He halted in front of her. “Ye were sneaking,” he growled. “And ye could’ve been hurt.”
“If I tripped and fell?”
If a man put his hands on ye.
“Aye. Mayhap.” There was no need to frighten her.
“Or if there was a wild animal.” She stared up at him, her eyes wide. He didn’t see fear in them…but something else. “I could’ve been attacked.”
Ye were attacked. By me.
Pherson curled his hands into fists to keep from touching her.
But he stepped closer. And she didn’t retreat.
Now he was close enough to feel her heat, close enough that her scent tickled his tongue, teasing him with what he couldn’t have.
“A wild animal,” he rasped. “Aye.”
Her lips formed the word Aye, but she didn’t speak it.
Instead, one of her fingers rose to tap against her lower lip, a mannerism he was coming to recognize as meaning she was thinking.
“I…I suppose I didnae consider the dangers when I slipped out from the castle. I used the secret passage which terminates in my bed chamber. From there, ‘tis simple enough to find my way out of the walls.”
He swallowed down a groan, not needing to know there was an easy way to reach her bed.
Just the thought of her lying in it, all white linen and virginal peace, was enough to make him hard beneath his kilt.
Dinnae lie to yerself. Ye’ve been hard since the moment ye realized who ye’d attacked.
He couldn’t help the way his hand rose, his fingers brushing an errant curl from her forehead. He knew he shouldn’t, knew ‘twas dangerous…but he had to touch her. Had to. It was either mess with the stupid curl, or crush his lips against hers.
And this seemed safer.
Even if she did hold her breath, her nostrils flaring, her eyes widening.
All signs of arousal, he was certain.
Certainly doomed.
“Why are ye here, Wynda?” he whispered.
The heat in her gaze he now recognized because he was certain ‘twas mirrored in his own.
“Thank ye for calling me by name.”
One corner of his lips twitched and his fingertips found her curls again. There were none out of place; he just liked the way they felt. “Lass, I’ve given up on trying to do the right thing when it comes to ye.”
Until he said it out loud, he hadn’t realized how true it was.
And when she smiled…
God’s Blood.
“Good.” Her voice was equally low. “Because…” She took a deep breath. “I ken we’ve been working together on the boot, but that day when ye dined with us…ye said ye’d do aught I needed.”
His nod was immediate. “And I meant it. Yesterday ye said ye had need of more leather, and tonight I’ve been preparing a half-hide for ye.”