Tall, Dark and Wolfish (25 page)

The man stepped back and opened the door widely.

"She's a godsend, she is."

Yes, she was.

"Seamus Kincaid," the man said, offering his hand in greeting.

"Ben Westfield. How are things going?" he asked, although he knew he probably had better information than poor Seamus, since he could hear every

word, mumble, and moan from inside the room.

"I doona ken," Kincaid said quietly. "They wil na let me in there."

"I hear it's not a place we would want to be."

"Oh, no!" the man gasped. "I want ta be right there, holdin' her hand. This is my fault, ye see."

Ben clapped a hand to Seamus' shoulder. He opened his mouth to speak, and then he heard a whimper. "El ie?" he asked as he turned toward the

birthing room.

Elspeth had never attended such a frightening delivery. The woman had been laboring for hours. If the bairn wasn't delivered soon, there would be nothing

Elspeth could do. She couldn't heal the dead. She could only heal the living.

The midwife instructed Mrs. Kincaid, tel ing her when to push and when to rest. She'd known for some time what powers Elspeth had. She'd used them

in her presence on enough occasions. The first time had been an accident. But the woman had just chuckled and said, "Wel , that's quite the thing," as

though El had just shown her a new pair of earbobs.

The mothers never knew of her powers; they were usual y too far gone by the time she intervened to notice what she did. And she'd never asked for any

credit. Healing was a gift, and she was meant to share it. To do anything less would go against her very nature.

She heard the door when it opened a crack. "Elspeth," Ben cal ed. "Are you al right?"

Elspeth got up and walked to the door, opening it only enough that he could see her face. "What are ye doin' here, Ben?"

"I had to come and find my wife," he said quietly. "You shouldn't be here."

She nodded to the man over his shoulder. "Tel him that when he loses them both," she whispered. "Because I wil na do it."

He'd actual y thought to keep her from her life's work? He'd thought to keep her from healing? He would be more likely to get her to stop breathing at his

command.

"El ie," he started.

"Ben, ye wil na change my mind."

A muscle in his jaw clenched.

The woman in the bed behind her moaned, and Elspeth closed the door quickly despite his quick protest. She knew the door was a flimsy barrier

between the two of them. But it offered some privacy for a moment.

The midwife worked to turn the baby within the mother, as only she knew how to do. With a grunt of satisfaction, she washed her hands quickly in a bowl

of water and clapped them together.

"Now we can deliver this babe," she said, her eyes aglow. They wouldn't need Elspeth after al . Within moments, the mother held the bundled baby

against her chest, a contented but exhausted smile upon her face.

Elspeth opened the door wide and invited the harried father inside, then quietly took Ben's hand in her own and pul ed him out the door.

They walked briefly in silence as he tightened his jaw beside her.

"Ye do a poor imitation of a happy man, Ben," she final y said.

"What were you thinking back there, Elspeth?"

"I was thinkin' that someone needed me." Surely he understood.

"I need you." He took her hand and pul ed it to his chest, covering it with his own.

"Aye, tel that ta the good people of Edinburgh," she laughed as she pointed toward her own cottage, where three people already stood outside, waiting

for her help.

Ben worked beside her for the rest of the day, refusing to leave her side. If he left her, she would probably take it into her head that she needed to heal

someone. He couldn't al ow that.

She passed out bottles of herbal medicine for coughs, made poultices for wounds, and even gave a child a teaspoon of sugar to help stop her

hiccoughs. Everyone received a smile and a treatment for what ailed them.

As the sun final y sank in the sky, she turned to her husband, blew a lock of hair from her eyes, and grinned. "Now it's yer turn."

"My turn?" Ben asked, placing a sarcastic hand upon his chest. "You mean to say that I get some attention from the great healer?" He slid an arm

around her waist and pul ed her close to him.

"Aye, ye get me al ta yerself." She pul ed a large washtub from the corner of the room and placed it before the fire. Then she began to methodical y fil it

with warm water, boiled on the stove. Ben took over the task, unable to watch her work when she had shadows beneath her eyes.

"Let's worry about me tomorrow, love," he said softly as he pul ed her down onto his lap. She immediately curled into him, soft and yielding as she

kissed his neck.

"But I want ye naked now," she said, her voice a little huskier than before, and she began to tug his shirt from his trousers. He lifted his arms and let her

pul it over his head.

"You want me naked?" he joked. "Al you had to do was say so." His fingers tangled with hers as she reached for the buttons of his trousers. He left that

to her tender care and started on her clothes.

"What are ye doin'?" she asked as she pressed her lips to the space beneath his ear.

"Undressing you. What else?"

"But I'm no' in need of a medicinal bath," she teased, standing up. Her dress fel from her body and landed in a heap upon the floor. She stood stil and

proud before him, nearly naked. He groaned and reached for her. She slipped from his grasp.

"Inta the tub with ye," she said, pointing her finger toward the washtub. Ben shrugged out of his clothes and stepped into the water, sighing softly as the

warmth surrounded him. She stood outside his grasp. He reached for her.

"No, no," she teased as she dropped dried flower petals into the water.

Ben sniffed. "You want me to smel like a flower?" He sniffed again. "Like a gardenia, no less?" Though he would smel like roses if it made her smile

like she smiled at that moment.

"Gardenia is ruled by the moon," she said quietly as she picked up a cloth and began to gently sponge the water onto him.

"Like blueberries?" he asked, laying his head back, happy to simply enjoy her loving ministrations.

"Stronger than the blueberry." She twitched her nose. "The fragrance cal s ta the moon. So it canna hurt ye ta wear it."

"Can't
you
wear the fragrance and I'l just keep you with me? I promise not to leave your side."

"I think ye made that quite obvious today," she scolded him gently. He growled at her as her hand brushed over his nipple.

She sat up to pick up a bottle of gardenia oil and poured a few drops into the bath. The oil shimmered on the surface of the water. But nothing

shimmered brighter than her smile.

Elspeth sat back to pick up the cloth again, and his eyes trailed down her body. Her chemise was transparent when wet. Her nipples stood hard against

the sheer fabric, the triangle between her thighs beckoning to him.

"How long am I expected to endure this torture?" he growled.

"About an hour." She put her hands on her hips. Her breasts shifted. "'Torture' is a mighty strong word for a perfumed bath," she scolded.

"I can't stand an hour." He reached for her hand and pul ed it into the water. Her fingers fluttered briefly before they closed around his length. "And even

less time if you do that," he snarled.

"Ye're the one who pul ed my hand inta the water," she reminded him saucily as her fingertips continued to play across his flesh.

Ben groaned, and with just one arm around her waist, he lifted her from beside the tub and drew her into it.

"Ben!" she squealed as water rol ed over the edges of the tub.

"If I have to stay in the bath for an hour, I'l have you with me." He turned her away from him so that her back rested against his chest. Then he cupped her

breast in his hand, rol ing the nipple with his thumb.

"We both canna fit in this tub," she gasped.

"I think I'l fit just fine," he whispered, the sound no more than a quick brush across her cheek as his hand slid between her thighs and parted her flesh.

"Aye, we both ken ye fit there." Her gasp broke when his fingers rubbed her folds, parting her silky flesh, finding her warm and wil ing.

"I want to be inside you," he breathed before drawing her earlobe between his teeth.

Ben's hands adjusted her body so that she opened above him. He parted her folds and pressed himself insistently against her center. She settled over

him like a warm silken glove. He groaned as she sighed, her head fal ing back against his shoulder.

Ben lifted her legs over the rim of the tub, parting them so that he could rest his hand in her curls.

"This isna the best position, I'd wager," she said. But then she inhaled deeply when he firmly rubbed around her center.

"It's a perfect position," he groaned. As he began to stroke her, she arched her hips to meet him, moving along his length in time with his fingers.

Her tiny movements pushed him in farther and farther as his fingers moved faster and faster.

"Watch me," he whispered against her ear.

"No," she gasped, pushing her head into his forearm.

"Watch, or I'l stop." His fingers stil ed until she lifted her head and looked down at his hand.

That was al it took to make her erupt around him, the sight of him toying with her, just as he'd known it would. He quickly fol owed.

Thirty-one

"El ie," Ben began as she placed a bowl of hardboiled eggs in front of him. "I never thought to have my wife cook for me. I'm fairly plump in the pockets.

Can't I hire someone for you?"

Hire someone to cook for her? Elspeth couldn't help but laugh. Then she slid into a seat across from her husband at the smal table. "Eat the eggs, Ben;

they're for rejuvenation."

"Rejuvenation," he grumbled. "What I real y need is a new bed.
That
would rejuvenate me." Then he rubbed the back of his neck.

Which, of course, she knew. He
did
talk in his sleep. He also had a point. Her bed was rather smal , especial y for a man his size. "Wel , I believe ye'l be

happy with what Sorcha has planned for ye then."

"Oh?" he asked warily before plopping one egg into his mouth. After swal owing, he leaned forward. "I don't know that I liked the way you said that."

Elspeth smiled at him. "I think ye'l be pleasantly surprised, my lord."

"Meaning you're not going to tel me." He frowned as he eyed another egg. "How many of these do I have to eat?"

She laughed again. "My, ye're rather grumpy this mornin'. And ye have ta eat al of them, Benjamin. That's why I put them in front of ye."

Final y he smiled at her. "Simon wil adore you."

"His Grace?" she asked in surprise. He so rarely spoke of his oldest brother, and then it was general y complaints.

"Hmm. You can take turns barking orders at me."

"Eat yer eggs," Elspeth said, rol ing her eyes heavenward.

With a scowl he popped another egg into his mouth, and she slid from her seat to prepare him some more tea.

"I had no idea I married such a moody man, Ben. Ye seemed so sweet up 'til now," she teased.

In a flash he stood behind her, hands on her waist, grinning like a fool. "It's working, El ie." He glowed like an exuberant child.

She glanced back at the table. "The eggs?"

He shrugged. "I don't know what exactly, but you're right. I
am
moody. I get moody, we al do, in the week leading up to the ful moon."

That was good news. She turned in his arms and slid her hands up his chest. "Indeed? Does that mean I can look forward ta a difficult husband one

week a month for the rest of my life?"

Ben pul ed her flush against him. "We also become more carnal."

"
More
carnal?" she asked, twirling a lock of his hair around her finger. "How wil I ever survive?"