She caught her breath and then smoothed her hands down her bodice. “Perhaps not, but His Grace…”

Gareth abruptly strode forward and tore the sheer black fabric off her shoulders, crushing her waist against him as he buried his face in her neck. “Must we wait?”

She chuckled and he felt the vibration against his lips. “You know how I like it, don’t you?” Her hands stole beneath his hair and her nails skittered across his neck. “Ah, yes, but of course you do.” Still, her lust hadn’t clouded her senses yet, because she quickly asked, “Where’s the relic?”

Gareth ran his tongue across her skin. “It’s still in the bedroom with the were-cat. Shall we say she is a bit… tied up, at the moment?”

“Isn’t little Millicent full of surprises,” murmured Selena. She glanced back over her shoulder at the guard hulking in the doorway. “If I don’t ring within an hour, return with your men.”

Gareth glanced up to meet the envious eyes of the guard before the door shuddered closed. Selena tore at his surcoat, returning the favor of her ruined pelerine, and he heard the much-sturdier fabric rip as he struggled out of his sword belt. Gareth released her and quickly removed his tunic and the thinner one under it. She stepped back and her black eyes grew even larger as she studied him. “Sweet Hades, what a deadly combination. That youthful face and body with those wickedly knowing eyes.” Her fingers flew to her back and soon her silk gown lay at her feet, only a few buttons rolling across the room in the process.

“Tell me, Sir Knight. Will you abandon your code of chivalry for me?” She dragged off her petticoats.

Gareth swallowed. She wore no chemise, just a corset that lifted her breasts in offering, and stockings tied with black lace around her naked thighs. His body quivered at the lascivious woman and yet his mind recoiled. For a moment, he froze with the shock.

“Have you ever made love to a were-bat before?” she asked as she stepped forward, her hand eagerly finding the hard ridge of him beneath his braies.

“The relic has never chosen one,” gasped Gareth. His thoughts strayed to the closed bedroom door and the listening woman behind it. Why was he thinking of Millicent while a beautiful woman teased his body? Some of the women he’d slept with liked to perform in front of others and he’d overcome shyness hundreds of years ago. So he couldn’t be concerned that she’d overhear them. And the were-cat had asked him to bed Selena, so it couldn’t be his honor that bothered him.

Why, then, didn’t he want Selena?

“You will remember me,” promised the were-bat as she leaned forward and licked his neck. Gareth’s hands caressed her shoulders and expertly started to untie the laces at the back of her corset without any conscious thought from his addled head. His body knew the steps of the dance and could manage without him.

The bedroom door flew open and he turned his head in time to see Millicent shift into her were-form. But Selena ignored the interruption, her mouth sucking at the skin of his throat, and when his gaze turned back to her, he noticed she’d sprouted black leathery wings. The pressure of her mouth on his neck increased and she uttered tiny mewling sounds. And then she bit him. Hard enough to draw blood. Gareth reflexively tried to push her away but the pain from the bite quickly eased and a shudder went through his groin. A distant part of him realized she’d released some drug when she’d pierced his skin, but his body sang with lustful fire and didn’t seem to care. He could hear the lapping of Selena’s tongue as she fed on his blood, and it excited and repulsed him all at the same time.

Millicent’s roar shook the walls and broke through the haze that befuddled Gareth’s mind. He grasped Selena’s shoulders and tried to gently pull her away from him but the woman fought, beating her wings and digging her nails into his back. He’d forgotten how strong a shape-shifter could be. With an oath, Gareth shoved her hard. At the same time he saw a flash of black fur slam between them, knocking him backward and sending Selena head over heels to land on a velvet settee, the color of the fabric nearly a match for the blood that smeared her hairy snout. Most weres quickly took either human or animal form, but Selena appeared to manage a half-shifted state, with only her bat wings and snout marring her human features. She hissed at Millicent, who now stood between them, tail swishing in fury.

Gareth pressed his hand against the wound in his neck to stop the flow of blood. “Do you think that was wise, my lady? You will never find out where your Nell is now.”

Selena shifted fully to human, licking the blood from her lips, a dreamy smile lighting her face. Millicent snorted at the other woman and turned to him, shifting to human as well. “I couldn’t let her… I didn’t think…”

Gareth smiled. Perhaps she didn’t want him yet, but she didn’t like seeing him in the arms of another woman. His hopes soared anew.

Seemingly at a loss, Millicent settled on glaring at him. “That vamp would have sucked you dry.”

Selena rose, her glossy black eyes fixed intently on him, a strange new softness in their depths. “No, Sir Knight, I would never do that.” Then she blushed and ducked her head. “I could never harm the man I love.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Millicent snapped at her, exchanging a startled glance with Gareth.

He had to admit Selena’s change in demeanor surprised him as well. Many women had professed their love for him, but it was usually after he’d seduced them.

Selena threw the were-cat a venomous look before stepping around Millicent to clasp his hand and bring it to her lips. “You believe me, my darling, don’t you? I admit it’s hard to control my nature, but once I tasted you, I knew. You are my one true love. Don’t you see? I am the one who will break your curse.”

Gareth flinched and Millicent growled.

Selena pressed her body against his. “Please make her go away so we can finish what we started.”

She had gone mad. That was the only thing Gareth could fathom. “Nay, Selena. Perhaps later.” He gently patted her arm. “Why don’t you get dressed, now?”

She stuck out her lower lip. It might have looked coy if it hadn’t still been stained with his blood. “Only if you promise we’ll be together later.”

Gareth frowned. He could not in good faith make a promise he had no intention of keeping.

“Blast your damn honor,” muttered Millicent under her breath as she stepped past him. She raised her voice to Selena. “He might be yours once you have this.” She thrust her arm forward, the moonstone in the relic glowing like a beacon. “You know His Grace won’t let you have him all to yourself when he finds out you have it. He’ll be too busy trying to figure out a way to use the relic to his advantage.”

Selena eyed the bracelet with fevered intensity, reached out a shaking hand to touch it. “Give it to me now.”

Gareth blocked Selena’s hand with his own before she could touch Millicent. He could not allow the woman to hurt the relic-holder again by trying to wrestle off the bracelet.

The were-vampire bat stared back and forth at the two of them, her lips tightening with jealousy.

“I’ll give it to you,” assured Millicent. “But first you have to take me to Nell. Then we’ll leave the castle, and you can have Gareth all to yourself. You want to get rid of me, don’t you?”

“Nothing would give me greater pleasure.” Selena turned toward her jumble of clothes.

Gareth went into the washroom, poured water from a cobalt-blue pitcher into a matching porcelain bowl, and washed the blood from his chest and throat. He had only a small hole in his neck from Selena’s bite.

“She’s gone completely barmy over you,” whispered Millicent from the doorway, apparently having followed him.

Gareth shrugged. He would not admit that Selena’s lovesick behavior startled him as much as it did Millicent. He reached for a dry cloth and turned toward the girl, drying his skin with slow, rhythmic movements. Her amber eyes roamed the contours of his chest as if hypnotized.

“I suppose you’re used to it. Women throwing themselves at you.”

He took a step toward her and felt the air crackle between them. “There’s only one woman I need. I’m hoping I’ve finally found her.”

She narrowed her eyes and he felt her body snap rigid with icy cold. “Fortunately, I don’t need anyone. Except that bloodsucker, at the moment. And I don’t trust her.”

Gareth tossed the cloth over a brass bar. “Have you ever trusted anyone?”

“No. It’s how I’ve managed to survive.”

“Well, my lady, it appears you have no other choice but to trust Selena, if you wish to free your Nell. But what will you do when she demands the relic in payment and you cannot remove it from your wrist?”

Millicent smoothed back her shiny black hair and purred. “I’ll think of something.”

She turned and joined Selena in the parlor and Gareth followed, glancing around with regret. A room worthy of the finest brothel in London, with myriad soft surfaces to cushion the backsides of the most passionate of lovers. He had so hoped to seduce the relic-holder here.

He pulled on his surcoat and tunic while both women watched him in silence. He shook the hair out of his face and buckled on his sword belt, his hand automatically patting his empty scabbard. He felt more naked without his sword than he had without his tunics. When he looked up at the women, they both released a sigh, although with entirely different inflections. Gareth smiled.

Apparently, Selena had already rung for the guard, for the stone door began to groan. She didn’t remove her eyes from Gareth as she said, “There should be only one guard, since it’s been less than an hour.”

Millicent shifted to panther and before Gareth could move, she lunged through the opening in the door. A loud thud followed a muffled oath of surprise. Gareth entered the landing and took the sword of the unconscious guard, hefting the blade to get a feel for its balance, checking to make sure some silver laced the blade.

Selena joined them and shot Millicent a look of amusement. “You lack finesse, my dear.”

She answered with a twitch of her whiskers and an angry flick of her tail.

Gareth dragged the guard into the room and pulled the statue on the outside wall, watching the door grind to a close with satisfaction. Then he crossed the landing and peered down the stairway, seeking hidden guards within the shadows. Selena brushed her body against his as she took the lead, the black beads of her dress winking at him from the glow of the fairylights that lined the walls. She’d left her torn pelerine in the room and her white shoulders gleamed. Gareth had to admit she was truly a lovely woman. His neck ached with the thought.

Millicent brushed by him, almost making him stumble, putting her furry self between him and the other woman.

Selena’s course took them down stairways again, but this time they appeared little used, and Gareth sheathed his sword and took a fairylight from one of the sconces to light his way when he realized they’d become scarce. His night vision wasn’t as strong as the shape-shifters’.

His sense of direction told him they’d turned a circle, and as the walls grew slimy and then dripped with moisture, he realized they’d entered passageways carved into the stone mountain that backed the castle. The air grew close and thick, until it seemed as if he could feel the weight of the stone surrounding them.

Selena appeared to revel in the space, but Millicent began a soft whine in the depths of her throat. Gareth wondered if she even realized how contrary to her nature her life had been, that panthers belonged under the open sky, flourishing in the freedom of plain and meadow.

He tucked the small globe of the fairylight into his belt, pushed beside her, and draped his arm over her neck, absently caressing the longer fur at her throat. Her whine grew into a purr and they traveled that way for a time, until Selena led them into narrower, roughly hewn tunnels, and they were forced to walk single file.

Gareth bumped into Millicent’s furry backside when she came to a sudden halt.

“Stay here,” whispered Selena as she entered a slightly wider opening. Millicent ignored her and started to follow. “You owe me a dinner,” continued the were-bat.

Millicent snorted and sat on her haunches.

Selena disappeared and Gareth soon heard a man’s startled oath.

“Selena, what are you… no, damn it. The last time you barely left me enough—” A gasp followed and then the guard sighed with rapture. “Gawd, woman, just leave me enough to walk afterward.”