The Wolf's Pursuit (10 page)

"More animal than man, it seems," Gwen noted
as her tongue reached out to lick the blood from her bottom
lip.

"You have no idea." Hunter swore. Angry at
himself that he was aroused the whole time he was causing her
emotional distress, but it wasn't what he was doing, it was her
cool indifference, her reactions to what he was doing, that made
his blood boil with lust. Blast, but she was strong.

****

Terror did not even begin to describe what
Gwen was feeling. She'd never been tortured, or captured for that
matter. Oh, men had put their hands on her, thinking her nothing
but a French whore, for that had been one of her many identities,
though she hadn't shared that little piece of information with
anyone. It wasn't as if she had slept with any man, but it had been
a close call. But her current predicament was spiraling out of
control. If she escaped, it would not be without losing something
important to her. The only thing she had left of any worth. Her
virginity.

But something about the man's kiss was
familiar. Enough to make her hate herself for enjoying the pleasure
of his lips upon hers. Obviously, she was losing her mind and going
just as mad as Hunter, for even though she had a blindfold across
her face, she almost thought it was he and not some mad
Frenchman.

The man paced in front of her, cursing in
French.

"Well," Gwen sighed. "Get on with it
then."

"With pleasure." He straddled her lap and
kissed her firmly across the mouth. His kiss was her end. It had to
be. For no man had ever kissed her in such a way, with such raw
passion, such desire. His tongue pushed into her mouth, forceful
and aggressive. He tasted so sweet. His warm hands cupped her
cheeks and then moved lower down her shoulders. Every single caress
was like a fire being lit inside her. But, to be fair, she was also
dangerously close to the flames. She could feel the heat licking at
her slippers. The passion mixed with heat was a painful yet
arousing situation.

The man moaned into her mouth. She briefly
contemplated kicking him but it would do nothing except arouse him
more, considering he was straddling her. Perhaps this was his
torture, and what a magnificent torture it was.

Gwen's lips parted, and a small cry escaped
them as her head fell back. "More," she said. "Give me more."
Although it was no pretense, she hoped that he would at least untie
her hands so that she could wrap them around his neck, and in that
moment she would escape. She would flee, even if his kiss was the
very devil.

"First, tell me what I want to know." A large
smooth hand reached underneath her skirts, trailing up her calf to
the ties of her satin stockings.

"What would you like to know?" She swallowed
the bile in her throat. Was he going to rape her?

"Who do you work for?"

"Myself." She grinned, though she became more
ill by the minute.

"And the French?"

"Are no longer a threat," she answered
boldly. Why would he ask about his own people?

"Oh?"

****

Gwen nodded and squirmed beneath him, making
it absolute torture to be in that position and do nothing about it.
"I'm loyal to my country."

Hunter leaned forward and kissed her again.
"Even in the midst of absolute torture, you would still stay loyal
to your country?"

"Yes."

"So we skip to the main course." Hunter
pulled away from her lap and went to the table to grab his knife.
He also needed time to cool his arousal.

"I thought we were going to make love
first."

"I changed my mind," he snapped. "I have no
use for you."

Gwen said nothing.

He came up behind her, holding the knife to
her delicate throat, his hands shaking as he did so.

"One more chance, my sweet. Tell me who you
work for. Betray your country. Just one tiny little piece of
information. Anything I can put to good use. Perhaps who is
decoding the ciphers? Say the word and I'll set you free."

"Freedom is in the eye of the beholder. I
would be physically free, but my heart would be imprisoned with
guilt. If you must kill me, do so."

Stunned, Hunter gripped the knife closer to
her neck. She gasped. He swore, and then cut her ropes and pulled
her blindfold off.

"I'm sorry," he said in English.

Gwen looked up, tears brimming in her eyes.
"You will be."

Wolf—

I would apologize for breaking your nose. But
I'm not sorry. Besides, it was more of a snout, and you deserved
every broken bone for holding a knife to my throat. Do it again and
I'll hold a knife to… well, use your imagination.

—
Red

Furious, Gwen could only look at Hunter in
shock. The cad had kidnapped her! Tortured her! What the devil was
wrong with him? And why had he done it? Why the kissing? Why the…
touching?

"You're insane," she blurted as she jumped
from the chair, while simultaneously pulling a knife from her
sleeve.

His eyes went wide he lifted his hands in
front of him. "I had to be sure."

"What about trust?" She thrust the knife into
the air.

Hunter continued to back up. "I trust no
one."

"Could have told me that before you tried to
kill me!"

Hunter laughed. The man laughed! "I would
never have killed you, my sweet." He winked. "I was merely testing
you. You passed, by the way."

"Oh." Gwen laughed. "I passed, well,
fantastic! That makes it all worth it, now, doesn't it?"

"Yes?" Hunter lifted an eyebrow and made his
way toward the door.

"Don't you dare," Gwen ordered as he reached
for the lock. Like a typical man, he didn't listen, nor did he take
her threat seriously. So she threw the knife at his hand.

And missed it by an inch.

Hunter cursed a blue streak and glared at
her. "You could have stabbed me!"

"If I had meant to stab you, my knife would
be buried in your neck up to its hilt, Wolf." Gwen lunged for him,
angrier than she had ever been in her entire life.

Hunter wasn't a typical agent. He didn't shy
away from female spies. No, instead he fought back. Which intrigued
her more than she was willing to admit.

He threw her against the wall, grabbing her
hands and pinning them above her head. "I had to be certain."

"You could have just held me at gunpoint. You
didn't have to kiss me! Or, or touch me!"

Hunter's eyes went dark as he leaned in and
sniffed her neck again. "Yes, yes I did."

Gwen went still. His scent, his touch,
everything about him was overwhelming her good sense. Her lips
tingled with the memory of his scorching kiss.

"You hurt me," she mumbled as he held her in
place.

"Then allow me to kiss and make it
better."

She had no time to respond as Hunter bent
down and kissed her neck. A hungry growl erupted from his lips, and
he pushed his body against hers.

Gwen bit at his lip. He cursed but continued
to kiss her. "I hate you," she murmured.

"I hate you too," he agreed, and his tongue
chose that exact moment to plunge into her mouth and greedily take
possession.

Her body jerked against him, wrenching free
of his grasp. "This needs to stop. We've crossed so many
lines…"

"Forget the lines. I never was one to follow
rules anyway." Hunter released her hands and lifted her into his
arms. She had no choice but to cling to him as he continued to do
wicked things with his tongue, things no debutante should
experience on her first come out.

"Stop," she said breathlessly.

Hunter released her. They simultaneously
stepped back from one another.

"I've been very… er…"

"I think the word you are looking for is
bad
. You've been very bad, and clearly you're losing your
mind."

"That, too." Hunter ran a hand through his
hair. "The thing is…" He paced in front of her. "I cannot just have
one taste. The more I taste, the more I want."

"And when did you first realize you had a
drinking problem?"

Hunter's head snapped up. He rolled his eyes.
"If only it were a problem that could be solved with drink."

"Am I the problem?" Gwen asked as she
clenched her dress between her hands. Unable to trust herself to
keep from touching him if her hands were not occupied. He was too
beautiful. Firelight danced off his high cheekbones and his eyes.
Those eyes that women nearly fainted over. Golden brown eyes stared
back at her through dark sooty lashes. A woman could experience the
greatest of pleasure if only she looked into his eyes. For his gaze
was like a physical caress.

"Yes."

"Pardon?"

"You asked if you were the problem, and you
are. Now that I've had a taste, I do not think I can keep myself
from hunting you."

Gwen noted the seriousness in his voice. "Are
you sure you have good enough equipment to engage in such a hunt?
We wouldn't want you to… misfire."

Hunter groaned.

Gwen smiled. "Yes, I believe it is my turn to
torture you. Take a good hard look, Hunter."

His eyes scanned her hungrily from head to
toe. She took a step toward him and grabbed his hand, placing it on
her shoulder and running it down her chest.

"You have not earned the right, the
privilege, the honor, to touch me. Next time you do so without
permission, I will throw my knife, and believe me, it will be right
on target."

He squinted his eyes. "Do you truly think you
are strong enough to withstand temptation?"

"Who says I'm tempted?"

"Your eyes betray you."

"Funny." Gwen leaned in and whispered, "I was
just going to say the same thing about you." She turned to walk
toward the door until she felt Hunter's hand tug her arm. Without
thinking, she whipped around and punched him in the nose.

Hunter fell to the floor and cursed.

"Good night, Wolf."

"Red," he grumbled from the floor, but this
time he did not chase after her.

Red—

Use my imagination? Surely I did not read
that correctly! For you to give my mind free rein when it comes to
you, sweetheart? Well, let us just say that is a dangerous game to
play. Guess what I'm imagining right now…

—
Wolf

Hunter woke the following day with a pounding
headache. Most likely from the bottle of brandy needed to numb the
pain from the night previous.

He quickly rang for his valet and joined
everyone for breakfast.

Every bone in his body felt stiff and his
muscles sore. The last thing he wanted to do today was see Gwen,
but he needed to be among her admirers. Chances were, if they knew
the right hook she packed, they wouldn't go anywhere near her
house.

Stupid wench. A blasted broken nose! How the
devil was he to explain that?

"Got in a fight, did you?" Dominique said
upon entering the dining room and examining Hunter's face.

"Yes. A large fellow was upset with me."

Isabelle waltzed into the room, only
overhearing the last part. "What did he do, punch you?" Her eyes
fell to Hunter's nose. "Oh my! Does it hurt?"

Hunter grinned. "Terribly so."

"You poor, poor man! Who would do this to
you?"

"A beast of a man with a good right hook,"
Hunter lied, and turned his gaze upon Isabelle. "It hurts very
much."

"No." Dominique shook his head and yelled
louder. "Hunter, my wife will not nurse you back to health, you
fool. Now sit down before I give you another reason to be howling
with pain."

Smirking, Hunter walked to his seat.

The butler announced another guest but Hunter
ignored his presence, mainly because the throbbing behind his nose
was so intense, he wanted to drown in a bottle of brandy.

"I hope I'm not too late!" Gwen
announced.

Coffee spewed out of Hunter's mouth, landing
directly on Dominique's face.

"Please excuse Hunter," Dominique said,
wiping remnants of coffee from his face. "It seems he was in a
fight with a large man last night and has yet to recover his
senses."

Hunter groaned aloud.

Isabelle sighed. "Oh, it must pain you so
much!"

He prayed the ground would swallow him
whole.

Gwen gave him a saucy grin. "My, my, that
bruised quite nicely. How tragic that you look less handsome this
morning than you did last night. How big was the man, did you
say?"

"Yes, tell us exactly what happened!"
Isabelle turned toward him, her eyes full of worry.

Cursing Gwen to perdition, Hunter gritted his
teeth. "I was walking along the street when all of a sudden—"

"Which street?" Gwen interrupted.

"The one…" Hunter shook his head to clear it.
"The one outside." He inwardly cringed.

"Did he hit his head as well?" Gwen asked,
taking a seat. "Hunter," she directed her attention back toward
him, "was it the street in front of Montmouth's house?"

He was an absolute idiot. "Why yes, I believe
so."

Gwen nodded.

Isabelle and Dominique sat in silence,
waiting for the rest of the lie, no doubt.

"So, you were walking down the street?"
Isabelle finally patted his arm.

"Yes, when out of nowhere someone jumped out
of the bushes and—"

"—there are no bushes in front of Montmouth's
house," Gwen pointed out.

Hunter cursed. "Perhaps you should tell the
story, my dear, considering you seem to remember it so much better
than I?"

Isabelle gasped. "You were with him! Oh,
sister, weren't you frightened?"

"Terrified," Gwen said through clenched
teeth.

Hunter grinned even though it hurt like the
devil.
Let's watch her talk her way out of this.

"But imagine my surprise…" Gwen lifted the
cup of tea to her lips and blew softly across it, making what truly
was his favorite anatomical part flare to life. "When the
large man merely stole some of Hunter's money and continued down
the road. Strangest thing, for Hunter refused to fight back.
Something about being a lover, not so much a fighter. Isn't that
right, Hunter?" Gwen smiled sweetly and winked.