Free Highland Brides 03 - On Bended Knee by Tanya Anne Crosby Page A

beneath the water’s surface.
    She wasn’t helping matters in the least, sitting there upon the bank, talking to him as though he were some sort of virginal priest. He was grateful for the water’s depth, lest she spy his reaction to the sight of those beautiful slim legs.
    Damned if those weren’t the most luscious legs he had ever beheld upon a woman—much less for one who had once been lame—long and lean and strong. He could see the muscles ripple in them as she stretched them out before her. How she had managed such a feat, was beyond him, but his eyes did not lie.
    He swallowed convulsively at the view she unwittingly gave him, and his heart began to pound.
    “Please, Colin!”
    Colin winced at the impassioned tone of her voice. “I’ll give ye anythin’!” she swore, and he clenched his jaw to keep from blurting out the payment he wanted from her.
    That delectable body.
    She didn’t want anything to do with him, he reminded himself, and that fact gnawed at his gut.
    Why should he care, when he could have most any woman he chose?
    Because he wanted her, a little demon nagged.
    It was his just reward, some would say, that she wanted his best friend, and not him. He didn’t deserve her after the way he had treated her all those years ago.
    “I don’t want anything from you,” Colin persisted, and tried to force his gaze away from the sweet feast that lay between her slightly parted legs. Och, did her ma never teach her to sit like a gentle woman should? Didn’t she realize she was driving him insane with lust? Didn’t she understand that she was making him so starved for the sweet feast between her thighs that even his guilt could not ward his hunger away?
    He took a deep breath and peered up at the bright blue sky, trying not to look at her. The sun beat down upon his bare shoulders, drying the rivulets of water that dripped from his wet hair. The sensation of water sliding down his back made him think of her… fingers—he didn’t dare think of her tongue… damp and soft sliding the length of his back. He swallowed hard, shuddering as he met her gaze.
    Sweet green eyes met his hungry blue ones. “I’m not too proud to beg,” she warned. “Not when ’tis something so important as this! I beg of ye, Colin Mac Brodie!”
    Colin frowned at her.
    She had turned from bartering to begging now, and she did it all too well. As she had all those years ago, her heart was plain to see in that expression she wore like a martyr at her crucifixion. It was a look that offered forgiveness all the while pleading, and was still somehow filled with far too much pride.
    How could he turn her away? How could he refuse her?
    Would he even think to refuse her were she someone other than who she was?
    Aye, he would, he decided, because Broc was his friend, and he wasn’t about to scheme with her to trap him—even if Broc were better off with a flesh and blood woman in his bed, rather than that flea-bitten mongrel.
    But more than anything else… because he wanted her for himself.
    “ You owe me , Colin Mac Brodie!” she blurted, lifting up a small rock and tossing it into the water at him, far from where he stood, but still…
    Colin met her glittering gaze, vivid green and fueled with something more than pride. “You owe me,” she repeated, stomping a foot before her. The furious gesture tossed up her skirt just a bit higher, giving him a clearer view of the prize she would offer his best friend, “and I’ll not be taking no for an answer!”
    Impudent wench.
    He was torn in that instant by a sincere desire to help her, guilt over the past, and a lust so intense he could feel it stir his loins, despite the fierceness of her glare.
    Were he not so annoyed by her bold words, he might have laughed his fool head off in sheer joy over the challenge she presented him.
    When was the last time he had felt so buoyed by the mere sight of a woman?
    When was the last time he had felt his blood simmer even under the heat of