Page 48 of Married to the Highland Devil
“Beautiful?” she cut in, then laughed. “You do not need to flatter me, Duncan.”
“Yer bonnie,” he said then came close to her and pressed a kiss to her right cheek. She breathed out loudly then let him take her hand and walk her to the exit of the keep.
Amelia loved the heavy gust of wind that hit her face as they galloped away, and soon, she released a low laugh that tumbled through the air and merged with his.
It was the first time she had heard him laugh in a while, and she needed to keep that in her memory. They did not stop riding until they got to the edge of the cliff, and he helped her dismount the saddle then led her to the edge of the cliff.
“I love it here,” Duncan said to Amelia after they spent the first few minutes in silence. He loved the chill in the air and the way it tickled his nostrils.
Amelia wished she could see him at that moment. She angled her head towards him, and squinted, hoping the shadows she saw could grant her a better view of his face. All she could see were the blur lines and the hard set of his chin.
Her heart raced wildly, and the erratic feel in her pulse made it even worse. “I love standin’ here with ye,” she said and then tightened her grip on his hand.
“Me too.”
“It feels like it will rain, though.”
“I can smell it,” he said and felt his gaze on her face. Amelia’s skin prickled, and she punched his shoulder lightly. “Why are you looking at me?”
“I am just tryin’ to figure ye out.”
“Figure me out?”
“Aye. I want to understand how ye…”
“You want to know how I live through each day even though I don’t have my sight.” Amelia smiled, and when he did not object, she continued, “You are not the first man to wonder about that, Duncan. All the other men my father wanted me to wed ran or pretended not to know I was the Duke’s daughter when they found out about my sight.”
“That must have been hard.”
Amelia shrugged. “No, it was not. It was not always like this.”
She hated that he would pity her if she told him her story. He already called her beautiful because he felt she needed to hear it.
“You do not need to pity me, Duncan. My eyes are not something that I hate. If anything, I have embraced it. I might not see everythin’, but my other senses are heightened. I can smell, I can touch… I can…”
“This isnae about me pityin’ ye,” Duncan said to her and touched her arm. “This is about me carin’ about ye, Amelia. I do care about ye.”
“Duncan, you do not have to pretend to care about me. You wanted my help, and I will help you and your clan. You do not have to pretend…”
“This isnae pretense,” he countered, and this time, he steered her around, so she was facing him.
The move made her gasp. Her right hand moved to his chest, and she could feel the steady beat of his heart.
“Do ye think I dinnae care about ye? Do ye think that I stay from ye because I think yer incomplete? Or that I pity ye?”
“You stay from me because you do not want me,” she managed to reply, ignoring the heavy thud of her heart. “You stay from me because you feel guilty about using me for my dowry and also pity me.” Her tone had risen a notch, and the heat tunneling through her made her chest rise and fall with an intensity she has never felt.
Amelia had never felt anything like this. With Duncan, it was all new. She wanted to kiss him, hug him, and spend the night in his arms. She wanted to be his wife, but she could not because he did not want that, and she did not know the slightest thing about being a wife.
All she could do was live through each day with her herbs and her flowers.
Alone. I have always been alone.
“I stay away from ye because ye drive me insane,” Duncan yelled back, interrupting her thoughts. “I stay away from ye because ye make me feel this intense need. I want to spend every minute of every day with ye… I want to hear ye laugh…”
He touched her chin, and as his finger trailed down her neck, she sighed and tilted her head to one side to give him better access.
“Do ye even ken all the things ye do to me?” he questioned, his tone hoarse. Amelia did not think she had ever heard him sound like that before.
