Page 40 of Kilted Sins

“I will bet on it,” she said with a smug smile and that seemed to capture Cillian’s attention. He leaned a little closer to her, inquiring eyes peering into hers.

“Will ye?” he asked. “An’ what dae ye desire if ye win?”

“I desire ye tae declare in front o’ everyone that ye were wrong tae doubt me,” Enya said. “An’ an apology in front o’ the clan.”

“Very well,” said Cillian without any hint of hesitation, which could only mean he didn’t think he would lose this bet even for a minute. “Dae ye wish tae ken what I desire?”

“What?” Enya said, already so worked up that it came out as a clipped bark, the sound of her own voice foreign in her ears.

“A kiss.”

For a moment, Enya thought she must have misheard Cillian. Surely, he couldn’t mean it. And yet there he was, looking at her with all the smugness of a man who knew what he wanted and knew he was going to get it.

It was a bad idea. Of course, it was, and yet Enya was not about to back down from a challenge. She would simply have to make sure that she brought something back from the hunt.

“Fine,” she bit out. “But ye’ll be disappointed when I win.”

Cillian only smiled at her and turned on his heel to walk away, which was a much more infuriating response than anything he could have said in return. For a while, Enya could only stand there, seething, while everyone else ate and drank and gathered their arrows, celebrating the holiday and the start of the hunt. She couldn’t find it in herself to celebrate—not only had her interaction with Cillian made her simmer with anger, but she also had a task on which she had to focus. Losing the bet was not an option.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Cillian had known for a while now that his feelings for Thora were not limited to irritation and anger whenever she provoked him. There was so much more to her—so much kindness, so much intelligence, so much beauty… Now he was thinking more positively of the idea of marriage, even though he knew Thora didn’t want him.

But then, when Duncan had put that cursed bough above their heads, she had kissed him and Cillian’s heart had come to a sudden and terrifying halt. Ever since, all he could think about was that kiss; how soft Thora’s lips were against his, how eager he had been to kiss her properly, how nothing she had done to anger him mattered when he could have this.

Asking for a kiss as a reward if he won their bet had been a spur of the moment thing, the words tumbling past his lips before he could think twice about them, but he didn’t regret it. Thora had been stubborn enough to agree and now Cillian was following her closely as their party scattered through the woods, looking for their prey, to make sure that she wouldn’t try to get out of their deal by cheating.

That, and he wanted to keep an eye on her. Hunts could be dangerous, even for seasoned hunters and from what Thora had told him, she had never been on one before. There were boars in that forest, large and vicious when threatened, and Cillian didn’t want to risk Thora coming face to face with one of them all on her own.

As the others spread out farther and farther, Cillian remained close to Thora, though he made sure he would stay undetected, keeping her in his field of vision while also hiding from hers. Besides, he did want to give her a fair chance to win their bet, and so he refrained from becoming a distraction or getting in her way. She was almost silent as she moved, her feet light even as she jumped over thick roots that sprung up through the soil, landing in frosty patches with a grace one could only attain through practice. Watching her was mesmerizing. Cillian had never seen anyone move so effortlessly over difficult terrain, sure-footed and confident. It seemed to him that she moved intuitively, weaving a path that only she could see, as though she was so used to being in the woods that the wilderness was no different from a straight and smooth path.

And then Thora came to a sudden halt, crouching down to examine something by the trunk of a large oak. Cillian hid behind another tree, peeking around its trunk to watch as Thora looked at a small rabbit that had been caught in one of the traps the men had laid. He was about to reveal himself to her, to walk over to her and point out this didn’t count as her bringing back game, but before he could, Thora pulled the trap open to release the creature—only it didn’t move.

Cillian watched as Thora cradled the creature in her hands, pulling it out of the confines of the trap. For a moment, she laid a hand over it, her eyes falling shut, her brows pinched with concern as she simply sat there. Cillian could only assume she was either listening or feeling for something, and after a few moments, her concern was replaced by relief when the rabbit’s foot twitched just slightly, the movement almost imperceptible.

He couldn’t hear what Thora said, but he could see her lips move as she stroked the rabbit’s back to comfort it. It was strange, Cillian thought. The MacDonalds had always been hunters and Cillian had participated in such hunts ever since he was old enough to hold a blade, but he had never considered the game they caught as anything but food. He had animals he loved, of course; he had his beloved horse that he had raised ever since its birth and in the past, when he was a boy, he had had two dogs he had adored. Thora, though, seemed to approach every creature, no matter how small, with the same love and care, and Cillian’s chest filled with a strange warmth as he observed the scene before him.

She truly is very kind.

Taking a step forward, Cillian was about to reveal himself to Thora and try to comfort her about the rabbit that was bound to be close to death, but he stopped dead in his tracks again when he saw her place her palm firmly over the animal. Then there was that same, strange sensation again; the very one he had felt when Thora had tended to his wounds and those Samuel had sustained when he had fallen off the roof all those days prior. The air seemed heavy with something he couldn’t identify, crackling and shifting as if disturbed by an unseen force, the scent of ozone exploding around him and overtaking everything else. Just like the last two times, when Cillian took a better look at Thora, she seemed to be far away, staring unseeing into the distance.

The moment was over as suddenly as it had begun, Thora pulling herself back into her body. Beneath her hand, the rabbit stretched and pawed at her arm, drawing a laugh out of her before she gently placed it on the ground and watched it hop away.

It was as though it had never been harmed. There was nothing in the way it moved to suggest it had been caught in a trap or that it had ever been on the verge of death.

What did she dae?

Cillian couldn’t make sense of what he was witnessing. He couldn’t understand how that rabbit could be suffering one moment and hopping away without a care in the world the next, just because Thora had cradled it in her hands. He couldn’t understand how the very air itself seemed to change all of a sudden at those times.

All he understood was that she had a pure heart and Cillian loved that about her.

Before he could change his mind, Cillian marched up to her. The moment Thora spotted him, the smile was wiped from her lips, replaced by an expression of fear, and she sprung up straight, her stance widening as if she was expecting a fight.

“How long have ye been here?” she demanded as she took a faltering step back.

Cillian didn’t answer her. Instead, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close, capturing her lips in a kiss.

At first, Thora froze against him and he could only think she didn’t want this, but before he could pull back, she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss, her lips moving softly against his. Cillian’s heart thundered in his chest, rattling his ribs, climbing all the way up to his throat. No woman had ever had such an effect on him before. No woman had ever made him feel as though he was on the verge of a heart attack or like he would rather have one instead of cutting the kiss short.