Page 10 of Loving the Blacksmith
Sven let out a burst of laughter. “You will do for her what you will not do for me, I see,” he said, reversing back to Norse. “Well, I cannot say I blame you. She’s quite a pretty?—”
“Shut your mouth,” Magnus snarled in the same language. “And if I see you put your hand, or even just a finger on her ever again, I will cut it and feed it to my dog. Is that understood?”
The outburst was so unprecedented that Sven did not even think to smirk. Satisfaction swelled within Magnus. Why had he not done that before? It was not so difficult to put his brother back in his place.
“Understood. Now, shall we go and see Wolf? What I have to tell him will be of interest to you.”
“You go. I’ll join you in a moment.”
First, he had to prepare a pallet for Agnes in his hut. At the idea of her sleeping so near him, his body gave a jolt.Anotherjolt, he should say. He seemed to be constantly aroused around her.
That decided him.
Instead of joining her as quickly as possible, as he would have liked to do, he would stay drinking and talking with Wolf and Sven long into the night. He would wait until she was safely asleep before going back home. That way he would not risk doing something stupid, like pouncing on her as soon as she looked at him in that way she had of looking at him.
Yes.
That was what he would do. Talk to distract his mind from thoughts of Agnes, drink to dull the edge of the desire he felt for her, and hope it worked.
CHAPTER FOUR
The moon was high in the sky when Magnus finally made his way back to his hut. His plan had worked. It was the middle of the night. By now Agnes should be asleep, safe in the corner he had prepared for her, as far away from his pallet as it was possible to be while staying within the confines of the hut.
Careful not to wake her, he opened the door inch by inch. Nothing. He let out a silent sigh of relief. She was sleeping, as he’d hoped, and not standing stark naked in the middle of the room. It was safe to come in. Avoiding looking in the corner in case a beam of moonlight revealed a part of her all too tempting body, he collapsed onto his bed—and almost flattened the woman lying on it.
“Agnes!” He instantly rolled off her, shock radiating from his every pore. “What are you doing here?”
“Magnus?” She sounded bewildered, as if he’d just woken her, nervous, as if she feared his intent, and slightly breathless, as if he’d crushed her under this bulk. A dreadful combination. “You t-told me to sleep in your hut tonight, don’t you remember?”
“Of course I remember. But I didn’t mean you should sleep in my bed!” He sounded gruffer than he wanted but his control was hanging by a thread. Feeling her warm, soft body under him had been a shock he’d not been prepared for.
“I’m sorry, I thought that one was your bed?” She gestured at the pallet in the corner.
“No. That’s the one I prepared for you.” He had piled it high with blankets and furs to make it as comfortable and inviting as possible. How had she not guessed this would be the one allocated to her? He was a man, he didn’t need all that comfort around him.
“Forgive me. I’ll go to it then, and leave you to sleep in your own bed.”
His hand shot out of its own accord. When his fingers made contact with her wrist they wrapped around it like a shackle. Her impossibly delicate, fragile wrist. He forced himself to ease the grip. “No, Agnes. Stay. Please.”
There was a pause while she absorbed what he’d said. All he could see in the darkness was her shadowy form, all he could hear was his heart drumming in his chest. What would she do now? Would she scream and flee in fright at the demand? To his relief, she did neither.
Instead she asked. “Why do you want me to stay?”
He had no answer to that question. He had no idea where the request had come from, because he was not drunk, and he certainly had no intention of taking advantage of the fact that they would sleep next to one another. “I don’t know. It just feels right to have you here with me. You have nothing to fear, I swear I won’t take advantage of you.”
She stared at him, her eyes glittering in the moonlight. Had he ever seen a more beautiful woman, he wondered for the hundredth time? He might have, but not a more compelling one.
“I believe you,” she said eventually.
“So you will stay?”
“Yes.”
A joy the likes of which he’d never felt before, quiet and all the more perfect for it, spread through his chest. “Let me go get more blankets and furs from the other pallet, so you can be comfortable.”
“I already am.”
Ignoring her protests, he stood up and went to the other side of the room. He would not have her inconvenienced in any way. When he came back, he made a nest for her, next to his sleeping place. She lay on it without hesitation and closed her eyes. Feeling more content than he had ever felt, he settled himself next to her.
