Highland Brides 03 - On Bended Knee by Tanya Anne Crosby

take it with me tonight, and he shall begin repairs on the morn when you arrive to instruct him.”
    Her gaze narrowed once more. “And what would you require in return?”
    “Only for you to stop weeping.”
    She gave him a wary glance. “Naught more?”
    Colin shook his head. “As for Broc, when we finish with the still, I shall take ye to see Meghan. My sister will help you, because I cannot.”
    She studied him a long instant. Colin thought she might be trying to decipher his motive. For once in his life he had none—save to ease his own conscience. And that was reason enough. Still, he couldn’t quite resign himself to help her win Broc—for two reasons. One, Broc was his friend. And two, even if he knew what to teach her, he was certain Broc would never have her after. Nay, Meghan would know better what to do. But he was determined to help where he could.
    “And there is naught you want in return for your help?” She sounded as though she disbelieved him.
    “Only one thing,” he relented.
    Her answering expression told him that she’d expected him to name a condition. “Aha!”
    “I’d like to know your name.”
    She blinked, and the surprise that registered upon her face made Colin want to laugh. “My name?”
    He winked at her. “Aye, your name, lass— and for you to forgive me for not remembering it to begin with.”
    For an instant, she didn’t answer, and Colin wondered if she were going to tell him. “Seana,” she said after a moment.
    He smiled. “Seana,” he repeated after her, testing the name upon his tongue.
    They sat together in the fading twilight, surrounded by the potent scent of her father’s spirits, and Colin felt a heady rush at the tentative smile she gave him. No ale or uisge beatha could have made him feel so good as did the gratitude in her eyes at that moment. He sat with her for a while longer, without speaking, afraid to break the moment’s spell.
    His body felt more alive in that instant than ever it had before. The burn of her father’s uisge upon the air mingled sweetly with the scent of forest green. He lapped at his lips gone dry. The night air tickled the hairs upon his arm and teased the moistness from his lips. All his senses were heightened.
    More than anything… he wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her…
    The softest breeze blew through the woodlands, sweeping hair into her face, hiding those beautiful eyes. Colin had the most incredible urge to reach out and move the strands from her face so he would not be deprived.
    At such times in the past, he might have done more. He might have reached out this moment and buried his fingers in that luscious black mane. He might have lifted her face for the kiss he’d craved from the moment he had first set eyes upon her.
    His body stirred at the mere thought.
    But he did none of those things, beyond savoring the thought of them. For the first time in his life, he took simple pleasure in the way his body felt in her presence, without the first intent to satisfy it.
    And yet he couldn’t help but wonder if she felt it too… that seductive languor in the air that made his breath more labored. That heat that stirred from deep within his own body and intensified his senses… the anticipation that quickened the beat of his heart.
    She didn’t speak, and Colin’s body hardened at the images that came to play within his thoughts, teasing him, tempting him…
    “Thank you, Colin,’ she said softly, and swallowed.
    He could see the movement in her throat, and Colin knew she felt it too.
    The sound of her voice, so deliciously low, like a lover’s whisper, made his heart leap. His flesh tingled where the cool night air touched his hot skin.
    He, too, swallowed with difficulty. “You’d better go home now,” he advised her.
    She didn’t speak, only stared at him, her green eyes luminous in the fading forest light. He wasn’t certain, but he thought there might be unshed tears within them.
    “’Tis growing