Wolf Tales Interlude: The Gift (3 page)

The sound of the four-wheeler sounded muffled through the storm, but he called out to Keisha, using the mental link they’d strengthened this long week to reach her, to bring her directly to them.

She pulled up close with the small vehicle. She’d attached the garden trailer Oliver used around the grounds.

Are they alive
?

Barely
.

She threw a bundle of warm clothing to Stefan. While he dressed, she spread blankets in the bed of the trailer, fashioned a warm cocoon for Xandi and Anton, then helped Stefan load the two into the back.

Stefan reached for Xandi’s mind. Found nothing. He tried Anton’s and was met with the same unusual lack of consciousness. He looked at Keisha and knew she’d tried to reach them as well. Were they too late? How long had they been exposed to the deadly fumes?

Breathing around a huge lump of fear in his throat, Stefan helped Keisha cover Xandi and Anton with the blankets, then with their precious cargo well-protected, headed back to the house.

Chapter Four

Day broke slowly, a watery gray dawning, nothing like the picture perfect Christmas mornings featured on cards, but Keisha couldn’t remember a better Christmas in her entire life. Stefan, as wolf, lay curled up next to Xandi, who slept peacefully beside Anton.

Keisha sat in the rocker next to the bed. She’d wrapped herself in the multi-colored afghan against the morning chill. Now she sipped her cup of coffee and grinned like a complete idiot while tears streamed down her face.

They’re okay, Stefan. I sense their thoughts. Their dreams are normal, their thoughts clear and coherent. I’d almost given up
.

Stefan raised his shaggy head and blinked. Keisha saw his eyes narrow, knew he reached for Xandi. Slowly, as if waking from a long dream, Alexandria opened her eyes and sat up.

“Stefan?” She touched the wolf beside her. “Keisha? What happened? There was a horrible storm. We lost the brakes on that last hill and… Anton?”

“I’m here.” Shoving himself upright, Anton shook his head and groaned. “My god, what a headache! We’re home? How?”

Throwing her blanket aside, Keisha launched herself into his arms. Anton grunted, but hung on to her as she sobbed and hugged him with her arms around his neck, her legs wrapped just as tightly around his waist.

Stefan jumped down off the bed, shifted, leaned over and kissed Xandi, then picked her up. “Ya know, sweetheart, I’m getting a bit tired of rescuing your lovely butt from car wrecks in snowstorms.” He kissed her again. “You and I need time alone together, mate. Just as they do. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

He looked back at Keisha and winked. “Merry Christmas, kiddo. Looks like you got what you wanted… which means you get to give him what he wants. Glad to see you back among the living, Anton. You two scared the crap out of us.” He kissed Xandi hard on the mouth, then carried her out of the room.

Anton swept Keisha’s tousled hair back from her face. “What was that all about?”

“Link with me, Anton. Completely.”

He frowned, but did as she asked. The look of wonder that crossed his face brought on an entirely new rush of tears.

“No barriers. No blocks of any kind. What happened?” He brushed her hair back from her eyes once more, the unabashed love in his almost her undoing.

“Stefan helped me through some of the trauma, some of the stuff I haven’t been able to deal with. It was pretty awful. Stuff I didn’t even know myself, probably could never have shown you because I love you too much.”

Anton kissed her. She could drown in those kisses. Could never get enough of his taste, his scent. His love. Then he pulled away, held her face in his hands, looked at her with so much love, so much feeling it took her breath.

“Stefan’s given you a very special gift, my love. He’s returned your spirit, that part you’ve been hiding from me since I’ve known you. But what did he mean by your gift for me? You’re all the gift I’ll ever need.”

She tried to bite back her grin but failed. “Not until you’re feeling better. I want you strong and healthy.”

The reality of the past hours suddenly caught her. “Do you know how close you came to dying in that truck? The fumes were horrible!” She tried to look indignant, but the thought of their comatose bodies brought a fresh round of tears. “I was so afraid, Anton.”

He tightened his arms around her. “We must have been knocked unconscious when the truck slid off the road. Then the exhaust fumes leaking into the cab kept us out. If Stefan hadn’t come along when he did…”

“Maybe we should call him Santa, not Stefan.” Keisha giggled when she felt Anton’s hand creeping inside the waistband of her sweats. She wriggled, settled herself closer against him and felt the hard ridge of his cock, swelling in the valley between her legs.

“I’m feeling much better, by the way.”

“I noticed.” She pressed harder, her muscles clenching against his growing erection.

His fingers crept lower.

“I thought you had a headache.” She wiggled her bottom once more when his fingers found the crease between her cheeks, slipped lower, discovered the heat between her legs.

“What headache? I’m getting ideas.”

“So am I.” Then she opened her thoughts, let him see what Stefan had done, how he’d helped her accept the violence, the true nature of
Chanku
.

Then she showed him very explicitly what she wanted… what she now fantasized over and no longer feared.

Eyes alight with desire, he kissed her. Feasted on her mouth as if her breath alone would keep him alive, yet still managed to strip her clothing off her body. His right hand found her breast, his left trailing along the line of her hip, cupping her buttocks and pulling her close against him.

She rolled her hips, rubbing the wet folds of her pussy against his cock, waiting for him to fill her. Instead, Anton slipped out of her grasp. Stacking pillows in the middle of the bed, he bent Keisha over them.

Her mouth went dry.
Too soon, too sudden
! A thick coil of fear clutched her heart, but instead of entering her the way she feared, the thick head of his cock slipped easily into her waiting pussy. He moved slowly in and out, teasing her with the controlled rhythm, with the soft touch that wasn’t nearly enough.

His fingers found her clit and he rubbed and tugged much too gently. She bit back a moan and shuddered as the tension built, as her body cried out for more. His soft laughter filled her mind just as he withdrew his cock and rested it between her buttocks. Slowly, still so very slowly, he rubbed his solid cock up and down against her ass, stroking lightly at first, pressing so close she felt the hot weight of his balls against her pussy.

He didn’t change his cadence at all… didn’t touch her except with his cock. His hands grasped her hips, held her close. Her pussy cried out for contact. He dipped his fingers deep inside her, then quickly withdrew, but when his wet finger lightly brushed the tightly puckered ring of muscle at her ass, Keisha knew another erogenous zone had suddenly been added to her body.

Instead of fear, she trembled with anticipation, instead of pain there was only pleasure as Anton pressed and rubbed, pressed and rubbed again with his moistened fingertip, and finally breached the tightly puckered opening. He slipped his finger in and out. Keisha wriggled against him, wanting more, wanting relief from the building pressure of pending climax.

He added another finger to her behind, slowly stretching her, making her ready. She shivered, tilted her hips just so, giving him greater access. His fingers moved inside her and she raised her hips to meet each gentle thrust.

His cock resting against her back, his balls rubbing over her buttocks, he slowly fucked her from behind with his fingers. She shivered in pleasure, not fear, in anticipation, not pain.

She arched her back and moaned.
Are you trying to drive me insane
?

He laughed out loud.
I want you ready for me. I want you so desperate you’ll take me deep inside without pain, without fear
.

I’m ready, dammit! Any more ready and I’ll explode
! She pressed her face into the mattress, raised her hips in the most blatant invitation she could manage. She felt Anton slowly withdraw his fingers, felt the solid head of his cock as he rubbed it around her ass. Frantic, she pressed back against him as he entered her, only to have him pull back.

She relaxed, her body shivering with need, with anticipation. A sigh escaped her lips when she felt him once more pressing against her, easing his way inside. At the same time, his fingers found her aching clit, rubbed light, wet circles around and around, finding a rhythm that pulled her higher, farther, deeper into pure sensation.

He was big, much larger than the man who’d raped her, but the thought was merely a shadow of memory that flitted through her mind, not nearly enough to dim the pleasure of taking Anton deep inside her body.

She felt herself stretch, accept. Felt the smooth slide of his hot penis filling her.

Are you okay
? He pressed tiny kisses along her spine, a kiss for each word.

Oh, yeah. And I’ll be better when you’re finally all the way inside me
.

Are you sure
?

Slowly, Keisha pressed back against him, taking control, forcing his solid length deeper. The muscles in her pussy clenched. Anton groaned, and she knew he’d felt the contraction.

His mind opened to hers. Keisha almost collapsed under the powerful rush of pure, blind sensuality, the heat he felt inside her passage, the ripple of muscles as he continued his slow, steady entrance. Finally, his thighs pressed solidly against the backs of hers. His testicles, tethered tightly beneath his cock, rode in the damp crease of her pussy, and his fingers continued their steady assault on her clit.

He withdrew just as slowly as he’d entered, then filled her once more. Keisha arched her back, forced her hips against his and cried out. The first orgasm left her writhing beneath him. When he filled her pussy with his long fingers, she came again, and when he found a faster rhythm, thrusting into her hard and deep, she cried out a third time and collapsed beneath him.

Only then did Anton find his own release. She felt him strain against her, felt the hot rush of seed filling her, his teeth sharp against her shoulder as he bit down, marking her as his own.

Then she turned her head, found his mouth and kissed him. His face was wet with tears, his lips hard, possessive. She felt his love, his strength, his pure nature in the beauty of his kiss, in the touch of his body to hers.

Taking her gently, he’d turned her nightmare into something wonderful. She’d thought herself shattered, broken beyond repair, but she was once again whole. She’d feared for Anton through the long night, but he was here, safe, alive, wanting her in every way.

Thank you, my love
.

His soft, mental touch brought a smile to her lips.
You need to thank Stefan. It was not an easy week for him
.

Truly a gift beyond measure, Stefan. Thank you
.

She sensed Stefan’s laughter, his love for Xandi, for all of them.

Merry Christmas, guys. Always glad to be of service
.

Then searching lips once more found hers. Stefan faded away, and all she thought of was Anton.

Kate Douglas

Kate Douglas writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, romantic comedy and erotic romance.

For over thirty years Kate Douglas has been lucky enough to call writing her profession. She’s produced ad copy for radio, flown over forest fires in a spotting helicopter as a photojournalist, drawn a weekly comic strip for a worldwide health agency, co-authored a cookbook and written numerous freelance articles. She’s won three EPPIES, from the international authors’ organization, EPIC -- two for Best Contemporary Romance in 2001 and 2002, and a third for Best Romantic Suspense in 2001. Kate’s also won EPIC’s Quasar Award for Cover Artists.

She and her husband of over thirty years live in the northern California wine country where they find more than enough subject material for their shared passion for photography, though their grandchildren are most often in front of the lens.

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