“And yet,” he murmured, “ye’re blushin’.”
“That is the sun,” she insisted. She shot him a look that would have felled a lesser man. He only chuckled, setting her foot carefully back upon the log.
“Ye frightened me,” he admitted more quietly now.
Her expression shifted, indignation fading. “I didnae mean to.”
“I ken that,” he said. “But when I heard ye scream… I thought the worst.”
Her voice softened. “Ye thought I was attacked?”
“Aye.”
“And ye would have…?”
“Burned the forest down to find who did it,” he said without hesitation.
Silence stretched between them, charged and fragile.
“Ye cannae protect me from every hole in the earth,” she said gently.
“Nay,” he agreed. “But I’ll try.”
She smiled faintly at that, though she attempted to hide it. “Ye’re overbearing.”
“Aye,” he said again. “But I’m yer husband.”
The word hung between them, heavier now. He rose slowly, brushing dirt from his hands.
“Stay put,” he instructed once more.
She lifted her chin. “I will though I resent the command. Ye daenae have to keep repeating it.”
“I expect no less,” he replied.
She sat upon the log with her hair tangled and her cheeks still flushed, stubborn and fierce and very much alive.
And Ian knew, with a certainty that settled deep into his bones, that he would not endure a world where that fire in her was extinguished.
“Rest it for the day, and ye’ll be walkin’ about tomorrow as though naught happened.”
Arianna tilted her head, mischief sparking in her eyes despite the dirt smudged across her cheek. “If I must stay off me foot,” she said slowly, “that means ye must be at me beck and call.”
He arched a brow. “Must I?”
“Aye,” she replied, settling back against the log as though it were a throne. “I am injured, after all.”
A slow grin spread across his face. He rose to his full height and gave her an exaggerated bow, sweeping his arm wide. “I am at yer service, Lady McGuire.”
She lifted her chin regally. “See that ye remember it.”
“As me lady commands,” he said solemnly, though amusement danced in his eye.
He reached into one of the leather bags and withdrew a small flask, uncorking it with a practiced twist. “Here,” he said, offering it to her. “This will ease the pain.”
She accepted it with exaggerated grace. “How thoughtful of me servant.”
“Daenae grow too fond of the role,” he warned lightly.
