Page 31 of A Sinful Night with a Scot
“Are ye scared o’ the dark?” Elsie quipped.
The laird smirked at her as he took hold of her waist and lifted her onto her mare. Looking up at her, he said, “There are far more things that should scare ye than the dark. Like me, fer example.”
He gave her a brooding look, and again, Elsie felt her stomach clench and her pulse jump. How did such a threat make her body react like that? It was as though the thought of him being dangerous reached the center of her soul and excited her.
He mounted his horse and led the way to the castle gates. They yawned open before them, and Elsie followed him through, coming to ride by his side once they were on the track beyond.
“Where are we going fer this stone?” Elsie asked.
The laird looked over at her. “Traditionally, the stone is chosen from the land surrounding the family’s home or near a significant natural landmark, like a loch or a glen. ‘Tis believed that selecting a stone from nearby connects the new family member, ye,” he nodded toward her, “tae the land itself.”
They left the track and continued across the green pastures of the glen, tall rush grass swaying among tussock and heather as the horse’s hooves sunk into the sod beneath them.
“And we are going tae such a place?” Elsie said, noting that the man accompanying her had not actually answered her question.
“The waterfall,” Keane said.
“A waterfall,” Elsie repeated.
“It’s nae just any waterfall, Elspeth,” he replied solemnly. “It’s a sacred waterfall with legends o’ fidelity and oaths.”
“People go there tae make their oaths sacred?”
“Any oath should be sacred,” he replied, giving her a cautionary look. “But aye, making such an oath in the waterfall is said tae bind that oath forever.”
They had now travelled through a group of trees, and Elsie could hear the pounding thump of water nearby.
Elsie looked at the laird. “We’re close.”
Keane nodded. “Aye, we are.”
Several minutes later, secretly hidden and surrounded by trees and bushes, they came across a beautiful scene. The craggy rock face, covered in lichen, moss, and small plants that grew from the cracks, towered high above them. A stream of water as wide as four doors tumbled down into the pool beneath at such great speed that the sound was nearly deafening. Huge droplets splashed up, sending ripples across the pooling water beneath it, before it seemed to run away down a stream that led somewhere off into the trees.
Elsie’s eyes were as wide as her mouth as she gawked up at it. She had seen many beautiful areas as she had travelled over land and loch, and yet, something about this place enchanted her.
“Ye like it?” the laird said.
She heard the smile in his voice, and when she brought her gaze to him, his face was unusually soft and open as he regarded her.
“I think it is probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” she breathed.
Keane held her gaze for a long moment, his eyes holding that same intensity she had witnessed before, and yet there was a tenderness to his look, as though he could see through her very soul. Then he shifted, and jumped from his horse.
“Come,” he said, lifting her from her mare.
He led her up and behind the waterfall, holding tight onto her hand, for the stones were covered with wet moss and slippery underfoot. Elsie’s fear grew the higher they went, and with the pounding water right beside her, her own heart matched it as it thumped in her chest.
Och, God, I’m going tae fall.
“Ye willnae fall, Elspeth. I willnae let ye,” Keane said, his voice full of confidence.
She would have looked up at him, but she was too busy watching where she put her feet. Besides, clearly, he could feel her fear, or he wouldn’t have said such a thing.
She felt relief and delight wash over her when she finally did lift her eyes, for once the climb was over, they came upon a deep cave. Turning to look behind her, she watched the waterfall tumbling past the entrance, like a moving sheet of glass, distorting the colors of the trees and everything else beyond it.
“Oh, my,” she breathed, her voice echoing back to her as she took tentative steps ahead.
Gazing up and around, she took in the strange rock formations, some jagged and harsh, contrasting with others that were as smooth as silk.
