To Catch a Wolf (21 page)

And he realized that he stood on the edge of a precipice, half longing for her to send

them away, half hoping that she had the courage to be what her blood made her. Not

this cripple in a chair, but a woman of spirit and strength. She was a prisoner who did

not recognize her prison or the jailers she trusted. Her independence and social

influence were illusions, her good works false consolation, her pride and acceptance of

her fate only brittle paper masks that would crumple at a touch.

Yet if she decided to fight, if she dared to face the realities she so willfully ignored, then

he was bound to her course. To her. For somewhere, sometime since their first

meeting, he had taken Athena Munroe into his pack just as he had the troupers—

reluctantly, hating himself for his weakness, but bound just as surely.

He had not wanted this responsibility for another person. He had meant to spend his life

alone, unattached, unfeeling.

But the circus had changed him—Caitlin, Harry, Ulysses. He had begun to forget what it

was like to live in chains, and what had put him there.

Athena's low sigh called him back from the past. "You asked for my decision," she said,

meeting his gaze. "I want you to stay. The children are expecting a special treat, and I

will not disappoint them. I will find a way to convince my brother, no matter what it

takes.”

Athena waited to see how Morgan would respond, profoundly grateful that she had

managed to keep her composure intact—just barely—during this harrowing visit.

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The facts that had been brought to light during their conversation still rattled about in her

mind, making it difficult to concentrate on any one disquieting revelation. She was

unable to decide which was worse: Morgan's untimely intrusion, his witnessing her

helplessness, or what he had told her about Niall.

She believed Morgan, as painful as it was. Since that argument months ago when Niall

had accused her of doing too much, a part of her had been preparing for just such a

battle. She simply had not believed it would come so soon, or in such unexpected form.

She had lied to Morgan when she told him that Niall accepted her inhuman nature; in

her heart she knew that he did not, not completely. It was a matter they had never

discussed. But if Niall thought she might be reminded of her mother's heritage, and how

it had brought her to this life of confinement

How could she admit how much it hurt that Niall had schemed behind her back, all in

the name of protecting her from herself?

Her reputation had become the least of her worries. Yet she could not ignore the effect

Morgan had upon her, here in her own most private sanctuary. He was the wolf who

spoke to the sleeping beast within her. The man who stared at her as if she were a

desirable woman. Heaven help her, she had felt that stare like a touch whispering up

and down her flesh, stirring sensations she had just begun to experience before the

accident.

Why, oh why had Morgan come to waken them again? Why did he make her feel more

than any man alive, more than any person had a right to?

And why was he so determined to protect her?

She held her head high and watched him weigh her answer as ruthlessly as he had

judged her life. At last he cocked his head, and a smile tilted one corner of his mouth.

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"Caitlin was right," he said. "You are brave enough.”

"Thank you. And now you must leave. If my brother finds you here, nothing in the world

will convince him to let the circus remain in Denver.”

He inclined his head. "I will go.”

Athena allowed herself to relax just a little, knowing there would be no further chance at

sleep tonight. She would spend the wee hours concocting a way to broach the subject

with Niall

while not revealing her source of information.

"Please convey my gratitude to Harry and the others," she said. "Ask them to wait until

they hear from me. I will see that you get a message when I have spoken to Niall."

Having a definite plan was comforting, however tenuous it was. "Regardless of Niall's

response, I will make certain that the troupe receives the full payment they were

promised.”

"Even if you lose the fight?”

She shuddered inwardly at his insistence on using such violent terms. Perhaps he knew

no other way.

If she pursued that line of thought, she would let herself be drawn to him, into his life,

with the hope that somehow she might unravel the mystery of Morgan Holt. She wanted

very badly to understand him, even though she knew such a course was dangerous

beyond her wildest speculation.

The questions she might ask Morgan Holt would satisfy her curiosity, nothing more. The

answers could not change what was.

"If I lose the battle," she said, "you will have lost nothing.”

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"And your brother will rule you for the rest of your life.”

"You seem just as determined to 'rule' me as he is. Are all men as thoroughly vexing as

the two of you?”

"Are all females as foolish as you and Caitlin?”

"You do not know—you, a man of the world? Have you not left a trail of broken hearts

behind you?”

He twitched as if he would snap at her, and then his eyes kindled like golden lanterns.

"Not yet. Should I begin now?”

Never in her life had Athena been so grateful for a distraction as she was when she

heard the unmistakable sound of a slamming door downstairs.

"Niall is home," she whispered. "You must leave at once!”

He gave her a most wolfish smile. "What would happen if I didn't?”

"If you are quick, you can leave by the window. I am sure that climbing down from a

second-story window is child's play for a man of your talents.”

Stairs creaked below the landing. Athena gestured Morgan toward the window. He

started in the right direction obediently enough, but at the last minute he turned and

glided to her bedside.

Athena supposed that, somewhere deep inside, she was almost expecting what

happened next. Morgan crouched beside her, his hands on the bed, and leaned very

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close. His heat washed over her like the summer sun. His thick, black, unfashionably

long hair brushed the sheets, her pillow, her breasts.

And he kissed her. His mouth came down on hers, hard for only an instant before it

gentled and began to caress. His weight pressed her back into the pillows. She might

have felt smothered, terrified, but her senses had become so heightened that waves of

pleasure pulsed all the way to her toes. One of her arms moved of its own accord to

wrap about his shoulders. Firm muscle clenched under her palm.

"Athena," he murmured.

She caught her breath. Her lips throbbed. Her body throbbed. "Morgan.”

A loose floorboard on the landing just outside her door groaned in warning. Morgan

sprang back. He leaped for the window, threw it open and was gone. Cold air spilled

through the curtains, making a vain attempt to cool Athena's heated skin. Hastily she

rearranged her nightdress and scooted down under the blanket. There was no use in

pretending that she hadn't been awake, not with the lamp still burning and the window

wide open.

The door swung in. Niall entered the room and glanced about. His expression was,

thank heaven, no more than slightly perplexed. He lacked the senses to know that

someone else had been in the room.

"I saw the light on," he said. "Why aren't you asleep?" Before he could answer he

noticed the billowing curtains and strode to the window to shut it. "You'll catch your

death, Athena. Why is the window open?”

"I felt rather warm," she said meekly. "I could not sleep.”

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He frowned at her and stood by the bedside. "Are you feverish? Should I send for a

doctor?”

"No. I am quite well

merely thinking.”

He sat between the bars on the edge of the bed. "About what?”

Athena tried to remember how long it had been since she and Niall had had a heart-to-

heart conversation that did not revolve around common courtesies or, more recently,

arguments over her activities. "The circus," she answered honestly. "The performance

for the children. It is only a few days away.”

He had the grace to look uncomfortable. His fingers plucked at a bit of her blanket.

"Would you be very disappointed

if the performance had to be cancelled?”

So he did feel obligated to say something, after all. She faced a clear choice: either

pretend she knew nothing, using her supposed ignorance to undermine Niall's resolve,

or confront him directly. She knew what she would have chosen yesterday.

Many things had been different yesterday. She would not have believed the time would

come when she would be compelled to defy her brother. But then, she would not have

believed the time would come when she was kissed in her own bed by a near

stranger

least of all one like Morgan Holt.

"You plan to send the circus away," she said.

He looked at her sharply. "How did you know?”

"Something

something Cecily said today on the lot," she improvised. Cecily

Hockensmith had acted rather strangely while she and Athena waited in the carriage for

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Mali's return, but Athena had been more concerned with her brother at the time. "I knew

something was wrong by the way you behaved. It was not like you.”

She drew a breath of relief when she saw that she had guessed correctly. "I discussed

the matter briefly with Miss Hockensmith," Niall said, "and asked her to come with me

when I went to the lot—”

"To ask the circus to leave Denver," she finished. "Why, Niall? They were a gift to me, to

the children. Cecily said something about a bad influence, but surely—”

"I had hoped this would not come up until they were gone," Niall said, rising. "But since

you have guessed, I see no reason to deny the truth." He strode across the room and

addressed the wall, his hands clasped behind his back. "I made a mistake when I

brought the circus to Denver. It is not a suitable entertainment for the children, nor are

the performers fit company for you and the other young ladies.”

"I see. And you discussed this with Cecily?”

"Miss Hockensmith agreed with me.”

Athena bit her lip. It was difficult not to be a little upset with Cecily for taking her

brother's side, but she knew that the other woman's motives were good even if her

attitude was too severe. "What led you to make this decision, Niall?”

There. Either he would tell her the truth, or he would work his way around it as if it were

a ticklish business deal.

He chose a middle path. "I received some new information that suggested it would be

better if they did not remain. I offered them a substantial gratuity in compensation. They

were happy enough to take it.”

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Now he was lying. "Were they? It's not really the children you wish to protect, is it, Niall?

You are afraid for me.”

He turned around and stared at her. "And if I am? You spend too much time with

beggars and riffraff as it is. We discussed this before—”

"They are human beings, are they not? They are far more apt to be harmed than do

harm themselves. The troupers are constantly on the verge of disaster, yet they are

generous and warmhearted.”

"You see? You already think of them as friends.”

"We formed a contract with them, and you have always said that contracts must be

honorably fulfilled. Even if you don't consider such a contract sacred, I do." She

gathered her courage. "That is why you must agree to let them stay to complete the

performance.”

"I must? Did I hear you correctly, Athena?”

"Yes. I have asked very little of you in the past several years, except that you allow me

to use my portion of the inheritance as I wish. Now I am asking for this.”

He glowered and paced from one end of the room to the other. "I have already asked

them to leave.”

"Send a message and tell them that you have changed your mind. You need not give

any explanation.”

Now was the crucial moment. Either he must come up with a better argument than he