He’d heard this argument before. “I know, but it’s time she moved to her own room.”
“I know, but she’s so tiny.”
“She’s Chanku. She has an old soul.”
Keisha laughed, and he knew he’d won this battle, at least for now. Anton rolled to his back, carrying Keisha with him. She raised up with her forearms crossed on his chest and her heavy breasts warm and damp against him.
He felt her turgid nipples where they met his chest, the press of her large breasts, solid with the weight of milk for her daughter. She kissed the end of his nose, teasing.
“I feel you getting hard inside me again, but Lily is waking up and my breasts are about to burst. Worry about that, not about something that’s merely a bad dream.”
He kissed her lips and smiled. The mental link had quietly slipped away. He could worry in peace, now that Keisha was out of his head. “Yes, ma’am. Now take care of our daughter before I decide you’ve not been loved nearly enough this morning.”
Laughing quietly, Keisha slipped her body free of his and headed to the bathroom to wash away the remnants of their lovemaking. He watched her walk, lost in the slow sway of her rounded hips and the deep indentation tracing the sensual curve of her spine. She was so perfect, so trusting. So unwilling to admit to danger, even though she had once endured the worst possible abuse.
He would never let anyone harm her again. Not ever.
She was his world. There was no life without her, and once again, he worried.
Days later, in the still darkness of the late summer night, Anton stood on the back deck, alone but for his sleeping daughter in his arms. He was naked. The warm night air brushed his skin with a soft caress. The darkness felt personal, almost sentient as it surrounded him, as if it purposefully hid a lover.
Which, of course, was exactly what it did. Anton sighed and wondered how far his mate had run in her quest for a moment of silent communion with her own soul.
She’d carried the weight of his worry with her for almost a week now. While he couldn’t stop the nagging sense of something evil in their future, he could at least release his dictatorial grasp on Keisha so she could enjoy a few hours of time to herself.
He held tiny Lily Milina’s warm little body against his bare chest. He loved the feel of her soft skin next to his, the rhythmic puffs of her warm breath touching his chest, right over his heart. She slept the pure sleep of innocence, her body warmed by his embrace and a fresh diaper, her rosy lips puckered in a sleepy kiss that swelled with each little snore.
Keisha was entirely devoted to their little one, giving one hundred percent of herself, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Somehow, tonight, Anton had managed to convince her to take time for herself. She’d fought him at first, but when he reminded Keisha that if she fell ill, there was no one as capable to care for Lily, she’d finally acquiesced.
Laughing at his persuasive turn of phrase, she’d allowed herself the luxury of a few precious moments alone. With only a small sigh of regret, Keisha’d managed to deposit their tiny daughter in Anton’s arms and slip away, shifting into a beautiful dark brown bitch. Light shimmered across the tips of her fur in rich, russet patterns as she turned once toward Anton and her daughter, growling. Anton waved her off, ignoring her repeated instructions of how to take care of Lily.
As if he didn’t know already? Now it was Keisha’s turn to worry. He’d been laughing when she flipped her beautiful plume of a tail and ran into the forest alone, but he sobered as soon as she was out of sight.
He hadn’t told her details of the dreams, but he knew she’d seen them in his thoughts. Knew she respected his worry, even though she felt it was merely his own need to find danger in everything she did. Still, as Anton stared into the dark forest, he almost wished he’d openly shared the vivid images that bedeviled his nights, the fears that gnawed at him during the day. He wanted her to understand the need to take care. Wanted her to watch her surroundings even as she raced alone through the dark forest.
As he let the worry take form once again, Anton caught himself. No. Keisha was right. He needed to learn to let go, to keep his compulsive need to control and protect under restraint.
It was a good thing he’d kept his worry to himself.
Keisha deserved this time alone. She needed to touch base with her feral half without the encumbrance of Anton’s all-too-human fears.
A sound behind him caught his attention and he spun around. Stefan slipped quietly through the sliding glass door wearing nothing but a tired smile on his face. He carried a crystal goblet of amber liquid in each hand.
Anton immediately relaxed. “Hey, Stef. How’s it going?”
Stefan handed one of the glasses to Anton and slipped his arm around his waist. He peered down at Lily. “I wish Alex was as relaxed as this little princess. Takes me forever to get him to sleep.”
“Where’s Xandi?” Anton lifted the glass to his lips. The smooth liquid left a warm and very welcome trail down his throat.
“She saw Keisha take off and decided to join her. Alex woke up the minute she put him in his crib. I’ve been trying to get him back down ever since.”
Anton chuckled as memories flooded his mind. “Remember that morning when you told me Xandi was expecting? We shared a glass of this same cognac that day.”
“Yeah. We were both bare ass that morning, too. What’s that tell ya?” Stefan bumped his bare hip against Anton’s and took a sip. “As I recall, we wondered how much things were going to change once the babies were born.” He shook his head and laughed softly. “I had no idea.”
“I imagine no new parent ever does.” Anton cuddled Lily in the crook of his left arm and peered into the darkness once more. He promised himself, again, not to let his worries rule his life…or Keisha’s. “Keisha shifts so rarely, anymore. It’s been at least a week. I almost had to threaten her before she agreed to go run tonight.”
“Hoping she’ll come back horny?” Stefan grinned around the rim of the goblet.
“There is that.”
But even as he made jokes, Anton worried and watched the dark forest, his thoughts following his mate through the night.
I’m really glad you came with me. Keisha crossed a small creek, sniffed a burrow on the far side, and waited for Xandi.
You should have told me you were going to run tonight. I almost missed you. Xandi lifted her paw and placed it carefully on a flat stone as she crossed behind Keisha.
I wasn’t sure. Anton has been concerned. He worries that I don’t take the time to shift and run, and then he worries even more when I’m not with him. In fact, he’s driving me batty with his worry.
He worries because he loves you.
Keisha sighed. I know. Still, he makes me feel trapped, even more than caring for Lily ever does.
Xandi paused and cocked her wolven head. Do you regret having Lily?
Never. I miss the freedom Anton and I once had, but I can’t imagine life without her.
I know. I feel the same way about Alex. Xandi turned her head to one side. Did you hear that? She moved closer to Keisha. Ahead of us. Something rustling in the brambles.
You, too? You’re as bad as Anton. I haven’t said anything, but he’s been having these stupid dreams…. Laughing quietly, Keisha followed Xandi’s steely glance and listened for whatever sound her packmate thought she’d heard.
It wasn’t sound, but scent that came to her sensitive wolven nose. The acrid, sour smell of fear, of adrenaline and sweat. Someone waited beyond them. A stranger, possibly two. Holding perfectly still, Keisha inhaled once again. Without turning to her friend, she sent