Karen Kelley - The Wolf Prince

The man stepped toward her, holding out his hand.

She screamed and brought the heavy branch down on his head with all the strength she could muster. There was a distinct thud. His eyes widened as he stumbled forward a couple of steps. She quickly stepped back. The naked stranger’s eyes closed as he slowly collapsed to the ground in front of her.

Her legs were shaking so badly she had to lean against the side of a tree for support. Oh, God, she’d just knocked out a streaker. She closed her eyes and tried to slow her racing pulse. She could barely take a breath. Adrenaline surged through her veins.

Calm down. You’re still alive.

She opened her eyes and curled her lip as she stared at the naked man. “Ha! That will teach you to walk around naked and accost women.” Not that he’d accosted her. But he was naked.

Her eyes narrowed. And he wasn’t moving.

Another kind of fear swept over her.

She stepped closer and nudged him with the toe of her tennis shoe, then jumped back. He still didn’t move. Oh, crap, had she killed him? Dammit, he’d scared the hell out of her. What was she supposed to do?

If she said it was self-defense, would they send her to prison? What would she tell a jury, though? That he’d held his hand out to her and she’d killed him. Oh, yeah, that would go over good.

She could lie. That might work. Her mother still didn’t know who’d broken the window in the living room when Darcy was twelve. But her mother would buy anything Darcy said. She might not be as lucky in front of a jury of her peers.

His chest suddenly rose and fell. Relief washed over her. Thank God, she wasn’t going to prison. A good thing because orange was so not her color, nor did she like stripes or bars, for that matter.

She stepped closer, still hugging the branch. Who the hell was he? His raven-black hair was shoulder length, and his eyes had been a warm whiskey-brown with gold flecks. Maybe early thirties? His shoulders were broad. Nice biceps, too. Her gaze lowered. Among other things. She swallowed hard. Very sexy. Cover model sexy. Male stripper sexy. Freebie lap dance sexy.

Who the hell was he and why was he strolling through the woods stark naked?

Was he a vagrant?

A homeless man had risked his life to save her from a wolf, and he got hit over the head for his trouble. Not that he looked homeless. Only unconscious. Possibly dying. Cripes, she needed to get help.

She removed her jacket and laid it across his lower half. Thank goodness she had her cell phone. She pulled it out of her pocket and quickly punched in the number of the house, and then waited while it rang.

“Spencer residence,” Ms. Abernathy said.

“It’s Darcy.”

“Are you okay?” the housekeeper asked, worry lacing her words.

“I’m fine, but I nearly killed a man.”

“I’m sorry? Did you say you nearly killed a man?”

“There was a wolf, then this man stepped out from behind a tree, and I had a branch so I sort of clobbered him. He’s still unconscious. Have Ralph bring the little trailer so we can get him back to the house. Oh, and call Dr. Wilson. He’ll need to examine him.”

Ms. Abernathy said she would be right on it. Darcy snapped her phone closed and exhaled a sigh of relief.

Ralph wouldn’t waste any time getting here. He took care of the grounds, making sure everything always looked well manicured. He was practically like a father to her. He would help her without reprimanding her for hitting first and asking questions later. She hoped.

Even though she knew Ralph would hurry, time seemed to come to a standstill. She picked up the branch again, just in case the wolf came back or the guy regained consciousness. Though she had a feeling the stranger had scared the wolf away.

She glanced at the rising sun and looked up the path. She couldn’t see the house, but it was just over the hill. Ralph would come from that direction. She glanced nervously at the stranger and silently prayed he wouldn’t wake up before help arrived. What if he attacked her?

Darcy snorted. Had she really been thinking only a few moments ago how great it would be to have danger and excitement in her life? And how had she handled it? By knocking some guy over the head whose only crime was to run around the woods naked.

In her defense, he had startled her. First the wolf, then the naked stranger. She’d acted on instinct when she’d hit him. She had really good instincts. Most of the time.

She breathed a sigh of relief when the golf cart came chugging over the hill, the trailer bouncing behind it.

She tossed the branch and wildly waved her arms. It wasn’t that hard to spot her since she was out in the open, but waving her arms gave her something to do. Ralph pulled up beside her and turned off the key.

“I’m afraid I hit him pretty hard,” she said. “But he stepped from behind a tree and scared the hell out of me. He’s still unconscious.”

Ralph walked over to him. He nudged the stranger with the toe of his work boot. “Yep, you got him a good one.” He raised her jacket, then let it quickly drop. “He hasn’t got a stitch of clothes on. What kind of man runs around the woods naked? You did good knocking him over the head.”

“Well, he did scare off the wolf.” She had no idea why she would take up for the stranger. Remorse? That had to be it.

Ralph had brought one of his grounds workers with him and they started to pick up the stranger, but Ralph hesitated at the last moment. “Might want to turn your head, Miss Darcy.”

Heat flooded her face when she caught the meaning of his words. Ralph had worked for the family before she was even adopted and he really was like a second father. She quickly turned around. There was a grunt, probably from Ralph, and then a thud as the stranger was placed on the trailer.

“Okay, he’s as decent as he’ll ever be. What do you want us to do with him?”

“Take him to the guest house,” she said.

Ralph’s brows drew together. “Are you sure about that?”

She nodded. “He saved my life.” The wolf was gone.

“Then I guess you owe him something. At least until we know who he is.” She jumped in beside Ralph, while his helper got in the trailer with the stranger.

Ralph started the golf cart up again and they made their way to the guest house. The estate sat on ten acres deep in the Texas hill country. The house had six bedrooms, besides the guest house. They had room for one naked stranger.

The trailer bounced over a bump. The stranger groaned. She bit her bottom lip and looked over her shoulder. What if she had given him brain damage or something? She would never forgive herself, even if it turned out he was a bad guy. Well, if he was really bad, maybe she wouldn’t feel quite as guilty.

He hadn’t looked like a bad guy. Oh, Lord, what if he was a neighbor who liked running around naked? The Bishops were on vacation, but they had their place up for sale. They would be gone all summer, unless it sold. What if this guy had purchased the property? It might not go so well for her at trial if she’d brain-damaged her new neighbor.

Ralph pulled in front of the guest house as Ms. Abernathy came hurrying out of the main house to meet them.

“Is he dead?” she asked, walking briskly toward them. Loose tendrils of gray hair had escaped the usually tight bun that sat on top of her head like a hummingbird’s nest. “We could bury the corpse and not tell anyone a thing.” She eyed Ralph’s young helper as if he would be the one who’d snitch. The poor guy lowered his head and shuffled his feet.

Ms. Abernathy was very loyal. She was also thin, almost to the point of anorexia, which was ridiculous since she could out eat any man, and she was the best cook for miles around. She told everyone she was blessed with a fast metabolism.