Silently, he made his way down the gravel road to where he had parked his car. Smith had called Sara while Caldwell and he were in the study. When Caldwell started asking questions about where her cabin was, he’d become suspicious, even though the guy acted as if he were interested in doing some deer hunting onmaybe a private lease. And Lucas hadn’t much liked the idea of her being so isolated either, not that he’d tell her. All that would get him would be an irritated glare and a lecture on how women could take care of themselves.
He reached the car and slid into the driver’s seat, checking under it to make sure hissgian dubhwas still there. He had planned to take it with him to the cabin since he was fully expecting to find Caldwell there, compromising Sara. But what had happened tonight hinted of something much darker.
The wolf had been bespelled. Lucas could smell the taint of evil even as he approached Sara’s dwelling. For a fleeting second, he had considered that Caldwell might have been a shapeshifter, but the animal only gave off its own scent and the stench that Lucas recognized as Balor’s doing.
And if the animal had been bespelled, Lucas would not kill it. It had been easy enough to instill in its mind that he was the alpha-male of the pack and the wolf had limped away. It would wake in the morning with no permanent harm done.
But Balor was another matter. If his grandfather were this close, it meant he knew about the manuscript. He thought back to the auction and the careening car and the pickpocket. He hadn’t seen Caldwell there and Balor would have kept himself hidden, but all of Lucas’ senses told him that his grandfather was definitely involved. And the one thing that Lucas must prevent was letting Balor gain more power. Civilization stood to lose if the winner in a struggle for that manuscript was Balor.
Lucas slumped against the steering wheel, trying to fight the lethargy that always swept over him after the beast was loosed. It was the one time in his immortal life that he was weak and vulnerable. He brought the knife out and laid it on his lap. It would have only temporary impact on Balor, of course, but it would put a definitive slash in Caldwell if he were behind this.
So she thought I was beautiful?Lucas smiled groggily, remembering how vulnerable she had looked standing there alone in the middle of the yard. And yet she had held her ground with him and not panicked. He admired that courage. And he’d liked her dream.
He felt the hard nipple beneath the soft cloth as he pressed his lips over it. In another dream minute, he would guide her hand to touch him while his own fingers hiked up her skirt and stroked her thighs, then dipped into her hot well to slide the slick wetness between her folds and caress the nub that would send her into ecstasy…
He gave himself a shake and struggled to sit up. He was a fool. He had allowed himself to slip into her dream and it had almost cost her life. The enchanted wolf had already been at the window before he’d taken notice. All he could do was howl in warning. It almost hadn’t been enough.
He could never fulfill that fantasy anyhow. Even though he had more control of the beast now than he did in the beginning, he knew what it could do when he was lost in climax and what could happen to the woman he was with. He couldn’t take that chance with Sara.
Keeping things platonic with Sara wasn’t going to be easy, not when she exuded feminine sensuality without even knowing it. He tried not to think about her wide blue eyes that reminded him of the Highland sky, nor the full lips as pink as the first sprigs of heather. Lucas sighed and began reciting the Templar Rules that he had so long ago pledged to, even though the modern world no longer strictly required their adherence.
Rule: Chastity is certitude of heart and healthiness of body…
But it was Sara’s body, nude and supple beneath him, that kept intruding.
****
Baylor snarled his own annoyance as he watched the wolf he’d ensorcelled slink away. He’d recognized the big, light-haired lobo, for he had watched him tear apart two of his best men after De Molay’s burning. Damn the immortal Templar. Baylor’s fingers itched to tighten around Ramsey’s throat, but he doubted that it would do any good. Until he knew the source of the man’s immortality, he was indestructible. And even if Baylor could kill him, he’d destroy himself too. Ending immortality for one ended it for him as well. Some stupid Universe Rule.
He could go into the cabin and finish the job himself, of course, but that would leave questions to be answered. He didn’t like leaving trails. Finding a girl half-ripped to shreds by a wild animal in a desolate area could be an open-and-shut case, neatly filed away in some rural police office. No one would ever have known she had the papers. But any means of human murder would be under investigation and that would eventually lead to her employer and the discovery that she had a copy of the manuscript. Better he leave Caldwell in place.
And they could always use the Morgan woman. Caldwell had learned that she had the hots for some man named Michael who was one of the bitch’s friends. Information he could use later, but for now, perhaps it was time to throw the gauntlet down. Caldwell had bragged countless times of his prowess in bed and his ability to make women talk. Perhaps it was time for him to prove it.
The bitch had a copy of the manuscript. A few special drugs and a good rutting until she passed out would do the trick. Maybe he’d have Caldwell take a video after she was out.. He could use that later too.
Chapter Five—Foul Deeds
“A wolf attacked you? How terribly bizarre!” Mr. Smith exclaimed as she told him, Alan, and Lucas what had happened the next morning. “And, of course, how horribly frightening,” he added as Lucas frowned at him from across the room.
“But you handled yourself very well,” Alan said with a smile as he stepped closer to where Sara was sitting and laid a hand on her shoulder. “I admire brave women.”
“At the moment, I was thinking more of survival,” she answered and tried not to fidget as Alan patted her arm.
“It might be wise not to put yourself into the path of danger,” Lucas said with a scowl. “What possessed you to go to such an isolated place by yourself?”
What possessed him?He had been cool and detached ever since she’d gotten to the mansion and now he was insinuating that she had been foolish? She wasn’t a child! She stood up and walked over to him.
“It’s my parents’ place. I go there when I need to unwind. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Maybe the wolf was rabid or something.”
“A rabid animal would not have turned and run,” Lucas replied dryly. “And didn’t you tell us there were two wolves?”
She could still see the big lobo in her mind, the gorgeous fur coat and how he had seemed to laugh with his tongue lolling out. “The other one seemed docile enough.”
Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Docile?”
“Well, yes. He made no attempt to attack me.”
A strange expression flitted over Lucas’ features. His eyes darkened slightly and a corner of his mouth quirked up as he leaned toward her. “Never trust a wolf, lass.”
