Page 4 of Master Wolf

Drew tried not to react to those heartfelt words, but the lump in his throat seemed to swell and he had to swallow, painfully. He hated that Lindsay saw that sign of weakness.

“Send word to me by Francis if you need me,” Lindsay said gently. “If you need anything at all. I will always come, if you need me.”

“I can’t imagine there will be anything I need from you,” Drew said.

Lindsay looked stricken and Drew could have sworn he felt his pain—it stole his breath and made his chest ache. Was it the wolf inside him that made him feel that, so physically, so viscerally?

For a moment, they simply stared at one another and all Drew could think of was how it had felt to lie with Lindsay, in his own bed, that one night before all of this happened. Of how he’d pressed himself inside Lindsay’s body, his lips reverent on Lindsay’s moon-pale skin. For all his worries about his besetting sin—his lust for men—that night had felt almost… holy. He’d thought to himself that nothing would ever be the same again.

He hadn’t known how right he was.

“Goodbye, Drew,” Lindsay said softly. He turned away and walked down the corridor and out the front door.

His boot heels echoed down the stairwell as he left.

Chapter Two

32 years later - the present

London,October 1820

Drew glancedup from the detailed plans stretched out over his desk and met the gaze of the handsome man waiting for his verdict. Charles Norris, fair-haired, square-jawed and overconfident, offered a quirk of a smile.

“So, what do you think, Nicol?” Leaning back in his chair, Norris crossed his long legs, and Drew’s eyes briefly dipped to observe the action. Norris was a nicely made fellow, and he liked the company of both men and women. When Drew’s eyes snapped back up, he saw that Norris was well aware of Drew’s attention. The man raised a single brow, his hazel eyes gleaming.

Drew didn’t react to the subtle invitation—Norris might not feel so friendly in a moment.

Drew sighed. “Ordinarily I’d be keen,” he said. “But I’ve invested in a similar scheme in Manchester this year. I don’t want to tie up any more capital in canals. I’m sorry, Norris.”

Norris’s face fell. “Are you quite sure?”

“I’m afraid so, yes.”

Norris leaned forward again, resting an elbow on Drew’s desk, his expression intent. “You’re missing out on an excellent opportunity here, Nicol. You’ll regret it.”

“Quite possibly,” Drew said, smiling faintly, and this time he rose to his feet, discreetly pulling the bell beside his desk. “But in my business, a man can’t sink too much of his capital into one thing—I’m sure you understand.”

The truth was canals were expensive to build and there were already many of them. Some people were saying that the future was steam-powered locomotives. Of course, others argued there was no prospect of them ever becoming profitable, but Drew would rather spread his bets than own every canal in England and risk the locomotives rendering the canal routes redundant.

Norris, obviously disappointed, stood too. He leaned over to roll his plans up, then straightened. “If you change your mind—”

“I’ll be sure to let you know,” Drew assured him, though he knew that wouldn’t happen.

The door opened—Drew’s senior clerk, Albert, stood there, his expression placid.

“Sir?”

“Ah, Albert. Will you see Mr. Norris out, please?”

Norris opened his mouth, as though to say something, but in the end he seemed to think better of it.

“Thank you for your time,” he said politely.

And then, thankfully, he left.

Once he was gone, Drew sat down behind his desk again. He glanced at the clock on the mantel, noting that it was ten minutes shy of five o’clock. He had an engagement to dine at half-past seven, so there was plenty of time to clear some of his neglected correspondence before he left for the day. That was what he would usually have done. He had always had a conscientious nature, and that had not changed when he became a wolf—if anything, it had intensified. Yet lately he had felt itchy under his skin. Unsettled. His working hours were becoming increasingly erratic and he could not shake off a building sense that he needed to be… somewhere else.

With a sigh, Drew tidied away his papers and locked the desk drawers, then he reached for his greatcoat, the only occupant of the wooden coat stand in the corner of room, and set his high-crowned, curly-brimmed hat upon his head.