Page 29 of Highlander's Runaway Seductress
A labored breath left Damien
“Morgana, trust and believe me, ye’re nae the daughter. Ye’ve never been and now I ken why the lass was worried about ye overhearin’ us. Stop this, Morgana, it will nae do ye any good to delude yerself with it. Put it out of yer mind and go on to live yer life.”
Just as Amelie was about to run back to the front, she heard Morgana sneer.
“Because yer takin’Ailsato Dolberry, aye? Ye think that strumpet is her? Daenae make me laugh. She is nae the lass, I am. And she is nae goin’ to love ye like I can.”
Damien was heated, “Morgana, stop. Ye and I never had anythin’. I have never bedded ye and I never will. Ye are nae Amelie McDulah and never will be. Leave it alone. Whatever hairbrained plan ye have—”
“Nay!” Morgana snapped. “Ye think she’s better than me! That’s it, isnae it! Let me tell ye, Damien, she’ll never be better than me. I see how ye look at her—I see it, Damien. Daenae even try to lie to me!”
“This conversation is done and I—”
Having heard enough, Amelie hurried away and got to the cart where Ben was already seated.
“Did ye find him, lass?” he asked.
“Nay,” Amelie lied. “I went around the back to relieve meself instead of goin’ in. I hurried back because I thought he would be here already.”
About three minutes later Damien returned. His face was contorted with anger and his brows were knitted tightly. He helped Amelie into the cart.
“Ye said goodbye?” Amelie asked him, while keeping her tone light.
As Damien swung into the saddle, he said, “Aye.”
Ben looked at her and Amelie managed to shrug, wordlessly saying,I daennae ken what happened.The older man nodded sagely, and instead of speaking to Damien, he turned his attention to Amelie. He asked her about various things, and while Amelie replied to him, her eyes were on Damien.
While Damien led the horse away, he turned to see Morgana in the doorway, but she spun and disappeared back inside the building.
Damien spurred the horse on, and Amelie watched, with hollow pleasure as the building shrank in the distance. When they turned a corner and it vanished completely, she heaved out a breath of relief.
Little by little, Damien’s rigid shoulders began to slacken and soon the tenseness in his face was gone too. She kept chattering about nonsense, saying how she remembered eating a delicious meat pie and how she wanted to taste it again.
“How long do ye think it’ll take for the Laird to see me?” Amelie asked.
“Cannae tell ye that,” Damien shrugged. “I wish I could but I cannae. The best I can hope for is two to three days. What I do need is for ye to try to remember what ye can so the Laird might mirror those memories.”
Settling into a corner of the cart, Amelie kept the rest of her worries about Morgana to herself and tried to think of the dreams she had about the fishpond, and the man staring down at her. They ate while they traveled, and she and Damien kept an eye out for any place they could use to shelter for the night ahead.
When Ben woke from his naps, he pointed out a few places, a thick copse of trees or an overhang of rocks but Damien rejected them. It was only when dusk was falling and Amelie was getting desperate with the fear of sleeping in the snow that Damien spotted a cave.
The black chasm in the side of a hill looked a bit daunting but after Damien found shelter for Morag, he quickly built a fire inside while Amelie and Ben stayed outside. She had to duck her head under the low-hanging lip when entering the cave but felt relief at not having to sleep in the snow. The fire lit the chamber and as she explored it, found that it was not so bad.
It had a fair size, with two sections to the left that dug into the rock further, and the first hollow was wide enough for them to sleep in side-by-side, but the one behind it was even larger. While Amelie and Ben laid down their temporary bedding Damien said he was going to sleep at the front just to be sure that no animals or any intruders would come in.
“Foxes could come in after sensin’ the heat,” Damien explained while they made up their beds. “God forbid snakes do as well.”
Ben clapped a hand on Damien’s shoulder. “Ye’re a good lad. I’ll see ye on the morrow.”
Feeling tired herself, Amelie went to her makeshift pallet and laid down as well. Her worries were heavier than she had felt before. The concern about Morgana and her fear about facing the Laird of Dolberry dragged her into an uneasy sleep, causing very disturbing dreams that jolted her out of her sleep a few hours later.
Ben was resting peacefully, his soft snores now familiar to Amelie, but she knew the one person who could comfort her now. She moved away from the bed and padded over the sandy floor, past the first hollow to the front where Damien sat against the rocky wall and lazily poked the fire with a stick.
His eyes landed on her then back to the fire. “Ye should be sleepin’.”
“So should ye,” Amelie replied quietly. “I doubt anythin’ is goin’ to come in the cave. Why daenae ye get some rest?”
“I cannae,” he said shortly. “T’would be remiss of me to sleep while there is a chance ye can get hurt. Why are ye up? Another bad dream?”
