Highlander’s Frozen Heart by Shona Thompson
Chapter Twenty
“What do you want?” Adelleine demanded. She had had just about enough with Magnus and the way that he was behaving. It seemed to her as though he only thought about himself, and even the fact that he had told her she would be better off with another man wasn’t for her own sake, but rather for his.
Adelleine had even begun to have fun with Laird McNair. It had all started as a ploy, as she had decided that it was time to follow Isla’s advice and make Magnus jealous, but in the end, she enjoyed dancing and getting her mind off the man for a while. Now, though, Magnus was back to his usual antics, and Adelleine didn’t know what to think.
Did he want her? Did he not want her? If not, why did he keep toying with her feelings?
“I just wish to talk, that’s all,” Magnus said, raising his hands in surrender, “If ye’ll hear me out.”
“Fine,” Adelleine said, “You can talk, and I will listen, but if I don’t like what you’re going to say, then I’ll walk right back to the dance and continue to enjoy my night. The night that you so rudely interrupted.”
“Aye, ye have every right to do that,” Magnus said, “And ye have every right to nae want to listen to me and to nae forgive me, but I must ask for yer forgiveness, Adelleine. I cannae do much else, but I can ask for yer forgiveness. When I . . . when I saw ye dancin’ with Laird McNair, I didnae ken what to do, Adelleine. I . . . I felt such a rage, such a . . . there are nay words to describe what I felt. Nay word is enough, nae a thing that I can say can express just how mad the sight of ye with him drove me. I ken that I’ve pushed ye away time after time, but it came to me attention recently that I have been a fool, an absolute fool, and that I’ve hurt ye in a way that ye may be unable to forgive. But if ye can find it in yer heart to forgive me, then that is all that I ask.”
By the time that Magnus stopped talking, Adelleine was left speechless, her lips slightly parted, her eyes wide with surprise as she stared at him in disbelief. She certainly hadn’t been expecting an apology, especially one that was so heartfelt. In fact, she hadn’t even known that Magnus was capable of apologising in such a way.
She didn’t know what she could possibly say to him after he had poured his heart out to her like that. Just like he had said, Adelleine didn’t know if her words could ever be enough.
So, she said nothing. Instead, she threw herself in Magnus’ arms, wrapping her own around his neck as she kissed him, hoping with every fibre of her being that he wouldn’t push her away once more.
He didn’t. He held her close, kissing her with just as much fervour, and Adelleine lost herself in it. She wanted nothing more than that kiss. She wanted nothing more than Magnus and having him in her arms made her heart leap in her chest and the blood rush to her head, leaving her dizzy with want.
Adelleine could feel Magnus’ hands all over her, as though he didn’t know where he wanted to touch her the most. She felt them on her hips, gripping tightly as his own hips rolled against them, then on her waist, digging possessively into her flesh, then her buttocks, all but pulling her up off the floor and holding her against the wall.
Magnus shuddered against her, and moved lower, pressing kisses on her neck and her chest. Adelleine was well aware that they were still in the middle of the corridor, where anyone could see them, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. She could do nothing other than moan in pleasure, her desire burning her up from the inside and settling low in her stomach, her body arching off the wall as it chased Magnus’ own. She was at his mercy, at the mercy of his hands that were tugging at the collar of her dress, pushing the fabric down and revealing the top of her breasts so that he could kiss and scrape his teeth over the sensitive skin.
“I want ye,” he whispered in her ear, sounding drunk with desire, “I want ye so much, Adelleine, I dinnae ken what to do with meself.”
Adelleine reached between them silently, her hand snaking its way to the front of Magnus’ trews. She could feel his manhood, hard against his thigh, and a soft gasp escaped her lips when she stroked him, drawing a moan out of his lips.
Magnus’ fist slammed against the wall as he bit down hard on his lip, trying to keep himself quiet. Adelleine had half a mind to pull him to his chambers, but just as she was about to grab his hand and do so, she heard something that could only be approaching footsteps.
Adelleine shoved Magnus off her immediately, and then fussed over her clothes and her hair, trying to look as presentable as possible. She knew those footsteps; she had heard them hundreds of times before, and there was no mistaking them.
“Fergus!” she exclaimed when the boy found them, bleary-eyed, in his pyjamas, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
“Ye said that we would play,” Fergus said, matter-of-factly.
Adelleine could only sigh at that, remembering the promise that she had made to him. She looked at Magnus, giving him an apologetic look, but he only nodded at her with a small, dejected smile. Adelleine took Fergus’ hand in hers and then began to lead him back to his room, but not before she glanced at Magnus over her shoulder. He made a gesture, one that had Adelleine frowning, and she only understood what he meant when he mouthed a word at her.
Later.
“Where were ye?” Fergus asked, pulling Adelleine’s attention back to himself.
“I had to play with those lairds, my sweet,” Adelleine told him, as she ruffled his hair, “And wouldn’t you know it . . . they are so dull! I would much rather spend the night with you, but you know how your father has to stay with them, don’t you? Well . . . I had to stay with them tonight, too. But now I’m here, and I’ll tell you a story, and you’ll go to sleep.”
“I dinnae want to,” Fergus said, looking up at her with the saddest eyes that she had ever seen on a human before. It was all a ruse, of course. Fergus would give her that look every single time he wanted something from her. “I want to play.”
“We’ll play tomorrow,” Adelleine assured him, “Now, you’ll be a good boy, won’t you? You see, I’m very, very tired tonight.”
“Alright,” Fergus said with a shrug, relenting with more ease than Adelleine would have guessed. Then again, the boy always seemed to relent when someone gave him a proper reason why he couldn’t do something.
Adelleine spent the better part of the following hour telling Fergus his bedtime story, and by the time that she had finished, he was fast asleep. Then, she tucked him under the covers and left his room, heading to her own.
She wondered if Magnus would keep his promise. She wondered if he would come and visit her later that night, once all the lairds and their wives were asleep, once their men were too drunk to know what was happening in the castle, or if he would change his mind once more.
Surely, he wouldn’t, she told herself. Surely, he would come, just like he had promised.
Despite her certainty, when Adelleine reached her room, she wasn’t expecting to see Magnus already there, perched on the edge of her bed.
“You’re here,” she said, for lack of anything better to say.
“Aye,” Magnus said with a nod, standing up and approaching her.
He closed the door behind her gently before he pressed her up against it, and Adelleine could see the fire in his eyes, the need that he had for her. She accepted the kiss that followed with a soft sigh, her eyes fluttering closed as Magnus took her by the hand and led her to the bed, their lips never parting.
Once they were on the bed, Adelleine let Magnus lay her down on the mattress, following his every direction easily. She wanted to feel him everywhere, and her hands reached for his clothes, trying to rip the layers that separated them off, but Magnus stopped her with his own hand.
He brought her hand to his lips. He pressed a kiss on her knuckles, and then pinned both of her wrists on the bed, above her head, as he continued to lavish her with kisses, scattering them around her neck, her cheek, her collarbones. He seemed to hunger for her, Adelleine thought, and that only made her even more desperate for him, for his touch, for his love.
Magnus began to work on her clothes, his fingers undoing all the laces and hooks that held her dress together, kissing every inch of skin that he revealed. By the time he had her naked, Adelleine’s body was on fire, the phantom feel of his lips on her skin sending shivers down her spine.
He didn’t undress himself with the same care. Magnus all but ripped his own garments off, tossing them carelessly aside, and then hooked his hands under the back of Adelleine’s knees, urging her to wrap her legs around his waist.
Adelleine could feel him, a branding iron against her thigh, and when his fingers found that spot between her legs, teasing her, she moaned in pleasure, her own fingers tangling in Magnus’ hair and tugging him closer for a kiss to silence herself.
“Please,” Adelleine whined, high and desperate, her head tilting back as one of Magnus’ fingers slipped inside her, “Please, Magnus.”
“What do ye want?” Magnus asked. “Tell me what ye want.”
“I want you.”
Adelleine’s voice was breathless, barely audible, but Magnus gave her what she wanted.
She gasped when she felt him inside her, a sensation unlike anything she had experienced before. She could feel him everywhere, around her, inside her, his gaze holding her own without breaking for even a moment. It was more than she could handle, every nerve ending in her body stimulated in exquisite torture, and soon, she could feel the heat and the pleasure build up deep inside her, a wave of sensations that she could have never even imagined.
Adelleine could think about nothing in that moment, mindlessly chasing her pleasure, her hips rocking and undulating against Magnus’ own. With every thrust of his hips, Magnus brought her closer to completion, and it didn’t take long until she clutched onto him, nails digging into his skin as she cried out his name, reaching her climax.
Afterwards, Adelleine was hyperaware of everything: the beads of sweat that had gathered on her temple, Magnus’ trembling as he, too, reached his zenith, the timbre of his voice as he whispered her name like a prayer. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to be plunged into that comfortable darkness, and she only opened them once more when she felt Magnus roll off her.
The chill that hit her skin once she wasn’t covered by Magnus’ weight anymore was unpleasant, but he was quick to pull her in his arms and hold her against his chest.
“Will you leave again in the morning?”
It was a question that had been in Adelleine’s mind ever since they had made it to the bed, and she simply couldn’t shake the fear that Magnus would disappear once more, and that he would end up changing his mind about the two of them, just as he had done before.
“No,” Magnus said, “Weel . . . I’ll have to go meet the lairds again, but I willnae regret what we did. I didnae regret it last time, and I certainly willnae regret it the noo. Ye have nothin’ to worry about, Adelleine, I promise ye. I promise ye that nay matter what happens, I willnae be the same fool that I was then.”
Magnus’ words, his promise to her, were enough to soothe her worries. She believed him; she believed him with all her heart, and she knew in that moment that no matter what happened, Magnus would be there, by her side.
“I’m sorry, Adelleine,” Magnus said, after a short stretch of silence, “I’m sorry for everythin’ that I did. Ye didnae deserve such a treatment, nae from me and nae from anyone else.”
“You’re forgiven,” Adelleine assured him, as she rolled over in his arms so that she could look at him, “You’re forgiven, Magnus. I don’t care about what happened. I only care about what’s to follow, and . . . and as long as you’ll have me, I’ll be yours.”
“I should be the one to say that,” Magnus said with a small smile, before he pressed a soft kiss on Adelleine’s lips, “I should be the one askin’ ye if ye’ll have me.”
“Well . . . go ahead, then,” she told him, “Ask me.”
Magnus laughed, a soft, delighted sound. “Will ye have me, Adelleine? Even after I behaved like a bampot?”
“I’ll have you,” she assured him, “And I don’t know what a bampot is, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll have you anyway.”
Magnus smiled at her. It was the kind of smile that Adelleine had never seen before on him, and she liked it. She liked to see him happy, and to know that she was the reason for that happiness.
Magnus had spent too much time wallowing in his grief and his sadness, Adelleine knew. He had spent too much time pushing people away, even people that he loved—Isla, Hendry, his men—and who could have provided him with the support he needed, had he not been as stubborn.
Adelleine didn’t consider herself the only reason why Magnus had changed so much. Perhaps he had simply had the time to heal by then, and Adelleine had been lucky enough to meet him when time had almost healed his wounds, but she gave herself some of the credit, too. Perhaps she could help him heal fully, she thought, and perhaps she could fix the relationship between him and Fergus.
She was getting ahead of herself, though. All that mattered in that moment was that Magnus was there, with her, and that he was going nowhere.
She wouldn’t have been so certain about that, though, had she known about the danger that lurked in that very castle.
