SkinwalkersWoman (8 page)

She turned to look around, hoping to see her host, but she
sensed that she had hurt him deeply with her stupid words about understanding
his
problem
. He didn’t see being horny as a problem. He had been
insulted that she thought he was insatiable. Maybe to him, fucking a woman for
hours on end wasn’t unusual or out of line, but she certainly hadn’t intended
to hurt his feelings. In fact she wanted him to come back and take her to
bed…and that thought made her worry about her own moral character.

“You cannot make anyone feel love for you. I told you that.
You are lonely and have never been with a woman until her. It’s understandable
that you would go a little crazy and want to fuck all day long, but women don’t
want to be seen as a sex toy. They want to know a man cares. I’m shocked that
she tolerated you wanting to fuck as often as you apparently did.” The raspy
voice of the medicine man came to him through the smoke.

She wants me as much as I want her. But she fights it.
She is aroused and wants me inside her all the time too.

“Then you are one hell of a lucky guy, is all I can say.
Maybe you should wait for her to ask for sex. Don’t be so pushy. That would
scare the hell out of a lot of women. She’s strong, and she isn’t afraid to
come to you if she needs you.” The old eyes squinted to see him. “It took me a
long time to find her, so don’t blow this. You must let her decide when and
where she wants to have you. Learn some patience, my friend. Learn some
consideration. Those were things I couldn’t teach you. A mother’s love teaches
that. Too bad you lost yours too early.” He sighed and shook his head.

She wants to leave me…

“Can you imagine yourself being held against your will in a
strange place, around strange things you do not understand? Maybe you should
back off and let her go.”

She’s mine! I claimed her! I will follow her to the ends
of the Earth. She cannot run from me. I will find her.

“So melodramatic. I don’t mean let her
go
…I mean give
her some power to decide what she wants. Let her be strong. Use tender ropes
instead of chains to keep her with you. She knows nothing of her destiny or her
people. How can you expect her to learn when you keep her in your bed, fucking
her brains out?”

The image in the smoke wavered then faded. Zeke rose from
the hard rocks beneath him and poured water over the fire. When he was sure it
was cold, he loosed his eagle, letting the wind take his confusion from him.

She waited for a while to see if he would pop back in on
her, but he didn’t. In spite of her desire to see him again, feel that strong
body curl around her and that long, thick cock filling her, she decided that
this was probably her only chance to sneak off. Finding her big backpack in her
stuff, she quickly packed another pair of jeans, socks, a T-shirt and several
bottles of water. She wrapped the leftover biscuits in a ziplock baggie that
she found under the sink and gobbled the rest of the cold chili that stood in
the pan, not knowing when she would have food available again.

The thought of trekking miles and miles back along the dirt
trail toward the road was daunting, but what choice did she have?

What choice besides staying here and being the big
Indian’s chew toy?

That thought left her pussy quivering, but she refused to
lie back and become some man’s sex slave. She had a life of her own, damn it,
and she had no intention of giving that up. Not even for the next three weeks
until that old man showed up with his supply truck.

But you wanted to get away from everything,
her inner
voice chided her.

“Shut up. I wanted to get away, not to be kept prisoner.”

You really want to walk away from a man who wants your
body as crazily as he seems to?

“Shut up. You can stay if you want, but I’m leaving.”

He said you couldn’t escape, so why try? It’s only three
weeks…

Chellie hefted the heavy bag onto her shoulder and hurried
from the cabin, first climbing up and trying to start the SUV, then swearing
loudly at it as she started to walk. Rocks and sticks made her gasp in the thin
workout shoes, but she didn’t stop putting one foot in front of the other. She
stopped after about thirty minutes and found a long branched stick, hung her
spare T-shirt over it to shade her as she walked, and moved on. She didn’t burn
easily but this sun was merciless.

She had worn her sunglasses, and she was glad she had
because the sun’s glare was murder. After she’d trudged for over an hour, she
pulled her cell phone out and checked for a signal. Cursing it to cell phone
hell, she moved onward, feeling as if her feet had blisters on blisters.

Never again! Damn shoes…

* * * * *

She had walked for over four hours. Every step felt as if
she were walking on knives. By the time the sun had started its way down the
other side of the world, she’d realized that she’d made one hell of a big
mistake. She sank down onto a large rock and rested her aching body, removing her
bloody socks with a grimace of frustration. She was glad she had brought a
spare pair. She’d never had blisters before. Or bruised soles. Running on a
treadmill was nothing like walking miles over hard dirt and rocks.

She ate another biscuit and pulled out the open water bottle
that she’d sipped at a few times, pouring a bit over her feet and wincing at
the sting. She propped her feet up on the rock to let the heat of the sun dry
them before carefully pulling on her other socks, wincing at the pain. Her thoughts
drifted traitorously to her big jailer. She wouldn’t complain if he suddenly
showed up. She’d had enough of escaping. “Okay, big guy. You told me you’d
catch me if I ran, so where the hell are you?”

She knew she couldn’t walk all the way back to the cabin
before it got too dark to see. Now the idea that he wouldn’t come after her
scared the shit out of her. She closed her eyes and begged him to come.

You can fuck me all you want, and I won’t complain again…

* * * * *

Returning to the cabin to find her gone, Zeke damn near lost
it. After slamming his fists against the thick logs of the walls several times
to blow off his anger, he calmed his temper and remembered Old Joe’s advice.
Take things slow. Where could she go? She was seventy miles from the nearest
town. She was walking. He would give her time to stew before he went after her.
Let her worry and learn what fear was. Fear of being alone. Fear of being lost.

He saw where she had gone to the big Caddy, then started
walking in those soft shoes. He wanted to turn his wolf loose but didn’t want
to scare the shit out of her. So he tracked her for about eight miles until the
sun grew low on the horizon, then shifted to his wolf to use its sharp sense of
smell. It would be hard to see tracks in the dark, and leaving her out there
was not an option, no matter what the old man had advised. He followed her
scent trail easily, quickening his pace until her knew she was very close.

He smelled blood and nearly panicked until he realized that
she’d gotten blisters on her feet and had stopped to change socks. He was
amazed that she had gotten so far, considering she knew nothing about the land.
He paused, debating what to do next.

If he suddenly appeared out of nowhere naked, it would freak
her out. But seeing him as a wolf would likely do the same. He would just have
to chance it. He approached slowly and stood like a statue for a few minutes,
waiting for her to notice him. He pushed out with his spirit to touch hers. To
take away any fear she might feel.

Her spine tingled as she felt eyes on her, and she jerked
her head around, looking for whatever it was that was watching her. Her heart
jumped into her throat as she caught sight of the large gray animal that stood
about thirty paces from her, its long tongue lolling over sharp teeth as it
seemed to wait for a reaction. She swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly as dry as
a bone. It was the biggest dog she’d ever seen! Or was it something else?

OMG!

She searched her brain, trying to remember all she’d learned
in nature classes about coyotes and wolves. They were social animals but didn’t
go around people if they could avoid them. They usually ran from humans.

It wasn’t acting mean, but that could change in a heartbeat.
She carefully shifted on her perch, gently turning to face it as she waited for
it to run at her, knowing she could never outrun it and there were no trees to
climb. The rock she was sitting on was only a couple of feet tall. Standing on
it would be useless.

She stayed as still as she could, then spoke in a soft, calm
tone, “Hey, puppy…what are you doing out here? Are you lost too?” The animal
didn’t move. “Are you hungry? I have a biscuit. Want it?”

Stupid… If he’s hungry he’ll want raw meat.

But instead of growling or baring his teeth, his ears
twitched back and forth as if he understood. Gaining confidence, she drew a
deep breath and reached into the open backpack, pulling out the baggie with the
remaining biscuit. She held out the last one and murmured softly, “You don’t
want to bite me, do you? This is all I have. But you’re welcome to it. I
promise I won’t hurt you, fella. Just do the same for me, okay?”

The animal lowered its head in a comically submissive manner
and inched along toward her outstretched hand on its belly. As it neared, she
decided to play it safe rather than sorry, and she dropped the biscuit onto the
hard earth between them. “No offense, but those teeth look sharp, and I like my
hand.”

She watched as it sniffed the biscuit, then snaked its pink
tongue out to swipe it from the earth. Relief swept through her tense muscles.
“Good, huh? A friend of mine made it. He’s a great cook, and no offense, but I
sort of hoped you were him instead of you. I sent my spirit out to find him but
got you instead.”

The animal cocked its head to one side and sank onto its
haunches. A soft whine came from its throat.

“I know you’re a nice fella, but it’s sort of scary to be
sitting here talking to a wild animal. Or are you tame? Do you belong to
someone out here? I’ve never been alone in a place like this before. And even
though my friend said he would find me if I took off, he didn’t come after me.
As long as you aren’t going to bite me or anything, I would love it if you
stayed here. You might scare off other animals.”

She was babbling, but the damn wolf seemed to be listening
to her, and he was at least company. She stopped talking and prayed that Zeke
wouldn’t leave her out here after dark. He had threatened that she couldn’t
escape him. So where was the big jerk?

The wolf suddenly rose and walked toward her, and she gasped
and fell off the rock she’d been sitting on. Terror shot through her as she
figured she was dead meat, but then a cold nose nudged her ear and a long raspy
tongue swept over her cheek. Her hands came up instinctively to catch the soft fur
of its neck and she almost sobbed with relief as the beast whined and pressed
its head against her chest.

“Oh God, you scared the hell out of me, fella! I thought you
were gonna take a big bite out of me…” She felt sudden relief and the fear
dissipated as the animal licked her chin and swiped its long, wet tongue over
her mouth as if kissing her. She laughed and pushed its snout away, then she
looked into the animal’s dark eyes and drew in a quick breath. Something almost
human looked back from their depths. Her fingertips trailed over what felt like
a scarred-over ridge on its jaw. A sensation of
knowing
filtered through
her, and her breath caught in her throat.

This is no ordinary wolf. It can’t possibly be…

Her voice wavered as she whispered, “What are you?”

Zeke sent a bit of his power into her and gazed at her as
she tried to assimilate what he had showed her in that quick glimpse. She was a
blessed one. She had the inner sense. But in spite of her brush with his
spirit, she was not yet ready to truly
see
him. He let her stare into
his soul for a long moment before he whirled and ran into the brush. She wasn’t
ready to see him change skins yet. He didn’t want to terrify her.

Once he was out of sight, he called forth his horse, then
trotted back to find her still sitting where she had been, astonishment on her
beautiful face. If he didn’t think she’d have a coronary, he’d take his man
form and fuck her blind right there. After all, she had offered…

Her eyes widened at the sight of his equine body. He sighed
inwardly. Surely she knew how to ride a horse? Short of turning back into a man
and carrying her in his arms, this was the only way he could figure out to get
her home with those lacerated, blistered feet. But he realized that she was a
city girl, and she might never have been around horses. He would just have to
be patient, as Old Joe had said.

He waited for her to speak, hoping like hell that she wasn’t
afraid he’d bite her in this form. She staggered jerkily to her feet, wincing,
and he lowered his head and nickered softly to show her that he was
non-threatening. When her face broke into a gorgeous smile, he snorted softly
with relief. Her hands slid over the satiny skin of his cheek, and he leaned
his head in to her caress. Again her fingertips traced over the scar that
followed him from skin to skin.

“Oh you are a beauty! Are you tame enough to ride?” He
snorted again and nodded his big head up and down, just wishing she’d get on
board so he could get her back to the cabin and change into a man. He knew that
she sensed his presence, but it was something she couldn’t quite put her finger
on. He would help her to do just that once he had his body back.

Chellie blinked as the glistening black horse seemed to
answer her question. As her fingers trailed over a scar on the horse’s cheek,
her sense of reality blurred just a bit. This was no ordinary horse…just as
that had been no ordinary wolf. She shook her head at the idea of all this
Native American mumbo-jumbo that was running through her mind. She had to be hallucinating.
Or she had a sun stroke.

Impossible…

But as the big animal nudged her toward the rock she’d
fallen off, she knew that this was one gift-horse she wasn’t about to look in
the mouth.