Tall, Dark and Wolfish (18 page)

spel her mother had been writing. It was a spel that would only be used to cal a loved one home.

But who would her mother cal ? As far as she knew, her mother had never loved any man, aside from her father. Elspeth picked up the piece of foolscap

and blew the dust from the surface.

That was when she final y knew. She knew who the man was who'd kil ed her mother. She'd known al along it was her father. But she'd never seen it

written in ink the way it was. The foolscap may as wel have been marked with her blood, for her mother had poured her heart out on the page. She had

final y taken it upon herself to cal to him and ask for him to return. To visit her one last time. Obviously, he hadn't come. And her mother had final y died of

loneliness.

But she'd left one thing behind. The man had a name—a first one, at least—Des. And Elspeth had to find him.

Ben knew it was much too early to pay a visit to Elspeth, but he'd woken several times thinking of her during the night. He hated the idea of her being al

alone in that house. He would take a quick run over to her tiny cottage and see if her friends were around. If so, he wouldn't worry over her.

He jogged through the woods, so intent on his path that he suddenly found himself there and didn't even remember how he'd arrived. Of course, no one

was moving about. He glanced at the shrubbery and said quietly, "If you're going to attack me, let's get it over with."

The shrubbery made no response. No leaves trembled. No vines lengthened or entangled him. Perhaps it was safe. He softly knocked on her door. He

waited to hear her cal out, or at least hear her footsteps as she crossed the floor. His Lycan hearing al owed him to hear the smal est of footsteps, even

the ones made by bare feet. He imagined Elspeth climbing out of bed, her feet bare as she padded toward the door.

But no one answered his knock. He tapped a little louder. There were stil no signs from inside. What if something was wrong? What if she was hurt?

Ben turned the door handle and poked his head inside. He glanced around the room and saw nothing amiss. But neither did she appear to him. He

walked into the kitchen and saw a spoon stirring a pot of oatmeal. Al by itself ? Surely that wasn't one of her powers. He walked over to the stove and

moved the pot from the heat. The spinning spoon immediately stil ed. Ben shook his head and cal ed to her again.

He glanced across the kitchen and final y saw the hidden door, which was usual y covered by a large rug. The rug had been casual y tossed to the side.

He stepped to the edge of the hidden door and looked down. And there he final y found her.

"Elspeth?" he cal ed. He could see her there in candlelight, her face glowing as she sat stil , thoroughly engrossed in a book in her lap. She didn't look

up.

The rungs creaked only slightly as they bore his weight. When he reached the bottom of the ladder, he jumped softly to the hard-packed earth.

He was before her and pul ing the book from her grasp before she even realized he was there.

"
Havers
, Ben!" she cried, her hand fluttering to land on her heart, which now beat so loud that Ben could hear it. "Ye nearly scared the life out of me." Her

eyes narrowed at him. "What are ye doin' here?"

"I came to check on you. To be sure you're al right." He wiped a smudge of dust from her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

"Oh, I'm fine," she said and pul ed the book back into her lap.

Any other woman would be mortified to be caught in her nightrail by a man. And even more so if she knew what she looked like. Back in London, there

were chimney sweeps with less dirt on them than she was wearing.

He reached over and tugged the end of a spider web, untangling the mess from her hair, which looked like orange flames in the light of the candle.

"Thank ye," she mumbled. She barely glanced up at him.

"What is this place?" he asked as he took in the sights and scents around him.

Without looking up from her book, she mumbled, "My mother's secret room."

"I can see why she kept it a secret," Ben said quietly. She didn't turn and look at him. He crossed his arms over his chest. "It's filthy."

"Filthy, aye," she murmured, but stil didn't raise her head.

"Elspeth, the trees have come alive, and they tried to kil me on my way to your house." Something had to get her attention.

"That's good, Ben," she said quietly as she turned the page.

"I want to make love to you," he said, unable to bite back the smal smile and pleasant thoughts that came with that statement. Perhaps he could shock

her out of her trance.

"Aye," she nodded.

"Did you say 'aye'?" he cried.

"Mmm... hmm." She nodded. "Whatever ye say."

Ben blew out a frustrated breath as he paced behind her. Then he had an idea. He unbuttoned his trousers and rubbed his fingertips lightly across his

birthmark.

"Oh," she cried as she jumped up. The book fel from her hands and thunked to the floor.

"Final y I have your attention," he said as he leaned against a cabinet.

"Doona do that ta me, Ben." Her green eyes flashed in anger. She shook her first finger at him. "That wasna fair."

He chuckled at the look of indignation on her face. "I gave you fair warning, Elspeth."

She bent and picked up the book. "I'm sorry. I was readin' my mother's journal."

"Anything interesting?"

A spark of pain lit in her eye and then quickly died. "Very much that's interestin'. She wrote about my father." She sighed long and loud. Then drew in a

deep breath. "Ben, can I ask ye for a favor?"

He stepped closer to her and brushed a lock of hair from her forehead. "You can ask me for anything."

"Can ye take me ta London?"

That came out of nowhere. "I said I would, but what's so urgent?"

"I need ta find my father. Ye said yer major could help me."

Ben nodded. He'd been trying to get her to London, away from the others, anyway. What a stroke of luck to have her change her mind to leave sooner. "I

believe he can."

"Good, because I'm goin' ta kil him once I find him."

Twenty-three

Elspeth was mortified by what she'd said, and more so by the look of utter shock on Ben's face. Stil , she wouldn't take the words back. She was a healer,

and she'd never wanted to hurt anyone—except for "Des," whoever the devil he was. Perhaps the loss of a limb would suffice. She scratched her head as

she considered her options.

For years she'd heard her grandfather lament the fact that her father had kil ed her mother. She'd never been sure what he meant by that, since she'd

never laid eyes on the man, and her mother had only died five years ago. But now, having read pages and pages of her mother's words, she knew exactly

what her grandfather meant. She remembered the day. Elspeth had been sick, so sick that she'd nearly died. She'd been told later that her mother had

tried every remedy known to her. And nothing worked. So, in desperation, she'd reached out to El's father for support.

It had taken every bit of power she had, her entire essence, just to reach out to him. And stil he hadn't come. The additional stress on her body had

weakened her and left her unable to fight when she caught the same il ness Elspeth had. It was al because of him. She had cal ed to him, but he hadn't

come. He'd put her in the ground, just as sure as if he'd plunged a knife into her heart.

"I must have misheard you," Ben said smoothly.

"Ye heard me correctly. When I find my father, I'm goin' ta kil him."

"You're a healer, Elspeth," he reminded her.

She closed her eyes. It went against everything in her soul to do harm, but how could she let him live peaceful y after everything he'd done? "I'l make an

exception in his case."

Then she felt Ben's warm fingers brush her cheek, and her eyes rose to meet his. "I don't think you mean that, El ie. There's not a cruel bone in your

body."

She hadn't realized how cold she was in her mother's room, but his touch warmed her in an instant. "I canna just let him roam around out there. No' after

what he did ta her."
Not after what he did to me.

"Are you sure he's even alive?" Ben asked softly.

Elspeth felt the air whoosh out of her. She hadn't considered that. What if he was dead? It would explain why the summoning spel hadn't worked. "I

suppose ye have a point. But I need ta find out, Ben. One way or the other."

He flashed her a smile. "We'l find him, one way or another." Then he winked at her. "But you've got to promise me not to kil him, if he is alive."

It should be an easy promise to make. She knew she could never go through with it, no matter how badly he deserved it or how badly she wished she

could. Feeling bitter, she simply shrugged.

"Now, I mean it, Elspeth. I won't have you getting yourself into trouble. As Blackmoor's brother I hold a little clout, but not enough to get authorities to

ignore murder charges. That sort of thing is frowned upon in England, you know."

Elspeth heaved a sigh. "Al right, I won't kil him." But she wouldn't promise not to maim him. Perhaps she should bring the others with her, as Sorcha's,

Blaire's, and Rhiannon's powers could do a bit more damage than hers ever could.

Ben's fingers drifted to her neck and he stroked her gently. "What a relief. I'd hate to see this beautiful neck stretched on the gal ows. It would be such a

waste."

She frowned at him. "Ye make it very difficult for me ta stay in a foul mood, ye ken?"

His smile brightened the dismal room. "Ah, my sweet little witch, you shouldn't have told me that. I'l hold al sorts of power over you now." His fingers

moved lower over her shoulder and down her arm, spreading a tingling warmth al the way to her fingertips. "When do you want to leave? Today?"

He was the kindest man she'd even known, completely ignoring his own ailment. She was embarrassed to realize that she had ignored it as wel , and

now she knew how to fix him. "Oh, Ben, I'm sorry. I was bein' a bit selfish. I do have wonderful news for ye."

He raised his brow in silent question.

"It's al in there." She pointed to the journal. "We

were right. My father came here for the same reason as ye did. He couldn't transform either. Al of mother's notes are right here. The potions, oils, spel s

she used."

She saw pure joy in his eyes. "So you know how to heal me?"

"I believe so. Mother healed him, anyway."

Ben easily plucked her from her seat and spun her around in his arms. "El ie, you don't know how happy you've made me."

With the room spinning around she had a fairly good idea. A laugh escaped her. "
Havers
, put me down, ye sil y man."

But he didn't. Though he stopped spinning, he held her tightly in his arms, her legs dangling off the ground. Then he pressed his lips to hers. Elspeth

wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, certain the room stil spun.

Ben groaned as his tongue explored Elspeth's sweet mouth. She tasted like tea and blueberries. She tasted like Elspeth, which he was discovering was

his favorite flavor in the world. He sat her on the long table before them and pressed himself between her legs. What he wouldn't give to sink into her.

The scent of her arousal touched his nose, driving him to distraction. In her flimsy nightrail, he could feel her nipples harden against his chest. He gently

pushed her back on the table, never removing his lips from hers.

He started to put himself above her, but something fel from the table and crashed to the floor.

Elspeth sat up with a start. She blinked her striking emerald eyes at him and smiled. "I'm certain we'd be more comfortable upstairs."

He wholeheartedly agreed. Her mattress had to be more comfortable than a hard table in a dank room. "Lead the way, love," he growled against her

neck. Unable to resist himself, he nipped her lightly and she raked her hands through his hair.

Ben kissed her softly one last time before helping her off the table. She scrambled up the ladder, her perfect little bottom swaying before his eyes. Her

nightrail didn't leave much to the imagination, and Ben had to work to keep his hands to himself, at least for the moment.

He thought about riding in his coach with her for a fortnight. He could squeeze that bottom al he wanted, as wel as everything else. It would be the most

pleasant journey he'd ever take… one that would surely ruin her reputation, should anyone find out about it.

There was only one solution. They'd leave for London right after he married her. He wouldn't make the same mistake her father made. He wouldn't ever

let her go, and he would protect her until the end of time, and that meant more than physical y. He wouldn't let anyone ever speak il of her.

Ben climbed the ladder after her. "El ie, there's something I have to ask—"