Page 24 of Kilted Abduction

“Would it dae ye any harm tae tell me what clan ye belong tae?”

She sighed, exasperated. “Dae ye always answer questions with a bleedin’ question?”

“Dae ye think I dae?”

Ciara threw her head back and let out a howl of frustrated outrage, making Magnus laugh. She glowered at him over her shoulder, a snarl upon her lips.

“So, this is funny then, eh?” she growled.

“Aye. A wee bit, yeah.”

“I see nothin’ funny about it.”

“Then ye’re nae lookin’ hard enough.”

She stopped on the path and spun around, sneering at Magnus with the light of her fury making her eyes practically glow. A lock of her golden hair spilled down over her face and no amount of trying to shake it away helped so Ciara raised her bound hands and awkwardly brushed it back, which only seemed to enrage her further.

“If I had me hands free, I’d beat ye tae death in a fair fight.”

“Doesnae give me much incentive tae fight fair then, does it?”

She opened her mouth, no doubt to deliver another barrage of verbal abuse, but before she was able to speak, a hard crash of thunder split the sky overhead, making them both flinch. Magnus looked up and frowned. The clouds he could see through the thick canopy of tree boughs above them were black and foreboding. They were out of time.

“We need tae go,” he said. “Now.”

For the first time since he’d met her, Ciara seemed to be at a loss for words. She looked concerned and seemed to understand the gravity of the situation they were facing—the storm they’d been trying to stay ahead of had caught up with them.

“Well, this is a fine mess ye’ve gotten us intae,” she finally snapped.

“Me? How is this me fault?”

She held her bound hands up and glared at him like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. “If ye’d nae kidnapped me, we wouldnae be here right now, about to freeze tae death.”

Magnus frowned. “If ye’d just come along like I’d asked instead of runnin’ all about like a fool, we’d have had a better head start on that storm.”

“Are ye really goin’ tae blame me fer us bein’ here right now? Are ye really?”

“If I hadnae had tae chase you across half the Highlands?—”

“Ye kidnapped me! What did ye expect? Fer me tae just let ye take me?”

Magnus opened his mouth to respond then realized how ridiculous anything he was thinking about saying sounded. He had abducted her, of course, she was going to fight. For him to think otherwise was just plain foolish. Or perhaps the height of arrogance. Magnus gave himself a small shake. There would be plenty of time to think it over later. Right now, they had to shelter with that storm bearing down on them.

“So, what’s yer plan?” Ciara mocked.

A gust of wind whistled through the trees, so cold and biting, Magnus sucked in a breath. He kept his shivering under controlbut knew that was just a preview of what was to come. It was about to get very cold, very fast.

“Well?” she snapped, her breath a steamy plume.

She was trying to hide it, but Magnus could see she was shivering. Despite her thick cloak, she looked like she was already freezing. And it was only going to get worse.

“Hush, woman. Bleedin’ hell, ye chirp on more than a steamin’ magpie,” Magnus snapped.

She recoiled like he’d just slapped her, but it accomplished his goal. She fell silent.

“Come on. Let’s go.”

“And where are we goin’?”