Wolf Tales 11 (33 page)

“Dada! Hold still.” Lily stopped whatever she was planning next and put her hands on her hips. Tala’s first thought was that the little minx looked exactly like her mother when Keisha read Anton the riot act.

The man in question grinned at her from his spot on the kitchen floor. His long hair was tied up in clip-on rollers and bows, and Alex was busily adding more. Lily appeared
to be drawing an entirely new face on him with what looked like permanent markers.

“We’ll chat later,” he said, glancing toward Tala. Then he clamped his lips firmly shut as Lily scowled at him.

“I can hardly wait. This is definitely a new look for you. I hope Keisha approves. It may be with you awhile … that looks like permanent ink.” She opened the refrigerator, found a soda without any caffeine, and carried it over to the kitchen table. Then she took a seat and tried her best to keep a straight face while Lily and Alex had their way with the pack’s leader.

Anton could be so damned intimidating that seeing him like this, at the mercy of a couple of precocious nineteen-month-olds, gave Tala an entirely new appreciation for the man. Even though he was still dealing with some major issues since the assassination attempt, he seemed to be handling them well.

She wasn’t sure how she would react, suddenly learning she could no longer shift, but even that paled beside the fact he’d lost his ability to link with his mate, to mindtalk with his pack. The intimacy of their telepathic communication was so much a part of their lives that the loss must be devastating for him. She rubbed her hand over her belly, aware of the subtle connection she already had with her babies. She’d been aware of them as thinking, independent individuals for weeks now.

What would it be like not to have that link? Not to know they were healthy and alive and growing perfectly within her womb?

“Anton! Oh, good Lord.”

Tala glanced up. Keisha stood in the doorway, eyes wide, fingertips covering her mouth. It was impossible to tell if she was furious or trying not to laugh.

Maybe a little of both?

“See, Mama? Dada’s purty.”

Laughing, Keisha swept into the room. “Oh, he’s definitely
purty, sweetie. Time to put the colors away and come help Mommy. You, too, Alex. It’s almost naptime.” She knelt and began helping the kids clean up the bows and markers, but she shot a quick glance at Tala. “Just wait, darlin’. Someday you, too, will have a pair like this.”

Tala laughed. “It’s daunting, that’s for sure. I’m just wondering how Anton’s going to get those purty colors off his face.”

Anton sighed as he stood up. “The original plan was simple. I figured I’d just shift and they’d all go away. Then, I realized …” He shrugged and reached for a paper towel. “Anyway, guess it’s going to have to be plain old soap and water.”

Keisha held up one of the pens, a bright green one Lily seemed to like best, if the scribbles around his eyes were any indication. “Read this, m’love. The word
permanent
is not there as a marketing ploy. It really is permanent.”

Anton got the towel wet and scrubbed at the ink on his face. It didn’t even smear. He glanced at the clean paper towel. “Well, then I guess I’d better hope you like the look.”

Keisha finished cleaning up the toys and stood. She pointed both kids toward the doorway. “Mama Xandi’s got the tub full. Better hurry before the water gets cold.”

Squealing, Lily and Alex took off running. Keisha set the basket of toys and pens on the counter and carefully removed all the ribbons and curlers from Anton’s hair. Then she looped her arms over his shoulders. “I love the look, and I love you, but I have a feeling we’re going to have to resort to spot remover for this mess.” She kissed him.

Even Tala felt the love Keisha had for her mate.

Love, as well as her sadness. A sadness so deep, so visceral, Tala’s eyes blurred with tears. She sniffed. Stared at her swollen ankles and then bit back a groan as one of the babies planted a foot firmly atop her bladder. It came to
her so clearly then—she had absolutely nothing to complain about. Nothing at all.

Because even though they were separated by many miles, Tala still felt both her guys in her heart. Still sensed Igmutaka’s watchful mind and knew she wasn’t alone. She never would be alone, as long as she and Mik and AJ shared their link.

And, as long as Igmutaka watched over his charge. It was something that just was, something she now accepted as one of her senses, never dreaming it could be lost.

She watched as Keisha and Anton left the kitchen together, laughing softly, arms around one another. She hugged herself, and decided the guys had been gone long enough.

Bay awoke with the sense he was being watched, blinked his eyes, and looked directly into Manda’s. The moment his opened fully, she smiled.

“Good,” she said, kissing him way too fast. “You’re awake. We need to leave today.”

“Leave? Where?”

“Montana, you doofus. It’s time.”

He rubbed his palms over his eyes and tried to scrub himself more alert. “Is someone in labor?”

Manda shook her head. “I dreamed last night that we needed to go today. It was Eve. I’m almost positive she was here in this room.” She frowned. “Or maybe I was somewhere with her. I’m not sure, but I am sure we need to leave.”

Bay lifted himself up on his elbows and slipped one leg over Manda. When she didn’t try to get away, he eased himself entirely over her body until he covered her from toes to chest, until all he had to do was lower his head in order to brush her lips with his. “I guess we can go today. It’s a little earlier than we’d planned. That’s not a problem. But not right now. Maybe just a little bit later?”

She didn’t actually answer him, but she wriggled a bit beneath him. Her legs parted and his slipped into the gap between. His cock was suddenly stretched up over her mound, pointing toward that perfect little belly. His balls pressed tightly against her sex.

She was already moist, her labia swollen and slick. Ready for him. He felt the rush of blood to his groin, the wonderful sense of fullness as his cock engorged and stretched along her belly. He thrust against her, his balls pressing close against that wet heat, feeling the brush of her curled pubic hairs tickling the underside of his shaft.

Groaning, suddenly needy and wanting, he tilted his hips, lifting high enough to slide his shaft down between her legs. Not entering her, instead, rubbing against those wonderfully damp lips, sliding the full length of his erection over her clitoris.

She whimpered, a surprised little sound that had him wanting more of her. He dipped his head, suckled one nipple between his lips, and ran his tongue over the hard little tip. She whimpered again and arched beneath him, rotating her hips in a fruitless effort to lure him inside.

The heat between her legs drew him. The slick fluids made him crazy and he fought himself, fought the powerful desire to thrust deep and hard, to fill her completely. It would be so easy, just a simple lift of his hips to raise his butt up just so, and he knew his cock would act like a heat-seeking missile, finding her warmth without any hesitation at all.

But the torture was exquisite. The sense of her so close, so ready for him. The knowledge he could enter her at any time while forcing himself to wait. To slide slowly up and down, that slow, slow drag of thick, long shaft over her swollen bud, the subtle tug against his foreskin, her thighs clasping his hips, her breasts rubbing over the thick mat of hair on his chest.

He slipped into her thoughts as easily as he knew his
penis could slide inside her pussy. Slipped in and found himself, found the fine edge of control where she balanced so precariously, almost painfully aroused, unwilling to let him force her over the edge.

He shared her arousal and all the sensations taking her higher, shared the way his shaft slid so easily over her clit, the smooth slide of his glans parting her folds, coming so close to penetrating and then moving beyond. Back and forth, over and over again, keeping that same, torturous cadence until she breathed in and out with each gentle sweep, until her heart beat in sync with his.

Then, without warning, he twisted his hips and plunged deep. Filled her full and hard, slipping his arms around her waist and rising up on his knees. She wrapped her long legs around his waist and cried out, tilting her head, arching her back until her long, blond hair swept the rumpled bedcovers. Their link was complete, an absolute binding of one mind to the other, of Manda’s body to Bay’s.

If they hadn’t loved in the gentle light of morning, if the room had instead been bathed in darkness, he knew they would have seen flashes of light, energy rippling between them, so powerful was their connection, so intense their shared desire.

Manda screamed. She clutched his shoulders and tightened her legs around his waist, and her scream tipped Baylor over the edge. Her vaginal muscles clasped him, milking him with each ripple and pulse until his hips no longer thrust forward and his balls ached from the power of his climax.

Blowing as if he’d run a mile, Bay lowered Manda to the bed and wrapped his arms around her. He held her close. Their bodies were still connected, their hearts and minds linked as one.

He felt her tears on his chest. After a moment she raised her head and stared into his eyes. He’d expected to see the look of a satisfied woman, but she looked bereft.

“What’s wrong?” He kissed her. “Did I hurt you? Did I …?”

She shook her head and pressed a finger to his lips, interrupting him. “Never. You would never hurt me, but at the height of our climax, when we were so completely together, I thought of Keisha. How it must be for her, to make love with Anton without that amazing connection. How lonely it has to be for both of them. We need to go today. Not just for your sisters. Somehow, we have to help make Anton whole again.”

Keisha set the phone back in the cradle on Anton’s desk, crossed her arms over her chest, and stared out the big back window. Anton played in the snow with Lily, while Stefan pulled Alex around on his little sleigh. Such a beautiful peaceful scene, and yet she felt so fragile she was surprised she hadn’t shattered.

The isolation was the worst of it. Surrounded by people who loved her, and yet the connection that should have been strongest, the one between her and her mate, had practically disappeared.

They’d made love this morning. He was a skilled lover and he’d satisfied her over and over again, made her body sing and her heart soar, but when they both lay there in the big bed with their hearts thundering and lungs straining for air, she’d realized she’d never felt so terribly alone.

He hadn’t been in her mind. His soft words of love, whispered against her ear, had meant the world to her, but she’d reached for him, reached for that amazing connection that was so much a part of their loving, and hadn’t been able to find it.

She’d tried explaining herself to Xandi, but she’d ended up feeling like a fool. Xandi’s soft comment had almost killed her.

He’s alive. He could have died that night. You could
have died that night. Wouldn’t you rather have this much of him, rather than not have him at all?

Xandi’s words had been rattling around in her head all day long. They made her feel small and unworthy, as if she didn’t have the sense to be satisfied with how much she had, how blessed she truly was.

But she’d known paradise in Anton’s arms. She’d flown with him, been touched by that amazing mind of his, sharing his wisdom and his love, his fears, the things he could never speak aloud … He’d shared those things with her in the intimacy of their bond.

And she missed it. Dear Goddess, how she missed it.

At least everyone was finally on their way here. For some odd reason, the various members of the pack had each decided to come earlier than planned, and she was so terribly grateful. Keisha always felt stronger when the pack gathered. It was especially wonderful to come together for a birth, but to have three babies almost ready to make their arrival was nothing short of miraculous.

She needed wonderful right now. Needed that miracle, needed something positive, something to give her hope. Knowing their home would be filled to bursting for the next few days was a good thing—good for her and good for Anton.

Luc and Tia and the twins, Lisa and Tinker, and Logan and Jazzy were flying in later this afternoon. Tinker had taken on a lot of Pack Dynamics work following the assassination attempt, and his duties had meant that he and Lisa hadn’t been able to come with Tala and the guys. Lisa was due within the next couple of weeks, though, and Logan hadn’t wanted to leave her without access to medical care.

After Tia’s delivery, everyone realized the importance of a doctor or healer who understood their unique physiology, who could, if an emergency occurred, go inside to treat the unborn child. Adam and Liana were here for Tala. Logan had chosen to stay with Lisa, which meant
Jazzy stayed in San Francisco. There was no way she was going to be separated from her mate.

Keisha hadn’t realized how much she would miss the two of them, but it had seemed terribly quiet here without Logan and Jazzy. She was so glad they were finally coming home. The entire crew from Colorado was on the way, too, but they were driving. She’d expected them before now, but the call she’d just gotten from Millie put them about two hours out.

The Maine pack were flying in about the same time as the group from San Francisco, which was why Adam and Stefan were taking two of the big SUVs to the airport and hoping they could fit everyone inside. The only ones missing were Beth and Nick, but they were in Washington, DC, for at least a few more years. What a wonderful opportunity they’d been given!

She would always feel a special bond to Beth. She’d been so terribly troubled when they first met, but Beth had faced her fears and come through them stronger than ever. Keisha admired a spirit like Beth’s. Sometimes she wished she had more of that daring herself.

Just then, Anton raised his head and caught her looking at him. Keisha smiled. He grinned and waved. Then he grabbed Lily up in a big hug and swung her around. Anton’s deep laughter, Lily’s high-pitched squeals, the sounds of Stefan laughing, and Alex’s funny little giggles should have left her smiling.