Defiance at Werewolf Keep (Werewolf Keep Trilogy) (9 page)

‘She already has. I’ve told her I’ll marry her and that we’ll be alone in the new wing together.’

‘You told her.’ Phil grunted in disgust.

‘Aye, I explained that ma wolf had to have her and that the best thing we could both do was to give in gracefully. It’s the only solution I can come up with. I’m holdin’ on by a thread here.’

‘That poor girl. You basically threatened her with your wolf to get her to agree?’ Phil jumped to her feet, her cheeks flushing scarlet as her eyes sparked golden fire at him. Briefly, Will admired the effect. Phil was a beautiful woman but when she was fired by passion, as she was in this moment, she was glorious. He glanced in Byron’s direction and saw his desire flare.

‘I
did no such thing. I made her an offer and told her marriages were built on far less than what I felt for her. She understands I donna love her, but she’s willing to take me anyway. Not that she has any choice, when it comes right down to it. Short of shootin’ me, that is.’ Will crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. This was all going terribly wrong. He thought he’d come up with the perfect solution, a solution that Lily had happily gone along with, and now Byron and Phil were putting up barriers.

‘I will talk to Lily and see how she actually feels about this crazy idea of yours,’ Phil said, striding for the door.

‘’Tis no’ crazy, it’s practical. Donna go undoin’ all my good work. She agreed. ‘Tis not ideal, but it’s the best solution. Tellin’ her something different will just confuse her.’ Will was yelling and he noted how both Phil and Byron took a step back under the onslaught. With everything human inside him, he reined in the wolf and stood down. He was doing his cause no good by flying off the handle like this.

‘I will not have that girl bullied into doing something that offends her. As for this marriage proposal… How can you expect her to accept you when
she has no experience with men? She has the right to be courted and treated like a princess before she decides on a husband.’

‘Like Byron courted you?’ Will threw back.

‘I had some experience with other men. I may never have been courted but I had been kissed. So I knew how special Byron’s kisses were.’ Phil stormed back over to stand in front of him, nose to nose. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Byron moving in, ready to protect his woman.

‘Go then, tell her she can do better than me. We all ken the truth of it. But that won’t make a bit of difference come the full moon.’

‘I am not suggesting she can do better than you, you damned, infuriating Scotsman. I am suggesting that she should at least have the chance to choose. For Heaven’s sake, the girl has only just started to recover from a lifetime of illness. She is still not fully well. So much has happened for her in so short a time. Forcing yourself on her could push her over the edge.’

Will jerked back as if Phil had slapped him. Was she suggesting that Lily might choose to end her life rather than be with him? Had he really bullied her into making what he saw as the only rational choice? He would rather Byron put a bullet in his head than place Lily in such a situation.

Phil drew in a deep breath, and when she spoke again it was more calmly. ‘I will talk to her. I will see what she really wants to do. Then we can go from there.’

Will nodded wordlessly, hi
s throat so choked with emotion he couldn’t have spoken if he’d tried. Had he forced her to choose him? Was he that much of a frightening bully? She had called him a bear with a sore paw, and that was a fair description of the way he’d been behaving in the last week, but surely she knew he would never hurt her. Surely she knew he only had her best interests at heart.

But even as that though
t came to mind he realised that if he had her best interests at heart he would have found some other way out of this situation. He knew he wasn’t the right man for the girl, but his wolf wouldn’t allow him to consider any other option. Maybe the only real alternative
was
a bullet in the brain.

* * *

Lily was reading one of the Keep’s letters. It gave her perspective. It stopped her from giving in to self-pity.

How could she have been so self-indulgent in front of Will? She had bewailed her fate like a child. Even calling for her father had been the behaviour of a child. How could Will feel anything but annoyance with her?

Yet he’d asked her to marry him. Well, maybe not asked. But he had offered, and that was something she would never have expected in a hundred years. Of course, it was because of their wolves. He’d told her, yet again, that he didn’t love her. Yet, having a man like Will care for her was more than enough.  More than she deserved. She was not the sort of woman who expected hearts and flowers. No, she was the sort of woman who expected spinsterhood for whatever was left of her short life.

‘Lily, may I have a word?’ Phil said close to her ear. Lily jerked back from her wool-gathering to realise the Guardian’s wife had come to her side without her noticing.

‘Certainly,’ Lily replied, standing up and moving away from the other busy men in the room. Phil indicated the door and she followed the other woman from the room.

‘Come to my room. It is cosy there and I have ordered us tea.’

Wordlessly, Lily followed Phil down the hall to the large room she shared with Byron. In front of the low burning fire someone had set a tea service with cucumber sandwiches and small treacle tarts.

‘Please, sit. We have not had much chance to become acquainted in the short time you have been here. I am remiss in my duties as host.’

‘You have been most welcoming, Lady…Phil. Everyone has been very kind.’ She took her seat and then accepted the cup and saucer Phil offered her. Her hands began to shake and the cup rattled in the saucer.

‘I am glad you have found that to be the case. How are you coping with the idea of the coming full moon
after visiting the cells the other day?’ Phil poured milk into Lily’s cup and then into her own.

‘
I am nervous, I have to admit. But Will has suggested that we might share the new wing alone. I know it is highly inappropriate, but as we are affianced and this is not a normal situation, I think.’

‘You do not have to go along with Will’s outrageous proposition. I know he wields a great deal of power here, but I have more. I will not allow him to force you into doing something that you find morally…’

‘He is not forcing me into anything,’ Lily interrupted quickly, feeling the heat rising up her neck.

‘You want to have him there when you remove your clothing?’ Phil’s golden eyes stared into hers intently.

‘I prefer that option to being surrounded by women I do not know. I feel safe with Will. I know you find that hard to believe, but he has a very gentle side. I know he can’t love me, but being cared for by such a man is better than being loved by any other.’

Phil frowned as if she couldn’t quite take in her words. ‘You love him?’

‘Yes. I do believe I do.’

‘You may confuse affection and the need fo
r protection with love.’

‘Quite possibly. But
my wolf wants him, only him. I assume that is what this wildness is inside me. She does not wish to be confined to the women’s wing. Her desire is to be with Will.’

Phil poured tea into her cup and then did the same with her own. Then she sat back, thoughtfully sipping at her beverage.

‘Well, if you are sure.’

‘I am.’

CHAPTER NINE

It was half an hour before sunset and the denizens of the Keep had all made their way to the Dungeons. Even though it was late summer, the fires raged in the grates to keep the cells warm overnight. While in werewolf form the cold would not affect them, but in the human interim their naked flesh would feel the chill.

Lily was aware of the other women's attitude to her sharing the new wing with Will. There was resentment and moral indignity at the flaunt
ing of the rules by the man who usually enforced those rules. That she was the reason for the break in protocol was deeply disturbing to her.

But not nearly as disturbing as removing her clothes
. Even though she had known this moment would come, had been preparing herself in the last weeks by removing her clothes in the privacy of her own room so she could get used to the sensation of bare skin, it was still almost too much for her.

It felt so unnatural to be totally naked. Since she was a very young child
, she had been taught to keep her body covered at all times, even in the bath.

Her mother’
s predicted moral outrage warred with Lily’s own practicality. It made perfect sense to remove her clothes if the transformation would destroy them. She didn’t have enough clothes to waste on useless attempts at modesty. But even as she slowly removed each layer of her clothing, she felt as if her mother’s eyes bored into her back, condemning her as a harlot.

Not that her mother had ever spoken a harsh word to her, but then, she had never done anything to draw her mother’s ire. Unless it was by re
ading inappropriate books. Even then, her mother had only shaken her head and tutted at her as she removed the offending material. It was hardly a reproof at all. Might she not understand what her daughter was being forced to do? It was not as if she had any choice in the matter, except in the area of her location. Even though she and Will were engaged, would her mother condemn her for choosing to be here in this private place with only a naked man as her companion?

Handing her folded clothes to the pregnant Phil felt like she was cutting the final links to her old life, even when Phil studiously looked only into her eyes and smiled her encouragement. The Keep’s mistress then kept her gaze cast down as she moved over to the second barred cell where Will awaited with his own neatly folded clothes.

Lily knew that Phil had fought for the right to do this small service for them both. Byron had not wanted his wife to see another man naked. But P
hil had laughed at his concerns and assured him she would divert her eyes. This, Lily saw, she did with a cheeky quirk of her lips.

'You will do very well, I a
m sure,' Phil said over her shoulder as she finally left them to their quiet, underground domain. In the distance, Lily could hear the others settling in. No one said much. It was a largely silent ritual, so she had been informed. Everyone was focused on the coming change.

Lily felt the chill on her na
ked skin and her fear spiked, making her shiver uncontrollably.

'Are you well, Lass?' Will asked
urgently. She heard him pacing his cell in readiness for the change he could obviously feel stirring within him. The change she could feel stirring within her. She fought the urge to look across at him. She needed the reassurance of the sight of him, but her modesty held sway. If she looked up now, she’d see him naked. And she might see him looking at her. What if his eyes told her he didn’t like what he saw? What if …

'I... I...O
h Will, I don't think I can do this. I...' She couldn’t keep the rising panic from infecting her voice as she remained resolutely turned away from him, eyes caste down. The shivering had become a violent shaking that made her teeth chatter loudly in her head. So cold…She was so cold.

The sound o
f Will slamming against the bars made her jump. 'Lily, love, come here to me,' he urged softly. Her fear was a palpable thing in the rocky dungeon they shared. She could feel that he wanted to ease it and soothe it away. She could sense that he wanted to fight her demons, but there was nothing for him to fight. And it drove him mad.

Lily looked up from the floor a
t the first sound of his voice and turned to face him. She saw him standing there, his hand outstretched to her through the bars. Drawing in a stunned gasp, she took him in for the first time. His body was beautiful – shoulders wide and muscled, chest lightly dusted with dark hairs dispersed with grey, torso tapered to narrow hips and strong thighs. She even caught a glimpse of something nestled in the hair between his legs.

All of this she witnessed in a bl
ink of an eye before she scrambled toward him, and took his outstretched hand in her own. She took it to her lips and kissed it, then held it to her cheek, desperate for comfort, desperate for touch. He groaned.

'Come closer,' Will urged, gently drawing her tow
ard him until their bodies pressed close with cold, hard bars between them.  The fingers on the hand she held felt their way across her face until his thumb dipped into her mouth. She sucked it and she felt a shiver run through his body. His other hand snaked through the bars and stroked her naked back and then caressed her derriere.

Part of her was shocked b
y what she was doing, what she was allowing Will to do, but the other part, the part in control, was glorying in the contact. And it craved more. Without being aware of her intent, her own hand passed between the bars and found its way to Will’s side. She let her palm slide down the hard muscles of his torso, enjoying the sensation more than she thought possible. Even better was the way he edged closer, wanting more of her touch, his skin rippling.

Lily
could feel something coming. Terror raced through her system like wildfire. Every cell in her body was vibrating in the strangest way. It was as if she buzzed or vibrated the way a bell resonated after it had been struck. Her muscles became heavy. It was impossible to keep contact with Will’s body any longer. Her legs gave way beneath her, and if not for the man who took her weight, she would have fallen to the stone floor. Instead, he lowered her to the marble beneath them, and then, reluctantly, withdrew his hands.

‘It’s almost here, Lily
, lass. Donna fight it. Let it come. It doesna hurt,’ he coached her gently as he dropped to the cell floor beside her.

Her head felt light, as she often felt under the influence of laudanum. Her breath caught in her lungs. Lily hadn’t felt the inability t
o draw breath like this for almost a month. Panic reared its head. She couldn’t breathe. Wildly, she sought Will’s eyes. His calm concern was a balm to her panic, and she found she could, once again, draw a life-giving breath into her struggling lungs.

The tense smile on his face was the last thing she saw as the darkness rolled over her in one overwhelming wave.

* * *

Her panic drove him wild. Never had he been so desperate for anything as he was in those few moments when he reached out for her. If he could have bled for her,
done anything to ease her terror, he would have. Instead, all he could do was slam himself against the bars that separated them, uncaring of the damage they might do him, as he held out his hand to her.

At first he’d tried not to look at her naked body. The gentleman in him knew it was not appropriate to take advantage of her in this vulnerable moment. But more than a gentleman, he wanted to be the protector, and he couldn’t do that unless he could see for himself how she was reacting to what was beginning to happen. He could feel her panic, but he needed to see her, touch her, if he was to have any chance of easing it.

When he coaxed her to come to him, he was overwhelmed by how readily she did so. Her naked back had seemed so vulnerable, so fragile. Her long plait of honey-brown hair fell down that delicate back until it reached her small, perfectly shaped bottom. If not for the desperate need to help her, that sight would have had him hard in seconds.

When she turned to him,
he saw her huge, violet eyes grow even larger as she took him in. But before he could decide whether she liked what she saw or not, she was beside him, grasping his hand like a drowning man grabs his rescuer. His wolf clawed to be free, but he fought it down. Lily needed him to be human. She needed him to be there for her until her time had come.

His skin seemed to tighten on his body, almost strangling him. But he let his fingers walk to her face and was shocked when she invited his thumb into her hot, wet mouth. Aroused instantly, unable to control the raging sexual need, he drew her to the bars so he could press his
tight skin against hers. She was so cold, or he was so damned hot, he didn’t know which.

When her hand ca
me through the bars and stroked his side he almost came on the spot. Her tentative touch was more arousing than any harlot’s talented hands. Part of him wanted to pull back, panicking at the loss of control. The other part wanted to force the bars apart so he could get to her.

Then her eyes told him what was happening. They filled with wild terror as her legs gave way beneath her. He used the last of his own strength to lower her gently to the floor. Then he dropped
down beside her, feeling the shift start.

But before it took him, he saw her change claim her
. One moment, she was a fragile, elfin woman, the next, a sleek grey wolf, small-boned and beautiful beyond words. The sight of her sleeping was the last thing he saw as the darkness took him.

* * *

Lily came back to herself slowly, picking up the sensations around her like pebbles on the sand. The stone beneath her was cold and hard. The air smelled of damp fur and Will. Something hard and cold and yet warm and giving pressed against her back. Her head rested on her arm.

Very slowly
, she eased herself up on her hands and looked over her shoulder. Her naked back was pressed against the cell's bars and Will's beast. With a start, she began to pull away. But then she stopped, allowing her eyes to rove over the sleeping form. He was huge. Much larger than a dog. But there was something noble in his shape, though nothing remotely human. His fur was grey, like his human hair, and his snout was white. His sleepy eyes opened and met hers, and she read a fierce, feral pride there.

Then, as she stared into those wild
, dark eyes, the body morphed like a ripple in a pond, and when it stilled once more, a naked man lay unconscious against the bars. She shifted to better see him. For some reason, she felt no shyness at their naked state now. Curiously, she took in his long shapely thighs and legs, bent up to his well-muscled chest. His arms reached around his legs and one hand lay on her side of the cell, as if, even in that other state, he reached for her, to comfort and protect.

Lily reached down and touched his palm, and the fingers slowly closed around her hand. She bit back a moan of pain
from where her broken nails bled. Will released her. As she tried to draw in deep, sustaining breaths she saw him lift himself up on his hands and lean in to the bars. He tried to say something but all he could do was grunt. She reached through the bars and stroked his bristled cheek.

Turning in to her hand
, he playfully licked at her fingers. The shot of excitement flowed through her so suddenly that she gasped and pulled back. His dark eyes were instantly alert in the shadowy gloom, concerned that he had hurt her again. She laughed nervously and brought her hand back to his face. Mimicking his movement of the night before, she let her thumb dip into his moist mouth. His hooded eyes crinkled with pleasure as he took the digit in and stroked it with his tongue. Lily swallowed, trying to bring moisture to her suddenly dry mouth. His eyes never left hers.

'Are you well
, love?' he rasped, as if finally working out how to use his voice. She wasn't sure of her own vocal cords yet so she simply smiled and nodded and let her other fingers dip, one at a time, into his welcoming mouth. It soothed the pain of bared cuticles.

'Do you remember anything?' he asked between nibbles on her fingers.

Lily cleared her throat and tried her voice. It was croaky when it finally came. 'I remember wanting to get out. I felt so trapped. And I heard you howl and saw you throw yourself against the bars, trying to get to me. And I wanted you to get to me. Are you hurt?'

Will looked down at his body and saw several
large reddened patches on shoulders and thighs from where he had obviously tried to ram his way out of the cell. He'd be bruising up shortly.

'I willna be a pretty sight by evening,' he joked.

'I think you will still be pretty, even with bruises,' she said stoutly, annoyed that he so underestimated his appeal.

'I'm an old warhorse, Lass, scarred and rough around the edg
es. I was ne'er a pretty boy, e’en before ma nose was broken. '

'I have never seen a man unclothed before,' she argued firmly, 'but for all that
, I know none could be more beautiful than you.'

He looked a
t her as if she'd lost her mind, then laughed and stroked her hair back from her face. 'Och, you’re good for me, lass. You lighten ma heart, daft as you are, at times.'

She was stopped from an indignant reply by the sound of footsteps in the passageway. In a moment
, Phil stood in the doorway to the wing and looked at them, crouched together.