by Lydia Dare
“I canna see it if ye move, Ben.”
“This might not be such a good idea,” he said, fully prepared to tuck his shirt back in, just so she would step back. He was already hardening under her gaze.
Elspeth dropped to her knees in front of him and tugged off one of her gloves. “Doona be so daft, Ben. It’s a strip of skin and nothin’ more.”
But it was quite a bit more than a strip of skin. And if he didn’t take her attention from the area, it would soon be even more.
She smoothed the pad of her thumb across his birthmark. “Heavens, ye are warm.”
“It’s a trait,” he grumbled. And getting warmer every second.
“Hmm.” Her finger caressed him. “It’s no’ so much, is it? Small thing, it is.”
Ben felt the tender swipe of her thumb all the way to his core. He instantly felt the beast in him rise to the surface. He turned from her to face in the opposite direction.
Her delicate hand came to rest on his back. It was hot enough to brand his skin through his clothes.
“I have a fear greater than that of losing my ability to change with the moon. And it’s that I’ll hurt you, Elspeth.” He wanted to drag her beneath him and toss her skirts up. He wanted to be inside her. And he wanted it right at that moment.
“Why?” she asked. Her eyes narrowed as they searched his face.
“Regrettably,” he started, trying to remove the growl from his voice, but failing miserably. “I must go.” Ben turned to jog away, but her hand on his arm stopped him. “Let me go, Elspeth,” he barked.
“And if I do no’? Then what will ye do, Ben?”
If her coven sisters could have seen her at that moment, they would have told her she was playing with fire. Yet she couldn’t have walked away if she had wanted to.
Elspeth raised her hand to Ben’s cheek. He immediately turned into it and nipped the center of her palm with his teeth.
“Ye do have a bit of the beast in ye, I’d wager,” she said, feeling a tickle as it crawled up her spine.
“More than a bit, lass,” he growled as his hand cupped her neck and pulled her to him. “When you touched my mark, I felt like I would shift into a wolf right here and now.”
“Is it gettin’ better, then?” She raised her hands to his chest.
“Not yet,” he breathed as his lips hovered over hers. His exhale became her inhale.
“I like the beast,” she said as her hand slipped down to his waistband. She felt an intense desire to stroke his mark again.
“Don’t touch me there, lass,” he said as he took her hands in his and raised them to his mouth. He nipped the pad of her finger between his teeth. “I’m already close enough to taking you now.”
“Takin’ me?” she asked.
“Taking you beneath me,” he breathed. “Taking your clothes off. Taking your innocence.” Moisture flooded her center as he said the last.
“And if I said yes, Ben?”
His hands fell to his waist and he took a step back from her, a strange look in his eyes.
“I’ll assume that’s a no,” she mumbled as her eyes dropped to the path. She hadn’t thought he’d reject her.
“What the devil?” he hissed.
Elspeth raised her eyes, this time taking his whole body in. His polished boots were wrapped in vines, anchoring him solidly to the forest floor. His wrists were bound in a similar fashion.
“Sorcha Ferguson!” Elspeth cried. “Call off yer vines. The man was only goin’ ta kiss me!”
Sorcha stepped into view, an unrepentant tilt to her head. “He wanted much more than that, El.”
Ben had never known ivy to be so strong. It was nearly impossible for him to move, and he was stronger than most. The vines tightened around his wrists, holding him, cutting into his skin. He felt the growl building in his chest as the wolf in him chafed at being held captive. He tamped down the rage and faced the little chit who’d done this to him.
Apparently he’d stumbled upon Sorcha Ferguson’s power. He’d never heard of one using botanical manipulation as a weapon before, and he was a little surprised that the lass had used her ability in front of him. Wasn’t she afraid of exposing the coven?
Elspeth closed the distance between them and tugged on one of the vines binding his wrists. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
Then she turned her gaze to the young dark-haired witch. “Ye ken the rules, Sorcha.”
The girl shrugged. “Cait said the rules doona apply ta him.”
“What are ye talkin’ about?” Elspeth’s gaze danced from person to person.
“He’s no’ a real man. If he says anythin’ about us, we’ll tell everyone what he is.”
Ben gasped. “You told them?” She’d just finished promising him that she could keep a secret.
Elspeth looked back at Ben, worry on her lovely face. “No, I swear no’. Though I suppose I do owe ye an explanation.”
He would have gestured for her to continue, but he still couldn’t move his arms. “I’m waiting.”
She bit her bottom lip and took a step away from him. “Sorcha, if ye doona release him, I’ll take an ax and hack them away from him.”
In the next instant, Ben felt the vines loosen then fall away from his arms and legs. He stepped away from the ivy, toward Elspeth. “An explanation,” he reminded her, though he had a fairly good idea what she would say.
She sighed deeply and flushed red. “Sorcha, a moment if ye doona mind.”
The dark-haired lass shook her head. “I’ll no’ leave ye alone with the likes of him.”
Elspeth raised herself high and glared at the younger witch. “It’s no’ yer decision. Now, be off.”
After one more pointed glare in his direction, the girl vanished back into the foliage. Ben rubbed his wrists. Damn if they weren’t sore. “The chit can make vines do her bidding?”
Elspeth’s eyes fell to his feet, and she winced. “I had hoped I wouldna have ta tell ye this, Ben. I’m no’ just a healer who works with herbs.”
“You’re a witch,” he finished for her.
Her gaze shot to his. “How do ye ken that?”
Fifteen
ELSPETH WAS CERTAIN HER FACE WAS AFLAME. HOW did the man know she was a witch? Other than the fact that Sorcha had just used her vines to tie him up?
It was something no one spoke of outside of the Còig—well, other than within their families. After all, it wasn’t all that long ago that witch hunts in Scotland had decimated the population, though not everyone put to death had been guilty of the crime. Still, generation after generation had protected the members of the coven. Yet Benjamin Westfield somehow knew she was a witch?
He took a step toward her. “That’s why I was looking for Rosewyth. She wasn’t just a healer; she was a witch with mystical healing powers. The only one who could help me.”
Elspeth felt the air whoosh out of her lungs. “Ye knew this the entire time, and ye dinna say anythin’?”
“What was there to say, lass? Besides I didn’t know until I realized you were Rosewyth’s daughter that you’d inherited her abilities.”
She frowned at him. How could he possibly have deduced that?
Ben looked away and shrugged. “And… I might have overheard Miss Macleod talking about a vision. She’s a seer, isn’t she?”
Elspeth stumbled back a bit. He knew about all of them? “How…?”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “I have excellent hearing. It’s another Lycan trait. Though…” His smile faded as if he’d just sorted something out.
“Though what?”
He shook his head and began to pace in circles. Elspeth thought he would never answer her. So she asked again, “What are ye no’ tellin’ me, Ben?”
“You first,” he hedged. “The others… What sort of powers do they have? Miss Ferguson, I gather, is in touch with botanical arts of some sort.”
Elspeth had never discussed what powers the others had with outsiders. But Sorcha had revealed herself
. “She does have a bit of a green thumb,” she admitted. “Sometimes she talks ta the plants. They do her biddin’. It’s always come in handy durin’ the harvest season.”
“And the others?” he prompted.
Rhiannon and Blaire hadn’t done anything that warranted her revealing information about them. She shrugged.
“It’s no secret that your friends, the members of your coven, don’t care for me, Elspeth. I’d just like to know what I’m up against.”
She rushed forward. “Ben, they would never hurt ye. Please believe me.”
He offered his arms as evidence otherwise, revealing where Sorcha’s vines had cut into his skin. “Normally my body would heal itself. But I seem to have lost that talent when I lost the ability to change.”
Elspeth’s breath caught in her throat. She tore off her second glove and placed one hand on each of his wrists. She closed her eyes and visualized him whole and hale until she felt the power leave her fingertips and fuse with him.
When she opened her eyes, she found his hazel ones boring into her.
“You have the mark, Elspeth.” His voice sounded strangled.
She glanced down where her hands still grasped his wrists. Her moon-shaped mark seemed to glow red in the light. She dropped her hold on him, as though she’d been burned.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Why didn’t she tell him? Speaking about her sire wasn’t something she ever did. Neither had her mother. “I dinna think it mattered.”
“Ah,” he said with a frown, “but you were terribly interested in mine. What else are you keeping from me, Elspeth?”
She shook her head. “I dinna realize I owed ye an explanation about anythin’ else, Ben. Ye’re the one who sought me out.”
He stomped away from her. “When you’re ready to be honest with me, I’ll be at MacQuarrie’s.”
Ben had to get away from her. His mind was a mess. He hadn’t realized that his Lycan abilities only seemed to work when he was with her. He’d heard her call him beautiful at the Macleods’. He’d been able to sniff out the hair combs only because he was following her scent. He’d felt the change come over him only because of her touch to his skin. He hadn’t experienced his normal abilities at Alec’s. He hadn’t experienced them his entire time in Scotland. Only with her.
What did that mean?
Would she have to be present during the moonful for him to transform?
He couldn’t do that. It was too dangerous. He’d never put her at risk like that. Simon’s voice echoed a warning in his mind.
There had to be another way. Some spell she could cast on him. Some potion she could make him drink. Something that wouldn’t place her in peril.
And the mark? Why hadn’t she told him her father was a Lycan? She had to know it. Why else did she want to see his mark? A lucky guess. He snorted as he tore through the woods. What a fool he was to have believed her.
Ben stomped up the steps of Alec’s home. Before he could even toss his hat to the waiting butler, his friend was ready to interrogate him.
“Where have you been?” Alec snapped.
“Out,” Ben said, his gaze meeting his friend’s. Alec may be a bit smaller than him, but they’d had more than one altercation through the years. He was a force to be reckoned with when he was angry.
“Please don’t tell me that you have taken to bothering Elspeth Campbell.” He arched one eyebrow.
“I wouldn’t call it bothering.”
“Then what would you call it?” The man really needed to mind his own matters.
“We went for a walk, that’s all.” Ben shrugged, hoping Alec would approve of his nonchalant attitude.
“Then why did Caitrin take off like a feline with her tail on fire?”
“If the lovely woman is running from you, perhaps it’s you who did something to make her retreat?” Ben pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. It had been a really long day.
“Oh, no. It wasn’t me. I was spending quite a lovely day in her company. Then she suddenly stared off in the distance. When I got her attention back, she started mumbling something about Elspeth and ‘that beast.’ Then she ran off.” He slapped the flat of his hand on the wall. “I will know what that was all about, Westfield.”
“You won’t know anything until you speak with Miss Macleod.” His eyes met Alec’s. “Because that group of women is a mess that even I can’t figure out. You’ve known them much longer than me. You probably have a better idea of what’s going on than I ever would.” Please forgive me if you ever find out about my lies.
“There has always been something mystical about the five of them. But I’ve never been able to figure out what brings them all together.”
“Mystical?” Ben asked. How much did Alec truly know?
“‘Mystical’ is probably not the right word.” He scratched his head. “But there’s a bond there that I can’t understand. So when she ran off worried about Elspeth, I automatically assumed you were the beast she had in mind.” He clapped Ben on the shoulder. “Sorry I assumed the worst of you.”
If he only knew how bad the worst could be.
Elspeth walked toward her small cottage, her breath coming in small gasps. She flung the door open and walked inside, nearly startling Rhiannon. Then she turned and stuck her head back out the door. “Sorcha Ferguson, I ken ye’re close by. So ye may as well show yerself!”
She turned and came to a complete halt when she saw that Caitrin was there as well. “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 really 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 actually 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 still 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’ll 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?” All 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 finally admitted, her eyes filling 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.
All four girls turned to leave. “We’ll 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 all, 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 all 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.