Ian studied her closely. His expression remained composed, yet suspicion flickered faintly behind his eyes. He leaned one hand against the edge of the table, effectively blocking her path away from it. He placed his hand on her waist and pulled her to him.
“What are ye doin'?” she gasped.
“Tell me truthfully, Arianna,” he said. “Why are ye here at this hour?”
The question struck like a blade. Her anger rose instantly to meet the desire twisting inside her chest. She could feel his hard chest against her bosom. She wanted nothing more than to lose herself to him in this moment.
I want him to kiss me… but I cannae stray from me mission. Not when I am so close.
“I was lookin' for something to read,” she said sharply. “Since ye have rendered me rather useless elsewhere in this castle.”
Ian’s jaw flinched. “Useless?” he repeated.
“Aye.” Her voice carried more bitterness than she intended. “I am a wife who cannae trust her own husband and a lady who is clearly unwelcome in council matters. That leaves precious little for me to occupy me time.”
Ian straightened slowly. “Ye think I’ve done this to spite ye?”
“I think ye’ve done many things without tellin' me the truth.”
His eyes darkened. “I told ye the truth.”
“And I told ye I didnae believe it,” she said.
Ian removed his hand from her waist. Arianna stepped back. She released a breath she didn’t know she held.
Silence fell heavily between them. The candlelight flickered against the stone walls as tension coiled thickly in the air. Ian paced a little, then stepped closer, his presence filling the space with quiet intensity.
“Ye avoid me for days,” he said quietly. “Then I find ye alone in the library in the middle of the night studyin' maps.”
Arianna forced herself to meet his gaze. “Books. I am reading books. Ye make it sound scandalous.”
“It feels suspicious,” he said.
Her breath caught. “Must everythin' I do now be questioned? Ye are the one that held a secret from me, nae I.”
Ian leaned slightly closer, lowering his voice. “When me wife behaves like a stranger in our own home… aye, I will have questions.”
The closeness of him unsettled her more than she wished to admit. Heat radiated from his body, stirring memories of the quiet moments they had once shared before distrust poisoned everything between them.
Arianna hated that part of her still noticed.
“Perhaps if me husband had been honest from the beginnin',” she said quietly, “I wouldnae feel like a stranger.”
Ian exhaled slowly. “I was honest.”
“A convenient honesty,” she said, stepping closer.
His eyes flashed. “I’ve fought battles for this clan since I was a lad,” he said firmly. “I’ve defended these lands with blood and steel. Yet somehow ye believe I’d stoop to trickery to gain a few fields from yer brother.”
“Perhaps nae fields,” Arianna replied softly. “But power.”
The words lingered heavily between them.
“Ye truly believe that of me?” Ian's voice was lower.
Arianna did not answer. Her silence spoke loudly enough. Ian’s hand tightened against the table.
“God’s bones,” he muttered. He turned away briefly, dragging a frustrated hand through his hair. When he faced her again, the anger in his eyes had been joined by something deeper.
