Page 18 of Highland Yule
“’Twasmore!” Suddenly so angry she couldn’t see straight, she spun in front of the door to the great hall and pointed her finger at his chest. “Ye felt it.” She pressed her palm against her own chest. “I felt it.” She shook her head, releasing all her pent up frustration. Not just at him, but all the death. All the loss. “’Twas there...” She glared at him in disbelief. “And ‘twas something so much bigger than us!”
Colmac clenched his jaw, his gaze thunderous and emotional for a moment before he breathed deeply and gathered himself. He shook his head in denial and set the torch in a wall bracket. “Nay, ‘twas betwixt ye and my brother.”
“Eventually.” Though shocked by the words pouring from her mouth, there was no stopping them. “But not initially and well ye know it.” She leaned against the door and whispered, “I just let myself forget because of yer hateful behavior every day after that.”
“Hateful?”
“Aye, ‘twas awful and ye know it.”
“I know nothing of the sort.” He shook his head and shifted closer. “A lad would have to be around a lass to be considered any which way, let alonehateful.”
“True enough.” Something occurred to her, and she narrowed her eyes. “But ye were never around much after that night, were ye? Nay, ye wanted nothing to do with me. Instead, ye chased after lassies ye had not looked twice at before!”
“Ye dinnae know who I did, and didnae look at,” he scoffed, just as upset. He shifted even closer. “How could ye when ye only had eyes for my brother, aye?”
“Nay,” she exclaimed, cursing the word the second it came out.
“Aye!” Though by no means a punch, his fist landed on the door beside her. He came so close she could smell the torch smoke on his fur. Feel the heat of his large body. She closed her eyes, realizing how horribly wrong this was.
What were they doing?
What was this awful repressed anger between them?
It felt like the years since that dance crumbled down around them. As if all the things they never said to each other were roaring up in this singular moment. But how could that be? For her, it made some sort of sense.
She had loved him prior to Bróccín.
So very much.
But where didhisanger come from? And was she truly ready to find out?
“Aye,” she whispered, then clenched her teeth, and dropped her head, ashamed.
She wanted to know if what Aunt Brighid said was true.
If Colmac had cast her aside so that his brother might love her.
“Aye, what, lass?” He rested his forehead against the door, so close that if she shifted forward a mere fraction, their bodies would touch.
She turned her head, putting them nearly cheek to cheek. His warm breath fanned her neck. A tremor rippled through him while he worked to regain composure. She could touch him. Right here. At this very moment. She could rest her palm against his chest and finally tell him how strongly she had felt back then.
How she had gone to sleep that very night and dreamt only of him despite what his brother had told her. Because at that point, she had not returned Bróccín's affections. Nay, her heart belonged to Colmac. Only he was in her dreams.
“Again and again for far too long,” she whispered, her words spilling out once more.
“What, lass?” He tilted his cheek enough that their lips were inches apart. “What did ye do for far too long?”
She shifted her head ever-so-slightly, catching the warmth of his breath on her lips. Strangely, it felt like the echoes of a kiss they never shared. Of the one they might have had that first dance if he’d just leaned his head down...had she just tilted her mouth up.
“Rona?” he said hoarsely, his lips even closer. “What did ye do?”
“I dreamt.” She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she’d held her tongue. What she spoke of was inappropriate, was it not?
“Of whom?” The corner of his mouth hovered over the corner of hers. “Tell me.”
Struggling for breath, she planted her palms against the door and drowned in the feel of him so close. Of the way, his very presence gave her a sense of home and peace that no other could. His scent filled her nostrils. His heat warmed her every pore.
Dinnae kiss me, she pleaded inwardly even as she prayed he finally would. That they might close the distance for but a moment. Mayhap just the once then he could walk away.
She would go home.
He would stay here.
Life would go on.
Unfortunately or mayhap, fortunately, the matter was taken out of their hands a moment later.
