Damned if she wasn’t going to drive him nuts! He ran his hands along her relaxed and pliable body, spread her legs wide, shifted position and knelt between her knees, taking the place Stefan had just vacated. Now, though, Anton pressed the head of his recovering cock against her waiting vagina and entered in a single, smooth thrust.
She arched and cried out, coming apart before he’d fully penetrated her. He felt her muscles tightening, rippling along the length of his cock, felt the fresh release of lubricating moisture and thrust even deeper. His cock found the hard mouth of her womb and pressed close before he slowly withdrew.
What would it be like, to know his child grew there? The image of Keisha, round and full with their baby brought tears to his eyes. She would be a wonderful mother, strong, protective, fierce. One day she would carry his child, the truest evidence of her love, of his love for her.
Now, though, she arched her hips and took all of him, took his heat and strength, his very essence deep inside. He tried to lose himself fully in her welcoming warmth, but fear still fluttered silently in the back of his mind.
The coming separation scared the crap out of him. Frightened him beyond measure, but he would help her pack and take her to the airport without further argument.
What was that old saying…if you love something, set it free?
Stupid saying.
Anton didn’t want to let go of Keisha, not for a moment. He’d do it because she asked, because he loved her…because to hold her too tightly would be to lose her.
With that thought in mind, his soul filled with the fear, the love, the frightening vulnerability of having given his heart to this woman, Anton took her once more over the edge.
Crying out, thrusting hard and deep, he followed her into oblivion.
3
Keisha shoved the last of her clothes into the carry-on bag and slowly zipped it shut. She stared at the bag for a moment, going over all the reasons she had to go to San Francisco. As much as she needed to make this trip, it wasn’t easy to leave the people she loved.
There was a soft tap at her door. Keisha turned around just as Xandi cracked the door open and stepped into the room.
“You okay? Should you be carrying that much weight? You’ve barely had two days to heal.” Xandi touched Keisha’s shoulder near the bandage. “How’s it feel?”
“Hurts, but it’s shallow. The arrow just grazed me. It didn’t penetrate, so there’s no permanent damage. I have to admit, besides shifting, one of the nicest things about being Chanku is that we seem to heal really fast.”
“You scared Anton half to death.” Xandi turned and closed the door behind her. “Stefan and me, too. I’m sure Anton’s told you he and Stefan are worried the poachers may somehow be connected to Carl Burns. We’ve had so many of them this year. They’re all focused on wolves, not deer or elk, and not one of them seems like a real hunter. They’re just thugs.”
“We can’t continue to live our lives in fear, Xandi.” Keisha plopped down on the bed. “I’ve lived that way far too long. Being Chanku is giving me a strength I never knew before. I will not be a victim again. Anton has to understand that.”
“He does. He’s also very much in love with you, so he worries.” Xandi sat down on the bed next to Keisha and grasped both her hands. “Do you have any family in San Francisco? Someone you can stay with? You’ve never mentioned parents, siblings or…”
Keisha shook her head. “No. I had a wonderful family, but not anymore.” She blinked back a sudden rush of unexpected tears. It was all so long ago…
“My mother was killed by a hit and run driver when I was just a kid. Her sister, my Auntie Camille, was shot and killed in a mugging a few years later. She had a daughter, my cousin Tianna, but Tia and her dad just sort of disappeared out of my life after Camille’s death. I have no idea where Tia or Uncle Ulrich are now. Then my father died of a heart attack a couple of years ago. That was tough. I was an only child, so…”
Keisha swallowed back a lump in her throat, then flashed a quick smile at Xandi. “Now there’s just me.”
Xandi squeezed her hands tightly. “Never just you, sweetie. Not anymore. We—Anton, Stefan and me—we’re your family. I didn’t know that about your mom or your aunt, that both of them died so violently. How awful!” She reached up and brushed Keisha’s hair back from her face. “Let me come with you. That way you won’t be alone and Anton won’t worry so much. It’ll give me a chance to get back to the city and shop and do girl stuff. Would you mind?”
Caught off guard, Keisha turned and looked deeply into Xandi’s gray eyes. “You’d do that for me? Leave Stefan here so you can babysit me in San Francisco?”
Xandi’s laughter was free and totally uninhibited. “Babysit? You? The alpha bitch? You’ve got to be kidding! You want the honest truth? I want to go to a play, eat out in really expensive restaurants and go back to your place for some totally kinky sex. We haven’t gotten together, just the two of us, for weeks. The guys keep barging in.”
Keisha snorted. “So true. I never realized how much it turned a guy on to see two women having fun. It’s like shooting them with a sex gun. Kapow! One look and they’re both naked and panting.”
“So true. Deal?”
Keisha smiled at Xandi. “Even though I know Anton put you up to it, yes, it’s a deal. I’d love to have you come with me.” She grabbed Xandi’s hand in hers. “Don’t tell Anton, but I was scared to death when the poacher shot me. It hurt so much, at first I didn’t realize if I was badly injured or not. When I left the house, I was mad at Anton and didn’t pay attention to my surroundings. I’m lucky they didn’t kill me. I actually stumbled over their hiding place before I even saw it.”
Xandi laughed. “Well,” she drawled, “I think Anton’s figured all that out, but you know I’d never betray a confidence. I’ll pack some things and be ready as fast as I can. Shouldn’t be too hard for me to get a ticket once we arrive at the airport, flying midweek like this.” She stood up and headed for the door, then turned and struck a pose against the frame. “Oh, I need to thank you. Whatever you and the guys did yesterday afternoon certainly put Stefan in the mood! I’m almost glad I got home too late to join you.” She brushed her hand over her heart. “Talk about hot! Whew…he wore me out last night!”
Laughing, she turned and headed down the hallway. Keisha just shook her head and grinned. Suddenly, this trip was beginning to look a lot more interesting. She’d be doing the work she loved, seasoned with a girls’ night out…or two.
She’d have four days with Xandi before Anton showed up…four days to play with her best girlfriend ever.
The skies over San Francisco were a clear blue when their plane landed at San Francisco International Airport. Xandi chattered on about the sailboats on the bay and the heavy traffic along Nineteenth Avenue, but Keisha barely heard her friend’s voice. There was a lump in Keisha’s throat as their cab pulled up in front of her townhouse late in the afternoon.
She stared at the freshly painted exterior for a moment, then stepped out of the cab and grabbed her bags. Xandi paid the cabbie and the two women climbed the stairs to the front door. Keisha took a deep breath before she stuck her key in the lock and opened the door.
Keisha peered into the dim interior and inhaled a lungful of musty air before finally stepping inside the foyer. She heard a soft thump when Xandi set the bags down on the wooden floor behind her. The hollow sound emphasized the lonely sense of abandonment. There was an uncomfortable chill in the air and a thin layer of dust covered the once beloved, still beautiful antique furnishings Keisha had spent so much time collecting.
She’d found peace here before the assault, but it hadn’t truly felt like sanctuary to her since, even less so, now that Carl Burns knew where she lived. No, that peace