Wolf Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

her lips tingling and swollen. Was that what he meant? That he had guessed at her passionate nature beforehand, perhaps when watching her with Simon?
    Eloise drew back, turning her head away so he could not kiss her again. ‘Please,’ she whispered.
    His gaze followed her, heavy-lidded with desire. ‘Please yes, or please no?’
    ‘I am not ready to . . .’
    ‘You think I mean to take you here, in this garden, where any man may stumble across us?’ He laughed, but did not release her. ‘I’m not your young suitor, who would have pinned you against this wall and taken you like a serving maid in the buttery. Where is the pleasure in such a rushed coupling?’
    Lord Wolf kissed her again, but more gently this time, slipping his tongue into her mouth, seducing her with the hard warmth of his body.
    ‘No,’ he murmured against her mouth, ‘when I make love to you for the first time, Eloise, it will be in a comfortable bed where I can look upon you naked and enjoy your body for as long as I please.’
    She was still hazily trying to shake off that sensual image of married delight when there was a sound of brisk footsteps in the cloister behind them.
    ‘Ah, there you are, my lord!’ With a shock, Eloise recognised her father’s voice and dragged herself free from Lord Wolf’s arms. ‘And my daughter . . . But I see you two are getting on well.’
    She curtseyed to her father, her cheeks deeply flushed. ‘Father, I beg your forgiveness, but I must attend the queen before she misses me.’
    ‘Of course,’ her father said, his tone almost jovial, and kissed her on the forehead.
    She examined him worriedly, for her younger sister Susannah had written that winter to say their father was unwell. But he seemed to have recovered. Once a man of imposing stature, her father was now stooped, his hair greying, his face lined. Nonetheless Sir John was still an active man, enjoying a ride or hunt most days, and seemed to have taken no harm from the lengthy and arduous journey south from their estate above York. No doubt he was delighted to find them together, she thought. With the wealthy Baron Wolf as a son-in-law, he would soon be able to rebuild much of their tumbledown estate.
    ‘It is most seemly that your duty to the queen should come first,’ her father continued, smiling. ‘Besides, there will be plenty of time for us to talk on the journey back to Yorkshire. Do not stare, my dear. You had best start packing your things and bidding your friends farewell, for we shall depart as soon as the queen gives permission for you to be released from her service. I shall send word ahead of our plans, and hope to see you both married in early spring.’
    ‘So soon?’
    Lord Wolf looked across at her sharply, his brows arching at her exclamation. ‘The sooner the better,’ her prospective bridegroom remarked, already cool and controlled again, all traces of passion gone. ‘The court is a dangerous place for an unmarried woman. You will be much safer at your father’s house while we await the reading of the banns.’
    ‘Dangerous?’ her father queried, looking from one to the other in surprise.
    ‘Forgive me, father, my lord,’ Eloise repeated, curtseying with her head bowed. ‘The queen is most strict and I do not wish to be late.’
    Turning before either of them could stop her, Eloise slipped away through the cloisters and hurried back to the queen’s apartments.
    The love she had long felt for Simon had been revealed to her today as false, a shadow of love that had not survived the dawning of Lord Wolf’s appearance. How could she have believed Simon would be true to her? What a fool she had been. No wonder his lordship had laughed at her for encouraging such a youth in his attentions.
    Yet she was not easy in her mind about this arranged marriage either. There seemed no way out that would not lead to disgrace and punishment. Yet if she could find an escape, she would take it. For although married life with