Chapter Eighteen
Alana had a restless night. Though not as restless as Rory had by the look of weariness weighing his handsome features down.
Dark circles shadowed underneath his tired eyes.
After initially lying down with her back to Rory, she ended up tossing and turning for most of the night afore finally settling into a deep sleep when dawn was just getting ready to break.
She woke to a meal waiting for her to break her fast. She ate and hurriedly got ready. Rory had mentioned that he wanted to leave early and she would not delay them.
They had been climbing the trail and it had grown steeper and steeper with each step they took.
She was in a dour mood and she could not explain why.
Mayhap it had to do with the way she felt Rory had shunned her the night afore.
He spurned away every attempt she had made at conversation.
She could tell he was lost in his own thoughts, much like she had found herself all too often lately.
Though she wasn’t sure why his thoughts would put him in such a foul mood. He was not the one being forced to marry someone that was unkind. His future wasn’t bleak. Not like hers.
“Careful,” he warned, breaking into her solemn thoughts.
For some reason his word of caution annoyed her.
“I will be just fine,” she snapped. “I think that by now, after all the days we have been hiking that ye would think me capable of continuing to do so.” She rubbed her nose from the sudden itch that surfaced at the same time a stone loosened under her foot.
A sharp pain shot through her ankle, like a spear of hot flame, and she yelped as she tumbled down.
Rory rushed to her, and she could tell that he was trying to catch her afore she hit the ground, but he wasn’t fast enough.
At her side, he knelt and gently checked her ankle. She whimpered as his prying fingers hit a sensitive spot.
“Ye’re too stubborn for yer own good,” he muttered, scooping her into his arms in one swift move.
“Put me down,” Alana protested, pushing at his chest, flustered.
But he only snorted, ignoring her and refusing to set her on her feet.
Trying to ignore the throbbing of her ankle, she rested her head against his chest. She could hear the strong thump-thump-thump of his heart, racing in tandem with hers.
He carried her to a sheltered ledge, the overhang of rock protecting them from the sun. Gently, he set her down, taking care to not cause her pain. “Please, for once, listen to me and dinnae move,” he pled with her as he walked away, only to return a few minutes later with their packs.
Dropping them on the ground, he dug around and pulled out a linen tunic which he began to tear into wide strips.
She protested, but he didn’t stop.
“I need to wrap yer ankle. ’Twill be swelled soon and the wrapping will help. ’Twill also help keep the pain down. ’Tis no’ broken though, which is a blessing considering how hard ye fell.”
He dropped down beside her and gently lifted her leg. He wrapped her ankle in the strips of linen with nimble fingers that moved light as feathers.
How he could be so big and rough, but treat her with such kindness and gentility, she hadn’t the faintest idea.
When he finished, he set her leg on the ground.
“If ye stay off it for the rest of the day and night, ye should be able to walk on it on the morrow. ’Twill be sore, of course, but manageable. ”
She nodded and he pushed off the ground.
“I will set up camp and then prepare a meal. Stay there,” he ordered.
Alana didn’t ken where he thought she might go, but she dipped her head in acquiescence and watched him move around the area. He lit a fire first, close to the overhanging ledge they were using as shelter. He unfurled her blanket and brought it over to her.
“Ye might get chilled.”
She accepted it and he walked off afore she could answer him.
Their surroundings weren’t as lively as they were in previous days.
The trees had lessened. There were still many, but not as many as had littered the ground as they wound their way up deeper into the Highlands.
There were more grassy fields here, sloping up with rocks guarding the sides of the path they were following.
Some were huge moss-covered boulders, some small.
Some loose, like the one she had slipped on.
She adjusted her legs and winced at the slice of pain that shot up through her ankle and followed through to her leg.
She was lucky she hadn’t broken it as Rory had mentioned.
She couldn’t even imagine the delay that would cause.
And whilst that would give her more time to spend with Rory, he would for certs be angry at the further postponement.
Lord kens, they had experienced many hindrances on their journey so far.
She didn’t want to be the cause of yet another one.
So, on the morrow, when it was time for them to leave, she made the decision that no matter how much her ankle may hurt or throb, she would push through the pain. She’d done it with her blisters, she could do it through this as well.
With all the camp preparations done, he sat down beside her, so close, their arms touched.
Neither of them made a move to pull away.
The connection was something they both wanted, even though they shouldn’t.
She leaned against his side, the pain in her ankle beginning to dull just a wee bit as the warmth in her belly grew from being so close to Rory.
Lord above, would she ever have this same reaction when it came to her future husband? She didn’t want to think about that right now.
“Thank ye,” she murmured.
She felt Rory shift and he brushed a loose strand of hair from her cheek, tucking it behind her ear. As he had afore, he let his fingers linger on her skin, and drag slowly away afore breaking the contact.
The space around them was quiet, as if nature was holding its breath the same way she was.
She caught her bottom lip in her teeth, thinking about how much she enjoyed being this close to Rory.
To soak in his warmth and gentle touch. To feel the rise and fall of his chest with each breath he took beside her.
The moment stretched, for what seemed like an eternity, and Alana didn’t mind it one bit. They remained like that for what seemed like hours, but it couldn’t have possibly been that long.
An owl hooted, his call breaking the silence of the night, severing the connection she had felt, causing Alana to jump.
Rory chuckled, the deep rumble bubbling up from his chest. “Ye scare easily, Bluebell.”
“I dinnae. It just caught me unawares, is all.”
His fingers played with the edge of the blanket that covered her. She watched his hands move back and forth, folding the edge, and unfolding. Over and over again. On constant repeat. A steady rhythm that he continued.
She snuggled closer to him, fashing that he might pull away. But he didn’t. Instead, he draped a strong arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer to him. Emboldened, she nestled even closer, burying her face in his chest. She could feel the hard planes of his muscles beneath her cheeks.
They were quiet for a while. Listening to nature as it woke for the night around them. Listening to each other’s breaths. She listened to his heart as it beat beneath her ear, a steady, strong staccato.
It was late, the sun finally setting and disappearing. The flames of the fire the only light around them. It created shadows that danced along the rocks. If she were alone, she might be frightened of the images they created, but with Rory she was calm.
As the hours passed, they still leaned against each other. Neither of them tried to move away and break the constant contact they had been enjoying for the night.
It was as if they were right where they were supposed to be. In each other’s arms. Connected in a way that only those who cared very much for each other could.
The fact that they could never really be, hurt. It hurt more than she would ever admit.
And that revelation broke Alana’s heart.