by R. Casteel
Lobo stood at his side sniffing the bag.
“Okay, you can ride up front, I’m sure there’s enough for you, too.” He opened the door and Lobo hopped in.
“Be careful.” Bill stuck his hand out and Taren gripped it firmly with his. “There’s a storm front moving in.”
They stood there for several seconds, their hands clasped as they peered steadfast into each other’s eyes.
“I will.” Taren slid behind the wheel and closed the door. As he pulled out of the driveway, he glanced in the side mirror and saw Jeanie step out of the house. In the glow of the porch light, he saw her wipe her face. Sis, what is it you’re not telling me?
* * * * *
Taren pulled into the parking lot where just weeks before they had taken their attackers’ vehicle. The light snow that had started falling as he left his sister’s place was now landing heavily on his windshield. During the last couple miles the visibility had been minimal. Stepping out of the truck the silence engulfed him. It was nearly impossible to distinguish any difference between the ground and sky. Twenty feet from the truck and he would be lost in a world of eerie white.
Taking the heavy snowsuit from behind the seat, he slipped it on and zipped up the legs. Lowering the ramp, he uncovered the snowmobile and climbed on. The engine cranked over with the first try. Backing the unit off the trailer, he took his packs and secured them to the seat.
“Lobo, come here girl.” He squatted down and rubbed the wolf behind her ears. “I hope you can understand me. I won’t be able to see anything out there. You’ve got to stay close so I can see you.” Taren stared into big soft brown eyes, hoping she understood, “I have to follow you, or I won’t make it.”
Throwing a leg over the seat, he pulled the helmet over his head and slid his hands into the insulated covers of the controls. Taren opened the throttle and the snowmobile’s wide belt dug into the snow, moving him through the all-encompassing shroud of white. Lobo struggled through the deepening snow, sinking to her belly with every leap. Trees appeared in front of him without warning as if cast there by magic, leaving precious seconds for him to maneuver out of the way. He ducked tree limbs bent under the weight of the snow. The slightest movement of a branch would send its precariously balanced load crashing down on top of him.
Taren’s helmet hit a large branch and he was covered with the snow that fell. He shook it off and looked around. Lobo had disappeared from view. Calculating his position was impossible with no landmarks to go by. Glancing at the compass, he knew he was headed in the right direction, but he could be anywhere in the valley. The speed had been slowed down considerably as he blindly followed behind the wolf. He pulled up, shut the engine off and removed his helmet. Once again, he was amazed at the silence that surrounded him. Taking the thermos of coffee he poured a cup and sat with one leg propped on the cowling as he sipped the steaming liquid.
“Lobo!” he yelled. “Lobo, come her girl!”
From up ahead came a muffled cry of pain.
Panic surged through him as he listened to the whimper.
Starting the engine, Taren headed in the direction of Lobo’s cries. He stopped, turned off the engine and listened. “Lobo,” he called out again.
The cry of the wolf was close.
He spotted the wolf’s tracks in the snow and followed them on foot. Struggling through the deep snow he came to where the wolf lay, her front leg caught in the steel-toothed jaws of a trap. Anger surged through him. This type of trap had been outlawed for years. Their massive teeth chewed flesh and broke bones, causing cruel torture and eventually, a slow agonizing death.
“Easy girl…easy there, let me take a look at you.” He lowered his voice and tried to make it soothing to calm the frightened, hurt animal. Cautiously he approached and Lobo quit thrashing about. Blood flowed from around the jagged steel mouth of the trap turning the snow bright burgundy. “I know it hurts, Lobo. Just a minute and I’ll have this nasty trap off.”
Taren pried the trap open as gently as he could, hoping that with the sudden pain caused by the moving steel, she wouldn’t attack him. Lobo yelped and spun her head around but kept her mouth closed.
As her leg was released, Lobo yelped again and scrambled away. Unable to walk on her injured front leg, she limped, leaving a trail of fresh blood with every step.
“No, Lobo!” He tossed the trap aside and went to her. “Let me look at you, girl. You’re in no shape to be walking around now. Lie down, girl, that’s the way.” Being careful with the injured leg he checked to see the extent of damage done by the outlawed trap.
“You were lucky, girl. Yes, you were. Your leg is cut real bad but I don’t think there are any bones broken.” He found a handkerchief and bound the torn flesh. “Lobo, stay. I’ll be back.” He started to walk away and Lobo raised her head. “No, Lobo, stay.”
When Lobo laid her head back in the snow, Taren turned and followed his footsteps back to the snowmobile. Climbing on the seat, he stared the engine and drove to where Lobo lay.
“Good girl.” Taren pulled an artic tent from a pack and quickly set it up. Lobo watched his every move. Taking the backpack from the snowmobile, he crawled inside. He turned around and Lobo had her head stuck through the opening.
“Come here, Lobo.” He patted the tent floor beside him.
Lobo limped over, lay down and placed her head on Taren’s leg.
He gently stroked the wolf’s head. “I know it hurts. Soon as it quits snowing I’ll take you to Taneika.” Taking the remains of the sack lunch that Jeanie had given him, he fed Lobo. When it was all gone, Lobo licked his hand.
He was reminded of another time when he had fed Lobo, and Taneika had licked the juice from his fingers and the passion that followed. That seemed such a long time ago with all that had happened since.
The wind picked up, howling through the trees, buffeting the tent. Taren looked outside. The snow was swirling through the trees and had drifted over the snowmobile leaving only a small portion of the nose cowling exposed.
“Well girl, it looks like we are going to spend the night here.” He rolled out the sleeping bag, covered Lobo with his coat and settled down to wait the dawn and hopefully the end of the storm.
He wasn’t sure what woke him, the lack of wind and the calm that follows a storm, Lobo’s movement or the sound from the tent door being slowly unzipped. Taren inched his hand out and secured his revolver. After his near death brush with the mob, it was never far from his reach.
The tent was illuminated with the soft glow of a full moon. The sight of tangled matted hair filling the door caused him to gasp. With the eyes of a half-crazed beast and lips pulled back into a vicious snarl, she stared at him.
“Taneika!”
Chapter 17
Her eyes flashed to Lobo and then riveted on him.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed. “Lobo, come.”
Lobo scooted over, nudged Taren’s hand up with her nose and slid her head under his arm.
Taneika’s eyes widened and her nostrils flared as she looked at Lobo and then back to him. Her eyes narrowed at Lobo’s seeming betrayal.
“Same thing I’ve been doing ever since you left. Looking for you.”
She stayed on her knees in the low tent; her firm breasts rose and fell with each breath. She was within reach of his other hand but he resisted the desire to pull her to him.
“Why all the concern? Surely you can find someone else to fill your bed. You can always go back to Linda.”
“If I’d wanted Linda, I’d never have broken up with her. I was a rung on the ladder, a stopping place until she could find a more influential partner.” He ran his fingers slowly through the wolf’s thick winter coat.
There was a nervous tension in the air. Almost like an electric current, it flowed and swept around them.
“Is that what I am to you, a rung on your ladder, another notch in your belt? You’ve taken my virginity and it appears the loyalty of Lobo. What else do you want
?”
“No, not a single rung…you’re the whole ladder, and I have no desire for any more notches in my belt. Why did you run out before we could do that test you wanted?”
“I found the trap. How’s Lobo’s leg?”
Taren smiled at her avoidance of the question. “No bones were broken but the skin and muscles are badly damaged. It could have been worse. With proper care, she should be fine. Now, answer my question.”
Why did you bring Taren here?
The wolf raised her head. You were lonely and unhappy. You needed your mate.
I’ve told you, Taren is not my mate.
‘Woof.’
“Quiet.” Taneika ordered.
She turned her attention back to Taren. “Why did I run? I thought you wanted to help, that you cared. When you didn’t agree, I realized you didn’t. No…let me finish. How long would you want me around if I couldn’t control what happens inside? I would rather end our…relationship now, my way, than see your pity and scorn later.”
“Taneika…”
She shifted on her knees leaning forward and held up her hand. “I’m not finished.”
Lobo edged away from him and crept around the edge of the tent towards the door. Taren thought she was going outside. Lobo turned and jumped on Taneika’s back, sending her sprawling across his sleeping bag and into his arms.
“Seems like Lobo knows where you belong better than you do.” He took her mouth in a hot, explosive kiss. She pushed against him and struggled to get free. He felt the moment she gave in and he changed his kiss to a tender caress as he ran his hands slowly up and down the curve of her back.
“I do care about you,” he said between kisses. “You surprised me at the clinic.” He kissed the side of her face and down her neck. “If you would’ve stuck around for another minute I’d have told you that I’d do what ever it took to help.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I think you were scared at the thought of not being able to control this changing that happens. So you panicked, took the easy way out and ran back to what was known and comfortable.
“I’m sorry you thought I didn’t care. Forgive me for giving that impression. I do care, very much. I haven’t slept much since you left. I’ve been worried, thinking about you out in the mountains during the winter.” He rolled over, pinning Taneika with his arm across her waist. “What would happen to you, if you were hurt, alone and no way to get help?”
Lowering his head, he took the nipple of her left breast with his mouth. She gasped and arched beneath him. He felt her body quiver as he circled the hardened nipple with his tongue. His hand slid down her waist, his fingers sought the warm silky folds of her womanhood and she opened her legs to give him access. Her hands took hold of his hair, pulling him from her breast. The kiss was explosive.
The moment his lips met hers she knew resistance was futile. This is where she wanted to be. Here was the passion, the excitement that she craved. She felt the tenderness with which he caressed her body and the explosive thrill when his fingers delved into her moist womanly folds of sensitive flesh.
She felt her heart rate increase and the pounding at her temples grew. Control, she must maintain control. Taneika focused on her breathing, taking slow, deep breaths to slow her heart rate down. Her hands worked quickly to remove the clothes that Taren was wearing. Her hand brushed his hardness and she wrapped her fingers around his hot length.
With a quick shove, Taren was on his back and she was sitting astride his hips. A sensuous gleam and a wicked smile was all the warning she received before he grabbed her legs and pulled her forward. As his mouth covered her, his tongue found entrance to the burning core of her passion. A cry of joy and need filled her soul and spilled out to fill the small tent.
Higher and higher she flew as his tongue stroked her sensitive inner flesh. She was floating on a wild erotic cloud. Her back touched the sleeping bag and she opened her eyes. Taren was on top of her. As he smiled, she felt the velvet tip of his hardness slowly slide deep within her.
With his throbbing length fully sheathed inside her, he took her mouth in a tender kiss. At the contact of his chest against her sensitive breasts, she wrapped her legs around his hips. The muscles surrounding her vagina constricted, locking him inside her.
“Ahh,” he groaned. “I love it when you do that.”
“You mean, this?” She flexed the muscles surrounding him and sent a rippling wave of motion along his hard shaft.
He gasped. “Yes.”
She pulled his head down and sought his mouth. Tenderness was gone, replaced by wanton desire. But even in the heat of passion came the warning. Stay in control.
Ever so slowly at first, he withdrew and then began the exotic pleasure of filling her again. The pace he set was torture, keeping her on the threshold of release but not taking her beyond. Using her legs she pulled him deeper inside her, meeting each thrust with a need that threatened to unleash the wolf from within.
She felt the hot explosion of his seed deep within her. Her body responded with a shattering climax that sent supercharged signals to every part of her being. The cry of release from pent-up frustration, fueled by the power of their union and its joy ripped from her chest, filled the tent and echoed in the valley.
Lobo howled.
“Quiet.” They both spoke at once.
Lobo lay down and covered her nose with her one good, front paw.
Taren and Taneika laughed at Lobo.
He reached down, grabbed the flap of the sleeping bag, and covered them, zipping them both inside a cocoon of warmth.
“Are you okay, my love?” Taren whispered.
“Yes.” Her heart swelled. My love. She snuggled closer, fitting her body to his. “Perfectly okay.”
“I’ve missed you, Little Wolf.” Taren said drowsily and then fell into the first peaceful sleep he had had in weeks.
“And I you, my dearest.” Taneika kissed his cheek and ran her fingers lightly down his back. She would savor his nearness while she could. For the moment, it was enough to know she was loved and wanted.
She had been doing a lot of inner searching. As she attempted to put the pieces of her life’s puzzle in place, the picture that was forming frightened her. Growing up in a world of superstition and fables, she was afraid to voice her fear out loud lest its very mention cause it to be a nightmarish reality.
A whine at the tent flap announced the arrival of Lobo’s mate. She reached out, unzipped the door and let the wolf in.
* * * * *
The sun was shining brightly the next morning when Taren opened his eyes. Lying there alone in his sleeping bag, he thought at first he might have dreamed Taneika’s presence beside him in the night. But no dream could be that real.
Wood smoke drifted through the open tent flap and with it the aroma of meat cooking on an open fire. Rising up on his elbow, he watched her as she sat naked, cross-legged before the fire. He shivered at the thought of her hot little love box buried in the snow. She had bathed and her hair sparkled from the ice crystals that had formed. The wildness was gone from her eyes and there was a happy contented smile on her face.
“Morning, Little Wolf.”
“Morning?” she laughed. “I think you need to check the time again. This isn’t breakfast.”
He glanced up momentarily at the sun shining directly overhead. “No, I guess it isn’t. How’s Lobo doing?”
“With proper medical care she could be all right. But the way it is now,” sadness crept in her voice and she shook her head, “she won’t be able to use it very much in the future.”
“That settles it then,” he started getting dressed, “I’ll take her into town to the vet’s office.”
“We’ll both go,” Taneika stated. “I’ll hold Lobo while you drive the snowmobile to the truck.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” He ran his eyes appreciatively over her opulent nakedness.
“What?” She took the meat from the fire and carried him a plate.
&
nbsp; “Oh, nothing too major, really.” He grinned. “Unless you don’t have any clothes to wear.”
“Once we get to the truck I’ll put your snowsuit on.”
Taren laughed as he ate the hot flavorful meat.
“What’s so funny?”
“The thought of you wearing a size large snowsuit. Don’t forget to roll the pant legs up or you will trip and fall.”
Taneika laughed with him. “You have a better solution?”
“No, not right now I don’t.” He finished eating, set the plate aside and stood to his feet. “Let’s break camp and head back to Red Rock. We should be able to catch the doc before he closes.”
With the fire out and the bags packed, Taneika climbed on the snowmobile and took Lobo from Taren’s arms.
“Come here,” she called to Lobo’s mate.
“You stay near the cabin.” She looked into the male’s bright inquisitive eyes. “As soon as Lobo’s able to travel, she’ll come back.”
The wolf licked Lobo’s face and whined.
“Ready?” Taren asked. He climbed on, started the engine and headed back towards the truck.
They arrived at the truck to find a snowplow had been through and he suspected Bill had something to do with the cleared path to his truck. He loaded the trailer and gave Taneika his snowsuit. Giving Lobo a helping hand into the truck, he cleared the windows and hood of snow.
“All set,” he said as he climbed in and started the engine. He patted Lobo’s head. “Hang in there, girl, we’ll get you sewed up good as new.” He backed out and headed to town.
Taren pulled into the parking lot and hopped out. Before he could open the passenger door Taneika was out of truck and helping Lobo. “Want me to carry her in?”
“I offered,” she shrugged her shoulders. “She doesn’t want to be carried.” Taneika sat Lobo on the ground and watched as she limped towards the door.
Inside the doc’s clinic, Lobo received some frightened looks from customers waiting to have their pets seen. Taren laughed at one woman who scooped her little Pug off the floor and held it securely between her ample breasts. A large tabby cat arched its back and hissed. Its hair stood straight up like it had just gotten a charge of static electricity.