Dare, Lydia - Tall, Dark and Wolfish

Thunder clapped overhead and Sorcha gasped. Elspeth turned her head to face her friend.

"Rhiannon," she whispered. "Cait must've seen this."

Elspeth glanced up to meet Ben's gaze. "Doona worry. I'm sure she'd never hit the church."

"Hit the church with what?" Ben asked, looking around the chapel. As if to answer his question, lightning lit up the sky, the flash filtering through the stained-glass windows. "She can make it storm?" he whispered.

"Or stop," Elspeth replied quietly.

Good God! The faster he got her away from these harridans, the better.

Mr. Crawford entered from a door at the front of the chapel. "

Havers!

It looks bad out there. All right, Lord Benjamin, Miss Campbell, are ye ready?"

Ben squeezed Elspeth's arm. "After you, lass."

She stumbled to her feet and met the vicar at the altar, Ben right behind her the whole way. He took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips. Desire raced through his body. It wouldn't be long before she'd be his.

"

Slainte mhor agus a h-uile beannachd duibh

," Mr. Crawford called over the thunder that continued to boom above them.

"It's just a blessin'," Elspeth whispered, loud enough for only him to hear.

"Have ye got a ring, my lord?"

Ben pulled his pinkie ring from his waistcoat pocket. "Yes, sir."

"Then we'll begin." He read a bit from Galatians, then looked at Ben. "Repeat after me, my lord. I, Benjamin Farrell Jonathan Westfield, take ye, Elspeth Muriel Campbell, ta be my wife before God and these witnesses."

Ben repeated the words, staring into Elspeth's eyes. She was perfect in every way. He couldn't wait to get her back inside her little cottage. They might not come out for days.

Mr. Crawford turned his attention to Elspeth, "And now it's yer turn. I, Elspeth Muriel Campbell, take ye, Benjamin Farrell Jonathan Westfield, ta be my husband before God and these witnesses."

Elspeth swallowed, and Ben squeezed her fingers. Thunder cracked over head, but she ignored it. "I, Elspeth Muriel Campbell, take ye, Benjamin Farrell Jonathan Westfield, ta be my husband before God and these witnesses."

The vicar smiled. "Well, then, my lord, ye may kiss yer bride."

Ben didn't waste one moment doing so. He slid his arm around Elspeth, pulled her against him, and lowered his lips to hers. She giggled against his mouth, "Ye're crushin' me."

"Sorry," he whispered before releasing her.

Ben looked behind them. Alec's mouth hung open, as though he hadn't really thought they'd go through with it, and Sorcha blew her nose, loudly, in a handkerchief.

Twenty-eight

"If he looks at ye like that for one more minute, I'll expect ye ta go up in a puff of smoke," Sorcha mumbled quietly from Elspeth's side, where they stood together in the kitchen.

Elspeth glanced at Ben, who leaned casually against the doorjamb, talking with Alec MacQuarrie. But beneath Ben's outside veneer of calm, there was a storm brewing behind his eyes. He caught her gaze before allowing his eyes to linger slowly over her body.

"What did ye say?" Elspeth asked, fighting the flush of warmth that crept up her cheeks at his gaze.

"Yer new husband," Sorcha said, nodding her head toward Ben. "He looks like he wants ta have ye for dinner."

Elspeth giggled lightly. He did look like he would consume her at any moment. "I suppose it would be terribly offensive ta send everyone home?" Elspeth whispered back.

"Aye, but it would be worse if he lost control and stripped ye down before we're all gone." Sorcha giggled. The hair on Elspeth's arms stood up. What a lovely thought.

She forced herself to stop looking in his direction. "How long do ye think everyone will stay?" she asked as she fought to keep from glancing back in his direction.

"Surely ye can control yerself long enough ta celebrate yer weddin' with friends?" Sorcha gasped, slightly affronted. "We took the time ta be with ye durin' yer nuptials."

"Like ye would have stayed away," Elspeth snorted. Then she bumped Sorcha's shoulder with her own.

Rhiannon, Blaire, and a few friends from town had found their way to Elspeth's cottage as the news had spread. El was sorry to say she wanted nothing more than for them all to leave.

She raised her teacup to her lips and glanced at Ben over the rim. He still leaned against the threshold, talking with Alec. But his regard was completely for her. His eyes narrowed as he took a deep breath, his chest expanding slowly. "You want me," he mouthed in her direction.

Elspeth sputtered in her teacup.

"Are ye all right?" Sorcha asked, clapping her on the back.

She gasped out, "Fine, Sorcha. Ye can stop beatin' me, now."

Sorcha's clapping slowed and came to a stop. Elspeth turned to take a towel from the rack behind her and found Ben blocking her path. How had he moved so fast?

"Speed," he whispered before his lips pressed to her temple. "It's one of our traits."

"Do ye do everythin' that fast?" she asked.

One eyebrow lifted. He smiled as he brushed a lock of hair from her face. "No. There are some things that should be done slowly."

"I've half a mind ta throw a bucket of cold water on the both of ye," Sorcha mumbled as she stepped away. "Pure nauseatin' how much ye want each other."

"She knows nothin' of want," Elspeth said quietly.

"And you do?" Ben asked as he rolled the lock of her hair between his fingertips. "Tell me what you know of it?"

A challenge lit her eyes. "I know I want ye, Lord Benjamin," she said as she lifted on her tiptoes and kissed his chin. The light tickle of her lips along his jaw nearly drove him mad.

"Not nearly as much as I want you, Lady Elspeth." He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "I'm glad no other Lycans are here. The scent of you when you are aroused is enough to drive a man to distraction."

"What does desire smell like, Ben?"

"It smells like you, but stronger. Your body warms up and heat radiates from you. The perfume I know you apply between your breasts and behind your ears gets stronger." He wondered how much he should tell her. She was an innocent after all. "And the

other

perfumes get stronger, too."

She colored under his gaze. She did know what he meant. His heart warmed.

"I need to be alone with you."

"We canna ask them ta leave," she whispered back, her brow knit with concern.

"They can stay," he chuckled as he tugged her fingers, pulling her toward the door. "Let's sneak away."

"But they'll know what we're doin'."

Ben really didn't care at that point. He simply wanted to get her beneath him. He could pick her up and carry her from the room. Or he could persuade her. He very lightly brushed across the mark on his lower belly.

Elspeth gasped, her gaze immediately rising to meet his. "Ye doona play fair."

"All's fair in love and war," he chuckled. He tugged her fingertips again. When she didn't follow, he reached to brush his mark. But she deflected his hand from his body and clutched it tightly in hers.

"I'll go with ye. Ye doona have ta tease me." Her eyes glanced around the room. Indeed, everyone was deep in conversation. He pulled her through the doorway and into the night. But they had taken only two steps when he felt her brush across her own mark.

If Ben truly thought she would be an unwary foe, he'd been sorely misled. His jaw clenched before he grabbed her tightly to him. He took her hand in his and pressed it against his hardness.

"I do not need any help becoming aroused by you, Ellie."

"Yet ye thought ta torment me when we were inside," she laughed against his lips.