The climax was better than anything anyone had ever given her. It was like spinning into a star filled night, and when she closed her eyes to shut out his rigid features, her head was still spinning.
He rolled off her but at the same time wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into him and holding her there. They were both breathing hard, and she was glad of his grip, anchoring her to the earth when she might otherwise fly off it and into space. But after a time his grip felt more like a jailer than a lover, and she moved to climb off the furs and stand up. He didn’t let her go.
“I have to leave,” she said neutrally, trying not to panic. “I have to go to my—”
“Your sister, yes I remember,” he said, and there was something in his voice that made her think he no longer believed her.
Uneasy now, she tried again to pull away from him but again he would not let her go.
“You will ride with us tomorrow,” he said, and gave a sudden jaw breaking yawn.
“But . . .”
“I don’t think I want to let you go, Juliet. You are like no other woman I know and I want to keep you, for a while at least.”
“What if I have important matters to attend to?” she said with narrowed eyes. “I’m not a pet you can put a collar and chain on, and force to stay at your side.”
“I don’t want a pet,” he retorted. “Will you stay?”
Stay? Juliet had never stayed anywhere in her life, at least not for very long. She had never had a proper home. It was not that she hadn’t wanted one—it was one of her dreams—but it had never happened. The thought of putting her heart in his hands, of actually letting herself relax and believe she may have found the man for her, frightened her.
He looked at her. She smiled and shrugged, complacent, all the while knowing that the first chance that came, she’d be gone.
They lay warm in each other’s arms, but when she thought he must be asleep and moved to put some space between them, he opened his eyes and looked at her.
“There are guards at the door,” he said quietly, and it sounded like a warning.
“Good,” she said, to surprise him.
He gave a deep chuckle.
“What is your name?” she said at last. She hadn’t asked before, it hadn’t seemed important when she would never see him again, but now she needed to know what sort of man she’d gotten herself entangled with.
“Wulfrich,” he said. “Lord Wulfrich. But they call me—”
“Wolf.”
Had she really spoken it aloud? The shock, of course. Normally she would have been more cautious.
His silver eyes stared into hers for a long moment, and then a smile quirked his mouth on the good side. He was waiting for her to confess her secret to him but Juliet tightened her own lips and said nothing. She closed her eyes to block him out, and pretended to sleep. Soon she heard his soft snores and gave up pretending.
Lying rigid at his side, Juliet waited a little longer and then she slipped out from under his arm and rolled away, off the bed, sitting with her knees folded and her chin resting upon them, staring across at him as if she expected him to jump up at any moment. She felt like a cornered animal; a frightened cornered animal.
Juliet knew the name. Wolf. It was a name she had repeated to herself many times over the past months, since her friends the travelling minstrels had vanished from Kendall Keep. She’d sworn the day she found them gone that if she ever met with this man she would cut his throat and smile as his blood flowed. She’d been searching for him, circling him and getting closer and closer, and yet no one had said he had that scar, no one had said he would capture her senses and make her helpless with desire.
No one had told her he would make her heart and body sing, and cause her to betray her friends so utterly and completely.
The Wolf didn’t sleep long.
Before dawn he was up, stretching, pausing a moment when he saw Juliet curled up on the cushions across the tent, her hair like dark tangled silk about her, her bare feet tucked up under her skirts. She could feel his gaze on her and held her breath, wondering if he meant to come and touch her, turn her over and begin the kisses and the caresses that had led to last night in his bed.
She almost wanted him to. Despite knowing who he was, her body tingled and grew wet, readying itself for his lovemaking.
But evidently he wasn’t in the mood. She heard him pad across to the tent opening and the low murmur of words exchanged with the guards outside. Soon there were heavier footsteps and the delicious smell of food. Juliet’s stomach growled and she decided it was time to wake up.
Stirring and then stretching, she opened her eyes wide. The food was on the table before her, with a new jug of wine and this time two goblets. Juliet stood up, pushing her hair back over her shoulder, and grimacing at the aches in her muscles. The tent seemed empty, and she made a beeline for the food, reaching for a piece of the coarse bread and lathering it with the soft cheese. She took a huge bite, and snatched up an apple with the other hand, for later.