“Och, lass,” he chuckled, his lips grazing her bare skin. “’Twas not wot I had in mind when I brought ye here.”
She smiled against his chest. “Wot did ye have in mind?”
He lifted his face to hers, his eyes sparkling with unshed laughter. “Wotever it was, I have forgotten.”
Ferra gave Kaiden a tender smile. “Well, then. It must not have been of importance.”
His smile faded, and Ferra felt concern brewing in her breast. “Wot is it?” she asked immediately. “Is it yer leg?”
“Nay,” he told her, setting her gently away from him. “I’ve discussed it with mah da. We are going tae battle.”
For a moment, Ferra couldn’t speak. She knew that the clan would have to do something to retaliate against their enemy, but go to battle?
“I dinnae understand.”
She watched as he scrubbed a hand over his face, the moment between them already starting to cool. Suddenly the water didn’t seem as warm as it had, and Ferra shivered, afraid of what he was going to say.
“I’m going tae war, lass.”
“Nay,” she said immediately. “Ye arena ready for battle! Ye can barely stand on yer own two feet as it is!”
His jaw clenched, and Ferra could tell that her words had angered him.
“It doesnae matter,” he growled, moving to the other side of the hot spring, and pushed himself out of the water.
Ferra’s cheeks flushed as she watched her husband’s naked form bare itself from the water. “Itdoesmatter,” she argued as he swiped his breeks from the stone floor. “Ye’re not ready.”
He shoved his legs into the tanned leather, glaring at her. “He wants me tae be laird.”
Ferra’s breath caught. “Laird?” Shamus had told her that it had been his plan before Kaiden had injured himself, but now that he was on the mend, it seemed that the current laird wanted to follow through with his original plan.
“Aye,” Kaiden replied, shrugging his tunic over his chest, the linen sticking to his wet skin. “The ceremony will take place in two days. Ye will be lady of the keep, Ferra.”
That was what she thought she was becoming the moment she “married” Shamus.
“This is not up for argument,” Kaiden continued, crossing his arms over his chest. “I will be leading mah warriors intae battle, Ferra, as their laird.”
Ferra removed herself from the hot spring and pulled her shift over her head before meeting Kaiden’s eyes. She could see that he was ogling her body outlined by the wet linen, but she was far too angry to be thinking of anything in that manner.
“I wilnae idly stand by and watch ye kill yerself, Kaiden.” She had just saved his life, brought him back to the living, and now he wanted to undo it all?
She wasn’t about to send her husband, the man she was starting to truly care for, into a battle he could not win.
“Wot aboot mah feelings?” she asked softly.
His jaw clenched tighter. “Get dressed, lass.”
Ferra’s movements were jerky as she did just that, ignoring the way that her dress clung to her wet body as she did so. She wanted to go back to the way they had been earlier, when there were no cares between them except what they were sharing as husband and wife.
Now she just felt cold and empty, worried sick that Kaiden was going to get himself killed.
Swallowing hard, Ferra finished dressing, and Kaiden snuffed out the torch before they exited the hot spring. Night had fallen while they had been inside, the air crisp and cool against their wet clothing. It wasn’t until they had reached the front of the keep when Kaiden turned toward Ferra, his eyes searching hers.
“Will ye stand with yer husband?” he asked softly.
Ferra drew in a breath. No matter what she thought about his ability to lead his clan into battle, he was still her husband.
“I will stand with ye,” she told him, her heart aching with each word. “But I cannae agree with ye going tae battle, Kaiden. I wilnae stand by and watch ye kill yerself.”
