by Susan Firtik
"Calm down, honey. Why don't you make us some tea and heat up some of those scones you like?” She had to keep Netta busy.
It helped to keep her panic under control. Breathe. Big deep breath. Better. Keaton! His name popped into her mind, as it often did, but this time she felt she should contact him for help. Even if he couldn’t or wouldn’t, he might know someone who could. Problem was, she didn’t have his number, except for the clinic and that was now closed. And now it was almost 3:00 a.m. Shit.
Netta sat in her special chair sipping tea, having finally settled down a little. Lina suggested she go to bed, knowing it would be a long night for both of them, sure neither of them would get any sleep. Lina took her tea to the front porch, where a gentle breeze was created by the new ceiling fans. Even after the night they’d had, she felt at peace out here. She stood listening to the silence. The night was a little too quiet. No insects buzzing, creaking or chirping and the usual grunt or growl of the gators, frogs, and other amphibians was missing. Now the hair on her head did the goose bump rise, as it had at the fiasco earlier. Was it Martiss? Was it something just as evil or dangerous? She sensed movement before she saw anything, then heard a thought in her head.
"Don't be afraid lil’ one, it's only me.” Her wolf! Okay, not “hers” but she had spoken to it first! She giggled. Nerves.
"What brings you here, wolf?"
"I sensed the quiet and felt you worrying. Feel better now?”
He was walking the yard as if to check the perimeter. He still seemed so familiar to her. She felt comfortable around him. It was so unreal. The last few days had been a nightmare. She was probably going into shock now that she had come down from the adrenaline rush. She sat down hard, before she fell down. Good thing she did because she fainted just as her butt hit the step.
She awoke with the wolf licking her face, “talking” to her in soothing tones.
"Stay still, little one. Just take a deep breath, and relax until you feel better." She was pale and shaking.
"What happened? Did I really faint like a sissy girl??” She heard the wolf chuckle.
"If you say so, but yes, you fainted, but only for a minute."
She couldn’t help but smile and touched the soft fur behind his ears. His eyes were a green she’d seen before but couldn’t place. The only green eyes she could remember were not here. Yet she felt safe even knowing he was a dangerous animal. He was huge for a wolf and she felt so tiny near him. There was just something about him. He even smelled familiar.
She held him around the neck and breathed him in. The wolf made a growling noise, she knew wasn’t a warning but a sound of pleasure. His scent was so familiar...woodsy...then in a flash and without knowing exactly how...she just knew.
"Keaton!" It hit her like a sucker punch. She was trying to scramble away from him, knowing she was right.
"Yes, Angel.”
Now she really could faint! She was shaking so hard she couldn’t stand. She was eye to eye with a huge wolf who just happened to be a human. Or was he? A man or wolf that she’d kissed and more. Oh Lord! And he was a... a....werewolf?
"What are you? I mean, are you a werewolf? Or are you a wolf that changes into a human? Or what am I saying? Well, of course, you’re a wolf. I see you, I touched you. And Keaton, the man? Oh my God. He was with me, and I was...my mouth was... Oh God."
She groaned and held her head in her hands, covering her face. Then she heard him in her mind just like she could with most animals. That made her feel a little green around the gills, because she had totally different thought about him.
Sensing her thoughts he told her, "I am a man when I’m with you, Angel. I am a wolf when I’m with you. The two are together and yet separate. They are who I am. The wolf will always protect you. The man will always want you. I am both."
Okay, could he be any more vague? Yet she understood what he was saying in a way. So he was both wolf and man. Which was his normal form? Was either form normal? Now what?
"Can you change back to a man? Right now?”
His wolf just... grinned? The air around him shimmered in an iridescent rainbow and with a slight whooshing sound; he was quickly changed back into the human form she recognized as Keaton. A totally naked Keaton! "No wonder you were grinning, you devil!"
She was amused. And maybe she was a little aroused also. How could she be so calm about this? In the last few days, a witch, and a vampire had invaded their simple lives and now Keaton’s other side was a wolf. Things she wasn’t sure existed, but might have had a hint of existing…in story books. As bizarre as it was knowing about them for sure, it was beginning to seem the norm.
"I guess I could have mentioned that, but my people, the shape shifters, don’t think about nudity as anything other than another form.” Nice form, she thought.
Keaton grabbed his hidden backpack from the front bushes and pulled on a pair of worn jeans. Not much relief for her libido, because the picture of him naked was burned into her brain. She loved the way his chest muscles moved when he used his fabulous arms. He was pulling a t-shirt over his head and she was disappointed he hadn’t stayed shirtless. It was a very nice view. She wanted to touch.
"Keep that look on your face, Angel and I won’t be responsible for my behavior."
She melted as he smiled his perfect smile and made her mind race. "What would happen, Keaton? Would you carry me upstairs again? Or would we stay here on the porch? Worried someone might see us?”
She could see the pulse in his neck and knew it indicated he wanted to act on all of those ideas. The erection he sported was probably another indication, and Lina already knew first hand it was impressive! His eyes took on that glow she’d noticed when she first met him. He growled as he walked toward her with a determined step.
“I knew you growled! I thought I was hearing things at first. It’s quite a turn on ya know?”
He was inches away and placed his hands on her shoulders then began running them down her arms and back up. Keaton then cupped her face between his hands and kissed her very softly, gently, and tenderly. He pulled back to look into her eyes, clouded now with hunger and need.
"Lina, my Angel, this is so wrong and yet it is so right. I can’t stay away from you, but I bring more danger to you and your sisters. But I had to see you. It’s beyond my power to resist you. I hope I didn’t scare you. I wanted to tell you what I was before now, but how do you tell someone, ‘Hey, by the way… I’m a werewolf,’ or that you are not exactly human?”
He was searching her eyes for answers. He saw concern and caring, so he continued.
“I will have to leave, no matter how much my heart and body want to stay with you. And I must leave, Angel. I have an important task to complete and I cannot fail. But once I’m done with that…I’ll be back, just for you.”
"I want as much as you’ll let me have, Keaton. I care very much for you too. I don’t know how or why you came to me or why you feel as you do towards me, but I don’t want to be without you any longer. My heart already aches when you’re not around. You’ve been honest with me, and although I appreciate that...enough talking. Take me, anywhere. Love me for now, for as long as I can have you."
His arms captured her lithe body as his mouth claimed hers. The world ceased to exist. His hot mouth was possessive, crushing hers, forcing her to open to his search. She met him move-for-move and soon their tongues were mating as Keaton reached between them and started unbuttoning her blouse. Lina grabbed his hands and pulled hard—her blouse ripping open.
"I hated that blouse...now...even ripped... I think it’s going to be my favorite. Ohhhh yessss...damn Keaton that feels so good! Ohhhh, God.”
Keaton hadn’t stopped at the tearing of fabric but had continued on, latching onto her nipple now visible thru her next-to-nothing white, cotton-lace bra. His hot mouth was doing things to Lina she’d never felt before. She’d never known her nipples were directly connected to her pussy. But with him sucking on them...oh Lord. Her nipples were
pulsing at the same rate as the throbbing between her legs.
"Angel, you have no idea what you do to me! I can’t have you near me without wanting to touch you and kiss every inch of your luscious body. You’re so damn beautiful. I’m in agony right now, you smell so hot. I can smell you want me...say you want me.”
His breathing was coming in rushes. Lina moved her hands to rub against his erection through his jeans.
"I want you! More than I’ve wanted anything."
They fell gently onto the grass, Keaton placing himself underneath his ladylove. Her hair was lit from above and it looked like a halo around her head.
"You look like a real angel right now. You actually have a light-halo. Lina, my God! You can’t be real... I must be dreaming."
She shivered, feeling the tingle down her spine just from the words of love he poured over her. She never thought she was pretty or desirable by any man, until Keaton. She wanted more than anything to believe him. To know he was for real not a dream.
"I’m real, love, are you? How can one man be so completely wonderful and want me...the real me, all of me, just like I am? You’re so hot and sexy, kind and generous. Loyal and an honest-to-God, good man. More man than I’ve ever dreamed of or thought I deserved.”
His eyes glowed as his anger rose to the surface. "I could strangle whoever it was that has you thinking that way! How could they look at you and not see you? You take care of everyone else before yourself. Your eyes make me want to drown in them. You’re tall, sleek, and shapely. Your lips are so damn kissable. I’m going to stop talking now and show you just how kissable they are."
As his head rose up to meet hers, he devoured her mouth and her senses. It was a dream. Yeah, a perfect dream. A dream come true.
"Lina? Are you out there?”
Damn, damn, damn—again? She couldn’t ignore Netta’s call, not only because she was ill, but she realized she shouldn’t be here on the lawn loving Keaton while their sister was missing! She cursed again, but this time at herself for her selfishness.
"I’m sorry Keaton, I shouldn’t be doing this, not now with Tashi missing. I’m angry with myself, not you. But I am sorry we didn’t finish what we just started."
She held on to him breathing in his scent, giving him small kisses up his neck to his jaw then she sat up, touched his lips tenderly watching his eyes go back to their normal green. The glow diminishing as his ardor subsided and his breathing normalized.
"Damn, Angel. I didn’t know! What happened? Tashi's missing? How? Tell me everything."
Netta walked onto the porch in time to see Lina standing up from her position of straddling Keaton and she immediately turned around to go back.
“Stay, Netta. We need to tell Keaton what’s going on with Tashi and see what he can do to help.”
Keaton stood and brushed leaves and twigs off Lina and put his arm around her in a show of possession. Lina blushed bright red and then half-heartedly tried to pull away, but he just grinned and held her tighter, kissing the top of her head.
Netta giggled. "About damn time, Lina."
Lina went into the house for iced tea, cheese, sliced winter sausage, mustard and crackers, and some cubed watermelon. It was one of her favorite summer between-meal snacks. The three of them sat on the porch, munching, sitting at the round table where they had a lot of their meals since the fans had been installed.
"Now, Lina, Netta, give me every single detail you can about the night Tashi was taken.”
They filled him in on everything they could remember. If one missed something, the other could fill in the void. Once the story was told, Lina handed Keaton the letter from Victor. He read the letter then stood up, paced back and forth, stopped in mid-stride to think, and then he resumed pacing.
"Why would the witch want Tashi? I can understand wanting the vampire. They can somehow drain their magic by draining their blood or through some spells or whatnot. I think I should have been told about him before now." He glared at Lina.
"But that’s a discussion for later, because this witch can use his powers and she doesn’t sound like she’s the good witch of the east. I wonder how old or powerful this Victor is anyway. And why would Tashi trust him?”
Lina looked embarrassed.
"The same way I trust you Keaton. I feel it. I know you won’t hurt my family or me. It’s a connection, a knowing of sorts. Tashi has that with Victor."
She was worried she was overstating their current relationship, but Keaton walked to her, sat down and pulled her into his lap, her back to his chest while wrapping his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder, his thumb rubbing her wrist in lazy circles. Driving her crazy was the end result!
"I think I can understand that completely, Angel.”
She’d never had anyone touch her like this. Her wrist was an erogenous zone? Who knew? She felt her shoulders relaxing with his touch. Netta was silent, just watching the interaction between the two across the table.
"You two belong together. You complete each other so effortlessly. I could be very jealous right now, but I’ve got this feeling. Who knows? I think I’m overdue for some happy and content...and I feel it’s coming." She rose to leave them alone. Lina deserved this.
Lina and her mother, although close, were never affectionate with each other. It was rather clinical now that Netta thought about it. It was as though Susan had done her duty by giving birth and after that it was up to Lina to survive. Not much hugging or holding hands and Netta recalled she never heard Susan ever say anything positive to Lina. She gave her instructions, told her bluntly when she made mistakes and looking back, Netta realized, she made Lina doubt herself.
With Susan gone, Lina grew back into a beautiful woman, but was never completely sure of herself. She took care of everybody else. She didn’t think she deserved to be taken care of by someone special. Things seemed much clearer all of a sudden. Netta decided to have a long talk with Lina or maybe with Keaton if he really wanted to get to know Lina.
Feeling rather satisfied with herself for unraveling a mystery on her own, Netta smiled and went into the kitchen to her favorite chair to rest until dinner. Unaware she was being watched. She was being watched over and protected by someone or something.
CHAPTER TEN
The bed was cold and hard. Damn, I could use another blanket! And a pillow would be nice. Where the hell am I? Tashi tried to pull the blankets up and half way through the movement, her hands stopped. What was preventing her movement? What the hell? She opened her tired, dry eyes to a very dim room. Not her bedroom at the mansion. Iron bars? Torches? And what the hell was wrong with her arms? She twisted around to see she was chained to a wall. A rock wall? What the fuck?
"Helloooo? Anybody there?” She wasn’t very loud. She was almost afraid someone might come...then what? She heard a rustling sound then a groan, chains clinking, and a moan. She tried to scoot up into a sitting position and the rock floor scraped her buttocks.
"I’m naked? Oh crap, this is just fucking lovely, and getting better by the moment.”
“I never realized your lovely mouth with its many temptations and delightful uses, would allow those sorts of words to spew forth.”
Tashi shrieked and crab walked backwards to the wall, trying desperately to cover herself and wild-eyed scanned the room for the source of that voice.
"Victor? You’re here too? Where are we? What the hell is goin’ on?" Her voice quivered and she hated that she was showing a weakness.
"Yes, my love, we are together. And although having you naked is a constant on my agenda, this is not how I would have seen it happen.”
Lordy, even in a dark, damp, cold dungeon, he could make it sound...lovely. Tashi shivered, but not from the cold this time. "Are you okay? I can't see you. Are you naked?" She felt a little panic, but a little lust took the lead in her mind. She sat up straighter and turned to see if she could locate him. Slowly her eyes adjusted to the dim light and she saw him against another wall, not more than five or
six feet away from her.
"My eyesight does not need the firelight to see your lovely outline, my love. Yes, I am indeed without clothing and also very much aware of your lack of coverings. Normally I could create something for us both to cover with, but these chains have me bound with magic and are made of silver. Not only painful for us night creatures, but is also prevents us from using our own magic.”
He was trying to move closer but with each inch the chains pulled on his wrists then small sizzles sounded and tufts of smoke showed around the cuffs. He hissed in pain, but continued to move closer.
"Please don’t move! You’ll hurt yourself and I don’t want you to do that for me! Stay where you are and save your energy! We will need all your strength and talent to escape." Tashi was tearing up and sniffling, no doubt due to the damp air. Of course she wouldn’t be upset and crying, not Tashi the tough and strong one!
"Do not fear my love. We will survive this. You are a very strong woman. Remain calm and quiet.”
Clanging metal sounded close by. Footsteps came nearer to their little part of hell, until she could see one of those torches coming around a corner and moving toward their cell. She couldn’t see a face and the head was hooded, but reflected in the torch light she could see a smile, an evil smile, drooling, a little lopsided, red-lipped and aimed at her. The very large knife in the other hand didn’t help make Tashi feel any better. Not one little bit.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Evening was approaching and still no information on Tashi and Victor. A feeling of doom settled over the house and everyone walked as if in a trance. A vampire and their sister had been kidnapped by a witch. Good lord! What could anyone do? Where do you begin? Victor’s letter! Lina suddenly remembered and pulled the folded paper from her jeans pocket and read it again. Were there hints in there she didn’t recognize and what was this “trust your colors” garbage? Crap. Keaton was hanging around and at times mumbling to himself like he was making some sort of plan?