Page 54 of Trapped with the Vicious Highlander
She hurried across the castle, one hand gripping the candelabra as tight as possible and the other hand gently lifting the hem of her dress. She stepped outside, and the cold night air instantly snuffed out the candle.
Of course, why did she think that was not going to happen?
The moonlight cast a silvery glow across the courtyard, and she decided that she did not need the candle anyway. She placed the candelabra gently near the door and walked out, her feet pressing softly into the grass.
She walked to one of the large chairs by the fence behind some of the larger trees in the courtyard. She was well hidden from the windows and didn’t have to worry about anyone looking at her and wondering why she was out at this time of night.
She gingerly lowered herself onto the chair, rubbing her forehead frantically. Then, she leaned back and looked up at the sky—at the scattered stars that decorated the dark expanse, at the bright moon that seemed to only be facing her for some reason.
A gust of cold air suddenly hit her, and she wrapped her arms around herself, wondering if she should have worn something thicker.
“Ava?” the voice, so deeply ingrained in her mind that she could probably recognize it in her sleep, called behind her.
She almost jumped before turning around.
* * *
Brodrick stood right behind the chair, a puzzled expression on his face.
Ava studied him carefully. “How long have you been standing there?”
“I just got here.”
“What? Are you following me around now?”
Brodrick scoffed. “Ye flatter yerself, ye ken?”
He moved closer to the chair and looked into her eyes as if requesting permission. Ava nodded gently, and he sank into the chair beside her, before leaning back.
“Ye’re cold,” he suddenly said, his voice still managing to startle her.
“No.”
“I am watchin’ ye shiver, Ava.”
“It’s not from the cold.”
An amused expression crept onto his face. “Really?”
“Yes, really. And stop staring at me. You’re scaring me with that look.”
Enjoying how uncomfortable he seemed to make her, he leaned closer, his eyes locked onto hers. “How about now?”
Ava chuckled. “Is that all you can manage to do, My Laird?”
“Ye would be surprised.”
Ava arched an eyebrow. “Really?”
They fell into brief silence for a few more minutes, only listening to the crickets chirp around them and the cold night breeze pick up.
“Davina,” Ava uttered suddenly, as if she had been rolling the name around in her mouth for a while. “You’ve never mentioned her.”
Brodrick sank deeper into the chair, memories of his dead wife flashing through his mind. “There was nothing to say.”
“Pardon me if I find that extremely hard to believe.”
“’Tis the truth.”
