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.
3
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?”