by Kate Douglas
He took her limp hands in his, concentrated on her thoughts and projected a sense of belonging, of brotherhood, of peace and acceptance.
He felt her slight flicker of awareness, the tightening reaction of fear, then heard her sigh quietly. Her tongue slipped between her full lips, and she licked first the upper, then the lower one, moistening them. Anton thought his heart might stop altogether as she slowly, cautiously, opened her eyes.
Anton smiled when he recognized the flash of green in their amber depths. Hers truly were the eyes of a wolf.
It took her a moment to focus, and he used every one of his mental tricks in that brief span of time to reassure her, to make her feel safe and protected. He felt the tension go out of her grasp and knew it was working, at least for now.
“Are you all right?” Anton kept his voice pitched low, professional. He kept a firm but comforting grip on her hand.
Keisha scooted back on the couch and sat up, looking around as if trying to find the wolf, but she left her hand within his grasp. Held it, in fact, as if it were a lifeline.
“Who…?” She glanced down at their hands, then back up at Anton.
“I’m a friend. You can trust me. The others have gone. I asked them to give us some time. I know you have a lot of questions.” Anton stroked her hand, projecting soothing thoughts. “Alexandria felt terrible about frightening you, but she knew of no other way to convince you.”
“You mean…I really did see what I thought I saw? That woman turned into a wolf?” Her voice squeaked on the word.
Anton smiled. “Yes, you saw her turn into a wolf. It was not a parlor trick, not a figment of your imagination. It’s something all of us are capable of doing.”
“Us who?” Carefully, Keisha extricated her hand from Anton’s grasp.
Regretfully he let her go.
“Chanku. We are all of that race, an ancient race—you, me, my friend Stefan and the woman you saw, Alexandria. Others as well, though I’ve not located them yet. Long before I read the article in the paper, I had sensed your existence. The tabloid story merely pointed me in the right direction.”
Keisha stared at him as if she still thought he might be totally nuts. Anton let his thoughts surface in her mind.
Maybe this will help. Our people can communicate over short distances with the power of our minds, over longer distances under certain circumstances. I know you can hear me. See if you can answer.
“Holy shit.” Keisha shook her head. “I hear you in my head.”
You can speak to me this way as well. Try it.
How? Her simple question touched his mind, an erotic feather-stroke across his senses. Anton shivered at the brief contact.
Just like that.
Her eyes grew round and wide. You mean you can hear me as well as I can hear you? How come I’ve never been able to do this before?
Most likely you’ve not had anyone listening. Do you believe me now?
Well, I’m beginning to think either you’re totally nuts or I am. She smiled.
Anton realized she was so caught up in the magic of telepathy, she’d forgotten her fear. He silently reassured her, built on her sense of achievement.
He’d never seen anyone more lovely, not even Alexandria in all her wolven glory. He told her so, let Keisha see herself as he saw her—skin like dark silk, sparkling yet wary amber eyes, a lush and sensual mouth that begged to be kissed, full breasts he wanted to nuzzle and taste.
Keisha arched her eyebrows and scooted away from him. The artery in her throat fluttered with her increased heart rate. Anton sensed her fear and immediately clamped down on his sensual thoughts.
I’m sorry. I was out of line.
She stared at him, obviously not certain whether he was worthy of her trust.
He shook his head, held his hand out to her in apology. “I am sorry. I have no right, especially after all you’ve been through. You’re a beautiful woman, and I let my thoughts go a bit astray. The Chanku are a very sensual race.”
Keisha nibbled on her upper lip a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. “Tell me more about this ancient race of yours. I’m of African descent—one hundred percent, as far as I know. I can trace my ancestors back to the Ivory Coast in the mid-seventeen hundreds. Both my parents are gone now, but as far as I know, there aren’t any white people in my heritage. How can I be part of some other race I’ve never heard of?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere in your past is the blood of Chanku. There’s not a lot of information about the race as a whole, but I sense it very strongly in you.” Anton stood up and paced about the room, gathering his thoughts. “I learned of my own heritage practically by accident. I was a magician, a very good one. I wanted more. I wanted to be a true wizard, a master of the arcane arts. To achieve this goal, I studied. I went to libraries all over Europe, read scrolls in their ancient languages, immersed myself in the writing of scholars and practitioners of wizardry.”
He leaned against the edge of a large table, crossed his ankles and folded his arms across his muscular chest. “A lot of it is pure, unmitigated bunk. Even the old stuff. However, some of what I learned led me to Tibet, where I was allowed access to some very old records of ancient civilizations. There was a single reference that caught my eye. It was the word Chanku. I felt as if that word unlocked some secret part of my mind. It literally stopped me in my tracks.”
Chapter 13
Keisha understood the part about being stopped in your tracks. Watching this absolutely drop-dead-gorgeous guy pacing around her living room as if he owned the place was a surrealistic experience. Though she couldn’t control her intense fear of men when he was close enough to touch her, she could certainly admire him from across the room.
His dark hair fell well below his collar, and his eyes were the same unusual shade of amber as her own. He had the high cheekbones and shadowed jaw of a top fashion model, and he moved with the grace of a dancer, all long limbs and lean body. His shoulders were broad, stretching the dark knit of the shirt he wore, and sleek muscles rippled along his arms, across his chest. As tall as she was, he was so much taller, so much stronger.
She wondered if she’d ever be able to let a man come close to her again. The image of her abductors slipped unbidden into her thoughts, and she shuddered.
“Are you okay?” Anton knelt in front of her, his look one of concern and caring.
“Yes…I was just thinking…” Her thoughts drifted, her heart pounded, as Anton drew closer. He smiled and backed away.
It’s okay. I respect your need for space. I want you to know I will never hurt you. None of us will. We understand your fear. With time we will make it go away.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same again!
Anton stood up, still smiling, as if Keisha’s cry had never entered his mind. “Once you fully understand Chanku, you’ll realize you need never fear again. You will discover new strengths within yourself and within the links you share with others of our kind. We are strongly connected and just as strong individually. Like the fabled werewolves, we have the power to shift our bodies from human to wolf and back again. It’s nothing paranormal, not supernatural. We don’t need a full moon or any type of spell, nor must we remain under cover of darkness. It’s due to a physical anomaly, a small part of the brain near the hypothalamus, actually, an extension of that organ that exists only in the Chanku, an organ that without certain nutrients loses its ability to function.”
Keisha stared at him for a long moment, weighing the veracity of his words. “If what you’re saying is true, how could I have shifted? How could I have suddenly, without any warning, turned into a wolf?”
“Fear. Adrenaline. The body’s need to survive. I don’t really know. For the rest of us, it takes a special diet. When I was in Tibet, I learned there were plants once common to the area that have the ability to draw certain nutrients from the soil in precise percentages—nutrients perfectly formulated to stimulate that special part of the brain, which in turn i
nfluences the functions in the body needed to shift. I was drawn to the plants, not realizing my body craved what they offered.”
Keisha thought of the small shipment of exotic shrubs and grasses that sat, at that moment, in the little greenhouse in her backyard. Some even grew in the decorative planter in her studio. They were shrubs and grasses common to the lower reaches of the Himalayas. She’d seen them at a demonstration, had felt oddly drawn to them, had created her entire memorial design around these varieties of plants of which she’d never before heard.
Could something in her own genetic makeup have forged the immediate connection she’d felt for the odd selection of plants?
No. Absolutely not…but what if? The suspicion lingered in her mind.
She took a deep, steadying breath. “I’m a landscape architect. I work with a lot of imported varieties. Possibly some of those…”
“Only if you eat them.” Anton shrugged, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. “Been nibbling on your plants much?”
Keisha felt the tension slowly ebbing from her body. Whoever and whatever this man was, he was handsome and sexy and trying so hard to help her relax.
“Actually, yes.” She stood up, took a moment to gain her balance and walked slowly toward the backyard, immediately feeling more at ease. “I tend to nibble when I work. Come see if anything looks familiar.”
She sensed his attraction to her as she brushed past him. Her muscles tensed when she felt the warmth of his body, the reaction involuntary and irritating. Her insides felt twisted, tied in knots. He was attractive, intriguing. She was drawn to him, wanted to know more about him, but at the same time was repulsed by his very maleness.
Before her attack, she’d always thought of herself as a sensual woman. She liked sex. Always had. She wanted to want someone again, wanted to know that rush of sexual excitement, the tingling awareness of her own sexuality. Frustration stiffened her gait as she led him to the back of the house and into the small garden.
Had her sexuality, her need to touch and be touched, been beaten out of her forever? Sighing, Keisha knelt down and brushed her hand across a soft, yellowed grass growing in tangled clumps around the low steps leading to the greenhouse. “I liked this so much, I planted some of it in my own yard and even have a planter of it in my studio. The rest is for a project I’m working on—a small memorial garden in Golden Gate Park.”
Anton rolled a few blades of the grass between his fingers, looked up and smiled, then followed her into the greenhouse.
Immediately, the space seemed too small, the air too heavy—damp and warm and close. Keisha backed away from Anton. He stepped away as well, giving her more space. She sighed and shook her head, well aware he knew why she’d reacted the way she did. “I imagine it will take time. I’m still recovering. I’m sorry. I don’t want to feel like a victim, but even more, I don’t want to make you feel like a pariah.”
“I understand, but more importantly, I know this is only temporary. You will heal.”
Anton turned away and stared intently at the rows of flats, each one filled with soft grasses, stunted and twisted shrubs, and small, flowering ground covers. When he raised his head, he was smiling once again.
“Your choice of plants alone would convince me of your heritage. Each one of these, in very small amounts, is an integral part of the Chanku diet. I have most of them growing at my own home. Do you have any idea what made you choose these particular varieties?”
His eyes sparkled, and his smile broadened, changed his entire face. She’d thought him handsome at first, but she hadn’t realized the man was downright breathtaking. Literally. Damn. It was such a stupid cliché, but Keisha had to remind herself to breathe.
“I…I don’t know exactly why I chose them.” She did, though. She knew exactly why she’d picked these particular plants. They’d felt right. That was all. When she’d gone to the wholesaler’s and looked across the vast array of growing things, this selection of plants had practically called out to her.
Her choice of just the right plants for her various designs had brought her numerous awards. Keisha had always figured it was her extensive knowledge after years of education and training. Was it merely that odd sixth sense she’d always wondered about? Something beyond her normal, human skills? Or was she merely fulfilling the needs of Chanku?
Startled by her weird train of thought, she looked away, knelt down and patted dirt around a small bush. Her heart fluttered, and she felt terribly self-conscious, unbearably aware that her mind was in turmoil, that she was alone in a small, isolated greenhouse with a stranger. She concentrated on the grains of sand clinging to her fingers instead of the powerful man standing, once more, almost close enough to touch. “The garden is a memorial to a group of Sherpas who died leading an expedition of local climbers. I thought plants from the region seemed apropos.”
“Very apropos. Yet the ones you selected are all specific to the Chanku diet.” He held his hand out to her. “I realize you don’t know me, but please try to trust me. The others are returning. I sense them drawing near. You might be able to sense their arrival as well.”
Keisha stared at his hand a moment, gathered what courage she had left and wrapped her fingers around his larger ones. His olive skin looked pale against hers, his large fingers dwarfing hers. He tugged her easily to her feet, pulling her up with a single, graceful motion that drew her close to his chest.
She tried to sense the others. Sensed only Anton. Felt the beat of his heart, the soft exhalation of his breath. Smelled the clean, musky scent that made her own heart rate speed up.
She dropped his hand and stepped away. Only then, when she’d put some distance between herself and Anton, did she become aware of the others coming up the front steps, the sound of their footsteps ringing in her mind, wisps of conversation floating, barely heard.
She glanced quickly at Anton, then practically ran out of the greenhouse. “Your friends are back. I guess I should let them in.”
She heard Anton’s quiet laughter as he followed her across the yard.
Chapter 14
“I know it’s asking a lot of you to come with us, but please consider it.” Alexandria set her coffee cup down on the place mat in front of her and smiled at Keisha.
“I have my work…. I don’t know any of you….” Keisha held onto her cup, clutching it with both hands.
Stefan took a swallow of his coffee. He looked so much like Anton, it was just plain eerie, but the men insisted they weren’t related, other than through their shared Chanku heritage. “You said the designs are almost complete. If I remember correctly, you also said they have to go through an approval process that should take about six weeks. Come with us, just for a month. Give yourself a chance to know us, give us a chance to find out more about you, to convince you to join us. Whether you like it or not, you are one of us.”
He’s telling the truth, Keisha. We all are. Please, look into our minds. We’re all completely open to you. Look into our minds and see that we mean you no harm.
Keisha’s hands trembled. To have Anton enter her mind so easily…she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The connection was both frightening and, at the same time, comforting. With her eyes still closed, she tried again to sense the thoughts of the others in the room.
As if a veil had lifted, she suddenly caught their conversation flitting through her mind.
She’s been badly traumatized, Stefan. It’s not fair to push her.
She’s a lot stronger than she looks, my love. She needs us as much as we need her.
Alexandria’s right. We will not force the issue. I don’t want her hurt. If she says she’s not ready, we’re not going to push her. This must be her decision, and her decision alone.
Anton! Alexandria worried about her, but Anton was the one willing to give her space, the one who saw her troubled soul and understood. For Anton, she would make this decision. Nodding slowly, she looked at each of the three people in the room.
“I wil
l go, but only if you promise me a room of my own, a quiet place where I can be by myself, and a return ticket if this doesn’t work.”
“It’s yours.” Anton slowly held out his hand to her, not to grab it, but to shake and seal the agreement.
Keisha took his hand, felt the warmth, sensed the innate honesty of the man. Beyond that, she felt his need, his desire for her. She almost slipped her hand free, but she looked into his eyes and stilled.
Need. Such need and naked vulnerability, she thought her heart would break. Where she feared, Anton needed. Where she worried, Anton wanted.
She fought the urge to pull her hand free, almost turned and ran, but a small whisper of thought entered her mind.
Anton needs you. We all do, but Anton most of all. He is the one who rediscovered the Chanku. He is the one who brought Stefan and me together, who brought all of us together. You need to find yourself, and Anton should be the one to help you. Please, join us.
Keisha jerked her head in Alexandria’s direction. The woman’s face held no sign of their discussion. It had been totally private, words between two women. Kindred. She felt a warmth under her heart she’d not known before. Alexandria nodded, an almost imperceptible movement, but enough to let Keisha know it had indeed been her speaking.
Keisha glanced once more in Anton’s direction. He studied her, his eyes wide open and yet so sad they made her want to cry. He seemed to think she would turn them down, would change her mind, though she’d already accepted. He seemed to be afraid of losing her.
Slowly, Keisha nodded her head. “I will go with you. I need to know you. More than that, I need to know myself.”
“It’s lovely.” Barefoot, dressed like Xandi in a soft, blue silk sarong tied over one shoulder, Keisha stared out over the vast mountain range, tinged with pale gold and silver in the last glow of evening. She and Xandi shared a quiet moment on the large deck off the western side of the house. “I’ve never been to Montana. I thought it was all cowboys and buffalo.”