SkinwalkersWoman (11 page)

He twitched and gasped and groaned as she began to slowly
massage his back and shoulders. As her hands worked over his thick muscles, her
wet pussy lips rubbed over his thigh. Her hands slid up the muscles of his arms
to his shoulders, and she bent to press a soft kiss to the top of his shoulder
blade. Sliding slowly backward, she took more lotion in her palm and slathered
it lovingly over his thighs and calves and the hard, round globes of his ass.
He couldn’t suppress a groan.

“Roll over now.” She dragged the dress off over her head and
dropped it beside the bed.

Zeke rolled over and she ran her lotion-slick hands over his
cock before she went to work on his chest and abs. He shuddered with reaction
as she leaned down and her breasts dragged gently over his cock. A deep growl
broke from his throat as she reached up and slowly pinched and twisted his
nipples while she straddled his hips, her wet pussy pressed enticingly to his
hard shaft. He bit his lip to keep from cursing. Was she intent on killing him?

Then she rose over his trembling body and sank slowly over
his rigid shaft, a deep moan of satisfaction issuing from her throat. He felt
her cunt clasp tightly around him, and his hands blindly reached for those
delightful breasts, kneading the lush globes in his palms as she arched and
moaned, keeping his cock so deep inside her that he could feel the mouth of her
womb kissing the eye at his tip.

Her hands teased and pinched his tight nipples, and he
bucked his hips upward as she gasped and closed her eyes in ecstasy. “Yes…” she
cried as he dragged her down so he could reach those delicious nipples, taking
one deep into his mouth as he tugged hungrily, sucking hard. Locked together as
they humped and moaned helplessly, working their way toward an explosive mutual
orgasm, they lost the ability to think. Zeke trembled as he worked her tight
cunt mercilessly with sharp, short jabs of his cock as she rocked and gasped on
his hips, reaching behind her to cup and squeeze his balls. His blunt fingers
found her erect clit and he rubbed it quickly as she broke into a long,
orgasmic wail and their bodies collided in an explosion of pleasure as old as
time, his seed filling her as she tightened in climax around his gift.

Chellie lay limp on him as she woke from the deep sleep that
had claimed her after she had made love to him three more times. She felt
utterly boneless, completely and thoroughly sated. She sighed deeply and lifted
her head. He slept soundly, as drained by their lovemaking as she was. She
pushed up from his chest and carefully rose from the bed to reach for her robe.
Moonlight was the only illumination inside the cabin as she belted the robe
around her and reached for one of the oil lanterns. They had spent all
afternoon and evening in bed, and she had to go to the little girl’s room so
badly that she could barely think.

She tugged on a pair of thick socks and carried the oil lamp
out onto the porch before sliding the glass chimney up and lighting it with one
of his strike-anywhere matches. It flared into brilliant life, nearly blinding
her, and she hugged the robe tightly around her as she gingerly walked along
the rough path to the privy. The night sounds that had utterly terrified her a
day before sounded friendly, and the rustlings in the brush didn’t make her
jump. She used the privy, then washed her hands with a ladleful of cool water
from the bucket and stepped back along the narrow path. She was halfway back
when she realized that the night sounds had stopped. She paused as an unearthly
silence settled over the area, and a shiver ran along her spine.

“Zeke? Is that you?” Her voice was barely a whisper, but it
seemed to echo around her.

The lamp suddenly didn’t seem to illuminate as much of the
brush around her, as if a shadow hung over her where she stood. The night air
felt heavy. Clammy. She reached out to feel her way forward, suddenly
frightened, and her hand pressed against what felt like a man’s naked chest.
But it was cold and hard and she recoiled instantly with a gasp.

Soft, high-pitched laughter surrounded her, hands caught at
her robe and cold breath moved just above her ear as it spoke to her in her
mind…

He isn’t here to stop me tonight, sweet one… Don’t be
afraid… It will only hurt a little…

The scream that erupted from her was cut off by something
that caught her throat and stopped the air from leaving her lungs
.
Clawing at unseen hands that shoved her back and down, she kicked and
struggled, but she couldn’t get it off her. Her robe was dragged open and her
legs were forced apart by what appeared to be nothing but a shadow, the heavy
weight of a body pressed into the V of her thighs…and in only a blink, a gray
blur, Zeke was there, snarling and growling, and she felt the hands leave her
throat and the weight lift from her body. The wolf was standing over her,
gazing at something she couldn’t see, its ruff standing stiffly, its sharp
fangs bared as a growl rumbled continuously from its throat.

In terror, she wrapped her arms around its neck and she
buried her face in the soft fur. She clung tightly and the wolf didn’t try to
dislodge her. It simply flopped protectively onto its belly across her body,
continuing to growl softly until the night sounds returned and whatever had
attacked her was gone.

The wolf remained as still as a statue until she loosened
her hold on it, and only then did her protector rise and, with a flash of
light, return to the shape of the man. He knelt on one knee beside her, tucked
the torn robe around her trembling body and gently lifted her from the path.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her tear-streaked face
into his throat as he murmured soft words against her hair.

She sat on the edge of the narrow bed, between his spread
thighs, as he gently brushed the grass and twigs from her hair. Her torn robe
was on the floor, where he’d thrown it when he had washed her clean of dirt and
checked her for scratches and cuts. His hands were feather-light as he used
them to remove debris from her curls. She was still trying to wrap her mind
around the way he’d attacked her assailant and had remained at her side until
it was gone. He kissed the bruise on her right shoulder, and she shivered,
leaning her cheek against his head for a moment.

“Thank you…” she whispered, leaning back against his bare
chest.

“I should have been with you.” His voice was muffled against
her hair as he kissed the back of her head.

“What was that…
thing
?” She shuddered and turned in
his arms to crawl onto his lap. He was as naked as she, but there was no
embarrassment now. Touching his bare skin and body no longer made her feel as
if she were doing something wrong. It felt somehow right to be sitting on his
lap on his little bed.

He wrapped his arms around her as he drew her tighter to
him. He thought about evading the truth, not telling her what had attacked her.
She would want to run from here, and the thought of life without her left him
hollow inside. He thought of ways to explain without giving her something more
to fear, but the spirit within him admonished him to give her the truth. He
closed his eyes as he inhaled the sweet scent of her hair before he drew back
enough to meet her gaze.

“It is a
ch’iin
.”

“A what?” Her eyes searched his face for a better answer.
“Clarify, please. What exactly is a
shin
?”

He spoke plainly, correcting her pronunciation. “The
ch’iin
is a shadow demon. A creature of evil and trickery. It can take the form of a
man to seduce and take the innocence of young women.”

She stared. “A
what
?” And after a long pause, she
shook her head to clear it. “What on Earth does it want with me then? I’m not
young, and I’m certainly no innocent. It’s wasting its damn time.”

He hesitated, and she leaned closer to him. “What are you
not telling me, Zeke?”

“It is the evil one that sired me. It wants to stop me
from…” His voice faded.

“From what?” Her voice trembled.

“From keeping you. It won’t stop trying to steal you from me
as long as there is no…love between us.” His voice was gruff. She swallowed the
sudden lump in her throat. The pain of his statement was like a knife pressing
into her heart.

He had just told her that he felt nothing for her but lust.

Of course he doesn’t love me.

They were as different as night and day. But she couldn’t
stop the tears that slid down her cheeks, so she turned her face away so he
couldn’t see them, and swiped at them with trembling fingers.

“This is a pretty whacked-out world you live in, Zeke. Are
you telling me that this…
thing
will come back again?”

He pulled her close, nodding silently against her hair.

“Then maybe it’s best that I get the hell out of here as
soon as possible.” She sniffed and laughed. “Do you think I can borrow your
horse again to get me back to the highway, at least? I don’t know if I could
handle that thing trying to jump my bones again.”

And I certainly can’t handle knowing that I mean
absolutely nothing to you.

Hearing her say that she wanted to leave him wasn’t a
surprise. But the fact that she didn’t deny that she felt no love for him was
what tore his heart slowly to pieces in his chest. He wanted to beg her to try
to see him as a man, and not a ’walker. He had hoped desperately that she would
fall in love with him. But he knew now that it was hopeless. He couldn’t force
her to love him. The old one had been right.

But he didn’t want her to leave…not yet. Desperation seized
him.

“He can’t touch you when you are with me. If I had walked
with you, there would not have been an attack. It never would have happened if
I had been there to protect you.”

“So I’d have to constantly stay close to you to be safe?”
Her voice sounded sad.

“I will protect you with my life, Little Dove. Please don’t
leave me.” He spoke the words in Apache, too afraid of being rejected to speak
them in English.

Her eyes searched his face, and after a moment she uncurled
from his lap and whispered, “I wish you would speak English. You know I can’t
understand your language.” She rose from the bed and knelt to rummage through
her case until she found a pair of pajamas. She tugged the top over her head
and stepped into the bottoms, then she dragged her blanket off the bed and
curled up on the floor with her back to him.

The world felt very cold as he watched her shut him out.

Warmth surrounded her as she stretched slowly. Big, strong
hands gently moved up and down her back as she shoved up from the soft blanket
that was wrapped around her. She lifted her head and opened her eyes to see his
face a few inches from hers, his dark eyes roaming her sleep-fogged expression.
Without a word, she flopped down onto his wide chest once more, glad that she
hadn’t awoken on that damn hard floor. “Stop petting my ass…” she mumbled
against the blanket, not really wanting him to stop but feeling as if she
needed to at least
try
to sound unwilling.

“Stay with me…” he said quietly, almost too softly for her
to hear.

She lifted her head again to stare at him with a frown.
“Stay? And have your
daddy
take another potshot at me?”

“It—he won’t. I
will
protect you.”

“Well, you can’t follow me
everywhere
I have to go.”
She shoved against his chest and he loosened his embrace, allowing her to climb
off his body where she had apparently spent the night…again. He was naked under
her blanket. And he sported the most mouthwatering erection—utterly
magnificent. She forced her gaze away from it and ran her fingers through her
hair as she stretched. “I have to use the outhouse. Is it safe?”

“I’ll walk with you.” He rose from the bed and stepped into
a pair of jeans, having a bit of trouble getting them to close over his
unrepentant cock. He pulled a T-shirt from his top drawer and tugged it over
his body. It fit his torso like a second skin as he ran his hands through his
thick hair and shoved it back from his face. Chellie had to bite her knuckles
to keep from moaning at the marvelous sight he presented.

Damn, but this guy is hot.

She bent to reach for a fresh pair of socks, but he touched
her elbow and held out the finished pair of boot mocs. She swallowed the tightness
in her throat. They were soft deerskin with a sole made from white bullhide.
They were tall enough to almost reach her knees, and would completely protect
her legs and feet. She sank down on the edge of the bed and tugged the soft,
fur-lined boots on with a sigh of pleasure. Her heart suddenly filled with
emotion, knowing that he had stayed up last night to finish the beautiful
moccasins. He really did try hard to show that he cared, probably the only way
he knew how. Maybe love just wasn’t a part of this man’s being, and she was
behaving like her old, spoiled self expecting it from him. Her heart swelled
with even more love for him.

She just couldn’t stop herself. She stood up and grabbed
both sides of his face and kissed him soundly on the mouth before he could do
anything to stop her. So what if he didn’t love her? She had never felt so
treasured in her life.

Before he could respond, she dodged away and headed out the
door, feeling oddly lighthearted despite last night’s terrifying craziness.
She’d decided that she was not going to be afraid. Not of any damn evil one, or
any big bad wolf. The idea of spending the rest of the month stuck in the
desert with this man was exhilarating. With him watching out for her, she
couldn’t be afraid of anything…not even a shadowy bully that wanted to prevent
this wonderful guy from having a woman in his bed for even a short while. She
had come here for a vacation, and damn it all, she would have it.

It was hard to figure out what had changed inside her, but
she knew one thing—he didn’t have to love her. All he had to do was make sure
that icky critter didn’t get to grab her again, and they would get along just
perfectly. And hot sex every few hours wouldn’t be so terribly bad.

Not at all…

Zeke tagged along to the privy, waited outside the door
while she used it, then watched as she daintily dipped a ladle of water and
scrubbed her hands. She ran a finger over her teeth and made a face of
distaste. “I feel like I have a mouthful of dirt. I should have thought to bring
my toothbrush out with me.”

“Here.” He handed her a small twig that had been crushed on
one end. It smelled like sage, and she took it, looking at it questioningly.

“You can brush your teeth with it…no water or toothpaste
needed.” He popped another one into his own mouth, demonstrating. He used it
like a toothpick, then chewed the end to release more of the aromatic oil in
the twig. He turned aside and spat into the brush, and she laughed.

“Okay—” She used it the way he’d shown her and was rather
surprised that the taste was not unpleasant and it worked for the most part. At
least her teeth didn’t feel all gritty. That was handy to know, just in case
she ever went camping without her cosmetic case.

“It works okay, but personally I prefer to use a toothbrush—gets
them cleaner.” His lips curved into a slow smile. She punched his shoulder in
mock anger that he’d made her think that was how he always brushed his teeth.
The thick muscle almost broke her fist.

“Okay…so I’m a little bit gullible…” She rubbed her knuckles,
then she rubbed the slight red mark she’d left on his arm. “Feed me,
Seymour—I’m starving.”

She watched closely as he made them a breakfast of Apache
fry bread with honey and some deep-fried prickly pear cactus that he had stored
in his root cellar. She had never known you could eat cactus like a vegetable.
The idea of using lard to deep-fry scones would have made her seriously gag a
few short days ago, but it didn’t taste any different to her than the oil that
the scone shops used back home. It freaked her out a bit to see the remains of
some bees stuck to the waxy honeycombs, but she got past her city-girl
squeamishness when he dripped some of the honey onto her hot fry bread.

“Where do you find honey out here in the desert?” she asked
as she licked the sticky sweet from her fingers.

“I buy it from a beekeeper in Chinle. Finding hives that I
can harvest is too time-consuming—not to mention dangerous. Bees don’t exactly
welcome humans who want to steal their food supplies. I like to have it around,
but I don’t like being stung.” He closed the crock and set it back onto the
shelf. “But you’re more than welcome to hunt for it for me if you feel like
dodging angry bees and enjoy broken field running.”

Her laughter made him smile. “I genuinely have never eaten
comb honey. I just buy it in jars at the supermarket.”

He wrapped a thick sable curl around his lean finger and
watched the hot color rise in her face. “Living off the land is hard. What you
can’t buy from the trading posts in the towns has to be caught, trapped or
harvested. Old Joe brings me things I can’t hunt or make. But if he didn’t show
up one month, I could survive on what I scavenge or catch. You learn to make
do.”

She cupped her chin in her hands and gazed at him across the
table. “How do you pay for stuff from the trading posts?”

He bent and pulled a leather pouch that looked like a
backpack out from under the sink cabinet. “With this…” He pulled out a small
leather bag and dropped it between them on the tabletop.

She opened it and blinked in disbelief. “Wow…where do you
get these?” She dumped the contents into the palm of her hand and stared at the
rare pale-blue turquoise stones and the small nuggets of what could only be raw
gold.

“I fly to a special mine I have a couple of times a year and
bring some back. I can’t carry really heavy weights, but I can manage to bring
out a few ounces of stones and nuggets. Enough to keep me in salt, sugar and
coffee, anyway.” His eyes slid over the display as he touched the leather pouch
at his neck.

“You…
fly
…” she breathed, still having difficulty
believing that this man could become a bird whenever he wished.

How would it feel to be able to fly?

“Kewl…”

She gently tipped the contents of her hand back into the
bag, and pulled the drawstring. “So you really don’t need anything at all…” she
murmured, handing him the pouch. At least, nothing she could provide.

The big man swallowed hard. “I know that you don’t want to
stay with me, but it’s lonely out here. I can meet all my physical needs but
one.” He lifted his gaze to hers, and the stark need that stared back at her
left her breathless. His voice became rougher as he touched the side of her
face with gentle fingertips. “I need a woman, someone who will see me for what
I am and not fear me. Someone who will look at me without flinching away from
my scars. Someone who will be at my side, unafraid of the future. But where
would I find a woman like that? I have lived my entire life serving the needs
of others, but never my own. Finding someone like that isn’t possible. I have
nothing to offer her. I have only my loyalty and my protection to give her.
What woman would want me?”

The tears that slid down her cheeks brought a frown to his
face. “I’ve caused you pain. I shouldn’t have spoken.”

“No, it’s fine…you didn’t say anything that hurt me. I just
can’t believe in my heart that a man like you has no one to care for him.” She
carefully sidestepped saying what was really in her heart. She didn’t want to
make him think she wanted more that he was able to give. “You are big and
strong and as sexy as hell. Any woman in her right mind would absolutely love
to be with you.”

Her mind screamed that she should just say “what the hell”
and grab the guy, show him how wonderful he was. Once more, she shoved her
inner voice down. This wasn’t the time to be selfish. Her inner voice was
jumping up and down with its hand in the air, begging to be heard. She caught
the hand that caressed her cheek and turned her lips in to his palm. “I’m sure
you’ll find her.”

“I have already found her, Little Dove.” His words were low
and tense.

Blinking up at him, she inhaled sharply at the look in those
dark eyes. He slid his palm around the back of her neck, twining his fingers
into her hair, and he tugged her gently toward him across the table.

“Um…excuse me?” she gasped.

“If I said that I wanted you to be with me, would you tell
me that I am not the man you want or need?”

The question left her speechless. Was he actually telling
her that he wanted her? Not just for the hot sex? Not just for the fucking like
bunnies thingy? Damn, but she wished he would be clearer about stuff like that.

“I…couldn’t be with someone who doesn’t love me…for what
I
am.” Her voice cracked.

That sounded ambiguous enough.

“And if
this
man loves you for what you are?
Beautiful. Soft. Gentle. Exciting. What would he have to say to make you love
him
?”

Just grab him and say anything he wants to hear, girl…

Her body melted at the look in his eyes. “Zeke…please speak
American English? Are you asking me to be with you?”

“I am not asking, Chellie.” His other hand came up to
capture her face.
“I am begging
.”

Shock hit her like a mortar shell. She felt as if she were
floating…and in fact, she was. How it had happened wasn’t important. She realized
that she was hovering in mid-air above the damn table, suspended only by the
gentle touch of his big hands. It was totally surreal. His lips pressed
hungrily over hers. The world seemed to shift around her. And then she was
cradled in his arms, against his broad chest, while he made love to her mouth
in a way that left her reeling. She had never been kissed as if her lips were
all that stood between a man and starvation. Her soul seemed to be leaving her
body, joining with his as he worshipped her mouth with lips and tongue.

Her inner voice was telling her that if she blew this one,
she was hopeless. And she agreed as she felt something happen between them, as
if his heart had entered her chest and beat there beside her own. Words fought
to the surface as she clung to him there in the floating void that surrounded
her. “I love you, Zeke. I need to know that you love me as crazily as I have
fallen in love with you. But if you can’t give me that, I will understand.”

She had just told him she loved him. That she would be his
woman. She had claimed him as he had claimed her.

He breathed his spirit into her lungs, filling her with
magic as she clung to him. He knew deep inside what the old man had never
shared with him. His spirit leaped beyond this world and into the world she
brought to him. He understood that he had the power to share his world in every
way with this exquisite creature. The knowing made him fly. Made him soar to
the heavens with her in his arms.

He carried her to the high spire of the West wind, to the
sacred place where he would join with her spirit and she would join with his.

He lifted his lips from hers and whispered to her in the
language of his ancestors.

“I give you my life…my spirit…my heart. You hold my soul in
your hands. I will love you forever. You complete the circle of my life. I will
be anything you wish me to be. You command the power within me. Join with me
now.”

“
Hell
yes
to whatever you just said…” she
whispered, and gasped as her spirit seemed to explode into millions of tingling
sparks that shimmered in the air, then settled back into her body. It felt
suspiciously as if she’d just had the most amazing orgasm of her life without
having been touched. She panted with reaction as he placed his palm over her
chest and smiled at her. “Imagine that you are an eagle…and fly with me.”

This dream was amazing…she felt the wind on her face…the
air currents catching her outspread wings, carrying her aloft to view the
entire world. He flew at her side, dipping and playing in the wind. It only
took her a moment to get control of her new body, but her ingrained fear of
falling wouldn’t let her follow him as he played. Kewl. If this was what he
felt like when he changed into his eagle, she envied him desperately.