That was how Hawk found us. He clattered up the steps, a platter of roast meat in his hand and stopped short to stare. When he’d left we hadn’t been covered in blood.
I cowered against the pillar as the Sea Wolf kept laughing, laughing.
Hawk recovered quickly. With his own guffaw, he set the platter down and dusted his hands.
“I leave for a moment and she tried to kill ye?”
The Sea Wolf stopped chuckling and shrugged.
“Ah, well, I’ll fetch water to wash.” He started to turn and spared a glance for me, curled into a frightened ball. “Tried to get the best of him, did ye?” Hawk mocked. “Takes more than a blade to kill this one.”
I wiped the blood from my mouth. “W-what happened? What is he?”
“Ask him yourself.”
“I can’t.” I looked to the Sea Wolf, who sobered. “You can’t talk, can you?”
“He used to,” Hawk cleared his throat. “Shall I tell her?” He asked his leader and at the Sea Wolf’s nod, explained, “A witch cast a spell on him long ago. The spell was meant to give him great power.”
“The strength and speed of a wolf,” I whispered.
“You sure about this?” Hawk asked and his leader growled. “The spell worked. But then it turned into a curse. No man can kill him but if he puts a foot on land, he becomes a mindless beast.”
“Not till the raven leads you home.” I repeated the lines from the story, my heart twisting. There was such sadness in the Sea Wolf’s eyes.
“She’s a canny one, I’ll give you,” Hawk grunted to his leader. “But I still don’t like it.”
“Wait—” I called to Hawk. But the warrior with the feather in his ear turned on his heel and disappeared down the dark stairs. Leaving me to face the man I’d tried to kill.
I winced when I heard his booted steps coming my way, even though I expected them.
My warrior captor raised me up and I trembled. He used the rope around my neck, winding it about his palm until I stood nose to nose with him. Would he turn the collar into a noose and strangle me? I was easy to kill.
Unlike him.
The rope was slick with his own blood. So was the knife he held—my knife he’d retrieved from the floor. It was narrow enough to slide between the rope and my neck.
“Make it quick,” I said, and closed my eyes. The blade rested against my pulse for one heartbeat. Two. Three—
A sharp jerk and the rope hit the floor, followed by the knife.
He’d cut off the collar.
The booted steps retreated. And when I opened my eyes there was nothing to stop me from rushing to the window and leaping to freedom.
Nothing but curiosity.
I peered around the pillar at the giant warrior. He’d filled the horn and taken it to drink by the fire. The reddish light lined his profile.
“What are you going to do with me?” He could not speak. Had he forgotten how? “Will you kill me?”
He tipped the horn up, hiding half his face a moment. With a weary movement, he faced me. Pressing his lips together, he shook his head.
“Why am I here then? Do you need a witch to break the spell?”
He stared.
I took a step towards him. “You must know I am not that witch. I am not powerful. Not like my mother. She told me—”
But a scrape on the stone silenced me. Hawk was back with a bowl of water and a cloth.
“For you, my lady,” he said with a mocking bow. When I didn’t move, he raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t your mother teach you to put things to right?”
He meant for me to clean up all the blood. My mess. My attempt at murder.
Gathering my hair back from my face, I nodded.
Hawk rolled his eyes and he headed back out the door.
“Wait,” I cried. “Tell me his name.”
Hawk stopped with one boot on the step but didn’t turn around. “Told you,” he muttered. “He’s the Sea Wolf.”
“That’s what they call him,” I said, exasperated. “What’s his name?”
Hawk shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“You don’t know his name?”
“He don’t know. He don’t remember it. Forgotten how to speak, too.” Hawk tugged his ear and smoothed the feather hanging from it. “If you want him to talk, you’ll have to teach him. Might as well name him, too.” And he left.
I covered my face with my hands. The fire crackled, a warm, welcoming sound. If I was a captive, at least I was comfortable.
For now.
Ignoring the boulders in my stomach, I took up the cloth and wet it. “So, it’s up to me to name you?” I murmured as I wiped my lips and face clean. “Mac Tíre. That’s what the villagers call a wolf. Though you’re not from the country, are you? Can’t put a foot on land.”
When I was done washing, I carried the bowl of water to the hearthside. The Sea Wolf watched me calmly. He had no anger for what I’d done. No, he’d been amused. I should be frightened to be cooped up with a madman but felt at ease.
I went right up to him. “I can’t think of a good name for you, but mine’s Muireann. Shall we cry truce for now?”
He tilted his head in that way of his and I knew he was silently laughing at me. It was better than hearing him laugh out loud.
“I guess I better clean you up.” I pursed my lips and went to my task, wiping the blood I’d spilled from his shoulders and chest. He was broad and well-formed, though his muscles were broken by more than a few scars.
“I suppose you can be hurt?” I asked, dabbing timidly at the ridged flesh. His hand covered mine and drew it along, up over his chest to this throat. Under his hand and mine, the cloth wiped at the skin until the red stain was gone. He tipped his head back, showing me the new white scar running along the underside of his jaw. The cut I’d just made had healed completely. Indeed, it looked like it had been made long ago.
Not even my mother’s magic could do this. I swallowed and started to turn away.
He grabbed my wrist and gave a grunt. It sounded like “No.”
“I’m just getting more water.”
“No.” He took the cloth from my hand and maneuvered me to stand in front of the fire. I stood firm, facing him, even though my head came only to the middle of his chest.
His large hands fastened on the collar of my gown. He ripped it in half. It fell away. A pause and he ripped my under shift away too. He’d stripped my stockings and my boots when he took me. Now I was naked, with nothing to wear.
I suppose this was fair. I had tried to kill him with a hidden knife.
Despite the fire, I shivered. Now what?
The warrior stepped back, his bright gaze roaming over me, leaving warmth in its wake. The fire in his eyes burned hotter than the one in the hearth. My heartbeat tripped over itself, but I did not want to run. I wanted to stay and touch him. Explore the ridges of his muscles and scars. Bathe in his honeyed scent, let it intoxicate me.
He was wild and more brutal than my intended bridegroom. Why did I feel this way?
Gentle fingers tugged my wild hair back from my face.
My nipples furled. Did he think me ugly or fair?
Did I care?
Pushing me away from the hearth, he prowled around me. I stepped out of my dress before it’d ensnare my feet. I had nothing to wear but pelts, now. The thought didn’t bother me as much as I should.
“I’m not a witch,” I started. “I mean, not like my mother. She was the one with all the power.” The warrior paced around me again and I stiffened. My spine prickled in warning—a wolf was hunting me.
Not just hunting. He’d caught me.
“I know nothing of curses or lifting them. I would help you if I could—”
Grasping my hand, the Sea Wolf drew me to the bed. This was it then.
“I’m not a virgin either,” I blurted.
He raised a blond brow.
My arms came up to cover my naked chest, and I forced them down. “I’m old enough to
do as I please.” I’d never had a great love, but I’d dabbled with the pleasures of the flesh. My mother taught me enough herblore to avoid bearing a child and even if she hadn’t, Nanny was adamant I drink her disgusting brews daily.
The Sea Wolf stepped close, crowding me backwards until the backs of my thighs hit the bed.
“That’s why I had the knife,” I told him as he took my hands and propped them on his chest. “In case my bridegroom mistreated me.”
His laugh rumbled under my palms. Dipping his head, he brushed his mouth over my mine. A wave of his scent rolled over me, pulling me under.
When he broke the kiss, my legs trembled. I leaned into him, ready for more. He positioned me on the edge of the bed and climbed behind me.
“What—” my voice stopped when he touched me. My hair. He was brushing it out with his fingers. He hit a snag, stopped to tease it out, and went on more gently.
I sat still as the Sea Wolf combed out my hair as carefully as my nursemaid.
“You can’t speak.” I settled myself. “Do you know how to break the spell?”
“You,” he grunted.
Hairs raised on my arms. “Me?”
“You.”
He nuzzled my neck. Set his teeth at my throat—my pulse leaped—but moved on. Embarrassed fire followed his lips. Wherever they touched golden flame burned.
My time with the village boys had never been like this.
I was wet and aching by the time he nuzzled my belly. The belly—choice meat to a wolf. But the Sea Wolf tonight he was more man than beast, for he didn’t rip into my body, but nosed further south. Down between my legs where my dark hair grew thick and wiry as furze bush.
He blew on the petals of my sex and I writhed. His hands shackled my legs to the bed. His tongue touched my skin.
“No,” I gasped. “You cannot.’
But this warrior would do what he would. He lapped at my sex slowly, hunting and driving my pleasure before him. A wolf stalking his prey. Golden threads ran through me, beads of light gathering into thicker strands until I was made of a bright river. I clutched the tawny head between my legs as the stars burst behind my eyes.
He climbed up over my body and bent to my mouth. I tasted myself, earth and salt, and drank in his honeyed musk, sipping him like mead until I drowned.
I woke in unfamiliar arms, the rock-hewn embrace of a warrior. The Sea Wolf was sleeping with his broad face buried in my hair. I wriggled around and he opened his eyes.
I caressed his lips and tasted a hint of my secret scent. I blushed and his chest rumbled.
“You’re laughing at me.” I frowned. He’d laughed when I’d slit his throat. Strange man.
“How long have you been like this? A year? Ten?”
He gazed at me.
I gulped. “A hundred?”
With a growl, he stirred from the bed, leaving me cold. Leaving a giant empty space. He returned with the horn and some meat, which he fed me from his hand.
“Why me?” I asked after I’d swallowed
He stared at me.
I slipped from the bed and began to pace. “I Saw—I don’t know what I Saw. I heard a wolf before you came. But why would you claim me?”
He sat on the bed, watching me patiently.
“I am not very powerful. I only have a few tricks. The Sight.”
He snorted.
“I am telling the truth.” I whirled on him. “I have no power! I couldn’t even keep myself from being married against my will.”
He growled.
“It didn’t happen. You stole me in time. But Dòmhnall won’t be happy. He threatened my father. You must let me go back.”
The Sea Wolf stared at me.
“I mean it. If I can break the spell, will you let me go back?” In the long silence, I shifted from foot to foot. When the warrior reached for me, I let him tug me into his arms. He nuzzled my neck, growling over the marks the rope had left. Then he brought handfuls of my hair to his mouth and nose, sniffing as if he held a bouquet. He seemed as enamored with my scent as I was with his.
“How is it you can be here in the tower?” I asked. The curse said he couldn’t step a foot on land. But here he was. Of course, this part of the keep was over the water. The long staircase “It’s not on land, is it? It’s built over the sea. That’s why you could not come up the regular way, from the beach, through the keep. You had to leap the rocks and climb up the side…” I pressed a hand to my forehead. The Sea Wolf worried a freckle on my shoulder. I was still naked, but he wore a pelt around his hips. Not that the thick fur kept me from feeling his hardness under my hip.
“This is madness,” I muttered. “I cannot believe it.” And yet my mother told me of a great warrior I would marry. I thought it a silly tale. I had a thought and wriggled around to face him. “Am I the raven who will lead you home?”
He kissed me, his stubble scratching my chin. I gasped at the wave of heat that crested inside me.
“Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll find a way to break the curse, but then you must let me go. Promise?” I cupped his face in my small hands. “You have to let me go home.”
With a growl, the Sea Wolf pulled me into his lap, slinging a pelt around my shoulders. He glared at the doorway a few heartbeats before Hawk appeared.
“Glad to see you both alive and unbloodied.” Hawk didn’t seem to notice the Sea Wolf’s fierce glare. When Hawk came close, the Sea Wolf’s angry rumble increased.
“Stop it,” I hissed to the warrior holding me. “He’s not gonna steal me away.”
“Wolves protect their mate,” Hawk said and dropped the finest gown I’d ever seen beside me. “Thought you’d be needing this.”
“It’s beautiful.” I tugged at the strong arms holding me. The Sea Wolf reluctantly let me go long enough gather the gown.
“I can show you the beach, if you like,” Hawk said as he collected our empty dishes. He didn’t look at me, but I knew he wasn’t speaking to his leader. “Just come down when you’re ready.”
A loud growl overpowered my answer.
“Oh, come now, the lass is right. I won’t be stealing her away. But she needs fresh air and sunlight, and a chance to stretch her legs.”
And a respite from the warrior who can’t keep his hands off me. “I promise to return,” I told the Wolf, ignoring Hawk completely. The big warrior relaxed somewhat and released me. I took it as permission.
The dress fit perfectly. Being clothed calmed me.
“I’ll be back,” I promised again, and skipped down the steps. Hawk was waiting at the bottom. He escorted me past the crew who were mostly sleeping even though the sun was high.
As Hawk and I walked down the beach, a distant figure followed our progress. The Sea Wolf leapt from rock to rock, staying far enough from the shore only his bright head and white pelt marked who he was.
I picked up a pretty shell and studied it. “How long as he been like this?”
Hawk squatted near the surf. “I met him when I was a boy. He looked much the same as he does now. Fewer scars.”
“The curse doesn’t allow him to walk onshore?”
“Not if he wants to keep his humanity. Although it doesn’t seem to matter now. He loses more of himself every year.”
I pushed back my hair when the wind teased it. Out at sea, the watching figure stood tall and so still, I’d think he was a carved sentinel. “Tell me of his past. What do you know?”
“He was a great warrior. A Northman. He had this ship when I met him. Different crew. We sail with him because the pay is good. He never loses a fight.” Hawk rose and held out his hand, though I knew he didn’t want me to take it. “Come. Best be back.”
“Why me?” I asked as I fell into step beside him. The figure at sea had already disappeared. “How did he find me?”
“Don’t know. He orders us where to go. Told us to sail to that island you lived on. We saw you on the cliff before the mists came up and helped us steal you away.” Hawk grinned as if he were pro
ud of his work, kidnapping me. I rolled my eyes.
By the time we reached the foot of the stairs, he’d sobered.
“You call to him, lass. He’s never hunted anyone like this before. I don’t know if you can break the curse but—”
I put up a hand and he fell silent. “I have to try.”
My captor wasn’t back in our tower when I returned but it was just as well. Hawk gave me more water to wash, and even provided a few herbs. After he left, I purified myself and the room. Tossed away my old gown and bloodied pelts. Built up the fire, unbound my hair.
Hawk hollered up before he entered the room. When he saw me, he whistled. “Well, now.”
I blushed. I’d prepared myself like a bride. I’d done more for my captor than I’d done for Dòmhnall. “I hope it works.”
Hawk set a full pitcher of mead and a plate of meat down where I directed. “If it helps, I’ve not heard him laugh in a long time. Not like he laughs around you.”
I snorted. “He laughed when I tried to slit his throat. Not sure if that’s a sign he’s more a man than a fool.”
“You’re the only woman who ever dared take a knife to him. Or fight him at all.”
I gnawed my lip.
“Are you afraid he won’t forgive you? He already has. I’ve never seen him look at anyone like he looks at you. And you him. You’re not as afraid of him as you pretend.” He wagged his finger at me.
“His presence, it’s potent,” I admitted. “Feels like fire, or strong mead.”
“That’s love, I expect.”
I shot Hawk a sharp look. He laughed and rapped the table before heading out. “Don’t worry, lass. If anyone’s strong enough to love a man like that, I reckon it’s you.”
Moonrise found me by the fire hearth, braiding and re-braiding my long, dark hair. The Sea Wolf hadn’t returned yet, and when he did, what would be? Man or beast?
A lonely howl cut the night and I shivered. What was the nature of this curse and how could I break it? I tried to remember how the story ended. My mother told a few versions. Sometimes the warrior wandered forever until he became a ghost, a haunting. Sometimes he found his lady love, and they lived happily together. Nanny preferred that ending and that was how she told it.
Pirates, Passion and Plunder Page 53