The owl ruffled its feathers again. “She won't try to do that again, Strong Horse. She thinks you are dead. In her ill mind, she will think you have returned as a spirit. That will temporarily stop her from carrying out her plan of self-destruction. But you must act quickly to prevent her from realizing the truth.”
Ashwin suddenly realized what had to be done, and as always, he bowed his head to the owl in a gesture of respect as he said, “Thank you, O Wise One. I will act accordingly.”
The owl nodded and suddenly flew away, and when Ashwin opened his eyes, his mother and Kasey were standing there looking at him with puzzled expressions on their faces. He turned to his mother and said, “A-lu-li, I need you to go to my office and retrieve a few things for me, and I need you to act quickly.”
Goga nodded. “Whatever you need, son.”
Ashwin told his mother what he needed, and after she'd disappeared into the woods, he turned to Kasey and murmured, “Please, sweetheart, don't look at me like that. I'll be fine.”
“But Ashwin! She tried to kill you! What if--”
“Shh,” he said as he gently drew her into his arms and dropped a gentle kiss to her lips. Kasey wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him as if this was the last time she'd ever see him. Ashwin frowned when he felt the sudden dampness on the front of his shirt, and as he slowly raised his head he murmured, “Kasey, sweetheart, I promise I'll be fine. She thinks I'm dead. She isn't going to do anything to me. But there IS something I have to do for her.”
“What? And why? You don't owe her anything!” Kasey exclaimed as frustration and fear welled up inside her. Ashwin knew that Kasey didn't understand, and as he gently stroked her face he said, “She's ill, Kasey, and she needs my help. The doctor and the Shaman in me demand that I help her.”
Kasey sighed and shook her head as Ashwin's mother returned with the items he'd requested, and the two women watched in silence as Ashwin broke the seal on the small vial his mother had brought before he slid a needle into the clear liquid and withdrew enough to fill the syringe. That done, he replaced the cap on the needle and tucked it into his jeans pocket, then turned away and walked through Silver Moon's front door.
Silver Moon looked a mess—her hair was tangled and hadn't been washed in days, and the wrinkled, dirty clothes she wore hung on her pathetically skinny frame as she feverishly paced barefoot in her living room. Ashwin glanced over at the chief, whose pale face was unreadable as he kept an eagle eye on Silver Moon. She didn't know that Ashwin was right behind her, and when he cleared his throat, she whirled around and gasped at the sight of him. She took a few steps backwards and whispered, “Ashwin? No! It can't be! They buried you the other day! I—I was watching from across the cemetery! How--” she stopped speaking as a terrifying thought suddenly occurred to her, and she took a few more steps backwards as all of the color drained from her face. Ashwin was aware of the gun in her hand, but he kept his voice calm and reassuring as he said, “Put the gun down, Silver. You can't shoot a spirit, or didn't you know that?”
Silver Moon gasped again when he confirmed her worst fear, that he was a spirit come back from the dead, but instead of relinquishing the gun, she tightened her grip on it as tears welled in her eyes. She suddenly shook her head and said, “No, Ashwin! I'm not going to put the gun down! I have nothing left to live for!”
Ashwin sighed and calmly tried to reassure her. “Sure you do, Silver. You have the rest of your life ahead of you. You also have that baby to take care of.” He nodded toward the infant that was sleeping peacefully in the playpen before he added, “I'm sure there's someone out there for you, Silver. There's someone for everyone in this world, and you're no exception to that.”
Silver Moon angrily swiped at the tears that were streaming down her cheeks as she exclaimed, “YOU were my someone! You were my everything, Ashwin! So I made a bad decision ten years ago! I shouldn't have to spend the rest of my life paying for one mistake! And believe me, I do pay! I've been paying for the past ten years!”
“If you changed your mind, Silver, you should've come to me and let me know. Why didn't you do that?”
Silver Moon gave a pathetic sniffle and replied, “I guess I'm just stupid.”
Despite his serious misgivings regarding what he was about to say, he said it anyway. “No, Silver, you aren't stupid. Everyone makes bad decisions and mistakes.”
Silver Moon suddenly dropped to her knees as tears continued to stream down her cheeks, and her voice was desperate as she said, “The sooner I do this, the sooner we can be together in the spirit world! That's all I want, Ashwin, is to be with you! It's all I've ever wanted!” With that, she suddenly got back on her feet and whirled around in one smooth movement, and Ashwin's hoarse, “NO!” was drowned out by the deafening blast of the gun as she fired a single shot on the sleeping baby. The bullet whizzed directly above the playpen and lodged into the wall beside the Chief, and Ashwin nearly collapsed in relief when the baby woke from the loud blast of the gun and began to wail.
Sylvie stood rock-still as the gun dangled from her fingers, but her shoulders heaved with the force of her sobs as she brokenly cried out, “I can't deal with this! Can't you see that? I'm poor! I'm an outcast! I'm just a bad, bad person! And—and I never wanted him anyway!”
Ashwin frowned at her crazed outburst, and his stomach churned wildly with fear as she continued to stand there, her gaze fixed on the innocent child she'd just tried to kill. She finally sighed and slowly turned to face Ashwin, and his heart thundered in his chest when he saw how cold and bleak her eyes looked. She gave a slow shake of her head and finally glanced down at the gun, then looked back up at Ashwin and said, “Let's just see if you really ARE a spirit. If so, this bullet won't harm you in the least.”
Ashwin clenched his hands into fists as he watched her slowly bring the gun up and point it at him, and a sick smile spread across her face when she saw Ashwin go frightfully pale. Her frightening, sick smile slowly widened as she raised the gun even higher, but at the last minute she quickly slid the barrel into her mouth and cocked it.
“No, Silver! I can't let you do that!” Ashwin suddenly stepped forward and forcefully knocked the gun out of Silver Moon's hand. It went off as it tumbled wildly across the floor, and the Chief instinctively ducked as another bullet lodged into the wall behind him. Silver Moon stood there sobbing as she looked up at Ashwin, and Ashwin's face darkened even more as Silver Moon softly said to no one in particular, “A life for a life...” She suddenly dove for the gun, but before she could get to it, Ashwin's arm wrapped around her, effectively holding her hostage against his chest as she weakly struggled to get free. He smoothly retrieved the hypodermic from his jeans pocket and yanked the cap off with his teeth before he plunged the needle into Silver Moon's thigh. “You need help, Silver,” Ashwin said as Sylvie gasped softly at the stinging pain in her leg, but she had no time to reply as she suddenly went limp in his arms.
Ashwin sat with his arm around Kasey's shoulders as they watched the unnerving chaos surrounding Silver Moon's house. He had told the police officers that he felt it would be best if Silver were sent to a psychiatric ward for evaluation and treatment, due to major postpartum depression and some other serious, unresolved issues that were plaguing her. As he and Kasey watched the paramedics load Silver Moon into the back of the ambulance, Kasey softly inquired, “So what happened in there?”
Ashwin shook his head and shuddered as he remembered what Silver Moon had tried to do to her own child, and his voice caught in his throat as he softly replied, “It was bad, sweetheart. Silver Moon tried to kill her baby.”
Kasey nodded and pressed herself closer to him as she wrapped her arm around his waist and exclaimed, “That's horrible!” She watched as the paramedics firmly shut the doors on the back of the ambulance, and as an afterthought she added, “So what's going to happen to Silver Moon's baby?”
Ashwin followed Kasey's gaze, and his voice was resigned as he explained, “Little Bird said she
'd take the child. I think Sani would love to have a baby brother.”
Kasey nodded again and watched as the ambulance slowly pulled away, and her voice was soft as she murmured, “I'm just glad you're alright.”
Ashwin smiled down at her and said, “I plan on being alright for a long, long time, sweetheart.”
Kasey couldn't bring herself to meet his kind gaze as she said, “I certainly hope so. When I thought you were dead, I—I--” tears welled in her eyes at the wrenching memory, which prompted Ashwin to gently wipe them away with his finger as he pulled her even closer to him and kissed the top of her head. Kasey sighed and closed her eyes as she rested her head on his shoulder, but Ashwin gave her a gentle nudge as he said, “Let's go back to my mother's. I think she invited the Chief over for dinner again.”
“Please don't tell me she's having venison stew again.”
Ashwin laughed and said, “No, I think she's having venison roast.”
Kasey groaned at his words, which made Ashwin shake his head and laugh again as they walked toward his mother's house. Kasey laughed and gave him a gentle nudge in the side at his teasing, but her laughter turned into a surprised moan when Ashwin suddenly pulled her close and kissed her full on the mouth right there in the middle of the forest. He groaned as he instantly sprang to life, but Kasey had no complaints as she pressed herself even closer to him and covertly stroked him through the soft denim of his jeans. Her actions made him groan again and roughly grab her ass, and as he pulled her even closer he could feel the heat of her as he gently situated his knee between her legs. He finally forced himself to end the kiss before he ended up taking her right there in the woods, and as he reluctantly raised his head he murmured, “How do you feel about being dessert tonight?”
Kasey's already-flushed cheeks turned an even deeper shade of pink at his softly spoken question, and Ashwin laughed at the expression on her face before he took her hand and led her back to his mother's house.
CHAPTER 22
Kasey finally decided to try Mrs. Ross' venison roast, and as she took a hesitant bite, Ashwin smiled at her reaction. Her eyes widened in surprise at the delicious, tender meat, and after wiping her mouth she glanced at Ashwin's mother and said, “This is delicious, Mrs. Ross. Now I'm sorry that I didn't eat all of the stew!”
Mrs. Ross simply smiled at Kasey's statement and said, “Thank you, dear.”
The chief chuckled as he took a bite of the roast, and afterwards he turned to Ashwin and inquired, “So when are you two heading back home?”
“Probably tomorrow, Chief.”
The chief nodded and took another bite of his dinner, and Goga suddenly spoke up.
“You're coming back in January, aren't you?”
Ashwin nodded and smiled. “Of course, A-lu-li.”
Goga returned his smile. “Very well.”
Kasey shot Ashwin a puzzled look and inquired, “What's happening in January?”
Ashwin gave her a mysterious smile and replied, “You'll see.”
Kasey simply shrugged and took a long swallow of the delicious muscadine wine that the chief had brought again, and after dinner Goga and the chief retired to the living room while Kasey and Ashwin cleaned the kitchen. As Kasey handed him a soapy plate, she casually stated, “I think that muscadine wine has gone straight to my head.”
Ashwin chuckled and said, “It tends to do that, sweetheart.”
Kasey smiled up at him and flicked bubbles onto his nose, then giggled when an all-out bubble fight ensued. By the time it was over, the kitchen was covered in soap and bubbles, and Kasey was laughing so hard that her sides ached as she gasped, “We haven't even finished the dishes yet...”
Ashwin swallowed hard when he noticed that her shirt was soaking wet, and he could see the perfect outline of her bare breasts beneath it as her chest heaved with laughter. He groaned when he felt himself growing hard, and Kasey's laughter turned into a surprised gasp when he suddenly pulled her against his chest and roughly murmured, “To hell with the dishes,” right before he grabbed her ass and sank his tongue into her mouth. She slid her fingers through his damp hair and wrapped them around his ponytail as he kissed her hard and deep, and by the time he released her she was breathing hard and intoxicated from more than the wine. She gripped the edge of the counter for support as the room spun crazily, and after giving her head a firm shake she weakly inquired, “Well? Are we going to finish the dishes?”
Ashwin shook his head and grinned as he said, “You finish the dishes while I mop up this mess.”
“Then what?” Kasey demurely inquired as she stood there with her hands in the now-lukewarm dishwater. Ashwin gently pulled her so close that she could feel his raging erection as he murmured, “Then this.”
Kasey was left speechless as he suddenly released her and walked across the kitchen to get the mop, and she swallowed hard as she watched his ponytail swinging down his back. Five minutes later all of the dishes had been washed and placed in the wooden dish rack on the counter, and she smiled brightly at Ashwin as she announced, “There! All done!”
Ashwin gave her an amused smile and shook his head. “They have to be dried and put away too, sweetheart.”
Kasey's face fell at his words. “Oh. I see.”
Ashwin leaned against the counter and folded his arms across his chest, that amused smile still on his face as he dangled a dish towel in front of her. “You might need this.”
Kasey nodded and snatched the towel from his fingers. “Yes, I just might.”
Ashwin laughed at her flushed cheeks and gently slapped her ass before he said, “My mother would be SO thrilled to see your enthusiasm at ensuring that her kitchen is properly restored to order.”
“Ashwin?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
Kasey sighed as she began drying the dishes. “Shut up.”
“Are you two calling it a night?” Goga inquired as Kasey and Ashwin briefly appeared in the living room to bid the chief goodbye and his mother goodnight. Ashwin hoped that neither could see the telling bulge in the front of his pants as he smiled and nodded.
“Yes, A-lu-li. We have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow.”
Kasey smiled and piped up, “Thank you for dinner! It was delicious!” She turned her attention to the chief and added, “That wine is excellent, Chief Whitefeather. I will be looking forward to more of it when we come back in January.”
The chief chuckled at her words and said, “I'm glad you like it so much, child.” He smiled up at Ashwin and said, “Goodnight, son. It was great to see you.”
Ashwin smiled back at his long-time friend and mentor. “Same here, Chief. You take care of yourself.”
The chief nodded and gently squeezed Goga's shoulder. “Will do, son.”
Ashwin left Kasey's side long enough to walk over to his mother. He bent down to give her a hug, and after dropping a gentle kiss to her cheek he murmured, “Goodnight, A-lu-li. Thank you for everything. We'll see you in the morning, before we head out.”
Goga nodded and gently stroked Ashwin's face before he straightened and pinned Kasey with that look that made her breath catch in her throat. “Are you ready for bed, sweetheart?”
Kasey swallowed hard and nodded at his provocative inquiry, and there was no mistaking the fire in his eyes that only she could see as he put his arm around her shoulders and turned her toward the hallway. “I think bed is exactly what you need.”
Kasey managed to find her voice long enough to brightly say, “Goodnight, everyone!” before she followed Ashwin down the hall, eager for him to fulfill his promise of pleasure.
“First, a bath,” Ashwin announced as he shut the bedroom door and led Kasey into the bathroom. She watched as Ashwin started the water, and she smiled up at him when he deftly grabbed the hem of her shirt and smoothly pulled it up and over her head. He dropped it onto the floor and grimaced at the unchanged bandage on her chest, then shook his head and sighed before he stated, “What am I going to do with you?”
&
nbsp; Kasey glanced down at the forgotten bandage and muttered, “Oh, yeah. That.”
Ashwin tipped her chin up, forcing her to look at him as he said, “I'll make an exception in this case. I can understand how you'd forget something as mundane as changing a bandage. But next time...”
“Hopefully there won't BE a next time,” Kasey breathed as she gazed up at Ashwin, her heart fluttering wildly in her chest as steam began to surround them. Ashwin leaned down and dropped a gentle kiss to her lips before he straightened and gently removed the bandage from her chest. Despite the ugly yellow stain in the center of the bandage, the small wound looked surprisingly well, and he nodded in satisfaction when he saw no signs of infection. He dropped the bandage into the trash and slowly unzipped Kasey's jeans, then slid them down her legs and stopped long enough to press his mouth against the scrap of fabric at the junction of her thighs. Kasey gasped and pressed her hands against his shoulders to steady herself at his unexpected kiss, and his soft chuckle sent a shudder of delight through her as his warm breath tickled the sensitive flesh that was hidden beneath the material. He slowly stood to his full height and smiled down at her, then made a sweeping gesture with his hand and murmured, “Ladies first.”
Kasey shyly slid her panties down her legs and demurely stepped out of them, then turned and carefully got into the tub as Ashwin quickly undressed. Moments later he joined her in the tub, and he sighed as he leaned back against the cool porcelain as the steaming water swirled around them. Kasey leaned back against the opposite end of the tub and closed her eyes, finally allowing herself to relax after the hellish week she'd endured. Ashwin was watching her as he gently inquired, “Before I came back, what was the last thing you ate?”
The Medicine Man, Book 2 Page 17