Page 23 of Highlander's Runaway Seductress
“Follow me,” Morgana said.
Following her, Damien tried not to look with appreciation at the shapely behind swaying before his face. Morgana had a nipped-in waist and rounded hips that he would have loved to hold onto while copulating, but now, she did not entice him a bit. Even with the realization that he had no future with Amelie, and the open invitation Morgana had given him to lay with her from first meeting months ago, Damien was not tempted in the least.
However, when Morgana showed him to his room, and flirtatiously ran her hand down his chest, his jaw clenched while she said, “Here ye go, love.”
Over her shoulder, he saw Amelie’s head snap away, as if she had been struck in the face. Damien’s teeth gritted hard, and he vowed to tell Amelie the truth as soon as he got a chance. God forbid she thought he was only toying with her, when he knew the feelings that he had for her were more than he had ever expected to feel for anyone.
How would she take it when he told her he was falling in love with her?
9
Avery telling act by this woman, Binney, gave Amelie a sick, wrenching twist in her stomach, and she turned away from them.
Has Damien been with her? Why would he take me to a place that he kens I will never be comfortable in?
“Miss Ailsa?”
Amelie’s lips opened to correct Miss Binney, but she stopped herself in time. “Aye?”
“This way,” the woman sashayed past her, gently bumping Amelie with her hip, ungrounding Amelie more than she already was, knowing that Damien had had relations with this woman. Wordlessly, she followed Miss Binney to the room, went inside with a thank you, while hardly noticing the contents of the room, and closed the door behind her.
She dropped her pack at the end of the narrow bed and sat on the edge, before shrinking in on herself and laying sideways on the bed. The mattress was worn-out and felt more like a slab of rock under her body, but Amelie was more preoccupied with picturing Damien and the woman outside.
Why has Damien kissed me then?
The tiredness from earlier that day and the hard travel up into the hills, plus the confusion and betrayal she felt from Damien, pulled her into a light but troubled sleep.
She only woke when the door scraped open, and she sat up in fright. She nearly reached for the knife in her boot, only to stop by seeing Damien at her door.
He was holding a tray in his hand, and he set it on a tiny table before closing the door behind him. “Ye must be hungry.”
Feeling the same upset in her stomach, Amelie shook her head.
“Nay, I am nae.”
He perched on the edge of the bed before giving her a tired look,
“Daenae ye lie to me, lass. I ken ye must be hungry. It’s almost dusk, and I daenae ken if ye have eaten anythin’ since we had the broth. It’s choice pieces of lamb stew and warm bread, lass. Please eat, if anythin’, for me peace of mind.”
His pleading tone loosened the knots in her stomach, and reluctantly nodding, she reached for the tray. She broke the bread and dipped it into the stew before she began to eat.
Amelie did not know what to say to Damien while she ate, fearing that she would start another divide between them. She had a problem translating the emotions in her chest to form the appropriate words she wanted to say.
She could not outrightly accuse Damien of betraying her because, as he had said, there was no stable connection between them. Amelie knew she had no right to say anything about Damien and who he chose to have in his bed, but it surely burned her heart to know that possibly later that night, that woman would share his bed.
Swallowing over her mouthful, Amelie dared to ask. “How do ye ken Miss Binney?”
Chuckling, Damien sat back far enough that his back rested on the wall while he stretched out his long legs before him.
“I stayed here when I first came to find anythin’ that I had to ken from the people of Dolberry. I came late and wasnae sure I could get lodgin’. She gave me her bed—”
The food went down wrong, and Amelie lurched forward and slammed a hand over her mouth. She managed to swallow and sucked in a breath.
“—but I dinnae lay with her in it. I dinnae have any sort of relations with her Amelie, despite—” he reached out and swiped his thumb over her chin where a droplet of the stew had trickled “—the many times she tried to be with me.”
Amelie sat in disbelief and watched while he stuck his thumb into his mouth and sucked on it. Speechless, Amelie sat still as he leaned in and the intent to kiss her was explicit in his eyes. She swallowed heavily and felt Damien remove the tray with one hand while still holding her eyes.
She took a breath before he pulled her toward him and into the most seductive kiss they had shared yet.
