Chapter Thirteen #2
Aye, maybe she could at that, but that didn’t mean her safety was any less Arran’s responsibility. That she would disregard it so readily made fury and fear course through his veins in equal measure.
He stepped closer until they were less than an arm’s length apart. Jenna glared up at him, chin lifted, fists clenched, eyes flashing with defiance.
“While ye are a guest in my home,” Arran said in a deathly quiet voice. “Ye will abide my rules. Is that clear?”
“And if I don’t? What will you do, oh mighty caveman? Thow me over your shoulder and carry me away?”
God give him strength! He would like nothing more than to do that very thing.
“Dinna tempt me, woman,” he growled. “I dinna know what ye mean by ‘caveman’ but throwing ye over my shoulder seems very appealing right now.”
“Ha! I’d like to see you try!”
She pushed past him, but as she did so, Arran grabbed her arm, yanked her back towards him, and kissed her fiercely.
He didn’t know how it happened. He hadn’t meant to do it. He only knew that his blood was suddenly roaring, his skin was suddenly tingling, and he was powerless to do anything but kiss her, kiss her like his life depended on it.
For an instant, she went rigid, and he expected her to push him away, or slap him, or both. She did neither. After her initial moment of shock, she leaned against him, her arms went around his neck, and she kissed him back, just as passionately as he was kissing her.
Everything around Arran evaporated. He was no longer aware of the sea lapping at the shore just a few feet away, or the driftwood beneath his feet. He could no longer feel the breeze or hear the call of night birds. The only thing that existed was her.
He pressed his hands into the small of her back, pushing her against him.
Heat raged through him, desire and longing, and a hundred other different emotions that he couldn’t identify.
Jenna filled his senses. All he could feel were her warm lips.
All he could taste was her tongue as it danced with his own.
All he could smell was the soft scent of her hair as it swirled around him.
But then a branch suddenly snapped behind them and they sprang apart as if stung. Arran whirled, drawing his claymore from across his back and gripping it two-handed as he crouched in front of Jenna, eyes scanning the darkness.
Two bright pinpoints of light regarded him from the shadows and it took a moment for him to realize they were eyes. The eyes blinked and then disappeared and he caught sight of a fox’s bushy tail as it disappeared back into the night.
Arran let out a long breath and straightened, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.
“Naught to worry about. Just a fox.”
Jenna swallowed thickly. “Right. Just a fox. Great.”
She glanced up at him, biting her lip in a way that made him want to kiss her again. Hell, just the sight of her made him want to kiss her again and do much more besides. He wanted to lay her down in the sand and make her his. He wanted to hear her moaning his name.
But the moment had passed. Jenna wrapped her arms around herself and took a step back. Away from him. Her lips were swollen from their kiss and there was a faint blush to her cheeks, but she looked uncertain now, as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened between them.
God help him, he couldn’t believe what had just happened between them. Had he completely lost his mind? What had possessed him to kiss her? She was a MacFinnan spellweaver for pity’s sake!
And yet… he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. He would do it again if he could.
“I… um…” he stammered.
“We should be getting back,” she said, cutting him off.
“Um. Aye. We should.”
They climbed the trail up from the beach and began the trek back to Dun Tabor. Neither of them spoke. They walked for perhaps twenty minutes until the silence became too much for Arran to bear.
“Ye still havenae explained why ye came out here alone.”
She opened her mouth for a retort but then her shoulders slumped and she let out a long sigh. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Nay, lass. It isnae.”
She stared out into the darkness for a while. “Because I didn’t want everyone to see me fail again,” she replied at last. She looked over at him. “I didn’t want you to see me fail again.”
His breath hitched. He stopped, forcing her to do the same, and looked down at her. “Is that what this is about? Ye think ye have somehow failed?”
“Of course, I have! You were there; you saw what happened. I’m supposed to be this all-powerful spellweaver, aren’t I?
I’m supposed to know what to do. Half your people are terrified of me and the other half seem to think I’m some kind of messiah!
” She wrung her hands. “I promised I would save Skye and so many people are depending on me. If I can’t figure it out, what will happen to them?
And if I can’t fix it, I won’t get paid, then I’ll lose my house, and he will have won, and I’ll have nothing! ”
It was the most vulnerable he’d ever seen her.
Gone was the confident, headstrong spellweaver and in her place was just Jenna MacFinnan, a young woman tossed into a world not her own who was trying her best to make sense of it.
She looked scared and lost and riddled with self-doubt.
Arran’s heart clenched at the sight. In that moment he ached to take her into his arms and tell her that everything was going to be all right.
But he didn’t. Instead, he put his finger under her chin and lifted it until she was forced to meet his gaze.
“Listen to me. I dinna know what troubles ye face in yer own time but I know this: Jenna MacFinnan, ye are the most remarkable woman I have ever met. Ye are strong and brave and like a firebrand that’s been tossed into our lives.
I dinna think anyone on Skye has ever seen yer like nor will again.
Ye shouldnae be surprised that half my people fear ye and the other half are in awe of ye. I often feel that way myself.”
A faint smile curled her lips. “Ah, so you’re not as stupid as you look then?”
“Aye, I’m every bit as stupid as I look, lass.
I think I must be if I ever thought I could order a MacFinnan spellweaver around.
I shouldnae have shouted, but I was afeared for ye.
Regardless of what ye may think, yer safety is my responsibility now, and I swore I would let no harm come to ye.
I will keep that promise, Jenna, if it’s the last thing I do. ”
She gazed up at him and he could see starlight reflected in her emerald eyes. “And I didn’t make that exactly easy for you by sneaking out, did I?”
“Nay, lass. Ye didnae. And there was no need to take such a risk in the first place because there isnae a single person on this island, me included, who thinks ye are a failure. The magic has been broken for many years. It’s unreasonable to think it could be mended in a day.
” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’ve no doubt ye will succeed, lass.
Lir wouldnae have sent me to ye otherwise. I trust her judgment, and I trust ye.”
Tears gathered in the corners of Jenna’s eyes, sparkling like diamonds. She dashed them away angrily. “I think I preferred it when you were shouting at me. Now I feel doubly bad for sneaking out. How about we forget tonight ever happened and go on as before, eh?”
There was one part of tonight that Arran most definitely did not want to forget. In fact, if he had his way, they would reenact that part many times over. But it seemed Jenna did not feel the same.
He had to force out words. “Aye. We’ll forget it ever happened.”
They set off once more, and neither spoke as they walked back to Dun Tabor, Jenna seemingly lost in thought, Arran spending his time scanning the darkness for danger.
Finally, the gates of Dun Tabor came into view and Arran found the walls ablaze with torches and guards on high alert along the battlements.
“Stand down,” he shouted as he and Jenna reached the gates. “All is well.”
His men were obviously full of questions, but were wise enough not to voice them.
Arran led the way back into the keep and escorted Jenna up to her room. She paused at the threshold and turned to face him. “I… I… thank you for coming to look for me. I can’t remember the last time anyone was so concerned for my wellbeing—other than my aunts.”
Arran forced himself to keep his arms by his sides, resisting the urge to run a thumb down her cheek. She was so close that all it would take would be the slightest movement, just a tiny step forward, and she could be in his arms. It took all of his willpower to remain where he was.
“Ye are welcome. Well, good night, lass.”
“Good night, Arran.”
He stared at her a moment longer, then turned and strode away.