He nearly choked on his horror. What if she, like Isibel, wore nothing beneath? He trained his eyes on the handsome stranger, willing that image to go away, lest he never be capable of coupling again. A few moments passed before Erik regained normal breathing.
One tiny step at a time, he eased closer, determined not to frighten his guest. At the very edge of the bed, he stopped. Fire danced through his veins, filling him with the need to be closer still, to run his hands over the fine skin of Galen’s chest. What was wrong with him? No stranger to the ways of a man with a man, he’d never before been so aroused.
Stepping behind an ornately backed chair to hide the evidence of his sudden attraction, he asked, “So tell me, Galen. Why did you enter my forest tonight, when all good farmsteaders are asleep in their beds, shivering at the thought of the creatures that dwell in my realm? Surely delivering a baby could be handled by the nomadic tribes who roam the land. And while I understand his arrival, I’m not sure I fully grasp yours.”
Galen’s throat bobbed, his gulp clearly audible. “I told you…”
“I don’t believe that you stole yourself a brother, and a need never existed to save him from the traders. All our half-breeds are brought to us. It’s part of our treaty with other clans.”
“It is?” Galen replied meekly. Under his breath, he added, “Then why did Kitta say…” Puzzlement filled his eyes.
So the village witch sent the lad. Interesting. Arms folded across his chest, Erik waited, raising a questioning eyebrow. “So why are you really here?”
After a staring contest of several heartbeats, Galen sighed and looked away. “Well, all right, then. My friend Esja begged me to bring the child here, for she couldn’t make the journey herself, and the villagers said they were going to sell him. I’m not sure who the mother is, but I thought she’d want better for her son than to have him reared in slavery in some faraway land. Esja never told me that I was bringing the lad to his da.”
“Slavery? Is that what you think would have happened?” Humans selling innocent children into slavery. Why did the gods insists of protecting such an ignorant race?
Galen nodded, staring at the walls, then at the ceiling. Next came the huge canopy of the bed, then the thick woven rug…
“That explains the child’s presence, but you still haven’t entirely answered my question,” Erik reminded him. “Why are you here?”
Finally came the confession he’d been waiting for. “She also wanted me to find sanctuary away from the village.”
Ah, now they were getting somewhere. “And why is that?”
Galen glowered, an effort wasted on Erik, who thought his guest appeared quite stunning when angry. “You’re not gonna stop until I tell everything, are you?” the blond barked. The harsh tones stroked the wolf lord’s libido like a caressing hand. Barks, yips, and growls were a language he understood.
“I’m still waiting.” Erik bunched his hands into the fabric of his waistcoat, fighting temptation to bury them in Galen’s curls and…
Flopping back on the bed, face obscured by a pillow, Galen mumbled, “Because my uncle betrayed me. At first he said he wanted me to join with a village lass and take me rightful place as head of the family, but he lied.”
“Isn’t that what villagers do? Join and make more villagers? You didn’t want to?”
“No. And not with any available to me.”
“Who then?”
Something incomprehensible emerged from the pillow.
“What’s that? I didn’t hear you.”
“I said, ‘I don’t want a woman.’ That’s not accepted in the village. Old Kitta, the village witch, said that’s not true in the forest. My uncle plotted for me to be caught in the hayloft with the smith’s son, so I’d be driven into the woods to be eaten by wolves. I took the babe because Kitta told me that the wolves served the forest lord and he’d come to no harm, and I hoped they’d let me live long enough to see the child safe.”
“And you’d sacrifice your life for the child’s? A child you don’t truly know.”
“I figured me and the child helped each other. The babe needed me to bring him here, and he’d buy me time to make me plea to the forest… errrr… to you. Not to mention protecting the mother and me friends.”
Outwardly Erik scowled; inwardly he smiled. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find a mate so cunning, yet so honest?