He frowned. “You weren’t leaving?”
Instead of answering, she reached for the note that sat atop the pile of belongings and handed it to him.
“This has the king’s seal,” he said, examining it.
“Read it. If necessary I will ask him to reseal it.”
Breaking the glob of hardened wax with a snap, Magnus unfolded the parchment and scanned the missive. As a chief’s heir, he’d had some learning. Enough to read the short note in Gaelic addressed to Tor MacLeod.
Magnus’s face darkened as he read. By the time he’d finished, he looked up at her with such a fierce expression, it might have caused a less determined woman to have second thoughts.
In a cold, final voice that brokered no argument, he said (or rather shouted), “Absolutely not!”
***
Magnus stood from the bath, grabbing the damp drying cloth she’d used to brush the water from his skin. Wrapping it around his waist, he stepped out of the tub and took her by the arm, lifting her from the bed to face him.
Was she out of her mind? Had the king gone completely mad?
“I won’t allow it.”
She tilted that pixieish face to his. If he’d been any less furious, her pursed mouth and flashing eyes might have made him exercise a bit more diplomacy. “As you have no say in the matter, I’m afraid what you will or will not allow is immaterial.”
He growled—actually growled. “If you think I’m going to let you become a part of this you are out of your bloody mind. I don’t want you anywhere near our missions. Don’t you know how dangerous—”
“Of course I know how dangerous it is! That’s why I’ve decided to be the healer for your secret army. What did the king call it, ‘The Highland Guard’? Aye, that’s it. And it’s not as if I’m planning on picking up a weapon and rushing into battle with you. I’ll just be nearby if you or any of the others need me.”
“Ah well, that’s a relief,” he bit out with heavy sarcasm.
Her eyes narrowed at him angrily. “It is hardly unusual to have a healer waiting nearby to tend the wounded after battle. Plenty of women follow their men into battle.”
Her dismissiveness only fueled the angry fires licking through his blood. “Notmywoman.”
“I’m not your woman,” she reminded him calmly. “I haven’t said I will marry you.”
He dragged her against him. Molded her body to his, the thin fabric a paltry barrier to the heat that combusted between them. “You’ll marry me, all right. If I have to drag you kicking and screaming to the church, you’ll marry me.”
And then to prove it, he kissed her. Hard. With a fierce possessiveness that left no doubt of his words. She was his.
His tongue lashed against hers, probing the sweet, warm depths of her mouth. He sucked in her gasp, sucking in her breath, feeding the wild frenzy of emotion lashing inside him.
Her body melted against his. Breasts. Hips. Legs and arms entwined. Her fingers clutched at him, drawing him closer.
He groaned when her tongue wrapped around his, meeting the frenzied desperation with some of her own.
Suddenly, she tore her mouth away with a harsh gasp. She was breathing hard, her lips swollen and eyes hazy with passion. “It won’t work, Magnus. You’re not going to change my mind like this. You aren’t the only one who can be stubborn.”
The determination in her voice only increased his own. His eyes blazed into hers with fiery challenge. “We’ll see about that.”
In one smooth motion, he grabbed the gap at the neck of her chemise and pulled it apart, ripping the thin linen fabric from nape to seam.
She gasped in outrage, trying to clasp the torn edges together, but he was having none of it. Tearing the towel from around his waist, he pushed her back on the bed. In a naked tangle of limbs and shredded fabric, he pinned her with his body.
He looked down into her eyes. Looked at the face that had haunted him since he was barely a man. He loved her so much it hurt. “You’re mine, Helen. Mine,” his voice broke, not with possessiveness but with love.
She reached up and cupped his face in her tiny hand. “I know.”
Her eyes glistened with tears of happiness. He kissed her again. Far gentler this time, with all the love and tenderness erupting in his chest.
