Often, the wolf inside determines the strength of the man who is bound to it.Carter’swolf had been insanely big and strong, despite his short stature.Ihad never seenKorshift, of course, soIdidn’t know what kind of wolf he had or how strong it was—or how likely it was to be able to beatHarrisMurdoch’swolf, which was a big, dirty, smelly mutt of a beast that could nonetheless take any other wolf in thePack.
Reluctantly,Ikept my mouth closed.Therewould be time to warnKorlater and he would find out a lot for himself, when we went into town tomorrow.
“Well,Ishould really be getting to bed myself,”Isaid, manufacturing a yawn.“Thereare fresh towels in the bathroom, andIthinkIasked the staff to stock it with new toiletries too, if you need them.”
“Thank you.”Henodded.“I’llbe fine,I’msure.”
“Good.Thensleep well.”Ismiled at him.“I’llbe right in the next room if you need anything.”ThenIrealized what that sounded like and went hot with a blush.“Imean, not that you’d need anything in the middle of the night.I, er…good night,”Isaid quickly and left, beforeIcould shove my foot in my mouth again.
What must he think of me?Ihoped he didn’t thinkIwas coming on to him or asking him to “visit” me in the middle of the night for carnal reasons.Ijust wasn’t used to talking to people hardly at all.Carternever wanted to chat and the maids we hired were wary of getting too friendly with theMistressof theHouse.Sincemost of them also came from thePack, they didn’t want to get too close and catch my barrenness.
SoI’dhad almost no friends and not much conversation for the past twenty years.Itwas no wonderIwas so bad at it.
Well, there was nothingIcould do about it now.Hopefully,Korhadn’t taken my words the wrong way.
I went into my room and began getting ready for bed, butIcouldn’t help thinking that just on the other side of the connecting door,Korwas doing the same.
EIGHT
KOR
There was a door between my new bedroom andVivienne’s—Inoticed it almost as soon as she left.Itwas cracked open about an inch, letting light from her room stream into mine.
Curious,Iwent to look at it and saw that it led directly into her bedroom, which was much more feminine than my late uncle’s old room.Icaught hints of rose and gold and saw that she had a vast arching window on her far wall, which was almost as big as the oneIhad on mine.
I was just about to shut the door and lock it—becauseI’mnot a fucking peepingTom—whenViviennecame into view.Shedidn’t even look at the door—she just started removing her robe.Shepulled it off andIhad to bite my tongue to keep from groaning.
She had a full, curvy figure with wide hips and big breasts—in other words, exactly my type.Itwas clear she wasn’t wearing a bra because the stiff points of her nipples were clearly visible through her cotton nightgown.
The nightgown itself was very modest—it went up almost to her chin and down to mid-calf on her.Butit was white, and the material was thin, letting me see her body clearly.
I knewIought to shut the door—and honestly,Itried.ButwhenIpushed it closed—as quietly asIcould—it popped open again with a loudcreeeeakthat set my teeth on edge.
“Kor?”Iheard her call, and thenIknew there was no hiding the fact thatI’dseen her.
“Er, sorry,”Isaid, pulling the door open again and doing my best to keep my eyes on her face.“Iwas trying to close this door, but it doesn’t seem to want to shut.”
“Oh yes—I’mafraid the lock is broken,” she said apologetically.“Itried to lock it early in my marriage andCarderbroke it when he wanted to…”Shemade a face.“Anyway, we just never got it fixed.”
She shrugged, but her words had given me another awful mental image.Icould guess why she’d tried to lock the connecting door between their rooms—she’d wanted to keep him out, to keep him off her.Butmy uncle, that bastard, had broken into her room so he could rape her.
God, the moreIknew about him, the moreIwishedI’dcome to meet him when he was still alive.Iwanted to beat his ass for what he’d done toVivienne.Ordig him up and kill him all over again—slowly.Iwondered what he had died of—Ihoped it was fucking painful.
“Oh, well…IguessI’lljust shut it as much asIcan then,”Isaid lamely, becauseIdidn’t know what else to say.
“That’s fine.”Shenodded.“Well, good night.”
“Good night,Vivienne,”Isaid, successfully keeping my gaze from wandering below her neck.
But sinceIwasn’t sure how longIcould keep my eyes off her beautiful body,Ishut the door firmly and watched as it creaked open about an inch.Well, that was as good as it was going to get,Ireminded myself.
It occurred to me, asItook my shower in the ensuite bathroom, which was all marble and gold fixtures, thatViviennemust really trust me.She’dput me in a room right beside her own with a door that wouldn’t lock—wouldn’t even shut properly.IfIhad been the kind of male my late uncle was, that might have turned out badly for her.
Thankfully, my father raised me right.Evenif theUnbreakableLawshadn’t been standing between us,Istill wouldn’t have taken advantage or tried anything.
I’m not that kind of male.
But then the memory of her soft, curvy body in the loose white nightgown invaded my brain again and my cock—which had only been half hard—suddenly stood at attention again.