.
"Eyes front," he growled.
The guard's face went pale. "Aye, me laird. Sorry, me laird."
They passed through the entrance, into the cooler dimness of the corridor. A servant boy carrying firewood nearly dropped his entire load when he saw them.
"Move," Magnus said.
The boy scrambled out of the way, pressing himself against the wall.
They climbed the stairs to the east tower. Another servant, an older man this time, stepped out of a side passage and caught sight of Ada.
Magnus made a sound low in his throat that was almost a snarl. "Did I nae make it clear that me wife is nae tae be gawked at?"
"I wasnae me laird, I was just…"
"Get out of me sight."
The man fled.
Ada pressed her face against Magnus's shoulder, torn between embarrassment and something else entirely. Something warm that curled in her chest at the possessiveness in his voice.
Me wife. Nae tae be gawked at.
