Highland Brides 03 - On Bended Knee (25 page)

Only his.

Need clawed at his loins, demanding that he appease it. He wanted to so badly—needed to so desperately.

More than anything, he wanted to take this woman and make her his own, wanted to fill her body with his life.

He wanted to give her pleasure… wanted to show her that he could give without taking…

His heart beat ferociously, until it pounded like a war drum in his ears. She moaned softly and it hardened him fully. He was on the edge, he knew… the edge of reason…

He slid a hand down her body, testing her curves beneath his touch… beautiful… her waist so small and hips so perfectly curved… made to cradle a man’s body… made to cradle only his…

How must it feel to sink within her body… to feel her sheathe him fully…

He could have her, he knew.

The dazed look upon her face told him so.

Seana’s heart thumped a merciless beat in her ears.

Her body was no longer her own to command.

Like some piper calling forth every sensation, her body obeyed his every whisper, his every touch.

God, but even the soft groans he gave thrilled her. It was music for her heart. It filled her, lifted her spirits, and made her yearn to give him all he wanted of her…

She wanted to make him happy, wanted to please him.

She wanted to give him children and caress his face whilst he slept.

She wanted to give him everything in that instant, anything at all…

If he wanted her heart, she would have handed it to him.

If he wanted her breath she would give it gladly too.

He kissed her throat, and Seana instinctively thrust her head back, allowing him all he would take of her. His tongue worked magic upon her flesh, taunting her… tasting her…

“Colin,” she said with a whimper.

He didn’t reply, continued to kiss her, and Seana thought she would die if he ever stopped. Without warning, he opened his mouth against her neck and sank his teeth gently into her flesh, biting tenderly.

Seana cried out in pleasure, and her hips surged instinctively upward… seeking something more…

He pressed her down again, rolling his hips against her, groaning against her throat, and her body quivered with pleasure.

Och, but she wanted more… needed more… wanted him to help her find it. She parted her thighs, feeling him hard where she needed him most desperately, and he slid between her legs, forcing them further apart.

Seana responded wantonly, entwining her legs with his, feeling with every nerve in her body. He moved gently against her, and she thought she would die from the pleasure it gave her. In that instant, she loathed the clothes that stood between them… wanted something deeper… closer…

Oh, God… she wanted more… something she knew instinctively only he could give her.

But he drew away in that instant, and Seana thought he had ripped her soul from her breast with the simple withdrawal.

He looked down at her, staring, his blue eyes pale in the moonlit darkness, and his thoughts unreadable behind them. He was so beautiful, it made her want to weep.

Confusion filled her.

His gaze had seduced her… his lips made her yearn for their tender touch… his hands made her quiver with desire…

She wanted to draw him back, wanted to cry out that he never leave her… but she didn’t dare.

“Beautiful,” he whispered. Her heart pounded within her breast. “You’re beautiful, Seana,” he said again.

But he couldn’t possibly mean it.

Tears sprang to her eyes.

The way he was looking at her now was far different from the way he had looked at her so long ago…

Seana couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, could only stare into his eyes like some helpless animal when faced with a merciless hunter… only this was not fear that held her. It was a longing so great that it overwhelmed her. His gaze filled her with emotions that bewildered her.

She didn’t want to feel grateful for this…

Her heart squeezed within her breast as she sensed his withdrawal.

Och, God, he had so easily snared her.

And now he could so easily stop and she was left wanting.

Seana swallowed the emotions that rose to choke her breath away. He soothed her now with sweet words, but in her heart he had rebuffed her once again, and she could not bear the pain of it.

There was desire in her eyes—unmistakable—and Colin shuddered to see it. But there were tears as well… tears he knew she was trying hard not to shed. He didn’t wish to hurt her.

More than anything he wanted only to please her.

Desire was not love, and he didn’t want regrets later.

It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, but he tore himself away somehow. Arms shaking with restraint, he lifted himself from atop her, rolled to one side, and then lifted a hand to brush the hair from her forehead.

He wanted to see her… wanted to hold her… wanted to love her… always… but he couldn’t force her… couldn’t seduce her.

Not her.

She must come to him of her own free will.

And it was far too soon.

She was far too vulnerable tonight with her da only just buried this morn. Nay, he wanted her, but he wanted her to want to be with him. He didn’t want her simply because she needed someone to hold her. In the past, it may not have mattered to him why she chose to let him love her, but it mattered to him this moment.

And it mattered far too much.

He willed himself to master his desire, tried not to think about how much he wanted her… the throbbing ache at his groin.

He swallowed, caressing her cheek with his thumb. “Never hide that lovely face again,” he whispered.

Though the night was cool, he reached back, dragging his tunic over his head, shrugging out of it. He lifted the cloth to her face and began to wipe away the color from her face.

“Dinna listen to Alison,” he commanded her, wiping away her tears along with her powder. He chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood between them. “And while you’re at it… dinna listen to Meggie, either.”

He was going to kick himself later, he knew.

Never in his life had he walked away from something he wanted so desperately—and never from a woman who wanted him back.

“My sister isna a champion of men,” he disclosed, winking at her. He bent to give her a chaste kiss upon the bridge of her nose.

“I dinna need your pity, Colin Mac Brodie!” she exclaimed, shoving his face away. She pushed away from him and made to rise.

Colin sat there, stunned by her reaction.

Seana couldn’t bear it.

How could she have allowed herself to fall prey to his kisses, to his sweet tongue and his gentle caresses?

She was weak and she loathed herself this moment for putting herself in a position to let him hurt her once more.

She had been so proud of herself… had thought herself so strong, and it was obvious she was not!

She rose to her feet, brushing off her dress, choking back sobs that threatened to betray her. She turned away from him, tears coursing down her cheeks.

“Seana?”

“I do not need your pity!” she told him, and swore she would not be weak again.

He reached out for her, grasping the hem of Meghan’s dress. Seana jerked it away. “Do not touch me!”

“Seana,” he entreated. “What did I say? What did I do?”

“Naught!” she said, and her voice nearly broke.

He had said naught at all! And neither had he done anything—and that was the problem! and Seana was furious at herself for wanting that he should have continued. What madness was that?

What a fool was she!

How could she be so hurt that he had so easily abandoned her to her desires, forsaking his own! It was what Colin Brodie did best of all—love women and leave them! Only with her, he hadn’t even bothered to seduce her. She wasn’t good enough for him—never had been!

She couldn’t go back to Meghan, couldn’t bear to be near his sister. “Tell Meghan I will return her dress on the morrow!” And she hurried away, before she could shame herself further by breaking into sobs.

“Seana!” he called after her.

She didn’t stop, couldn’t face him.

Tears flowed down her cheeks and she swiped them away, trying to see through the thick night fog.

She didn’t belong here.

“Where are ye going, lass?”

“Home!” she replied, and fled into the woods before he could stop her.

Cameron had disappeared into these woods and Broc was determined to find him.

Broc had arrived home, after paying his respects to Seana, only to see his cousin slip into the forest. Late as it was, Broc couldn’t imagine what the devil he would be doing wandering about. He was behaving suspiciously, as well, peering over his shoulder to see whether he’d been followed. Though he’d cast a glance in Broc’s direction, it was clear to Broc that Cameron hadn’t spied him, because his cousin had hurried into the woods without the first sign of recognition.

The night was misty and likely hid Broc from Cameron’s view. The problem was that it also hid Cameron from his. There was scarce a sound to be heard in the woods tonight—nor a beast to be spied. It was almost eerie in its stillness.

He made his way deftly through the forest, relying upon his memory to guide him. These woods were familiar to him only because he’d spent so much time here as a child. These were the border regions between the MacKinnon, MacLean, and Brodie lands—and now Montgomerie’s as well. It was unclear to which clan these woods belonged for they had long been in dispute, and belonged foremost to the bigger sword of the time. For the moment, it seemed, they belonged to Montgomerie, but Broc hardly considered that set in stone.

As children, they had battled in these woods, each clan against the other—the MacKinnon’s and Brodies in particular, raising sticks instead of swords. It was how he and Colin had come to be friends, despite their divided loyalties. It was where he had first met Seana, as well.

It was obvious to Broc that there was something between his two friends, though neither seemed to realize it. He might have never imagined the two together all those years ago, but Seana had grown to be a lovely woman, and it was, though Broc liked Colin immensely, a sort of poetic justice to see her hold so much sway over Colin. It was about damned time his friend was laid low by a woman. And it was all the sweeter to see it was Seana who was Colin’s downfall.

Though his mood was somber, thinking about his cousin, he couldn’t stifle a private chuckle at the thought of the two of them together.

Colin and Seana; who could have figured.

Perhaps there was a God after all.

“Serves you right, ye smooth-tongued bastard!” he whispered to himself.

He hoped Seana snared him by his ears and hung him as her trophy by his ever-loving balls.

A rush of footsteps caught his attention. They seemed to be coming in his direction.

Cameron!

Broc hadn’t time even to hide, before the figure came rushing through the trees at him. He froze where he stood. First the silhouette was unrecognizable, and then, he saw her. She wasn’t watching where she was going and she burst into his sights and directly into him, never stopping, never spying him, until it was too late.

She knocked the air from his lungs though he didn’t budge under the impact. She cried out when she slammed into him, and he had to catch her lest she fall backward upon her rump.

“Seana!”

She was weeping, almost hysterically, too upset even to be afraid. Broc seized her by the arms, shaking her gently.

“Seana! What’s wrong, lass—tell me!”

Seana could scarce see where she was going, but she recognized Broc’s voice and thrust herself at once into his arms, grateful to see him.

“Colin!” she sobbed, though she hadn’t meant to speak a word of her heartache, and he drew her closer into his embrace.

“Och, Seana!” He patted her back. “What’s he done now, lass?”

Seana had worked herself into tears, never expecting to encounter anyone that might see them. Her heart hurt, but it wasn’t Colin’s fault; it was hers. She tried to reassure Broc, patting him back, remembering the last time he’d come to her rescue where Colin was concerned. She didn’t wish to come between them—and truly, Colin hadn’t done anything at all.

She was the fool who had let him into her heart, even knowing what he was… who he was.

Colin hadn’t done anything more than simply be himself.

Seana dried her tears with Broc’s tunic and straightened. “He’s done naught, Broc.” She reached up, patting his great chest. “He’s done naught,” she assured him, peering up at the gentle giant she had thought she could love. She couldn’t though. Now that her da was gone, and the urgency had left her, she saw Broc with a clarity she hadn’t possessed before.

She had surely hoped she could love him, and mayhap she could have… but for Colin.

Silly heart.

“’Tis all my fault!”

Broc didn’t love her either—nor even did he look at her in such a manner that made her feel he could.

Certainly not the way Colin looked at her.

She swallowed hard.

“Och, Seana,” he said again, and reached down to pat her head as he had once done so long ago. It was a friendly gesture, affectionate, even, but hardly one to be given a hopeful lover. Seana smiled at the confirmation. “He must have done something for ye to be so sad! Tell me and I’ll give the bloody bastard a broken nose. He hurt ye once, and once was enough!”