Highlander’s Frozen Heart by Shona Thompson

Chapter Five

Magnus was already in his undergarments, having removed his clothes for a night of sleep, when he heard the knock on the door. It was a soft, gentle knock, unlike the knocks of his men, which he had grown to know well while they were all travelling together, and so he could only think that it was one of the women in the house.

His first bet was Victoria. Charming as the woman was, Magnus hadn’t failed to notice that she was also rather flirtatious with him, and it wouldn’t surprise him to see her at the other side of the door, eager for a night visit.

For a moment, he considered pretending to be fast asleep and not answering the door. He didn’t want to deal with whatever it was that Victoria wanted. When there was another knock, though, one that was more insistent than the previous one, he couldn’t simply ignore it.

Perhaps something was wrong, he thought. Perhaps Victoria had a good reason for disturbing him.

When he opened the door, Magnus realised that he had guessed wrong. It wasn’t Victoria on the other side of the door, but rather Adelleine, standing there with a stony expression on her face.

“Adelleine . . . is everythin’ alright, lass?” he asked her, but she didn’t reply.

Instead, she simply walked into the room, and Magnus closed the door behind her before turning to face her.

“I need to tell you something,” she said, “Well . . . not tell you, but ask you.”

Magnus frowned at that, his brows furrowing together as he looked at Adelleine. “Sure . . . ye can ask me anythin’.”

“I wish to come with you,” she said, without missing a beat, “I wish to come with you tomorrow, when you leave.”

To say that it was a shock would be quite the understatement for Magnus. He had spent the entire day thinking that Adelleine had a good life there with her aunt, and that there was no reason to worry about her. He had seen first-hand that she was quite content with her life, and having her there, claiming that she wanted to leave with him, left him speechless.

“I know it may sound odd to you,” Adelleine said, “But I have my reasons for wishing to leave.”

“And what would those reasons be?” Magnus asked, “I thought ye were happy here. Is it the money?”

Adelleine scoffed at that, rolling her eyes at Magnus, and it didn’t take long for him to realise that he had made a mistake suggesting such a thing. What else was he supposed to think, though? After all, it wouldn’t be the first time that someone had tried to go after his wealth.

“No, it’s not the money,” Adelleine assured him, “It’s my Aunt Victoria. Well . . . not her, but what she wants to do. She wants me to marry a terrible man. He . . . he is a baron, and he has been very kind to our family, he has helped my aunt with her debt, and he has helped her raise me and my cousins.”

“He sounds like a good man to me,” Magnus said, “Why dinnae ye wish to marry him? He’s a baron. It sounds to me like yer life with him will be much better than a life that ye could have with any lad from this town.”

“I don’t wish to marry any man from this town, either,” Adelleine informed him, “In fact, I don’t know if I wish to marry at all right now, but what I do know is that I don’t wish to marry for money. I wish to marry for love, and I haven’t found love yet.”

Magnus had to admit that it was rather admirable of Adelleine to want to love the man she would marry. Other women would jump at an opportunity to marry a baron, even if it meant that they would have a loveless marriage.

She was also stubborn, though, much like her brother. Magnus hadn’t married his late wife for love, but he had grown to love her throughout the years. He had fallen madly in love with her within the first year of their marriage, after he had gotten to know her better, and even though their marriage had been one of convenience at first, it didn’t mean that it had stayed that way.

“Ye might end up lovin’ him more than ye can imagine noo,” Magnus pointed out, “That is what happened with me and me wife. I loved her dearly.”

“Loved?” Adelleine asked with a frown, “What about now?”

“She’s dead noo.”

There was still some grief behind those words every time that Magnus spoke them. It had been years since her death, but he still thought about her every single day.

“Oh . . . I am very sorry,” Adelleine said, and for a moment, her bravado seemed to fade, to melt into pity.

Magnus didn’t like it when people looked at him with pity, though.

“It’s alright, lass,” he assured her, eager to put an end to that conversation, “But ye may be as lucky as I was. Ye may end up lovin’ him.”

“Yes,” Adelleine agreed, “Or I may end up spending the rest of me life in misery. I’m not a laird . . . I’m not a baron, I’m not a man. What am I supposed to do if he’s not the kind of person that he claims to be? I wouldn’t be able to leave him then. I wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

Magnus certainly couldn’t argue with that. He couldn’t deny that it would be easier for the baron to escape a loveless marriage than it would be for Adelleine.

“And besides . . . my aunt is using me as payment for her debts,” Adelleine added before Magnus could say anything, “By marrying me, the baron buys me. I’ll be nothing more than his property, to use as he wishes. It’s not a life I wish to lead.”

Magnus sighed, running a hand through his hair. Adelleine was certainly facing a dire situation, but he couldn’t simply take her from her home, even if she was asking him to do so. Running away was hardly a good solution, and besides, he didn’t want to be involved into something that could turn into a serious dispute between him and a baron.

It didn’t become a laird to be involved in scandals, after all.

“Adelleine . . . I cannae take ye with me,” Magnus said, deciding that the best way to deal with the situation was to try and reason with her, “Ye cannae simply leave yer entire life behind. Ye cannae leave yer aunt, yer cousins, yer home . . . how can ye ask me to take ye with me?”

In a moment, Adelleine’s entire demeanour seemed to change. Though she didn’t become hostile, Magnus could see that she wasn’t happy with his decision, and that she had suddenly turned cold and distant, her gaze piercing and full of blame for a future that she didn’t even know she would have.

“My brother asked you to see if I’m well,” Adelleine reminded him, “It was his last wish and you came all the way from the Highlands to fulfil it. You know now that I’m not well, but you won’t do anything about it.”

“Yer brother has nothin’ to do with this,” Magnus hissed.

He had been expecting Adelleine to bring up Jacob during their argument, but he was still disappointed to have his suspicion confirmed. In his mind, what Jacob had asked him to do and what Adelleine was asking from him were two completely different things. Jacob had asked him to make the trip to Dalelry to ensure that Adelleine was doing well, and it seemed to him that she was doing better than well; she was about to be married to a baron.

On the other hand, having Adelleine ask him to take her with him was simply impossible. It wasn’t about her wellbeing, but rather about her own stubbornness.

Magnus took a deep breath. He didn’t want to argue with Adelleine, especially when there were other people in the house who could hear them. He simply wanted to make her see reason, and to show her that there were better options than running away.

“Have ye even tried convincing yer aunt to nae continue with the wedding?” he asked her.

“You think I didn’t object to it?” Adelleine all but growled, her lips curling back into a snarl, “I objected from the very first moment. It doesn’t matter to Aunt Victoria. She’ll sooner see me marry that beast than have me in this house for another year.”

“Ye can try and delay the wedding, then,” Magnus suggested, “I can help ye find a proper solution in the meantime, one that doesnae involve runnin’ away from yer own home.”

“But I want to run away!” Adelleine insisted, raising her voice before she clamped a hand over her mouth. For a moment, the two of them stayed silent, listening for any commotion outside the room, but it seemed that Adelleine hadn’t managed to wake up anyone. “I want to run away,” she repeated, this time in a low whisper, “I . . . I have some money. Jacob has sent it to me throughout the years, and I have saved up most of it. If it’s an issue of money, then I will gladly give it to you if you take me with you.”

Magnus couldn’t help but scoff at that, the mere thought of needing Adelleine’s money being absurd to him. “I’m a laird,” he reminded her, “I dinnae need yer money.”

“What is it, then?” she asked him, “I . . . I will happily work in the castle. All I’m asking for is a roof over my head and some food. That’s all I need, and I’ll do any work that needs to be done.”

“It isnae about that,” Magnus said. He didn’t know what else to say to convince Adelleine that her idea wasn’t a good one, though. How could he possibly explain to her that there were better options when she refused to even listen to him?

He didn’t have time to say anything else, though, before Adelleine reached for the collar of her dress, her hands tugging at the stiff fabric until it gave, exposing her breasts.

For a brief moment, Magnus wondered if Adelleine had planned it, if she had unlaced her corset just enough before coming to see him, so that she could easily bare herself to him, as a tightly laced corset would make it impossible. But then, his gaze fell on the swell of Adelleine’s breasts, and then he simply couldn’t form a thought or tear his gaze away, even as she approached him, stopping only when they were almost touching.

“Is this what you want?” she asked him, her voice barely a whisper, “Is this what you’re after? Because if this is what it takes for you to take me with you, then I’ll do it.”

The nausea that gripped Magnus left him reeling, and he stumbled backwards, his gaze finally moving back up to Adelleine’s eyes. It angered him to know that this was what she thought of him. It angered him to see her like that, and he knew that his anger must have shown on his face, if Adelleine’s reaction was anything to judge by.

She, too, stumbled backwards when she saw the look on his face, her arms coming up to cover her naked breasts as much as she could. Her eyes were wide, apologetic, and though Magnus knew that he didn’t have to say anything to her for her to know just how wrong she was, he still wanted to.

“What do ye take me for, hmm?” he hissed, and now it was his turn to snarl at her, fists clenching by his sides, “Is that the kind of man that ye think I am? Ye think that if ye let me bed ye, I’ll do whatever ye want?”

“No, I—”

“Dinnae speak,” Magnus growled, “Dinnae say anythin’ to me. I dinnae wish to hear anythin’ else from ye, do ye understand? Leave me room in this instant.”

Adelleine didn’t argue. Instead, she simply held onto her garments, covering herself up in a hurry, before she was out of the room without another word.

Magnus threw himself on the bed once Adelleine was gone, his hands coming up to rub his face. He was furious, offended by Adelleine’s assumptions, and something else, something much worse.

There was no denying the weight of his member against his thigh. He was aroused.

Magnus groaned, his sounds muffled by his hands that were covering his face. There was no denying that Adelleine was a beautiful woman, and that she had quite the selection of impressive assets, but Magnus couldn’t help but feel ashamed for his reaction.

He shouldn’t be aroused, and he certainly shouldn’t be impressed with how bold the girl was. Still, he had to admit—at least to himself—that there was something about Adelleine, something that left his stomach twisted in knots and his heart beating fast in his chest. It was a feeling that he hadn’t had ever since his wife had perished, and one that he couldn’t have possibly thought that he would find in any other woman.

Magnus decided to swallow every bit of arousal and intrigue that he had for Adelleine. It would do him no good to think about such things, as none of her antics had changed his mind.

He was not going to take her with him. He had done his duty, he had come all the way to Dalelry because Jacob had wanted him to do so, and now he would go home, back to his everyday life. He would perhaps forget about Adelleine eventually, and she would go on to have a good life with her soon-to-be husband.

There was no reason to complicate things.

Magnus went to bed, then, truly exhausted after the long day that he had had. Even so, though, he found himself unable to sleep, his mind occupied by images of Adelleine in various states of undress.

His own mind was traitorous, Magnus thought, but he refused to give in to his base desires. If he would have to spend the entire night awake, chasing away the thought of Adelleine, then he would do so.

He only hoped that Jacob wasn’t watching him from up above. Magnus would hate to have him know about his sudden attraction towards his sister, of all people.