Page 62 of Wolf's Redemption

“A woman. With green streaks in her hair, skin markings on her arms, and silver in her ears and nose. Concentrate to the west of the keep, as far west as the d’Louncrais estate. Find her and bring her to me.”

The capitainebowed. “I will see it done, Mon Seigneur Comte.”

With a wave, Lothair dismissed him. He rubbed the back of his neck. Perhaps he should abandon his plan. It had flaws. For all their strengths, werewolves had weaknesses. Wolfsbane and silver they could avoid, and once he had dispatched Renaud, none would know of them but the werewolves themselves. But this weakness for women, this possessiveness and protectiveness they each displayed foronewoman, that he could not bear. It was something he could use to control any werewolf he turned, but if he were to become one, if he were to follow his plan through to its ultimate objective, then his enemies could use it against him, too.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

With the cool waters lapping around their bodies, Bek lay snuggled against Ulrik at the edge of the pond. Lazily, he traced the tribal pattern of a tattoo that snaked around her arm in a band.

“That’s my first tattoo.”

“Mmm. Tat too. Tat too. A strange word. It does not begin to describe your skin markings.” He traced the black ink as it twisted and swirled. “Do they serve a purpose? Is there some meaning you attribute to them?”

She chuckled. “That one? No. I didn’t think too much about the design. I just wanted a tattoo like my brothers. This one”—she pointed to a large red and black goth butterfly that covered the top of her right arm—“I got as a symbol of my emancipation from my god-awful family.”

Ulrik brushed his fingers over the butterfly’s deep red wings, sending shivers through her, reminding her they were still naked, his thigh between hers and pressed against her core.

Lord, Bek. The man gave you four mind-blowing orgasms. Isn’t that enough?

No. The sudden realization hit her, stealing her breath. It wasn’t enough. Her fingers curled through his chest hair as her mind stuttered away from the implication.

Shit.

“And this one?”

His raspy voice snapped her from her thoughts. He slid his fingers over her collarbone to the string of flowers inked into her skin and her nipples pebbled all over again.

“Uhm. Sunflowers. My favorite flower. My gran had sunflowers in her garden.” Bek pushed her worrying thoughts aside and focused on the conversation. “Gran didn’t approve of the life my parents chose.” Sweet, good, big-hearted Gran. “She tried so hard to get us kids to follow a different, more honest path. My brothers were a lost cause. Too hooked on that life. The quick return for no real effort. They wanted the good life and the good stuff, but like my parents, working for it the old-fashioned way wasn’t part of their agenda. They’d rather steal it or con it from someone else who had worked for it. For me, my gran was the only one who understood me.”

When her gran had died, and her sunflowers with her, Bek no longer had a reason to stay.

“And the phoenix on your shoulder?”

Bek looked away, staring out over the moonlit pond. She could make something up, give him some story to satisfy his curiosity, but that didn’t seem right. Not after he’d opened up to her about his scars. Not after the intimacy they’d shared. Not now that she…What?How fardidshe want to take this?

“I was dating…in a relationship…”God, how do I explain modern dating to a tenth-century knight?“I was living with my lover.”

A growl rumbled in his chest and he pulled her tighter.Is he…jealous?A thrill skipped through her.

“I’d been living with my lover for a few years. Spider—”

“His name wasSpider? Is that a common name in the future?”

Bek snorted. “His real name was Dwight, but he belonged to a gang of…outlaws, so they gave him the nickname Spider.” She followed the path of her finger drawing circles across Ulrik’s chest, twirling it in his chest hair. Anything rather than look himin the eye. “He wasn’t a good man. He often broke the law,and he did some terrible things that could have seen him locked up for a very long time.”

“Your lover was an outlaw?”

Bek flushed and halted her exploration, curling her fingers into a fist. “It’s not exactly something I’m proud of. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, Spider being one of them.”

She shifted against him, sending ripples out across the pond.

He stroked a hand across her shoulder and down her arm, rubbing gently. “We all make mistakes in life, Rebekah. Lord knows, I have made plenty in mine.”

She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. He had no idea of the mistakes she’d made or the things she’d done. She should’ve known better, chosen better. Spider was no different from the brothers, the family, she’d fled from.

How did I not see that from the beginning?

“Spider liked to use a forbidden substance,” she continued.More than use. Selling drugs had brought in a good income for his club. She’d traded her con artist, thieving family for drug dealers. In hindsight, it’d been a stupid move. “Getting caught with it in your possession is a criminal offense.”

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