He stood quickly and stalked to where she stood with her hands on her hips, and towered over her. His stance forced her to crane her neck so she could look him in the eye.
“Ye are welcome to go back outside. I willnae stop ye.” He jabbed his finger toward the door.
She crossed her arms defiantly. “Ye have a duty to protect me.”
He wet his lips, nodding. “Aye, I do. But if ye are going to be stubborn and ungrateful and insist ye will be better off someplace other than in a dry shelter in the middle of a raging storm, then dinnae let me hold ye back.”
He spun and returned to the fire, poking at the wee flames that began to sputter. Blowing on them, he added kindling and broke off a piece of sap, throwing it onto the pile with a sizzle.
Refusing to look back at her, he kenned she wouldn’t leave. But when he heard her sniffle, guilt consumed him. He should apologize. He hadn’t meant to be so harsh with her, but she was frustrating. Infuriating really. Stubborn and pig-headed in her ways.
“Ye ken I am only doing my duty to my family. I dinnae ken how many times I have to apologize for taking ye away from yer planned hike. That instead of having the freedom to spend yer days as ye wish, ye are stuck here with me. But ’twasnae my suggestion.”
He laughed bitterly. “Nay, ye only insisted that someone appear and escort ye to yer betrothed.”
Looking back, Rory saw Alana snap her mouth shut.
Aye, she couldn’t deny that fact. He’d heard from the villagers.And his da as well. Alana was quite demanding when her carriage had crashed.
“Ye have nay right to sit there and judge me. Ye arenae in my boots. Ye ken naught of what demands have been placed upon my shoulders.” Her narrowed eyes bore into him.
Rory scoffed. “Ye ken naught of hardship. All that ye have has been given to ye. Showered upon ye.”
Alana laughed in disbelief. “Ye dinnae ken me at all. If ye did, ye would ken that was no’ true. Ye speak of duty. Of honor. Yet ye arenae acting verra honorable in this moment, Rory Hart,” she spat.
Her use of his full name took him aback. This argument was serving no benefit to either of them. But her passionate fight was stirring up something within him that he didn’t want to acknowledge.
Tension hung thick in the air as they stared at each other.
He pushed from the floor and stalked toward her. Planting her feet, she crossed her arms and watched his every step, her mouth set into a firm line, her head cocked to the side.
They were so close. Rory only need to straighten his fingers and he would be curling a tendril of her rain-soaked hair around his hand. Her chest heaved with heavy breaths as anger seeped from every pore in her body. Her cheeks tinged pink.
He wondered what it would be like to pull her close to him. To feel her body mold against his. He kenned it would fit perfectly.
Neither of them moved. They stood in front of each other in a silent stand-off. A duel of emotions being fought betwixt them.
Lightning flashed, and Alana jumped. In the brief illumination, Rory saw another emotion on her face. Not anger. But fiery passion of a different sort.
It mirrored his own look, he was for certs.
One step.
That’s all it would take.
One step and he could wrap her in his arms.
He took a step, but it wasn’t forward, it was backward. And with that step, he crossed his arms as his gaze clashed with hers. He clenched his jaw, irritation flowing through him at the onslaught of conflicting feelings running through his veins and preventing him from thinking rationally.
Dropping into the chair, he broke their eye contact and turned his attention to the fire, which was now burning brightly, heating up the small space.
She settled on the bed, shoulders straight, her eyes also focused on the flames licking up the sides of the hearth.
He didn’t ken how long they stayed that way. Listening to the rage of the storm as it beat against the roof and battered against the walls. A constant rhythm that eventually lulled him into contentment, along with the sounds of the crackling fire.
Whether it did the same to Alana, he couldn’t be sure. He did notice that her breathing had calmed, and she had relaxed her shoulders so she wasn’t sitting as stiffly as afore.
He would take that as a good omen. Even if his own mind was conflicted with what was actually happening betwixt them. Of how she could make him so fiercely angry and so desperately long for her touch at the same time. If he were home at Hartsmoor, it would be a conversation he would have with his older brother, Alpin. The man was currently engaged to be married. He would for certs have some advice for Rory on how to handle this situation.
