Suddenly Sherpa pulled the harness from her hand and nudged her back toward the office. Grrrr! The low rumble in his chest vibrated through her thigh.
Someone’s in here! Spinning too quickly, Margy dropped her cane and tripped, banging her head on a shelf. A sharp pain sent her to her knees. “Sherpa,” she whispered, flailing her arms in the air to feel for him. He wouldn’t be far.
“Hello, who’s here?” Cocking her head to the side helped her pick up the direction of the man’s voice. “I got locked in.” It came from the other side of the shelves behind her.
Running footsteps pounded down that aisle and skidded to a stop when he turned the corner of the row she sat in. “What the hell are you doing to her?” he shouted.
Strong hands grasped her shoulders and sat her back against the bookshelf. They didn’t belong to the man yelling. He was still too far away.
“Sherpa!” she screamed. Another fit of sneezing came over her. Who was touching her? Bare feet slapped against the wooden floors as someone ran down the aisle in the opposite direction of the voice.
Trembling in fear, she cried out toward the voice. “Who’s here, where’s my dog?”
A quiet voice sounded above her. “I didn’t see a dog, miss. Just a naked guy who ran the other way. We’ve got to get you out of here.” He tugged at her arms and helped her up. “Are you okay? I was upstairs and got locked in.”
“I’m blind, and my dog is in here somewhere.”
Deep growling and toenails clicking on wood preceded Sherpa’s arrival. His ferocious bark shook the books against her shoulder.
“Lady, call your dog off, I’m trying to help.”
“Sherpa, no.” The dog pressed tight against her as she felt for the handle of the harness. It must have come loose. “It’s okay, boy.” Grabbing hold of the raised fur at his neck, she faced toward the voice. “My assistant locked up when she left. Could you help me to the front door? I’m expecting a friend to pick me up.”
“Sure, just keep your dog on the other side. My name’s Paul.”
Sherpa’s grumbling grew lighter; he seemed calmer. “I’m Margy, the librarian.”
They reached the front door seconds before it flew open and Max Alsatian’s voice boomed in her ears. “Miss Pinkston, you okay?” Her head swiveled at the sound of another set of footsteps. “Wade’s with me.”
“I’m fine. Where’s Ren?”
Paul told them, “You need to check the back. Some naked guy got locked in with us and he accosted her. Good thing I heard her fall.” He continued, “He’s got dark brown hair, over six feet tall with an athletic build.”
“We’re responding to the alarm from Shepherd’s Watch. Thanks for your help, sir. Wade will see you out.”
Alarm? When had the library installed an alarm? Her assistant would have mentioned something that important. Her head ached but she wasn’t that confused.
Max told her to wait at the desk while he checked things out. She’d dropped her cane earlier and needed to get it. Something niggled at the back of her mind but she couldn’t grasp it. “Sherpa, come.”
Margy counted steps back the way she’d come. It was almost habit now. Reaching the aisle where her cane should be, she sniffed the air. That’s what bothered her. The dust and sneezing had thrown her off. The unmistakable smell of musk lingered between the shelves. Ren. Picking up her cane, she went back to the front.
Footsteps accompanied the familiar jingle of chain. “You should have Sherpa’s harness looked at, Max. Somehow it came off.”
“Uhh, I’ll have Ren check it out.”
“Where’d he go?”
“Who?”
“I know Ren was here, Max.” Her dog danced around her feet and wouldn’t let her hold him.
“You’re wrong. He called and asked us to make sure you got home okay.”
“When did we contract with your company for an alarm at the library?”
“Uhh…”
“Never mind. I’m ready to go.” Max’s muscular forearm pushed under her hand.
The men dropped her and the dog off, and a couple aspirins later, her headache had faded. She’d practically tapped a hole through the patio floor with her toe as she sat alone waiting for her uncle to get in. Sherpa had given up on her moving and ran off to dig a hole or get into some other mischief. He’d been skittish ever since they left the library.
“Margy, honey, why are you sitting out here in the dark?”
“It’s not like I can tell. Did you have an alarm installed at the library without anyone’s knowledge?” Sherpa bounded up and danced around her legs. “Sit, damn it.” She never used sharp words with him, and instantly felt bad as she rubbed his ears, which didn’t settle him down at all.
“No. I couldn’t do that without the county’s knowledge. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. How well do you know the Alsatians?”
“Well enough to trust you to their care. They’re excellent at their job and I like them. They’re honorable men, Margy, and that’s a hard commodity to find nowadays.” The Adirondack chair squeaked under his weight. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“I don’t need Ren here anymore. Sherpa and I are fine alone.”
“Honey --”
“I mean it, Uncle Jack. Just Sherpa, and you can tell Max or I will.” She left him sitting there and took the dog to her room. Locking the door, she fell into the bed and let the tears fall.
Margy was sure she knew who the naked man was. Thank God someone had been accidentally locked in with her. What had Ren planned to do? “Sherpa, why would he do something like that?” Sobs racked her body as her heart broke in two.
Too late, Margy realized she’d fallen in love with Ren, only to find out she could never trust him again.
Chapter Five
What a goddamn mess. Her tears tore at him like a knife. Each sob ripped a new wound in his heart.
Ren had only moved away from her to find the man he smelled on the other side of the aisle. When Margy hit her head and fell, he shifted out of Sherpa to help her, and the asshole came around the corner and caught him. He ran away to call Max and unlock the door to the library once he sensed the man wasn’t a danger. The guy would insist on hanging around. Any real man would. If only she’d waited in her office.
Over the last two weeks they’d barely spoken unless it involved talking about her training with Sherpa. It was killing him to be so close and not touch her. She’d stung his pride the second time she chose his animal over him. Regardless of how much he wanted her, Margy needed to let him know she wanted him, the man, just as much.
Risking being found out at the library confirmed something he didn’t want to face. Ren had fallen in love with Margy. Days, weeks, spent in her company and making love to her had snapped something inside him. The dog didn’t want another animal; the man couldn’t bear touching another woman.
He didn’t know what the fuck to do. If he’d let him, Sherpa would howl at the moon in misery and loneliness. He couldn’t tell his brothers and he didn’t know anyone else like them who’d been through this. How could he continue to be a dog around Margy, smelling her, wanting to touch her, needing to taste her? She’d gone through enough without being told some genetically screwed up half-man, half-animal wanted to possess her. All of her.
Each night after she’d gone to sleep, he met his brothers and pretended everything was okay. That was getting dicey too. They constantly questioned his need to hurry back to her side and he was fast running out of good excuses.
Being cooped inside that tiny office with her every day had driven him insane.
Whenever she ate dinner, he pretended to stay in his room. What he did was shift into his shepherd and run until she called him back.
Her fingers would burrow into his fur leaving a hot trail of desire that settled like a leaden weight in his balls. His shepherd only understood it was being denied something it craved on a daily basis. Margy. It had to end.
* * *
> Uncle Jack had done as she asked. Margy didn’t hear or smell Ren this morning. Though she didn’t want to think about him, she couldn’t help it as she listened to Sherpa pace up and down the hallway. He’d been agitated all morning.
A part of her screamed out to know why Ren had done it. Another part said leave it alone. Maybe there was a good excuse. What if he was embarrassed by her blindness and didn’t want to be seen with her outside of her house or the library? There were people like that, and he had never asked her to go anywhere with him.
Who the hell are you kidding, Margy? Twice they’d made love and now she understood that’s what it was for her -- not just sex. Each time she was cold as ice afterward and even asked him to fetch her dog. A sad effort to protect her heart because after the first time, she’d lost it to him. Tears threatened to spill over and she clenched her eyes tight behind the dark glasses to hold them back.
He had wanted to see her eyes when they made love. Men like Ren Alsatian didn’t look a woman in the eye. Did hers still sparkle with life or were they flat and dead? Would he see the love she felt for him in their blue depths? That’s what she was afraid of. “He’ll see the love there.” It was too late now. She heard a car door close and wondered who was picking her up for work. “Sherpa, let’s go.”
Her sense of smell and sound had improved dramatically. Wade’s voice was deeper, different from either of his brothers’. He smelled of cedar and she found herself wishing it were musk.
* * *
Her first session with her Braille instructor had gone well, but there was still work to be done on the installation of the voice recognition software.
The assistant assured her the place was empty before she left this time. Margy returned from the restroom right off her office to get Sherpa. Wade would be here any minute.
He always bumped her leg when she came back into the room. “Where have you gotten off too?” She tilted her head automatically to pick up any sound of him but what she got was a strong scent of musk. She trembled. “I know you’re here and if I have to I’ll call Sherpa.”
“Margy, there’s been a misunderstanding. I’d never let anyone or anything hurt you. I’d kill them first.”
“What did you think you were doing, Ren? And why were you naked?”
“I can explain. You may not believe me, but I can explain that. But you have to know I’d never harm you.”
Air whistled past her lips on a deep sigh. “I believe you.” She decided to go all the way. “Look, I understand some people are embarrassed about having a relationship with a blind person…” Her words trailed off. What the hell were they to each other? She didn’t want to force him into saying what she wanted to hear.
“Embarrassed? I want you more than anything in this world but I don’t like being sent away for my dog.”
“He’s my dog now.” Damn if she was giving up Sherpa.
“We’ll talk about that later.”
She was swept off her feet before she could protest. “Lord, Ren, you’re naked again, and where are you taking me?” One thing he said made her happy -- there was going to be a later.
“To protect you, Shepherd’s Watch had to know everything about you. I even know what your favorite reading material is.” She felt the heat climb up her face. “I’m taking you to the paranormal romance section.”
“Then what?”
“Maybe I’ll read to you about things that go bump in the night, ghosts that want to love you but don’t have a physical body.” The crack in his voice sent a shiver down her spine. “Animals that change into men and make sweet love to the woman they want to keep forever.”
Her nervous laughter echoed from the shelves of books he passed. “You almost sound like you believe in those things.”
“I believe in the goodness of animals even though sometimes people screw them up.” He let her slide slowly down his body until her feet touched the floor. “Maybe I should take you to the genetic research section.”
What was he trying to tell her? Margy wasn’t prone to having premonitions, but this was to be the second time she’d had one so strong in his presence. She wanted Sherpa beside her, needed him there to feel safe.
Suddenly she knew she wasn’t betraying him. Somehow Ren and Sherpa were tied to each other. Afraid the answer would turn her world upside down, Margy had to know. “Where is Sherpa, Ren?”
Chapter Six
“Damn it, Margy, show me your eyes.” Ignoring her question about Sherpa, he touched her cheek with his fingers.
She rested her hand on top of his and rubbed her face against his palm. “Make love to me right here.”
“You don’t know how often I’ve dreamed of having you here like this. Please, let me see your eyes.” He moved his hand to the frames and slowly pulled them off. She didn’t stop him this time, but she kept her eyes shut so tight it looked painful. “Open your eyes and let me see you.”
Slowly, her lids came up, and Ren hissed at what he saw there. Cornflower-blue and they shimmered with tears. He could see through them. His instincts had been dead-on, but without Sherpa being a part of him, he might never have known what it was he felt. Seeing the love reflected in her eyes made his burn painfully. Instinctually, he growled. “You love us, but not nearly as much as we love you.”
His lips smashed into hers so hard he drew blood. Her mouth opened and their tongues battled to taste each other as they fell into the bookshelves. Pushing up her blouse, he found her nipples already hard. He palmed her breasts and stroked the tight buds until he couldn’t stand it. He shoved beneath her bra and freed the breasts he wanted to taste. “I want to taste you all over.”
“Do it.” She stripped her shirt and bra off and let them fall to the floor. He watched her slide her skirt down into a puddle at her feet. The lacy white panties she wore matched her bra. He salivated at the blonde hair peeking through.
“You’re so freaking beautiful, baby.”
“I want to see you.” She stroked his face with her fingers and moved her hands down his body. When she pinched his nipples, another low growl escaped his throat. Going lower, her hand touched his throbbing cock and moved between his legs to caress his tight nuts. “Mmm.”
“Like what you see?”
“Oh, yes.” She wiggled out of her panties and dropped to her knees in front of him.
He watched, mesmerized as her tongue darted out and licked the tip of his penis. Ren’s hips bucked forward uncontrollably. “Good God, yes.” She sucked inch after inch into her mouth until he felt the back of her throat. Scared he’d hurt her, he pulled out, but she grabbed his shaft and slipped it right back into her mouth. Again and again she pulled him in, and each time she did release him, she lapped at the head until drops slipped from the tiny slit there. Unable to take it for another second, Ren reached down, grasped her arms and pulled her up. “You’re voracious.”
“My fingers were enjoying the view.”
“Margy, you need to understand what I was trying to tell you.”
“Ren, make love to me. Right now there’s nothing else.”
“I’m not who you think I --”
Her fingertips found his lips and pressed on them. “I know I love you. I think you love me.”
“Oh, baby, do I love you.” He gripped her ass and lifted her until her pussy rested on the hard length of his cock. Her arms came around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist when he pushed her back against the shelves. Using the weight of his body to hold her, he reached down and grabbed his penis.
He stroked it back and forth through the wet folds until he was soaked with her juices. “I can’t wait to be in you.” He placed the crown at her opening and pushed into her so slowly she released a moan that vibrated up through her breasts and reverberated against his chest. “How much do you want me?”
“Ren, damn it, give me what’s mine. You know I want you.”
Moving his hands to hold her ass still, he covered her lips with his in a blistering kiss. When he
shoved his tongue inside the warm recess, he thrust his cock deep into her cunt. The taste of himself in her mouth drove him over the edge.
He slammed into her over and over, the shelves rocking and books tumbling to the floor around his feet. It didn’t slow him down a bit and he never missed a stroke. In and out he drove deep inside her, taking what belonged to him and his shepherd. “Mine, you’ll always be mine.”
“Oooh, Ren, harder, I want to come.”
He gave her what she asked for and more. The smell of sex floated through the air and called to his animal. Squeezing her butt cheeks, he continued to pump inside her until his balls felt like they were going to burst.
When Margy’s orgasm slid over his cock, he responded with his own stream of cum that ran forever. The animal in him expressed his pleasure at having what it wanted in the only way possible. Ren threw his head back and released a howl that shook the shelves and showered more books down around their feet. Going down to his knees, he never let her go. “God, I love you.” He sighed. He knew this could very well be the last time he had her.
Pushing books out of the way, he piled his clothes on the floor and sat her on them.
“Where’s Sherpa, Ren?”
* * *
What he’d alluded to was unbelievable but Margy had to know the truth. His vague reference to the supernatural, his comment on genetic research, it all meant something. “I love you. I’m not sure if it’s enough but it’s all we have.”
Ren remained on his knees in front of her and never spoke a word but she heard him struggling. His breath came in short gasps. The popping and scraping sound made her cringe against the shelf. Afraid to reach out and touch him, she sat very still.
When a cold nose brushed against her arm, Margy jumped an inch off the floor. Holy shit! It was Sherpa. He nudged her hand to rest on his head. She stroked the side of the shepherd’s face and pushed her fingers through the fur on his back.
This was Ren. This was the man who had just made love to her and, God, the pain he must have endured. The meaning of his family name struck her like a bolt of lightning. Alsatian. German shepherd. “Oh, Ren.” Margy leaned in and kissed the dog’s head.
Shepherd’s Watch: Serviced Page 4