Page 11 of Married to the Highland Devil
That evening Amelia couldn’t sleep, of course. To clear her mind, she went out to the garden and lowered herself to the ground to pick some herbs she could use in making a sleeping potion. She could identify them by their scent, and each time she touched a leaf, she first lifted it to her nostrils to inhale.
Her body remembered the things her eyes could not see.
As Amelia softly touched the petals of the lavender flower with her fingers, a distant memory of the time she had spent with her mother in the garden picking out flowers crossed her mind.
Hannah had liked to spend her time gardening here, and Amelia had grown up watching her tend to herbs and flowers as if it was second nature to her.
She stroked the petals of the flower in her hand then held it close to her face again so she could make out the shape in the dark. Amelia didn’t pay attention to the footsteps approaching this time until she heard the familiar grave tone of Laird McLennan’s voice.
“My Lady,” he called, and she spun around quickly in the direction of his voice. “Careful,” he blurted. “Ye might hurt yerself.”
Amelia squinted a little till she could make out his figure. Her vision remained as blurry as ever, but she could tell he was tall, huge almost, and she felt small standing in his presence. Her heart rose fully, and her pulse did a speedy dive at the same time.
He’s so solid. What would it feel like to have him wrap these arms around my body?
Amelia needed to distract herself from the direction her thoughts were taking, so she extended her hand to him and showed him the flower. “Do you know what flower this is?”
“Lavender,” Duncan said to her, then gently peeled it out of her hands.
His warm touch reached her soul. Amelia didn’t think she had ever felt any sensation as intense as the tingles coursing through her when she felt his fingers brush hers.
She gasped, nibbled on her lower lip, and let her chest heave with the weight of her breath.
“It is such a bonnie flower, Amelia,” he told her, and she imagined he was staring at the petals or inhaling their scent like she would have done. Her name on his lips sounded nice. His gruff tone was breathless, and her nerves jumped because of it.
“You spoke with my father?” she queried after she managed to calm the fast beat of her heart again.
“Aye,” he answered. “We have finalized all that we need to, and we leave for the Highlands tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” she murmured, and a tiny jolt of excitement dashed through her.
“Do ye nae wish to leave tomorrow?”
“Yes,” she answered and nodded her head once. “I have never traveled away from home. I just thought I would have more time here,” she told him. “Since I was nine summers, I have never left the walls of this estate. My father would not let me, so the thought of traveling as far as Scotland is exciting yet… terrifying.”
Amelia twitched her fingers, and the fluttering feeling that filled her stomach settled there, unmoving. She turned away from him and knelt on the ground to pay attention to the flowers, hoping, that way, he would not see how nervous she was.
“Scotland is a lovely place, I assure ye,” Duncan said, and she heard him move. He took her hand before she could object and turned her around. “Walk with me,” he requested as she took the first step and moved closer to him.
“I can only imagine how amazing it must be,” she said to him. “It will be just like you described it? The meadows and the blue skies?”
“Aye,” he answered. “Just like I described it.”
When she didn’t say anything else, he stopped walking and stirred her around to face him. “Do ye always walk alone at night? Is it nae dangerous?”
Amelia believed the hoarseness in his tone was out of concern for her. Besides her father and Lily, whom she considered family, no one else cared to ask her if she could take walks alone or do anything for herself.
“I am quite independent,” Amelia affirmed, and her lips parted in a smile. “I have not always been like this, and it is not as terrible as one might think. I will not be too much of a burden to you, I promise.”
She had meant the last part as a joke, but she felt Duncan squeeze her hand slightly. Had she upset him?
“How do you mean? Ye can see at night?” he asked, not replying to the last part.
“No, not exactly. I can make out shadows and blurred lines but nothing concrete.”
She sensed he wanted to ask more about her condition, but he was holding back. Amelia did not think she would hold back from answering whatever questions he had.
He ought to know what had happened if he was going to marry and spend the rest of his life with her. She felt the urge to touch his face. That way, she could maybe understand what he looked like. The curiosity of not knowing at all made her queasy. Her heart pounded too fast, and her palms were sweaty.
