by Lydia Dare
A voice broke him from his reverie. “I received word from Simon today.” Will walked from the forest into view.
“Just how is our big brother doing?” Ben asked as he put down the ax he was using to clear his land and wiped his brow with his forearm. Nothing better than manual labor to take one’s mind off a woman.
“He says life with Lily is wonderful. And that he’s extremely happy.”
“That doesn’t sound like the Duke of Blackmoor.” His brother Simon didn’t have a romantic notion in his body.
“All right.” Will shrugged. “It’s Mother’s translation. But she assures me it’s the way Simon feels when he’s with Lily.”
“I’m sure they’re blissfully happy, aside from those few days a month when he has to leave her side and hide out in exile, like a dog that’s too dangerous to tether near home.” The ax arched through the air and straight through a log, with much more force than was necessary.
“Mother says that he took Lily to the forest with him last month.”
Ben’s ax struck sideways when he lost his concentration. The mistake trembled up his arm until he dropped the quivering handle. “You’re such a poor liar, Will.”
“I’m not lying.”
“And just how would Mother know this?”
“She’s staying with them for a time. And Mother knows everything.” Will spoke the truth. Their mother did know everything. And what she didn’t know, she found out.
Ben met Will’s eyes. “Would you put Prisca at risk like that?”
“My relationship with Prisca is not what we’re discussing,” Will hedged.
“Would you?” Ben said. Will glanced away. “That’s what I thought.” Will could never lie about Prisca.
Suddenly Will reached over and clutched Ben’s shirt in his hands, raising him onto his tiptoes. He pushed and clawed to get free, but then Ben saw the desperation in Will’s eyes and stilled. “If Prisca loved me the way Elspeth loves you, I would let nothing stand in my way. So quit being a goddamn fool.”
Will released him and stepped away, then walked back into the forest with nothing more than a shake of his head.
Ben took a deep breath and raised his ax again. But before he could mangle the tree trunk before him, another masculine voice called out.
“I see you’ve done a lot of work here,” Major Forster called as he approached.
“I had a great opportunity to work on the land. Since I’m not fit company for anyone else at this time.” Ben pointed to the sky, where the sun was just about to drop below the horizon.
“You look like great company to me,” the major said as he sat down on a log.
“That’s because you grow hairy and drool at the sight of the moon, the same way I do. To everyone else, I’m dishonorable and untrustworthy. And I bite.”
The major picked at a string on the leg of his trousers. “Did Elspeth tell you that?”
The ax struck wood. “No.”
“But that’s what you believe?”
“It’s what I know.” He slung the ax again.
“I’m not going to talk to you about my daughter.”
Ben moved to interrupt. He really didn’t want to
discuss Elspeth at that moment anyway. But the major held up two hands to stop him. “So I want to tell you about the love of my life. If you’re of a mind to listen, that is.”
Ben sighed and tried not to grumble as he laid the ax on the ground.
“Thank you.”
“It’s getting dark.” Maybe he’d leave if he realized night was approaching.
The major just smiled. “I can run into the forest as quickly as you can.”
“At your age?”
The major chuckled. “At least you still have your sense of humor.”
“I have a lot of things. Just not my wife. You said you had a story?”
“Aye. You know I’ve only had one love in my life. Rosewyth. Elspeth’s mother. She was my one and only.”
“And why does this involve me?”
The major frowned at him. And Ben felt as though he’d been picked up by the scruff of his neck and shaken, like any bad dog should.
“I’m sorry. Continue. Please.” Ben took a seat across from him.
“I just need to tell you that when it’s right, it’s really right.”
Ben just stared at him. That was his story? Forster could use a little practice in telling a decent tale.
“A Lycan has one true mate. If you’re with that person, even under the light of a full moon, it can be beautiful.”
“But not safe.”
“Do you doubt Elspeth is the other half that can make you whole?”
“It’s not that,” Ben started.
But the major raised a hand and stopped him again.
“It is that.”
Ben nearly hung his head in defeat.
“I have regrets, Ben. And I don’t want you, when you’re old and grey, to wish you had done things differently.”
Forty-nine
Elspeth walked slowly through the woods on the well-worn trail away from Caitrin’s house. She had never been as lonesome as she’d been the last few days without Ben. She’d spent plenty of time alone before, but never had she ached for someone. Not just someone—her someone.
Caitrin had been quiet the whole day. She had avoided having any conversation at all. She usually avoided talking with people if she’d had visions about them. She preferred to let people live their own lives and have their own surprises. The things she did reveal were for fun. Or to help someone through a bad time.
Blaire had offered to enchant Ben with a potion so that he wouldn’t be able to resist the love Elspeth had for him. But Elspeth preferred Ben coming to her on his own.
Rhiannon and Sorcha wanted to tie him up with vines again and make him listen to reason. She smiled at the thought.
As Elspeth topped the hill, she heard a low growl from within the bushes. She stilled completely. That wasn’t Ben. It was too menacing and too scary. She froze. After a few minutes, the bushes rustled and a dark animal skittered from them and down the hill. Elspeth took two tentative steps forward.
From her vantage point she could see her way to the bottom of the hill. A solitary wolf stood there, as though standing sentinel over its pups. The growl sounded again from close by. This wolf was slightly larger than the one at the bottom of the hill. The smaller was probably the female, and Elspeth imagined that she was guarding her den. And the male kept a watchful eye on Elspeth.
A cloud moved across the sky and finally uncovered the full moon. The male wolf looked up at it in a pose very similar to the one on her combs. He raised his snout to the air and howled.
“I’ll no’ hurt yer pups,” she whispered.
The male wolf still stood, his body rigid and ready to move if Elspeth took even one hesitant step toward his family. But then the mother wolf ran to him, licked his face, and nipped his ear. The male turned to her. She licked the ear she’d just nipped, as though to soothe him. He growled and playfully nipped her back.
That was when Elspeth knew what she had to do. If Ben wouldn’t come to her, she’d have to go to him. The female wolf in a pair held a noticeable place of power. Now it was time for Elspeth to display some of that power herself.
She smiled the whole way back to her cottage.
Ben ran through the forest in his Lycan form, feeling the freedom that came with the change, but this time there was a sadness with it as well. It was a gnawing feeling that chewed at his very soul. He wanted Elspeth. He wanted her more with every step he took.
Ben’s ears perked up as he heard the cry of a wolf. It wasn’t Will—he’d heard that howl since adolescence. And he doubted it was the major—it seemed a bit more feral than what he’d expect from the softened old soldier. Then he remembered the wolf with pups that he’d seen. Of course, both those wolves would be out, basking in the rays of the moon as well.
Ben clenched his eyes shut tightly. It was almost pai
nful to think of the pair of wolves. He would never be part of a pair.
He walked a bit farther and stopped. Then he felt it. It hit him harder than the carriage that had broken his arm. It hit him harder than an anvil thrown from a great height.
Elspeth had stroked her mark.
Ben gritted his teeth as lust swamped him. He fought the urge to run to her. Perhaps she’d simply grazed it when she was bathing. But that brought him to thoughts of her naked in the tub, and he ground his teeth together again.
His front legs shook with a desire to run. His whole body quivered. Then two minutes later, she stroked her mark again. He lifted his snout and cried out. It was the longest and darkest howl of his life. If any of his kind heard it, they would surely think he was dying from pain.
Stop, Elspeth!
She touched him again. He could no longer fight it. He tore through the forest as fast as he could to her cottage. He brushed through brambles and briers, thanking his heavy coat for keeping him safe from them or he would be a bloody mess by the time he reached her.
He ran toward the cottage, but the windows were dark. He stood up on his hind legs and looked through the bedroom window. Thankfully, he had never installed those shutters. She wasn’t home? Where would she be in the middle of the night?
Then she stroked him again. His flesh quivered. It felt as though her hands dug deeply through his fur to reach his skin, where she scratched her fingernails against him. He stood still and tried to absorb it. He wasn’t able to fight it. Not anymore.
Where are you, Elspeth?
Then the wind shifted and he picked up her scent. The beautiful scent of magnolia met him, and he ran in her direction. He finally saw her, in the clearing where they’d made love for the first time. She lay in the middle of the area, on her plaid, completely and totally naked.
The moonlight glinted off her alabaster skin, making her shine. Her breasts were full and crowned with rose-colored nipples. Even from where he stood, he could see that they were erect. He wanted to cup them in his hands and bring his mouth down to taste her. But he couldn’t. Not in this form. He stood and watched her.
“I ken ye’re there,” she called. “Come out and let me see ye.”
Elspeth knew she was taking a chance. It could be disastrous for them both. If he hurt her, he’d never forgive himself. But she had faith in his love for her.
He stepped into the clearing. Her breath caught as she sat up to look at him. He was beautiful. There were no more adequate words to say. The moonlight glinted off his shiny brown fur. She nearly ached to touch it.
He tipped his head as though to ask a question.
“I couldna howl,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “So I called ta ye the only way I knew how.”
His head straightened.
She held up her arm and was about to stroke across the mark again, but he suddenly raced across the clearing and stood before her. One corner of his mouth lifted in a fierce snarl.
She held up two hands in surrender. “I willna touch it anymore.” He turned to leave. “As long as ye stay with me!” she called to his retreating form.
He stopped, but did not turn his head.
“Look at me!” she cried, frustration nearly ready to take over. He turned and walked back to her, his eyes half closed. She reached out a hand, but he skittered back out of her reach. “I want ta touch ye.”
He didn’t move.
“Ye willna let me do that, will ye?”
He still didn’t move. She reached out a hand and stroked the silky fur on the top of his head. His eyes closed. Then she ran her fingernails down his back, scratching him gently.
Then, before her very eyes, he changed. His features shifted. He changed from beast to man. To man with a beast within.
Before she could blink, he shoved her back to the ground and spread her thighs forcefully so that he could settle between them. He covered her completely. A wild thing, hoping to dominate.
“What games do you play, Ellie?” he snarled against her lips as his hands slid into her hair and tugged.
“No games, Ben. I simply want ta love ye.”
He dipped his head at her shoulder and gently abraded the skin with his teeth.
Heat pooled in her body where he insistently pressed his length against her.
“In me,” she said, adjusting her body to lie directly beneath him.
“I cannot claim you.” He closed his eyes. “You don’t know how much this hurts me,” he growled. “If you did, you would let me be.”
“I’ll never let ye be, Ben. I plan ta claim ye as my Lycan mate this night. And every day from this moment on.”
Ben was startled when Elspeth pushed his shoulder, shoving him from atop her body. Finally! She saw reason. She recognized the danger. But she just pushed him onto his back then climbed her naked body atop him, straddling his hips.
Ben covered his eyes with his forearm. He growled and grabbed her hips to lift her off him.
“I am half Lycan, Ben,” she said, pointing to the mark of the beast she wore on her wrist. “Just as ye are. And this night I plan ta claim ye as my Lycan mate.” She smiled at him, but there was suddenly something wild in her gaze. Something wanting.
Ben moved to slide from beneath her. “Ye canna leave me,” she said as she covered her body with his. She lay along his length, her thighs parted to straddle him. Then her teeth touched the tender place where his shoulder met his neck.
“Ah, God. I cannot fight you.” He wanted to scream.
“Then doona try.” She licked across the sensitive skin and then moved to kiss his lips. Then she sat up and took him into her body, sliding down on him like warm silk, tight and soft.
He grabbed her hips and clutched her tightly. Then he remembered how he’d bruised her the last time and took his hands down. She lifted them, putting them on her hips. “Help me. I doona ken what ta do.”
So he clutched her hips and set the rhythm, then she took over. The beast in him was content to let her ride him. And he reveled in the way she took him fully within her body with every stroke. He’d never have believed it.
Her breaths grew shorter and shorter. He knew she was close to reaching her peak. And the beast wanted to please her. He sat up to reach her breasts and drew her nipple into his mouth. All gentleness had left his body. He was afraid he’d hurt her when she cried out. But then she led him on when she said, “More,” and pulled his head toward her breast.
While his mouth pleasured her breasts, his hand dove between her thighs and circled her center. As she cried out, she removed her breast from his mouth and bent her head to his neck. Then she exploded around him, and at the same time her teeth nipped the tender flesh of his shoulder. He stilled and threw his head back, growling as he enjoyed the supreme satisfaction he felt to have her claim him as her own.
When she stilled, he held her face in his hands and looked into her green eyes. “I love you,” he said.
“Then take me,” she laughed.
Ben wasn’t gentle with her at all as he lifted her from him and set her on the plaid. He was rough and demanding. And she loved it. On his knees, he pulled her back against his front, rubbing his length along her slit. She spread her legs to give him entrance. The tip of him touched her but didn’t slide inside. She wanted to shout to the heavens.
“Don’t be so impatient,” he growled as he cupped her breasts and teased her into a frenzy.
Sliding one arm around her waist, he pushed her shoulders down toward the blanket. “On your hands and knees, love.”
“We’ve never,” she started.
“Now we are,” he growled.
She smiled. Maybe, finally, he would take her. Make her his in every way.
When he slid into her in one hard stroke, she cried out. The pleasure of it was nearly overwhelming. He commanded her body as his hips thrust into her, forward and back. She moved to meet his thrusts and he went harder.
Then he bent over her back to talk low in her ear. “I
love being inside you. I love to feel you squeeze me, so wet and warm.” He had never before talked to her about what they were doing. But it excited her even more. He continued to mumble in her ear as he took her to new heights. Then when she was ready, they came together, just as he pierced the skin of her shoulder with the most gentle of bites.
He sank to the ground atop her, and rolled to the side, taking her with him to cuddle against his chest. “That’s all ye have for me, wolf? A teeny, tiny bite?”
“Yes, I found that I could control the beast more than I thought.” He absently brought his hand to his own shoulder. “I think you bit me harder than I bit you.” He chuckled and slapped her bottom so hard it stung.
“I wasna worried, even if I’d broken the skin. Because I ken I can heal ye.”
“Heart and soul, witch.”
Epilogue
“Good morning, William,” Elspeth said brightly as she held open the door for her brother-in-law to enter the cottage.
His eyes swept across her, landing on the exposed skin of her neck and shoulders. His light blue eyes twinkled. “Found Ben last night, I see.”
She couldn’t hide the blush that warmed her cheeks. “I doona think he’d appreciate that.”
Will laughed. “My dear sister, Ben rarely appreciates me. It’s one of his flaws.”
Elspeth shook her head and started back toward her small kitchen. “Would ye care for some tea?”
“No. I’ve just come to say good-bye.”
“Ye’re leavin’?” She stopped in her tracks to turn back and look at him. Will hadn’t been in town all that long, and the journey was tiresome, as she well knew.
He shrugged. “I only came along because I didn’t trust Benjamin to return my coach in one piece. I’d prefer it not be set aflame by your well-meaning friends in a fit of pique.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “They’d never do such a thing. Ye’ve charmed them all.”
“Ah,” he agreed with a roguish grin. “It’s a curse I have.”
Elspeth gestured to the old threadbare settee. “Ben’s asleep, let me wake him for ye.”
“In a minute, lass,” he replied with a smile. “Sit down.”
Curious, she took the spot beside him. “Ye want ta talk ta me?”
