“You have a really nice ass.”
Dorian turned to face Jesenia. “Do I now?”
Jesenia rolled her eyes as she accepted her discarded clothes from his outstretched hand. “Like you don’t know. I bet you catch women staring at it a lot.”
“To be honest I’ve never paid much attention.”
Jesenia stabbed her legs into her pants. “Sure ya haven’t.”
“Is that a note of jealousy I hear in your voice?”
She tried to laugh it off but he had hit the nail on the head. “I don’t even know you. We had sex once.”
He stood there naked on the beach, staring at her. “We had incredibly hot sex once. And I plan on adding to that number.”
She pulled her shirt over her head and pushed her hair out of her face. “Really?”
His eyebrows shot up. “You don’t think that was incredibly hot?”
She laughed, crossing over to him and cupping the sides of his face in her hands. “Yes, I did. I meant do you really want to add to the number.”
“Aye, lass. That I do.”
She leaned into him as he kissed her thoroughly. Her body responded. He broke the connection of their mouths.
“Damn, woman, you keep kissing me like that and I might be fucking you all day.”
She giggled. “Am I supposed to complain?”
He shook his head and laughed with her. “Go on back to the hotel. I’ll be along shortly.”
She spun around and walked to the pile of clothes he’d left on the beach. “I don’t mind waiting for you to get dressed.” She leaned over and grabbed his pants and shirt.
“No. Wait, Jesenia.”
“Yuck. Something wet and sticky is on them.” She immediately dropped them. “Is there a chance some sea thingy came ashore and slimed your stuff?”
A howl pierced the quiet and Jesenia’s eyes widened as her gaze snapped to Dorian’s. “What the hell? I told you there was a wolf.” Her head turned as she scanned the area looking for the beast.
Dorian walked in her direction, grabbed his pants from the sand and slipped them on. He wadded his shirt and tossed it out into the water. “Jesenia, let’s go back to the castle.”
She pivoted around. “Really? You’re not going to acknowledge the howl?”
He gripped her arm and started to steer her toward a turret that was part of the medieval section. “That noise could’ve been anything.”
She kept pace with him. “Oh no. You just don’t want to admit that I’m right.”
“If that’s the way you want to see it.”
“Bullshit. It isn’t about how I want to see it. That was a howl. And I bet it was let loose by the wolf who took my Nike.”
“Jesenia, I already told you there aren’t any wolves in Ireland.”
“And I’m telling you that I did research. There used to be an overpopulation of wolves here. So much so that the government declared them a threat and paid people to kill them.”
Dorian jerked to a stop and faced her. The muscle in the side of his jaw twitched as he sucked in a deep breath through his nose.
“Whoa. There isn’t any need to get that pissed off. I’m just reciting history.” His mood had drastically changed, and she wasn’t sure why.
“History,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “Right.” He started walking again and Jesenia stumbled as he pulled her along behind him.
She yanked her arm free of his hold as they came to a stone staircase that led up the turret. “Hold the hell on. What the fuck has you so pissed off?”
“If there was a wolf out there, what would you mean to do about it? Hunt it down and kill it? I hate to tell you, lass, but I don’t see you being able to accomplish that.”
“No. I was actually thinking if there was one out there it would be considered an endangered species. Maybe I could find a way to save it.”
His eyes opened wide and he stared at her, stunned.
“What? Just because it nearly ate me doesn’t mean that I don’t have a heart. I do things for non-kill animal shelters all the time.”
Dorian shook his head and pointed up the staircase. “If you go up that way there will be a door that leads into the castle.”
“No. You don’t get to walk off. What did I do to piss you off so much? And not that you apparently care, but it pisses me off that you think I’m crazy and that I don’t know what I saw.”
He sighed. “Jesenia, it’s been a long night. How about we just part ways here for now?”
A huff of laughter that contained no mirth left her lips. “Whatever, Dorian.” She marched up the steps, her temper fuming. What the fuck was his problem anyway? Really, it was about par for her luck. Find a sexy-as-hell man who could make her body sing and he had to have some weird chip on his shoulder about the local wildlife. Who does that?
Partway up the steps sat a large wooden door. Jesenia gave it a shove and it creaked open on rusted hinges. Apparently this wasn’t a commonly used entrance. She marched through the opening and secured the door behind her. A soft glow coming from oil lamps mounted on the stone wall illuminated the spiral staircase. Irritation riding her hard, she stomped up the steps.
So much for the sex loosening her up. She was every bit as frustrated as before. Damn men. Why did he have to ruin what had been the best night of her life? Hell, she couldn’t even write sex like that. It had been rough but sensual. And his dominance? How hot was that? The memory of him pinning her to the rock and gripping her hair had her pussy tingling again. She’d always thought when it came to bondage and dominance that she would rather do without them, but after tonight she found herself wanting to be tied up. She groaned. Even while pissed at him, she was still having sexual fantasies.
She pushed open another door at the top of the stairs. Her thighs were burning, giving testament again to the fact she really needed to go to a gym regularly. Bright overhead light greeted her as she stepped into a hallway. When she pushed the door shut, a splinter entered her finger. “Damn it!”
Her fist closed over the hurt digit and her gaze lowered. The splinter was quickly forgotten as she stared at the red stains on her hands. “Oh shit.”
Was it blood? Her mind whirled. Dorian’s clothes had been sticky. Was that why he went into the water? Had he been hurt? She couldn’t remember any wounds on him. Yeah, he’d had her turned away from him while they had sex, but she had watched him in the moonlight on the shore. But what if she missed something? What if he was still outside bleeding?
She turned on her heels and darted back the way she’d come. Her hand paused on the second door handle for a moment as she contemplated the risk of running into the wolf again. But if Dorian smelled like blood would that draw the animal closer? She yanked and the door swung open. Her sandals clopped on the stone as she hurried down the last few steps.
At the bottom she swiveled her head, looking for Dorian. Near the edge of the woods she caught sight of his large frame and darted off in that direction. She thought about yelling his name but reconsidered, not wanting to draw attention from the wolf if it was still in the trees. Why in the hell was he going in there in the first place? Did he think to prove her wrong?
Well, getting eaten by the thing wouldn’t help him. He disappeared into the trees. “I didn’t want to go stalking through the creepy-ass woods,” she muttered.
A shiver ran down her spine and she swallowed hard as she took her first steps into the thick trees. The underbrush clawed at her toes. Sandals really weren’t the best hiking shoes, but she didn’t have time to go back and change. Besides, it wasn’t as if one shoe was going to help anything. A low hum swept through the trees on a breeze. It reminded her of wind pipes. Or could it be ghosts? She remembered overhearing chatter about a Chichester woman being hanged in these woods. Granted, it was a very long time ago, but her family had owned the place or something. Two of the employees were talking about it at the Cave, the in-house pub in Castle Tullamore, one night when she’d gone to have a drink. Oh hell. She needed to hurry and catch up to Dorian.
“Dorian,” she whispered as loud as she dared. The tree canopy let in a little moonlight and she could see his outline up ahead. He turned and his gaze pinned her. Gooseflesh erupted on her arms.
He started toward her. “What are you doing out here?”
She winced, hearing the displeasure in his words. “Why are your clothes covered in blood? I got upstairs and noticed blood on my hands. Are you hurt?”
“You need to leave now, Jesenia. Get back to the castle.”
Something in his tone had changed. If she wasn’t mistaken, it was a sense of urgency that now laced those words. “I’m fine. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Get down!”
She yelped and jumped back a little at his shouted words. It took her a second to comply. Air whooshed past her head. Then she heard it. The low growl behind her. Her head whipped around and she spotted the shoe-stealing beast. Foam dripped from his maw. Ice-blue eyes stared at her. Oh God. It had leapt at her. Her gaze swung back to Dorian’s as she scrambled on hands and knees toward him. “Run!”
Her heart stopped and then stuttered back to life as her jaw fell open. Dorian bared his teeth and tore at his pants as he jumped in her direction. A scream ripped from her throat as his body changed. When he landed on the other side of her it was on four feet. Four furry feet. “Holy shit!”
Jesenia backpedaled until her spine hit the base of a tree. The wolves circled each other, snapping and growling. Holy fuck, Dorian was a wolf. She closed her eyes. Surely she was still in her room and this was all just a dream. A snarl had her eyelids flipping open again.
Her body shook as she took in the sight. The wolf that had chased her was rabid. It was easy to track with the spittle dripping. On a growl it turned and ran off deeper into the woods. The other wolf turned and looked at her.
Hell, the other wolf was Dorian. What in the hell was going on? His body changed again and the naked man stood in front of her.
He held out his hands. “Jesenia, are you all right?”
A sob burst from her mouth. Her body trembled uncontrollably. “What is happening?”
He sighed. “Ah, lass. I would not have you find out this way.” Dorian stepped toward her. She jerked. “I’ll not hurt you. It’s okay.”
Dizziness overwhelmed her. She fought against it but knew she was fading fast. Dorian’s voice filled her ears, calling her name, but it seemed as if he was miles away or inside a well. Blackness tunneled her vision until she succumbed to the darkness.