Castle of the Wolf (21 page)

Nervously, she lifted her hand and wriggled her fingers in what she hoped looked to be a friendly wave. “Um, it’s me,” she croaked.

His eyes narrowed.

Uh-oh.

In order to evade his burning gaze, she dropped her eyes. They came to rest on a powerful pectoral covered by curly black hair. In between hung glittering drops of water, and a dark brown nipple shyly peeped out as if in greeting.

Cissy licked her suddenly dry lips.

Fenris fully turned toward her, hands on his hips, and water pelted the floor from the sponge he held in his right hand. “What do you want?”

She heard the exasperation in his voice, but just then, water collected on one damp curl, formed a large, shimmering drop and…

Cissy held her breath.

Gracefully it slid into the interesting little groove below his ribs, trembled indecisively before it gave in and rolled down over the dips and bumps of his tightly muscled belly. With avid fascination she followed the drop’s journey. And then, there it was: the intriguing little whorl of hair around the sweet indentation of his navel.

Oooh my.
Cissy gave a happy sigh. Her skin prickled deliciously. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Dear heavens, she was certain she could look at this alluring, silky trail of hair forever and never tire of the sight.

Fenris cleared his throat. “Are you here for a freak show?” he asked.

Cissy flinched and only then became aware of what exactly she was doing. Her face flaming, she slowly raised her eyes back to his. They were blazing with anger, and dark color stained his cheeks. He looked…

“What?” he snapped.

Drat, the growling demon wolf was back! She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Have I provided enough freakish entertainment for you?” he continued. His breathing had turned harsh.

“No, no, it wasn’t…” Her voice trailed away as she became aware how her answer could be misconstrued. She blinked. Given the furious twisting of his lips, her words
had
been misconstrued. Helplessly, she stared at him. “It isn’t what you think.”

“No?” Aggressively, he widened his stance and stared back at her. “What is it, then?” A muscle jumped in his cheek. Yes, he looked exactly like a wolf ready to pounce.

Cissy swallowed. “I…um…I thought—”

“Yes?”

“Er …” She bit her lip. This was probably not the best moment to tell her husband she wanted to have her wicked way with him. Or him to have his with her. Together. In his wonderfully large bed.

Don’t think of the bed!

“I…um…” Her fingers drummed against her thigh, while her thoughts raced. “…um…” She gave him a false, bright smile.

“Has the cat got your tongue?” he growled, clearly unimpressed.

Her smile fell. She sighed. Perhaps she should go and find Schlemihl’s gray man and sell him her shadow for the mandrake. Love and happiness would automatically be hers, and she wouldn’t be forced to stand in front of her husband like a namby-pampy noddy-pole. However, she suspected little gray men keen on other people’s shadows were not easily come by. So it was back to dealing with the demon wolf.

Cissy sniffed. “I came here to ask you…” No, she really couldn’t mention her plan of seduction. But then inspiration finally struck. “An alfresco luncheon!” She beamed at him.

His brows drew together in puzzlement. “I beg your pardon?”

“A luncheon. Outside.” In her excitement, she bobbed up and down on the balls of her feet. “Tomorrow.”

If anything, his puzzlement increased. “You haven’t had an accident, have you?” He eyed her suspiciously.

“Me? No. Why?” She shook her head. “I…um… You know, the past few days have been so nice and sunny and I thought”—she rubbed her nose—“how nice it would be for us to drive out together and have a luncheon.”

He shifted his weight, at last became aware that his sponge dripped water onto the floor, put it back into the bowl behind him. Slowly he turned back to her.

She smiled. “What do you think?" Oh, it was a most wonderful idea, and her heart fluttered in her chest with the excitement of it all.

“A luncheon?” He raised his brows. “
Outside?
At this time of year?”

“Och, we can take a thick wooly blanket. Just think of it—a picnic!” On a nice, sunny clearing in the forest. Uninvited, the picture of the eight of clubs rose in front of her inner eye: a couple lying together outside under a large tree. She imagined Fenris leaning over her, rucking up her skirts, his large hands traveling over her thighs while she lay back among the crisp aroma of crushed pine needles…

Cissy raised her shoulders as a delicious shiver raced down her back. What an awful wanton she was! But it was probably all right because, after all, he was her husband. “What do you say?” she asked throatily.

He gave her a look as if he suspected she were raving mad.

She tried another tack. “I would so enjoy driving out. I haven’t seen that much of the forest yet, you know? And after what happened the last time I ventured out… Oh, please, Fenris, say yes!”

He stared at her a moment longer before he finally nodded his head. “It would be all right, I believe.”

Joy bubbled up inside her. “Of course, it would!” She laughed at him—and became aware all over again how very delicious he looked with all that expanse of glistening damp skin on display. Her breath caught in her throat. God, how utterly beautiful he was!

And suddenly she was certain she didn’t need a little gray man and his mandrake in order to gain happiness. Yes, she firmly believed it was here, within her reach.

Her heart light, she stepped toward her husband. Supporting herself with a hand on his shoulder, she lifted on tiptoe and pressed a fleeting kiss onto the corner of his mouth. “Thank you,” she whispered, breathing in the warm smell of him: sandalwood with a lingering hint of musky sweat.

Before temptation could overcome her again, she quickly stepped back. But she couldn’t stop smiling. “Would tomorrow suit you? I will tell Cook to prepare something for us, shall I?” With her hand on the door frame, she allowed herself a last look at her husband and at his dumbstruck expression. “I am so looking forward to it!”

And then, before the demon wolf had a chance to reappear, she danced out of the room.

~*~

“Why the hell did I let myself be talked into this?” Fenris sat on his bed and tore at his hair. “This is madness! Sheer madness!”

Johann issued some grunts while he folded clothes.

Fenris turned toward him. “It
is
madness,” he insisted. “Whyever would she want…” He shook his head. “It isn’t right that I should…” He took a deep breath. “Hell! If only she hadn’t caught me by surprise!” Irritated, he glowered at his valet, who valiantly tried to smother his chuckles.

“She suddenly just stood in the door?”

“Yes! Stood there and stared at me, and I swear to you, her eyes nearly popped out!” Angrily Fenris rubbed his leg, where the straps had chafed the skin.

“Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?” This time, the other man openly grinned.

Fenris bundled up a shirt and threw it at him. “Of course not!” Groaning, he bent forward and buried his hands in his hair. “She’s a bloody innocent, Johann. What right do I have to…taint her?”

“You are her husband.”

Her husband. He remembered how she had looked on their wedding day; the sight had taken his breath away. And when she had held his hand—for a moment pride had swelled his chest. Yet reality had a nasty habit of catching up with a man. The thought of undressing in front of her… Heavens, having seen utter disgust in one woman’s eyes was quite enough! Or worse—what if it were pity he detected in her eyes? He wouldn’t be able to bear it. The thought alone made his skin crawl. “I should never have married her.”

“Rubbish! Would you have wanted to see her married to your brother instead?”

Fenris looked up sharply. “Of course not!” He still shuddered to think what could have happened if he hadn’t come upon Leo and Celia that night. If he hadn’t wandered the hallways and walked past her room to be at least in that way near her.

“Then why can’t you give it a chance?” Johann asked smugly. “Have this picnic and see what happens." He raised his brows. “Who knows, you might even enjoy yourself.” He grinned.

“Oh, all right." Fenris sighed in defeat. “I’ll do it.”

~*~

She expected to have to persuade him all over again the next day, but surprisingly, in the early hours of the afternoon, Fenris sent Johann down to the stables for the old rickety gig. In many ways, Cissy reflected, her life had not changed all that much since England: she was still driven around in antique carriages and wore mostly the same old clothes she had worn back at her father’s. Back at home.

Frowning, she slipped into her spencer jacket before securing the ribbons of her bonnet under her chin.

Back at hone…

She moved her shoulders, looked around her cozy room, at the floral pattern on the ceiling, the stout little stove in the corner, the shelf with her old and new books, the massive four-poster bed with the light, diaphanous drapes. Her old blanket presented a nice, cheerful contrast to the dark wood and the gray stone.

She enjoyed the humming of the forest and the whispering of the castle at night, when old wooden beams creaked and the wind whistled softly in the cracks in the stone. She liked watching the moon rise over the remains of the big tower and listening to the song of the bells down in the valley that drifted up with the wind. And she truly loved the castle with its quaint staircases and doorways, beautiful tapestries and old paintings, dark with age. She loved traipsing to the grandfather clock at twelve o’clock to watch the King of Dwarves appear and see the transformation of his beloved princess. Yes, she loved witnessing their moment of happiness, when anything seemed to be possible.

With wonder, Cissy realized that ‘home’ was no longer her father’s house in England, but this, her castle. And she would make sure that love and happiness would be hers—even without a mandrake!

She laughed a little in delight and skipped downstairs to collect a basket with food and a thick blanket from Cook. When she stepped outside into the courtyard a few minutes later, her husband already stood beside the gig and checked the fastenings of the harness, while Johann looked the vehicle over to make sure it would survive another outing.

A smile on her face, Cissy stopped to observe the two men working side by side. From the way they moved together, it became clear that they had done similar tasks numerous times before. They might be master and servant, but they also made a perfect team.

Johann looked up and spotted her. He made a slight bow. “
Gnädige Frau
.”

At this, Fenris half turned toward her, his face expressionless.

Uh-oh.
She lifted her hand and waved. She would not let him spoil her mood—or her grand plan. “A good day to you,” she said. Beaming at the two men, she ambled up to them. “Isn’t it a most gorgeous day for an outing?”

“Wonderful for sitting in the mud,” her husband muttered. Apparently, he no longer regarded favorably the idea of an alfresco luncheon. Yet he had not cried off.

Johann’s lips twitched. He caught her staring at him, and hastily squatted down as if to check the carriage wheel.

“Fiddle-faddle!” She made an airy movement with her hand. “We have lovely food and a thick blanket.” She concentrated her smile on her husband, silently daring him to contradict her.

Fenris crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised an eyebrow. “Does one not normally take chairs for this sort of outing?”

Cissy suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. “Perhaps you should have brought your nonexistent dog cart, so we could have stuffed stools under the seat,” she told him sweetly. Mimicking him, she raised both brows.

For a moment he stared at her, his face utterly devoid of expression, before he abruptly turned away. He cleared his throat. “Well, if that’s all, we probably should be on our way. Right?” He threw a questioning look over his shoulder.

“Right.” She bowed her head and smiled to herself. If she was not mistaken, her big, bad wolf had just turned away because he had cracked a smile. Heavens, just to think of it: the master of Wolfenbach cracking a smile! What a scandal!

Like a brilliant, shimmering bubble, joy rose inside her. Perhaps she wouldn’t need an old mandrake to gain happiness.

She let Johann take the picnic basket and stow it in the middle of the footrest. Then he handed her onto the box seat, while Fenris swung himself up from the other side. “All settled?” He threaded the reins through the fingers of his left hand and took up a small whip with the other.

“Perfectly.”
Oh yes,
she thought smugly.
More than perfectly, in fact
. For the narrow seat of their vehicle forced her husband to sit so close to her that his shoulder rubbed against hers with his every movement.

Fenris nodded to Johann and let the whip crack above the horse’s back. The gig rumbled down the ward, across the bridge, and soon they were in the forest.

“Any place you would particularly like to see?” He kept his voice coolly polite, yet from the corner of her eyes she could see how he regarded her from the corner of his own.

Biting her lip to keep from smiling, she thrust her nose in the air. “Not at all.” She cocked her head to the side and blinked at him. “Why don’t you surprise me?”

His lips twitched. One corner of his mouth lifted. Yet quickly he had himself under control again. Politely, he inclined his head. “As you wish.”

Oh my.
She raised her hand to her fluttering heart. A demon wolf impersonating a lap dog. It promised excitement and perhaps a little bit of danger, and she was determined to enjoy herself to the utmost.

Several minutes later, however, she started to question the wisdom of her grand picnic idea. For the farther they drove, the more she wondered whether he had chosen this route with the purpose to frighten her off. He had led them into the depths of a dark coniferous forest where trees rose forbiddingly and shut out all sunlight. Here and there, gray spongy lichen covered the bark of the trees and fat mushrooms covered stumps. Their little gig rattled over stones and gnarled roots pushing through the ground. Cissy could almost see a little girl with a red cape skipping merrily along between the trees on her way to her grandmother’s house.