Defiance at Werewolf Keep (Werewolf Keep Trilogy) (11 page)

But he didn’t know how much longer he could hold back. If he was going to make this as painless as possible for her, he needed to stretch her virginal cavern so that she was ready. He wasn’t a small man. There had been times in the past when even the most seasoned whore had struggled to take all of him. Surely his little Lily would be cleaved in two if he pushed too deep.

For a moment he paused, overwhelmed by the thought of her pain. He had told her he would die rather than hurt her, and yet that was what he was planning to do.

As he drew back, teetering on the edge, her small hands clawed at his buttocks, drawing him closer. It was such an unexpected gesture he nearly came immediately. Gritting his teeth, praying for control, he jerked away from her and lay again at her side. Her cry of distress was almost more than he could stand.

Kissing her damp neck
and stroking the bedraggled lengths of her hair back from her face, he smiled. ‘I’m no’ stoppin’, lass. I just need to prepare you.’

He knew she wouldn’t understand, and when he placed his big palm over her crisp damp curls she bucked and tried to get away. ‘Nay
, lass, let me touch you.’

Reluctantly, she lay still
, her legs clamped together. He circled his palm against her mons knowing the friction would be felt where it was needed. As if of their own accord, her legs relaxed and he was able to draw them apart enough to send one seeking finger in to the delicate petals. They were dewy with desire and her arousal was sweet in the air. He swallowed down his own excitement as he pressed into her moist body. She lay still as the dead beneath him and when he looked up to see what she was feeling, he saw her eyes wide with astonishment and conflict.

‘This is where I must go, Lily love, this is how we will be joined,’ he grated out, trying to explain the inexplicable. He’d never taken a virgin before. He knew her ignorance would be great. How could she possibly understand what he was doing when her body was probably an undiscovered terrain, even to her?

He pushed his finger deeper, feeling the tight heat surround him, wanting another part of him to be where his finger was now. He used his thumb to circle the little nub at the entrance to her core. It felt like a tiny pebble beneath the soft folds of skin. She wriggled and moaned.

‘What are you doing?’ she managed to get out as another moan left her lips.

‘Giving you pleasure. I’m no’ hurtin’ you am I?’

She shook her head and opened her mouth. He couldn’t resist. He covered her lips with his own and sent his tongue into her as his finger sank deeper. When she suckled his tongue it was his turn to moan and he jerked his hand
against her, impaling his finger as deep as he could go. It met resistance and then tore through. He caught her cry of pain in his mouth.

Then he eased a second finger inside her
, stretching her hot, silken walls. There would be blood on his fingers that moistened his way, but it was better this way. When he entered her, he wanted there to be no barrier, no pain.

She squirmed against his hand and he studied her face feverishly. Was it pain she felt or plea
sure?

Her eyes were as dark as his
and he could see his reflection in their depths. It looked like desire drove her now, but he wasn’t sure.

‘No more pain?’ He needed this answer more than he needed his next breath.

She shook her head and opened her mouth. He claimed it as he pressed deeper into her core. He didn’t know how much longer he could hold out. The wildness inside him was unbearable. When she lifted her hips to meet him, it was the final straw.

Will dragged his fingers from her body and positioned himself above her. He used his knee to separate her legs so he could place his throbbing erection agai
nst the wet entrance to her maiden cavern. She kept very still, staring into his eyes as he pushed forward, stretching her even more than his fingers had done. Her eyes grew wider and her fingernails clawed at his back. Inch by agonising inch, he eased into her heat.

Half way, he stopped, sure he’d gone as far as she could take him. He drew back to the entrance and then thrust slowly back in. She tilted her pelvis, innately knowing what was required of her. He growled low in his throat as she arched her neck for his bite. This was not
normal human mating; the wildness that was swirling around them was feral and untamed.

As he grazed his teeth along her sensitised skin
, he began to move, thrusting with more confidence as her inner walls relaxed to accommodate him. It felt like heaven. Just as he knew it would.

Then he was reaching the point where all conscious thought evaporated. The wildness claimed him completely as he b
egan to pound into her hot, sleek centre. Her legs wound around his hips, and with a gasp of shock he realised that she had taken all of him. That was his last clear realisation as his body battered hers relentlessly and he heard her gasps and cries as she clung to him, matching his every move with her own.

The release caught him unawares, tossing him int
o sweet oblivion like driftwood on a wave. As blackness engulfed him, he heard her cry his name and it was the most glorious sound he had ever heard.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Shocked beyond words, Lily lay with Will’s heavy weight bearing her down into the soft mattress beneath her. She felt drained and consumed, all sense of herself as a separate being gone. Will was everywhere, in her, around her, his breaths were hers, his heartbeat was hers. Never in her life had she imagined anything like what had happened between them.

Was it always like this between two people, so raw and all encompassing? She had done things she couldn’t have conceived of. Even now, as she remembered wrapping her legs around him to drive him deeper, her face burned with embarrassment. Surely what they had done was not normal? Did her parents share this almost violent need to join their bodies? Did they lose all sense of themselves as the rhythm built until it crested and overwhelmed all else with pure ecstasy?

No, it couldn’t be like that with them.
This was the wolves’ work. It was their primal urges that had driven them both to madness.

Lily breathed in as well as she could with the crushing weight of Will on her chest. She scented him, the musky feral fragrance that roused her even as her body lay lax with exhaustion.

Will shifted, taking his weight off her and removing the fullness from inside her. She wanted to cry at the abandonment, and she clung to him to stop him leaving her. He shook his head and eased onto his side, taking her with him.

‘Are you well, Lily
, love?’ His voice was deep and gravelled as it was when he’d come back to himself after a night as his wolf.

She nodded against his damp chest, listening to his heart beat slow beneath her ear.

‘It has been a long time. But I donna ken that’s the reason.’

‘Reason?’

He gave an exhausted little chuckle that lifted her heart. It seemed to have been forever since he had any lightness about him. Now he seemed relaxed and at peace for the first time.

‘The r
eason it was so…’

‘So?’

‘I havena words for it.’

‘I have never felt such pleasure,’ she said tentatively, feeling for some reciprocal statement to affirm it had been the same for him.

‘That was no’ pleasure that was…delirium. That was ecstasy.’

‘Oh,’ she said, feeling proud that he h
ad labelled what had happened between them so favourably. After all, she was as innocent as any woman could be about matters between men and women. Surely, a woman with more experience could have given him more pleasure? All she had done was offer herself up and let him do with her as he wanted. Surely any woman could have done that. Maybe it
was
just that it had been a long time for him.

‘Oh? It wasna that way for you? I ken that
, as a virgin, pleasure would have been slow in comin’, and I was no’ gentle as I could ha’ been, once I lost control. But it will get better, if you’ll let me try again.’

‘Better? Better than that? Is that possible? I didn’t know a body coul
d feel those sensations. It was wonderful.’

She felt rather than saw him grin as he rubbed her back with his caroused hands. The dampness of her skin made the contact slightly abrasive.

‘I ken we need to get downstairs before your wee watchdog comes lookin’ for you,’ Will said with a chuckle.

‘Watch dog?’

‘Phil. She’ll be none too please wi’ me after this. I best make sure the guns are all locked away.’

‘She thinks you’re a blackguard for what you said in the study.’

‘Och aye, she does indeed. And now I’ve taken your innocence. She’ll be furious aboot that. So will Byron. He’ll feel he fell down on his promise to keep you safe.’ Will wasn’t smiling or chuckling anymore. His voice told her that he was, yet again, beating himself around the head for his actions.

‘It was my choice. You would have done nothing if I had said no.’

‘I came to your room and seduced you. That’s all they’ll see. And I ken it’ll make it harder to win them over for tonight.’

‘I will convince them.
After what we just did, I know my wolf will not want to be away from you. Even cell bars will be too much.’

‘Aye, well lass, you better be convincin’ because our only other option is to leave here. If we’re together in one of the moorside crofts
, I’d ha’ no reason to attempt to break down the door. It will be a risk, but I canna think of a better one, short of a heavy dose of laudanum to knock us out.’

‘No. I am finished with that medicine. I hate how it makes me feel.’

Will dragged himself out from under her and began to replace his clothing. She looked down at the white sheets and saw the red stain there that proclaimed her lost maidenhood. It made her proud.

Resolutely, Lily climbed to her feet and began pulling on her own clothes. She really wanted a bath. She was sure that anyone with a nose would be able to smell their l
ovemaking on them. But there were more pressing matters to contend with.

‘I will go and find Phil
, and possibly Dee. If I can get them on our side, it might be enough.’

‘Dee? I thought you and she did not get on?’

‘I always say the wrong thing to her. I get prickly with her. I think I was jealous.’

‘Of what?’ He stopped tying
his shoelaces to look at her in astonishment.

‘She is so beautiful and such a lady, and you seemed so
smitten with her that first day.’

‘Smitten? With Dee? No, lass, y
ou misread me. I like her well enough and I’m grateful to her for the joy I see in Jas these days, but I was nev’r smitten. Theres’ only one lass I’ve been smitten by.’ It was almost a declaration of love, and it surprised her. Not wanting to spoil the moment, she grinned at him shyly.

‘Oh, very well
, then. I am pleased to hear that.’

He swung her into his arms and kissed her deeply as the soft
knock on the door heralded its opening.

‘Will, unhand that woman,’ Byron’s voice was harsh with fury.

Very slowly, Will let his arms relax as he drew her away from him. Then he turned to face his friend.

Jasper followed Byron through the door and his nostrils flared. Surely he could scent what had happened here. And even if Byron’
s sense of smell wasn’t as good as theirs, the blood on the white sheet would say it all.

‘’Tis done, ‘Ron. You can rail all you like, but what’s done canna be undone.’ Will sounded sad and yet defiant.

‘I thought better of you, man,’ Byron said with disgust.

‘
Aye, well you were mistaken. People have always thought better of me than they should have.’

‘Stop it! Don’t talk like that,’ Lily demanded furiously. ‘Don’t you men act as if something dire has occurred here for which Will is responsible. I wanted this. He did nothing I didn’t want him to. And we will be married as soon as practicable. We told you that.’

‘Lily, you are a young, innocent girl who has no experience with life. Will has taken advantage of that. He told you he didn’t love you. You deserve to be loved by the man you marry!’ Byron had his temper reined in tightly, but the impatience in his tone made her feel like a fool.

‘What I deserve is up to me to decide. Will is the man I want. There will be no other. You have no right to stand in our way,’ she spoke up again, amazed with her stubborn resistance to Byron’s authority.

‘You are my responsibility. I gave your father my word.’

‘You kept me safe. I am safe. I am protected. I may have been an invalid my whole life but I am still a woman grown. I would hazard to say that I am older than either of your wives. Did their innocence stop you from taking what you wanted?’

All three men gasped at her immodesty. Will drew her in close to his side, as if to protect her from her own words. Why had she not known before this that men could be so foolishly pig-headed when they thought they knew what was best for a woman? It was as if they saw the fairer sex as somehow little better than children. And yet neither Phil nor Dee struck her as women willing to be treated in such a way.

‘I do believe I had a conversation with Dee along these lines,’ Jas interceded politely. He studiously avoided looking at the bed.

‘If you are such protective gentlemen, why did you enter my room without waiting for me to give you leave?’ Lily challenged Byron, her voice getting the stronger.

‘J
asper saw Will heading this way. When he told me, I felt it was my responsibility to protect you,’ Byron said stiffly, drawing himself up to his full towering height, as if attempting to intimidate her.

Instead
, she lifted her chin and scowled at him. ‘Had you heard me cry for help, I would accept that explanation. But there were no such cries coming from this room. You invaded my privacy.’

‘Lily…’ Will started to caution her.

‘What? You did the same thing and I told you to get out. Why should the Lord of the Keep be any different?’

‘You told him to leave and he did not,’ Byron picked up on this with some satisfaction. ‘Clearly you were in need of protection. I am just sorry I was too late to save your honour.’

‘Byron, I think you are only making matters worse.’ Phil’s voice was like a cooling balm poured on a burn. Four sets of eyes turned in her direction as she entered the bedroom.

‘You were the one who told me Lily deserved better tha
n the treatment Will meted out,’ Byron growled out.

‘I also know that I treated Jasper poorly when I thought he had compromised my dearest friend. I did not realise that she had more gumption than I thought. It would seem that Lily, likewise, has a mind of her own. For better or for worse, she has chosen Will, and I assume he has chosen her.’

‘She’s ma woman. That canna be changed,’ Will grumbled out as he drew her closer.

‘So the deed is done, and if a child, or puppies, results then we will just have to deal with it. Nature will have its way.’

‘What am I to say to her father?’

‘Nothin’. I will go to London as soon as the full moon is ov’
r and ask his permission to marry Lily. Then I’ll have the banns posted for the required three Sundays before the date. We can be married before the next full moon. It’s a pity Gretna Green is no longer an option since ma government tightened up the law in that matter.’

‘And if she is already with child?’ Byron wouldn’t let it go.

‘She will be living here. Will anyone here be counting the months to determine any immorality?’ Will’s accent had calmed right down to just a slight lilt to his English words. It told her he was feeling more in control.

‘I could get a special licence,’ Byron offered grudgingly. ‘Just to expedite matters.’

‘Aye, that would be good. What say you, lass?’

‘The sooner the better. But I will need to tell my parents, especially as they will also have to be told that I will be remaining here. That will break their hearts.’

‘Aye, we’ll go together. The day after tomorrow, if you like.’

‘Yes. I would like to s
pend a few weeks at home before coming back here more permanently.’

‘
Well, that is decided. Now, for the other issue. Phil is willing to go out to one of the empty crofts with Lily and stand guard for the night.’

‘No. Definitely not. Lily stays with me tonight. Now that I’ve claimed her, there’s no way I’ll let her out of ma sight.’

‘He’s right, ‘Ron. I would feel the same way,’ Jasper said with more determination than he had shown thus far.

‘Your wolf handles not being with Dee, Will’s can
, too.’

‘Only because she is human and I satiate myself with her before and during the full moon, when in human form. I do not think it would be the same if I knew Dee was a
wolf somewhere out of my reach, somewhere I could not protect her.’

Byron growled and crossed his arms over his chest. ‘It sets a
precedent I am not happy with.’

‘You think all the other wolves will want to mate because of us?  If it hasna happened before this, it isna goin’ to
happen now.’ Will smirked.

‘He is right, Beloved, none of the others show any interest in each other.’

‘I would think the idea of your wife alone on the moorside with only a door between her and a werewolf would be out of the question.’ Will’s words were mockingly innocent.

‘It was my idea. I did not want Lily up there alone.’

‘It won’t be Lily. It will be a werewolf. And I promised Lily her wolf would never do anyone harm. I willna let you put yourself at risk, Phil. If not for you, for Lily. It would kill her to hurt you.’

Byron drew h
is wife in under his arm and nodded. ‘I had not thought that through. Of course Phil cannot go to the moors alone. I will go and Phil, Dee and Jamey can guard the Keep.’

‘You’re not
takin’ a gun anywhere near ma mate, ‘Ron. I’ll kill you first.’ Will growled the words out so harshly that the others stared at him.