Free Imprisoned at Werewolf Keep (Werewolf Keep Trilogy) by Nhys Glover Page B

desperately she wanted to be with this man, if he saw her as the cause of his troubles, then she must do as he asked. She would leave him and never return.
    'I will go down stairs and make the arrangements. You will never have to set eyes on me again,' Fidelia said in the steadiest voice.

CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    When the maid returned with boots, coat and a horse, he left the hotel as discretely as possible. But he was all too aware of the curious, scandalised gazes of those he passed.
    W hat did it matter? Far worse than a little scandal was threatening them all now. His woman was in danger, not only from Rathgart, but from him, and he couldn’t protect her.
    That he h ad acknowledged the truth of it sometime during the passionate intimacies they’d shared was only fuel for his self-loathing. His beast had claimed this woman as his own, and the more he came to know her, the more the man in him agreed. Sweet, beautiful, refined and yet passionate, she was every man’s fantasy. And he had come close to destroying her.
    What if shared bodily fluids was enough to turn her? They believed it was the saliva of the wolf interacting with the blood of an open wound that caused the transition. But what if it was contact with any bodily fluid, even saliva? Just kissing her could mean her downfall. He should have known better when he’d been with her in the drying room. He had kissed her then and should have realised the mistake. But instead, he’d gone upstairs with her, unchaperoned. What had he thought would happen?
    At least he had not broken her skin in his fevered passion. Nor let it go too far that he spilled his tainted seed in her. But if she was to stay near him any longer, he had no doubt that the wolf would have its way. Next time, he wouldn’t be able to control it.
    When he arrived back at the Keep mid-morning, the place was in an uproar. As soon as he was spotted, people came from everywhere to check on him.
    ‘Jas, where the devil?’ Byron demanded before Phil interrupted with, ‘Are you all right?’
    He sighed heavily and dismounted, handing the horse over to Jamey. ‘Yes, I am fine, and I did no damage last night. I awoke outsi de Lady Montgomery’s hotel. She was the one to find me, and I found clothes in the drying room.’
    ‘Does she know…? How did you explain your lack of clothing?’ Phil demanded this time.
    ‘Set upon by thieves who took everything. When she has more time to think about it, she will probably realise what a thin story it was, but I gave her little time to consider such issues.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ Phil stared at him cautiously, as if sensing the truth already.
    ‘Can we go inside? I need to eat and I could do with a stiff brandy. I am cold all the way to my bones.’
    While the others drifted away, Byron and Phil lead the way into the study where Byron poured them a ll a stiff drink. Jasper downed the burning heat in one swallow and offered his glass up for a second.
    ‘How did you manage it?’ Byron asked as he poured another generous glass of brandy for him. ‘And more importantly, why?’
    ‘My wolf has claimed her. Or that’s what it feels like. It sees her as his mate. I had no choice but to hide the key when you came to lock up last night, then unlock it after you left and before I changed. Then I followed her scent to Harrogate and howled at the moon all night outside her window. I have no idea why the guard didn’t hear it and shoot me.
    ‘Then when I had her within reach I almost ravaged her. I only just reined in the beast, in time. But I do not know if it is too late. Whether my saliva is enough… I did not break her skin… I know that much.’
    ‘Oh my God, Jas, what have you done?’ Phil cried, staring at him as if he was the worst monster in the world.
    ‘I know, I know. I cannot forgive myself. But I told her to go. To get away from here.’
    ‘She will be terrified. After what Rathgart did to her, and now you. She knows almost nothing about men.