Tall, Dark and Wolfish (13 page)

she turned and stuck her head back out the door. "Sorcha Ferguson, I ken ye're close by. So ye may as wel show yerself !"

She turned and came to a complete halt when she saw that Caitrin was there as wel . "If we had Blaire here, the whole coven would be present," she

grumbled.

"I'm here," Blaire said as she stepped in the door with Sorcha. "Ye doona think she came up with the vine trick on her own, do ye? The battlefield is in

my blood. And I doona real y care if I have ta cheat ta win."

"I had ta heal him after yer little stunt." Her gaze flew back and forth between Sorcha and Blaire. Their eyes lowered to the floor. "Ye actual y broke the

skin. Ye
wounded
him. I canna believe ye did that. I dinna ken ye had the power to do that."

"Neither did we," Sorcha admitted, her gaze stil lowered. "Truly, I had no idea the vines would break the skin."

"Now ye ken, so doona let it happen again." She shook her finger at the two younger girls.

"Caitrin said ta keep ye apart," Blaire mumbled.

"She did what?" Elspeth spun around quickly to glare at Caitrin.

Her friend didn't lower her gaze. She shrugged nonchalantly and said, "I was worried for ye. Ye'l have ta forgive me for carin'." Her words dripped with

sarcasm. "And just what did ye think ye were doin', kneelin' in front of him with his pants unbuttoned? Answer that question for us. It's no place for a lady ta

be, Elspeth."

"I never professed ta be a lady! And I was just lookin' at his mark!" She pointed to the one on her own wrist. "He wears the mark of the beast. It's exactly

like mine. Exactly! The shape is the same. The size is the same. And even the texture is the same."

"Ye touched him?" Caitrin looked scandalized. "Down there?"

Would this nightmare never end? "No, I never touched him
down there
. I touched his mark. And I felt it in my own when I did."

The other four girls stared at her with their mouths open. "Oh, and now when I need ye, ye decide ta shut yer mouths." Elspeth groaned as she dropped

into a chair.

"Ye felt it in yer own mark? When ye touched his?"

"Aye, I felt it. I dinna feel a mere touch. I felt what
he
felt when I touched it, when I ran my thumb over it. At least I think it was what he felt. I've never

experienced anythin' like it."

"What was it like?" Al four girls sat forward.

"It was hot. And wild. And free. And… needy."

"Needy?" Rhiannon asked. "And just what would he be needin'?

"Me."

"Ye?" Sorcha asked.

"At that moment, he needed me."

Caitrin broke in. "He needed ta get ye flat on yer back, El. Doona ye see?"

"No, I doona see." She gave the seer in their midst a hard stare. "But obviously, ye
did
see somethin'. So out with it."

"I saw him ruin ye," she final y admitted, her eyes fil ing with tears.

"Thanks for believin' in me," Elspeth ground out. Caitrin colored brightly under her stare.

"I could be wrong," Caitrin said quietly.

"Ye've never been wrong before," Rhiannon reminded her, coming forward to stroke her hair.

"No. But my mother was."

Elspeth spun quickly to face her. "What do ye mean?"

"Yesterday my father told me that mama had a vision about yer parents. She saw that yer mother would leave ta go with yer father."

"But she never did," Elspeth's voice trailed off quietly.

"No. She chose ta stay and keep the coven together."

"Doona look at me like I've left ye already!" Elspeth snapped. "I'm no' goin' anywhere."

"In some ways, maybe ye have," Blaire said softly.

Al four girls turned to leave. "We'l see ye tomorrow at the funeral," Rhiannon threw over her shoulder.

"I havena gone anywhere!" she cried from behind them. But they didn't look back. Not a single one of them.

Sixteen

Ben lay on his back in the big bed, his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. He'd spent the entire night thinking about Elspeth. She wore

the mark of the beast. Her father obviously was one of them. But who was her father? And why was her very existence shrouded in mystery?

He probably shouldn't have barked at her the way he had that afternoon. He'd just been so stunned to see the mark on her wrist.

He supposed he should be thankful she'd agreed to help him. After al , he was at a loss for what to do. So he'd have to apologize in the morning for his

abrupt behavior and hope for success with whichever method she chose.

Ben closed his eyes tightly and worked to push al thoughts from his mind so that he could get to sleep. But then he felt a touch. He opened his eyes

quickly. He could have sworn Elspeth had just laid her hands on him. But no one was there.

He closed his eyes again and tried to clear his head. But then her fingertips grazed his abdomen. His eyes flew open. "What was that?" he whispered.

The touch moved across his bel y, a flat palm sliding across his chest.

"Elspeth?" he whispered. Surely the little witch didn't have that kind of power.

Ben rose and dressed quickly. He raised the window to his room and dropped down to the spongy turf below. He stood stil and closed his eyes. The

touch lingered, soft and hot, but no longer overwhelmed him. But then heat enveloped his manhood. He drew in a quick breath. It was as though her

delicate little hand was closed around his length.

It was nearly impossible to run with this heaviness between his legs. He was rock hard, but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind and ran as fast

as he could toward her little cottage. He streaked through the woods like a predator hunting prey. Elspeth was speaking to him. He just didn't know how.

He saw her as soon as he crossed the meadow. She sat on a hil , limned by the sliver that was the waxing moon hanging over her head. She sat and

absently stroked her fingertips down her forearm, her gaze far away.

"I wish you wouldn't do that, lass," he said, his breaths coming in great heaves.

Her head jerked around and she looked up at him. "What are ye doin' here?"

"I believe you cal ed for me," he said quietly.

"I dinna cal for ye." She shook her head.

Ben sat down beside her on the damp grass. He tugged his shirt from his trousers. She protested, "I doona think ye should be doin' that, Ben."

"I need to show you what you were doing to me," he mumbled. He lay back on the grass and covered his eyes with his forearm. Perhaps if he didn't look

at her, he would be able to show her without devouring her.

He slowly trailed his fingers across the mark that was usual y hidden beneath his clothes. She gasped. He did it again. She cried out.

"So it does work both ways, I see." He chuckled.

"How did ye do that?" she asked, her breaths coming in a quick pant.

"You started it," he laughed. "I was just lying in bed and then I felt you touch me."

"I touched ye? Where?" Elspeth pressed her hand to her heart.

"Where it hurts, love. You touched me where it hurts."

"I dinna mean to hurt ye, Ben. I promise." Truly she would never do anything to hurt another human being. His eyes narrowed as his gaze searched her

face.

"Does this hurt?" he asked quietly as he dragged his fingertips across his own mark.

Immediately Elspeth felt the rush of heat between her thighs and the thumping that was her heartbeat as it pulsed there. She breathed, "Hurt is no' quite

the right word for it." Her nipples hardened as he stroked again. "What are ye doin' ta me?" she asked quietly as she sank back on the dewy grass.

"It appears as though we're tied together, love." He stroked again and laughed when she couldn't hold back a purr. "I do so like the noises you make

when you're pleased."

"I doona think this is proper, Ben," she said quietly, the thump between her thighs stil taking most of her attention.

"I would say it's quite improper," he said as he leaned over her. "I can smel how much you want me." Her heart skipped a beat. "I can smel your desire."

She stroked across the mark on her own arm. Two could play this game. "It does the same ta ye, Ben. So take care with how ye use that little tool." He

groaned and lifted himself above her.

"I'l just ask for you to do it again," he said quietly against her mouth, before his lips touched hers briefly.

"Ye've no shame, do ye?"

"None at al ," he confirmed as he untied the strings at the front of her blouse with his teeth. Never had there been such an enticing sight. She had no

thoughts of stopping him. "I want to love you."

"Love me?" she gasped out as his teeth pul ed her bodice lower to reveal the upper swel of her breast. His teeth nibbled gently along the ridge of flesh

before he reached up and uncovered it completely. He immediately drew the peak into his mouth. Showers of sparks clouded her vision. He raised his

head to look at her. "
Make
love to you," he corrected his earlier statement.

"We canna do that," she groaned. A cool breeze teased her ankles as he gathered her skirts in his hands and delved beneath. When she started to

protest, he rubbed the mark on his lower bel y once. She nearly melted there on the grass.

"Ye doona play fair," she choked out.

"And right now I don't plan to," he said as he stroked across the mark again. She cried out and clutched his shoulders. The thump of blood in her most

secret places cal ed out for something. What, she had no idea. But there had to be some end to the sweet torment.

"I ache," she moaned as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"I can fix it for you, lass." His hand slid up her thigh and walked around to her front. He quickly untied the laces of her drawers and pul ed them down. She

didn't bother to protest. She simply wanted to find some release from the sweet torment.

"Fix it," she begged. "Please, fix it."

His hands pushed her skirts up around her waist as he bent between her thighs.

"What are ye doin'?" she asked as his head disappeared beneath the folds of her skirt. She never once thought of stopping him when she felt the warm

insistence of his fingers as they spread her. And his tongue as it speared her slick folds. She clutched wildly at the grass.

He licked quickly across the nub that was her center. Pleasure poured through her, suffusing her limbs with liquid heat.

"Doona stop," she whispered as she arched her hips to meet him.

She felt the movement of his head as he nodded and sucked her pliant flesh into his mouth. That was al it took to make her shatter into a mil ion pieces.

His fingers stroked as his tongue licked across her, drawing every bit of release from her body. He worked until she stil ed.

Ben pushed her skirts down and looked into her dazed face.

"What was that?" she muttered. He simply chuckled in response and pul ed her into his side. Suddenly she lifted her head. "Ye dinna find the same

pleasure."

"I do not have to…" he started. But Elspeth saw the look on his face. He longed for sweet release the same way she had.

"What can I do ta help ye?"

With a sheepish grin, he unbuttoned his trousers and pul ed a handkerchief from his pocket. He quite effectively blocked her view by pressing himself

against her, under her skirts. When he was settled, he lifted her arm to her own mouth and growled. "Lick me." Immediately, she knew what he wanted.

She stuck out her tongue and licked once across her own mark. He moaned and pressed his face into her shoulder. "Oh, Elspeth," he ground out.

With a smal smile on her face, she lapped at the mark again. And a third time. That was al it took. He fol owed her into bliss.

Seventeen

Elspeth rested her head on Ben's chest and he stared up at the night sky above them. He'd never felt so wild yet content at the same time. Whatever this

power was she held over him, he liked it. He held her close and brushed his lips in her hair. How nice it would be to stay curled up with her like this forever.