63 Days Later: A Holiday Tail

by Adrienne Wilder

  “Why don't you let Kathy give you a ride home, and you can take a break? You’re tired.”

  “I’m good.”

  Dr. Winston put the cans in the trash.

  August stifled a yawn.

  “You’ve been here four days August. She’s through the worst. She did great for surgery. Go home for a while, take a break.”

  “She might need to be walked.”

  “That’s why I have staff.”

  August ran his hand down Daisy’s strong leg. A bare patch had been shaved just above her ankle where they’d taped the IV during surgery. All the hair on her belly was gone too, but the incision was hidden between her swollen breasts. But it was there. August had watched as Dr. Winston removed the infected tissue.

  “Keegan is probably worried about you.”

  There was no probable about it. The last time Keegan had come into the clinic to bring August lunch he’d had two black eyes from the lack of sleep, been pale, and had his shirt buttoned wrong. After that August had told Keegan to quit trying to drive to the clinic twice a day to bring him something to eat and clean clothes and just concentrate on the puppies.

  “August.” Dr. Winston knelt beside Daisy. She wagged her tail at the vet. “She’ll be fine. Her fever is gone, she’s eating.” Dr. Winston chuckled. “You can take one day away. I promise she’ll be okay without you and she won’t hold a grudge.”

  Daisy turned her attention to August. She pushed him with a foot and snorted.

  “You sure you’re okay.”

  She snorted again.

  “And you promise not to give anyone a hard time.”

  Daisy gave a dramatic yawn.

  “Okay. Just for a little while.”

  Daisy squinted at him.

  “All night?”

  She made a grumbling howl.

  “One night only. Then you come home.” August looked at the vet.

  “She should be able to go home in the morning. I just want her to stay another night to get more antibiotics in her and to make sure she’s hydrated.”

  August kissed Daisy on the muzzle, and she slapped him on the cheek with her tongue. “Hey now, I know where that mouth has been. No kissing.” He stood, and so did Dr. Winston. “Are you sure you don’t—”

  She pushed him towards the door. “Go August. Get some sleep. Enjoy some time with Keegan. It’ll be Christmas soon.”

  August walked to the front desk expecting to wait on Kathy, but the short, plump woman was already heading his way with her keys in her hand. The Santa hat she wore fell forward, and she pushed it back. “Are you ready to go?” She stopped beside him. Her cheeks were almost as red as her hat.

  “I guess so since I’ve been voted off the island.”

  “Aww, it’s not all bad. You get to go home and get some rest.” She put her arm through Augusts and walked him out of the clinic. “You can even get a shower.”

  “I don’t smell that bad.”

  “I don’t know, the kennel help walked around for an hour this morning trying to find a pile of hidden dog poo.”

  August sniffed his shirt. “I do not smell like dog shit.”

  “No, but you are a wee bit ripe.” She stopped beside a blue hatchback. “It’s a tad cramped, but it will ride.”

  August got in, and his shins hit the dash.

  “You can push that seat back if you want. Lever’s on the side.”

  August did, and only his knees touched. It wasn’t much, but he’d take it. Luckily, the drive wasn’t that far.

  Kathy started up her little hatchback and pulled out of the parking lot. “Good thing you and Keegan can’t have kids together.”

  August made a face. “Why?”

  “We’d wind up overrun by a race of giants. Very handsome giants, but giants.”

  “I’ll have to tell him you said that.” August laughed.

  The piles of snow edging the road had gained several inches since yesterday. And it wasn’t even supposed to snow.

  “Have you decided what you’re going to do with the puppies?” Kathy pulled up behind a tractor.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, are you going to adopt them out?”

  August hadn’t really thought about it.

  “I’m sure you’d want to keep one…or two.”

  One or two. Keegan would die. August grinned. “Yeah, I’ll probably keep at least one.”

  “Do you need help finding homes?”

  Kathy passed the tractor as soon as the road was clear.

  “I'm not sure. Daisy’s a wolf, these will be wolf-dog mixes or wolf-coyote mixes. Keegan said there are wolves here but rare, and most of them are wolf-coyote mixes.”

  “I know a lady who runs a wolf breeding program. You know to re-introduce wolves into the wild. If they’re really wolf-coyote mixes, she might be willing to help place some of them.”

  And what would happen to them once they were out in the wild? August knew. He’d lived it for a year. Nature wielded a heavy hand and was not fair. His insides curled at the idea of sending Daisy’s pups to live in the woods. Homes would be better. But wolves were not pets, and Daisy was a fluke.

  “You don’t have to decide right now.” Kathy exited the secondary highway and turned onto the desolate paved road that ended at the large stretch of land August owned.

  “I know. It’s just… They’re Daisy’s pups.”

  “Yeah. I get that. Who knows, maybe Keegan knows some dog voodoo, and he can get them to turn out like their mom.”

  August laughed. “Dog voodoo?”

  “He lived in the Alaskan wilderness with animals, right? For like what? Twenty years?”

  “Ten. And how did you know he lived in Alaska?”

  “Google.” Kathy grinned.

  August shook his head. “Google?”

  “Okay, I overheard Dr. Winston talking to Dr. Anderson. He said he recommended you guys bring Daisy to her clinic and gave her the down low about her being a Timber Wolf.” Kathy shrugged. “Then I Googled you.”

  August could only guess what was out there about the both of them. Especially with everything that had happened in those first six months they’d been back. The FBI, prison, Dan, the whole mess with movie producers and the lawsuit over the unsolicited autobiography. They’d managed to keep the books off the shelf, but a few had fallen into the public’s hands. Except for the part about being in Alaska, every bit of it was a damn lie. But there wasn’t much August and Keegan could do about it. August hadn’t cared what had been written about him. But there were things written about Keegan that still haunted him.

  True events that had been spun in horrific directions.

  Kathy slowed the car as they approached the private road that served as a long driveway. “This the right one?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You should put a road sign up.” She pointed to the large private property sign tacked to a fence post. “That just makes people curious about who lives down here.”

  “So far people have left us alone.” For the most part.

  Another fifteen minutes and the log cabin broke through the trees. When August had told the builder what he wanted the man had insisted the design was too simple, too small, too…dull.

  August was glad he’d stuck with it. All that golden wood, with its green tin roof. Sure, the place was small in comparison to what he could have bought, but it was more than enough for him and Keegan.

  Kathy stopped beside the car parked in front of the house. August got out. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “Sure, anytime. If you need me to pick you up to bring Daisy home just call.”

  “I shouldn’t. But if I do, I will.” August shut the door, and Kathy did a lap around the circular driveway and disappeared between the clumps of trees as she headed back up the gravel drive.

  August went inside.

  The warm glow of Christmas lights cast broken shadows across the living room mixing with the jump and dance of the fire in the woodstove. Au
gust took off his coat, hung it on the hook by the door and kicked off his boots.

  August walked into the living room. “Ke—”

  Keegan sat inside a large wooden box propped up against the side with his long legs hanging over the edge of one of the box walls. His eyes were closed, and there was a bottle in one hand leaking milk onto his long johns. Cradled in his other arm a very fat contented puppy. The rest of them were corralled in a fleece blanket and occupying his lap.

  Every so often he would exhale a soft snore. August kneeled beside the box next to Keegan.

  A rail wrapped around the inside of the box a few inches above the bottom. August realized Keegan had built a whelping box. But when? It had to be between feeding puppies. Three bags of unopened milk replacer sat in the recliner. And the bottle in his hand was larger than the ones August had picked out.

  There was only one way he could have gotten that. He’d gone to the city and into the Pet Superstore by himself.

  August swallowed around the lump in his throat. Keegan had done all that for Daisy’s pups.

  August ran his fingers through Keegan’s unruly hair. “Hey, sleeping beauty.”

  He opened his eyes and looked at August. Recognition replaced confusion. “Is Daisy okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s good. Surgery went well. Dr. Winston seems to think she’ll be able to come home tomorrow.”

  He wrinkled his brow. “Wait, how did you get here?”

  “Kathy, one of the techs gave me a ride.” August took the bottle from Keegan’s hand and set it beside the whelping box. “Seems I’ve worn out my welcome. I’ve been sent home with orders to spend time with you and bathe.”

  Keegan sat up a little. The puppy in the crook of his arm barked. Keegan put it with the others in his lap and moved them with the blanket to the open space in the box.

  August stood. “Need help up?”

  “Probably. I think my ass is numb.” He held out a hand and August pulled Keegan as he staggered to his feet. He stepped out of the box.

  August leaned against him. “When did you find the time to build a whelping box?”

  “When they slept. It didn’t take long. I already had the wood cut. I hope you don’t mind. I know you liked them under the tree but—”

  August covered Keegan’s mouth with his own. The sigh Keegan breathed loosened his entire body.

  He wrapped his arms around August. “I missed you.” Keegan brushed his lips against August’s chin. “I’ve missed you so damn much.”

  “Only been four days.” August pressed himself against Keegan. The man’s cock was already hard and trying to pop the buttons in the gap of his long johns.

  “Might as well have been four weeks.”

  August pushed his hands down the back of Keegan’s long johns and squeezed the globes of his ass.

  “Okay, four months.” Keegan sucked on August’s earlobe.

  “You sure it wasn’t four years.”

  “Mmm—might have been. Whatever it was it was too long.” Keegan kissed his way down August’s neck.

  “You feel up to a shower?” August gripped Keegan’s cock through his long johns.

  “Yeah.” Keegan moved forward forcing August to walk backwards.

  “You wouldn’t be thinking about doing anything inappropriate, would you?”

  “Definitely.” Keegan pulled August’s shirt off. “Very inappropriate and probably illegal in some states.”

  August laughed.

  They stepped into the bathroom and Keegan trapped August against the sink. There he paused, holding August’s face in his hands, tracing the line of his jaw. Keegan’s dark gaze burrowed into August eviscerating his soul.

  August pushed Keegan’s long johns to his hips. “If we’re going to take a shower you need to get undressed. Or would you rather take a bath?”

  “Bath.” Keegan pressed his lips against August’s forehead. That one touch, that one simple bit of contact, blazed through August with more heat than any brutal kiss. Keegan stepped back and stripped off his clothes. August did the same.

  Keegan turned on the water.

  The bathroom was the one thing August had splurged on. It was as large as most small bedrooms, with sand colored tile accented with shades of peach. Alaska had given August a new appreciation of a lot of things he’d taken for granted. But the ability to have hot water and bathe at any time was at the top of his list.

  The shower had five jets, all of them independently adjustable and there were benches to sit on…or use for other things.

  August had never been much of a bath person, but for a while, soaking neck deep in water had been all he had wanted. The tub was positioned on the opposite side of the walk-in shower. It had been special ordered to be comfortable for both of them, almost twice as long as the average spa tub and significantly deeper. Sixteen jets and a secondary heater to keep the water at the perfect temperature had been worth every penny.

  August climbed in and sat. Steam rolled off the surface. He adjusted the temperature kicking up the hot water a few notches.

  Keegan gave him a funny look. “Are we bathing or making human soup?”

  “I like my water hot.”

  “There’s hot, and then there’s soup.” He reached for the cold water spigot. August caught Keegan by the wrist and pulled his hand to his face. August sucked Keegan’s first finger hard enough to make his lips pop when he pulled it from his mouth.

  The flush in Keegan’s cheeks had nothing to do with the steam filling up the room.

  “Get in the tub.” August scooted back and widened his legs.

  Keegan stepped into the tub and hissed. “That’s really hot.”

  August slapped him on the ass cheek. “You’re really hot, but I never complain.”

  Keegan lowered himself. He made a very unmanly sound as soon as his nuts hit the water.

  August laughed. “Did you just squeal?”

  “No.”

  “You did. I heard you. You totally squealed.”

  “The water is damn hot. Why do you always want it like this?”

  “It’s not hot. You just spent too much time in Alaska bathing in a creek.” August pinched Keegan’s butt cheek. “When you bathed.”

  “Yeah, well you try taking a bath when it’s twenty degrees out.” Keegan slowly sat. Another high-pitched whine leaked from behind his clenched teeth. “Fuck, August…”

  “Is that a request?” He nuzzled the nape of Keegan’s neck. He leaned back against August, and he rested his heels on Keegan’s shins.

  Keegan ran his fingers down the mass of scar tissue on August’s leg all the way to his disfigured toes. His expression tightened, and his mouth made a thin line.

  “Quit, Keegan. It wasn’t your fault.” If anything, Keegan’s care had save August’s life.

  “You sure you don’t want the surgery?”

  “It’s more like a dozen surgeries over several years, and no, I don’t.” August petted Keegan’s chest, following the years he’d lived in the bush etched into his skin. “How many times do I have to tell you I earned those scars, just like you earned yours. I’m not ashamed of them.”

  Some of the tension melted from Keegan’s shoulders.

  The churn of water filling the tub echoed off the tile.

  “You can turn it off now,” August said.

  Keegan sat up enough to shut the water off then was back in August’s arms. How was it possible for Keegan to feel so good pressed against August’s chest? Not just pleasing in a tactile sense but perfect in the way that suggested August had been waiting for these moments his entire life.

  “Thank you for taking care of Daisy’s puppies.” August kissed Keegan’s shoulder.

  “It was either feed them or listen to them scream.”

  “C’mon, admit it, you love them.”

  Keegan tipped his head back enough for their gazes to meet. “Yeah, I love them. I love Daisy too. And most of all I love you.”

  August lapped at Keegan’s mouth.
“Say it again.”

  “I love you.”

  “My favorite three little words.” August swept his hands down Keegan’s body to his cock. The thick length filled his palm, the girth almost too big for him to get his fingers all the way around. August rocked against Keegan’s back getting just enough friction to tease to life a flame of pleasure. Their mouths met again, their tongues swept together, then the kiss turned sloppy and brutal. August stroked Keegan’s dick, concentrating on the fat head and teasing the slit with his thumb.

  Keegan groaned a deep feral sound. It reached inside August sliding down his spine, spreading through his legs.

  “I want you,” August said against Keegan’s mouth. “I want to fuck you.”

  Keegan kissed August hard enough to make his lips ache. “Anything you want.”

  August urged Keegan forward onto his knees. Waters sluiced down his muscled back, over the curve of his ass and down his powerful thighs. The position gave August a beautiful view of the man’s hole. He rubbed his fingers over the puckered ring and Keegan rocked back.

  August moved his touch lower to the soft spot behind Keegan’s balls. He massaged with enough force to dimple the skin. Keegan shuddered.

  “I think you’re turning into a bottom.” August nipped Keegan’s butt cheek and got to his knees. There was a bottle of lubricant next to the liquid soap sitting on the corner of the tub. He grabbed it. “If only I was strong enough to fuck you against the wall.”

  Keegan dropped his head.

  “That thought turn you on?” August dribbled the lubricant over Keegan’s hole and chased it with his fingers.

  “Yes.”

  “Guess I better start weight lifting then.” August pushed in a finger.

  “More.” Keegan arched back, the muscles along his shoulders cut stark lines under his skin. Even a year and a half out of the Alaska bush hadn’t softened him.

  August gave Keegan two fingers and thrust while raking his teeth over the back of Keegan’s neck. “You are so goddamned gorgeous.”

  Keegan turned his head enough to show the doubt in his expression.

  “You don’t believe me?” August removed his fingers and smeared more lubricant over his cock. He set the bottle back on the ledge. “You don’t really think I’d lie to you, do you?”