Page 36 of A Bride for the Icy Highlander
The fire in her… aye, it’s infuriating, but it’s also bonnie.
“Ye’re the only one who speaks to me like that,” he muttered.
Abigail scoffed. “Then maybe yer people are too afraid to tell ye the truth.”
Silence stretched between them, thick and heated. His gaze dropped to her mouth, the memory of their kiss flashing through him like lightning.
“I should hate ye,” he rasped.
“But ye dinnae,” she whispered, her chest heaving.
He clenched his jaw and turned away, cursing under his breath. “Go back to the hall before I do somethin’ I will regret.”
“Regret?” she echoed, her heart stuttering.
But then her anger flared.
“Gladly,” she spat, shouldering him aside and storming off.
Kian stood in the corridor long after she was gone, his heart pounding like a war drum.
She infuriated him, challenged him, made him feel more alive than he had in years. And God help him, he knew he didn’t just want her to help his clan.
He wanted her for himself.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The next day dawned grey and still, the light mist clinging to the windows.
Abigail sat in the small armchair near the hearth, a heavy book open in her lap. Her eyes skimmed over the words, but her mind drifted—never far from thoughts of her home, of him.
Just as she turned a page with a distracted sigh, a gentle knock sounded at the door.
“Enter,” she called, setting the book aside.
The door creaked open to reveal Helena, the healer, her hair tied back and her cheeks flushed from the cold.
“Good mornin’, Abigail,” she greeted brightly. “I thought ye might like some company. It gets lonely in these stone rooms.”
Abigail offered a small smile, genuinely touched. “Aye, that’s kind of ye, Helena. Please, come sit.”
Helena closed the door behind her and crossed the room, lowering herself gracefully into the chair across from her. “I ken what it’s like to be cooped up. I’d go mad without someone to speak to.”
Abigail’s smile faded as she stared into the flames. “I’m used to noise. To laughter. Me sisters never let a day pass without chatter and mischief.”
Helena tilted her head, her expression softening. “Ye miss yer sisters, then?”
Abigail nodded, her eyes stinging, though she refused to let the tears fall. “More than I can say. Even when they drove me mad, they were me heart.”
“I’m sure ye’ll see them again,” Helena said with conviction. “Kian means to use yer presence here to secure an alliance. He’ll reach out to them. He already has, I think.”
At that, Abigail’s stomach twisted. She looked away, her jaw tightening. “Aye, I ken that. I’m just a means to an end.”
Helena frowned. “I didnae mean it like that, lass. I only meant it willnae be forever. Ye’ll be reunited with yer family.”
“I ken,” Abigail said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “It’s… foolish of me, but that stings.”
Helena blinked. “Why would that sting?”
