Page 77 of Married to the Highland Devil
“I love you, Duncan,” she blurted out when his lips left hers, and his hands swooped down her body to wrap around her waist.
Her breathing was harsh and irregular, and she had to gulp in air, so she regained balance.
“I love you,” she whispered, this time feeling her eyes well up with tears. “I thought I would never get the chance to say these words to you. Since I arrived here, you have protected me, cared for me and everyone here… You are a kind man, Duncan, and you put everyone first before you. I love that you are fierce but also considerate… I love that you laugh so wild…”
He laughed when she mentioned that, and her heart rejoiced at the sound. Amelia shook her head, unable to control the words that so properly described how she felt towards him.
“I love being here with you, and I am never going to leave, even though you do drive me crazy sometimes.”
Duncan’s chuckle turned into a sigh long and deep. He kissed her eyes down to her cheeks then the tip of her nose and her lips. As he scattered kisses all over her face, she moaned and relished the tingles racing through her.
Amelia felt her entire body melt into his. She wanted him to make love to her with a shivering desire that made her joints weak. Duncan took her lips again, and his kiss this time held the longing and promise of passion.
She kissed him back, wrapped her arms around his neck, and let him lower her to the bed. There was no inch of her body he did not kiss as she lay there open to him.
Her clothes lay forgotten on the ground after he peeled each piece away so tenderly. His fingers skimmed over her flesh and made her burn for him. When his kisses reached the spot where she ached the most, she gasped and parted her thighs wider, wanting more of him.
He brought her to the brink of passion with his lips and hands. Amelia had never felt a warmth like the one that coursed through her as she shuddered and climaxed hard, her hips twitching on the bed.
She gripped the sheets and cried out his name, wanting more, needing more.
“Duncan…”
Her cries filled the chamber, and she feared the sounds would go beyond the walls shielding them.
Duncan lay by her side and cuddled her close in his arms, and she sighed and rested her head on his chest.
“I am in love with ye,” he finally whispered to her. His voice was lower than the hum in her blood, and his breaths were just as labored.
Amelia worried he had not pleasured himself, and when she smoothed a hand down his chest and got to the bulge in his kilt, he stopped her by taking her wrist.
“Nay like this,” Duncan said before he kissed the side of her head.
They fell asleep in that tight embrace, and Amelia dreamed of the life they would have together. She loved Duncan, and whatever troubles they had to face, she would stand by him through them all.
* * *
The heavy rap of someone knocking on the door tore her out of sleep sometime later. Amelia’s eyes snapped open, and she touched the side of the bed, looking for Duncan.
“Duncan?” she called, panic rising in her chest and clawing at her throat.
“I am right here,” he replied just before another knock came. “I must find out who is knockin’,” he said to her before she heard the heavy thud of his footsteps against the wooden floor.
The door swung open, and Amelia snuggled under the sheets, covering her body.
“What is it?” Duncan asked before the man on the other side of the door replied to him in rapid Gaelic.
When the door closed again, Amelia asked, “What has happened?”
“Laird MacGregor rides for McLennan as we speak. Arran sent word… He marches with an army to seize control of our castle. This is war, Amelia.”
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Asecond after he said the words, the chimes of the war bell slowly filled the air and cut into their moment. A chill ran down Duncan’s spine as he went to the bed and began helping Amelia with her clothes.
“What do I need to do?” she asked.
“Nothin’,” Duncan answered. “I wouldnae put ye in harm’s way ever again. Ye, my sister, and my maither shall stay well-guarded in a secret room my faither had prepared for this kind of occasions. It is in the crypts below. Yvaine and my maither will take ye there.”
