Defiance at Werewolf Keep (Werewolf Keep Trilogy) by Nhys Glover Page B

clothes if the transformation would destroy them. She didn’t have enough clothes to waste on useless attempts at modesty. But even as she slowly removed each layer of her clothing, she felt as if her mother’s eyes bored into her back, condemning her as a harlot.
    Not that her mother had ever spoken a harsh word to her, but then, she had never done anything to draw her mother’s ire. Unless it was by re ading inappropriate books. Even then, her mother had only shaken her head and tutted at her as she removed the offending material. It was hardly a reproof at all. Might she not understand what her daughter was being forced to do? It was not as if she had any choice in the matter, except in the area of her location. Even though she and Will were engaged, would her mother condemn her for choosing to be here in this private place with only a naked man as her companion?
    Handing her folded clothes to the pregnant Phil felt like she was cutting the final links to her old life, even when Phil studiously looked only into her eyes and smiled her encouragement. The Keep’s mistress then kept her gaze cast down as she moved over to the second barred cell where Will awaited with his own neatly folded clothes.
    Lily knew that Phil had fought for the right to do this small service for them both. Byron had not wanted his wife to see another man naked. But P hil had laughed at his concerns and assured him she would divert her eyes. This, Lily saw, she did with a cheeky quirk of her lips.
    'You will do very well, I a m sure,' Phil said over her shoulder as she finally left them to their quiet, underground domain. In the distance, Lily could hear the others settling in. No one said much. It was a largely silent ritual, so she had been informed. Everyone was focused on the coming change.
    Lily felt the chill on her na ked skin and her fear spiked, making her shiver uncontrollably.
    'Are you well, Lass?' Will asked urgently. She heard him pacing his cell in readiness for the change he could obviously feel stirring within him. The change she could feel stirring within her. She fought the urge to look across at him. She needed the reassurance of the sight of him, but her modesty held sway. If she looked up now, she’d see him naked. And she might see him looking at her. What if his eyes told her he didn’t like what he saw? What if …
    'I... I...O h Will, I don't think I can do this. I...' She couldn’t keep the rising panic from infecting her voice as she remained resolutely turned away from him, eyes caste down. The shivering had become a violent shaking that made her teeth chatter loudly in her head. So cold…She was so cold.
    The sound o f Will slamming against the bars made her jump. 'Lily, love, come here to me,' he urged softly. Her fear was a palpable thing in the rocky dungeon they shared. She could feel that he wanted to ease it and soothe it away. She could sense that he wanted to fight her demons, but there was nothing for him to fight. And it drove him mad.
    Lily looked up from the floor a t the first sound of his voice and turned to face him. She saw him standing there, his hand outstretched to her through the bars. Drawing in a stunned gasp, she took him in for the first time. His body was beautiful – shoulders wide and muscled, chest lightly dusted with dark hairs dispersed with grey, torso tapered to narrow hips and strong thighs. She even caught a glimpse of something nestled in the hair between his legs.
    All of this she witnessed in a bl ink of an eye before she scrambled toward him, and took his outstretched hand in her own. She took it to her lips and kissed it, then held it to her cheek, desperate for comfort, desperate for touch. He groaned.
    'Come closer,' Will urged, gently drawing her tow ard him until their bodies pressed close with cold, hard bars between them.  The fingers on the hand she held felt their way across her face until his thumb dipped into her mouth. She sucked it and she felt a shiver run