Wolf Tales 11 (28 page)

“What about Bay’s friend? They murdered him?”

Keisha nodded. “He was sent to Maine in search of the missing agents, as he’d told Bay, only he didn’t realize the director of the agency no longer trusted him. That hit had nothing to do with his telling Baylor about the plot against the girls. He was already marked for death. It was pure coincidence he happened to see Baylor just before it happened.”

Anton raised his eyebrows. Keisha frowned. Then she broke into a big grin when she realized what she’d said.

“Well, it could have been a coincidence!”

Anton chuckled. Right now, he missed Stef more than ever. Then he sobered. “It’s just so hard to believe.”

“But true.” She sat up on the bed beside him. “Do you feel strong enough to sit up? I can help you.”

“I need to get up.” He tried to sit, but Keisha had to help him. “Why don’t you call one of the guys to help me?
I want a shower, and I don’t think you’re strong enough to carry me.”

Laughing at his dry comment, she kissed his cheek and slipped off the bed. Anton watched her go, and he wanted to curse, to rail against fate or the Goddess or anyone he could think of, but he had only himself to blame.

He’d thought he was strong enough to handle it all, but once again he’d screwed up. Only this time, it had cost him more than merely his pride. He’d lost the intimate connection with his pack, with his friends, and with the woman who meant more to him than anyone else in the world.

He couldn’t connect with Keisha at all. It wasn’t the fact she was blocking. She wasn’t. He’d lost the ability to reach out with his own thoughts. He’d lost the single most important thing that connected him to his kind.

At least he managed to sit upright on the edge of the bed by the time Keisha returned to the room with AJ in tow.

“Good to see you looking so much better.” AJ sat down on the bedside chair and began removing his shoes. “I’ll just get in the shower with you. It’s easier that way.”

“How’s Tala? Is she okay?”

AJ raised his head and smiled, and once again Anton was reminded what a beautiful man he was. Inside and out.

“She’s great. She wasn’t harmed at all. She was, however, pissed enough to do some damage on her own if she’d had a chance. Thank you, Anton. Everything worked perfectly.” He shrugged. “Well, perfectly other than you doing your best to fry stuff you probably should be a little more careful with.”

Laughing softly, Anton shook his head. “I owe you, ya know. When you linked with me, you took a huge brunt of the backlash from so much power. You probably saved my life.”

AJ stood up, tugged his shirt off, and slipped out of his jeans. “Actually, it wasn’t your life so much that I may have saved.” He put an arm around Anton’s waist and helped him stand.

His legs wobbled at first, but then he seemed to get his bearings and his balance. He straightened up, but he wasn’t about to turn loose of AJ. “What do you mean?” He thought of Eve’s cryptic words, that AJ had what he needed. Was that a dream? Had he really seen her, talked to her? Did he actually cross over into the astral plane?

AJ helped him across the bedroom to the bathroom. “Anton, something weird happened when you pulled all that power. I have no idea why I felt I needed to link with you at that precise moment, but I did. Keisha and I are both wondering if it was a nudge from Eve, but I got zapped with some kind of an energy explosion.”

Anton leaned against the counter while AJ turned on the water. “I didn’t realize that. Are you okay?”

AJ glanced over his shoulder. “That remains to be seen. I’m hearing voices, the private conversations of my packmates. I think I picked up Baylor and Jake mindtalking this morning while they were driving back to Maine. You tell me. Am I okay?”

He helped Anton into the shower, one barely large enough for the two of them, but with a sturdy bar bolted to the wall. AJ grabbed a washcloth and soap. Anton hung on to the bar.

He hated feeling this weak, but his mind was spinning and he was afraid if he didn’t pay attention, he’d end up on his butt. The grab bar made a lot of sense. “Did Keisha tell you I can’t use any telepathy at all? That my senses are completely dead? I can’t read her, even when we’re touching.”

AJ nodded. “She did. Let’s try something. I’m going to put my arms around you. I want you to see if you can feel
any mental connection to me at all when we’re physically connected.”

Anton nodded. Terrified it would fail, expecting failure. AJ stood behind him and wrapped his arms around Anton’s waist. He felt the broad expanse of AJ’s chest, the thick length of AJ’s erection pressed hard against his buttocks, and his own cock rose in response.

He almost laughed. He would have, if that hadn’t been the only thing that worked. There was no sense of AJ. No connection at all. He tried reaching for him. No luck, except his headache returned. He gave up and sighed. “Nothing. I had hoped …”

“Me, too. Maybe it’s just too soon. We’ll try again, another time.”

When I’m ready? Didn’t Eve say I’d know when I’m ready?

AJ scrubbed Anton’s back and shoulders, ran the cloth over his belly and chest. Then he knelt behind him and washed his legs and buttocks. Turned him so that he could still hang on to the bar and washed his growing erection, ran the washcloth over his balls and inner thighs.

Groaning, Anton leaned against the tile and hung on to the bar with both hands behind his back. AJ rinsed him off with the handheld shower head. Then, without any comment, he knelt once again and nuzzled Anton’s groin with his lips.

Steam filled the small bathroom. Any other time, Anton would have been begging AJ to finish what he’d started, but for some reason, with his thoughts trapped within his own hard skull, he hesitated.

Thank the Goddess, AJ didn’t. Anton bit back a groan as AJ ran his tongue over his sensitive glans. He gave up trying to stay quiet when AJ slowly wrapped his lips around the entire head. Using his tongue and his teeth, nibbling and sucking, slipping up and then down Anton’s
swollen cock, AJ drew a little more inside his mouth each time.

Each fraction of an inch felt incredible. Anton clung to the bar, thankful for something to hang on to. The hot water beat down on the two of them, cocooning them both within a thick cloud of steam and the sound of water against tile, of lips over hot flesh.

Anton arched his back as AJ’s big hands grabbed hold of his buttocks, holding him in a powerful grasp he had no intention of fighting. His entire cock was engulfed in AJ’s mouth, sliding down his throat. The sensation of throat muscles rippling and clenching around his full length almost took him over the edge.

Almost. He locked his knees to keep from falling and hung on to the bar for dear life. AJ’s powerful shoulders flexed as he practically lifted Anton to his mouth, drawing him deep, sucking so hard it felt as if he drew the sperm right out of his balls. Anton trembled, fighting the desire to climax until AJ slipped one long, soapy finger through his tightly clenched ass and rubbed gently but firmly over his damned prostate gland.

Orgasm slammed into him. Anton doubled over, turning loose of the bar and grasping those strong, hard shoulders for support. His legs collapsed and only AJ’s mouth, the strength of his back, and the grip of his powerful hands held Anton upright.

AJ kept sucking and licking, dragging the pleasure out for what felt like forever, swallowing every drop of ejaculate, squeezing and massaging the tense muscles of his buttocks until Anton felt as if he were floating, as if his body were nothing more than a single nerve pulsing with pleasure.

Finally AJ turned him loose. Anton’s cock was entirely flaccid when it slipped out of AJ’s mouth. AJ caught the broad crown between his lips and licked the tiny slit with
the tip of his tongue. Anton jerked sharply in reaction. He laughed, an almost frantic bark of sound as AJ stood up, rinsed them both, and then grabbed a towel.

He dried Anton first and helped him sit on the closed lid of the toilet seat while he dried himself. “I’m going to find something for you to wear. It’s cold tonight and you’re pretty weak right now. I don’t want you to get chilled.”

Still trembling from his climax, Anton laughed. “You’re treating me like a little kid, Mom. I’ll be okay.”

AJ leaned over and kissed him quickly on the mouth. Teasing, he said, “Maybe, but I’ll bet Mom never sucked you dry before.” Then he sighed. His smile slipped away. “I had hoped, if I could bring you to climax …” He looked away as he wrapped the towel around his waist. “I thought maybe, then you could link. That it might work.” He couldn’t seem to meet Anton’s eyes, and he left him sitting alone in the steamy bathroom.

Anton stared as the door shut behind AJ. His body still vibrated from the force of his climax. AJ’s blow job had been perfect, except for one thing. Anton had tried linking, too, at the height of climax, when his ability should be at its best.

AJ said he’d tried. So had Anton. It hadn’t worked.

Both of them had failed.

There’d been no connection at all.

Bay’s heart actually felt as if it expanded as he pulled into the long driveway that led to the house. They’d only been gone for a few days, but it had felt like forever.

And it wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. There would be trials ahead, and more questions, and the terrible risk of exposure. He glanced at Manda, sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat beside him, and knew he would do anything to protect her from the rest of the world.

They couldn’t afford for their secret to get out. Especially now, when he was almost certain she carried their child.

He looked in the rearview mirror and caught Jake’s amber eyes staring back at his.
Feels good to be home, doesn’t it?

Jake nodded and tightened his hold on Shannon. She slept soundly beside him with her head on his shoulder and the thick waves of her dark red hair flowing over his chest.
That it does. You’ll never guess who I’ve been talking with, though.

Before Bay had a chance to answer, Jake said,
AJ.

AJ? But how? He can’t mindtalk this far.

He can now. Ever since he caught that energy blast from Anton. And Anton can’t project at all. Not even to
Keisha. AJ said he’s really worried that somehow he got Anton’s ability. Said he feels like he stole it. He chuckled softly. He wondered if I had any idea how to give it back.

Bay frowned as the house came into view. He wasn’t seeing their home and the end of their journey. No, not now. His mind was filled with sympathy for Anton, for the isolation the man must be suffering.

He’d always been there, before. Always in the background of Bay’s mind. At first it had bothered him, but now he knew how much he actually missed the connection. There’d been comfort in Anton’s presence. A sense of belonging he’d not felt before he embraced his Chanku heritage.

How must it be for Anton Cheval, a man whose mind had always been his most powerful weapon? Would he ever heal? Bay pulled into the parking spot in front of the house, leaned over, and kissed Manda awake. He tried to imagine what life would be like without the unique Chanku link he shared with his mate.

Empty.
Life would be empty and without purpose.

Ulrich poured himself a cup of coffee and joined the rest of the small pack at the breakfast table. They’d all ended up here this morning, probably to discuss the message Deacon had gotten from AJ yesterday.

From the smell of bacon and pancakes, it appeared Millie had already fed them. He glanced around, hoping there might be something left, but the kitchen was already clean and everything had been put away. That’d teach him to oversleep, but the damned pups had worn him out last night.

And the night before. It appeared he and Millie had created monsters. Very, very good monsters.

Millie smiled at him and pulled his chair out. “G’morning, sleepyhead. I wondered if you were going to crawl out of bed. I was thinking of coming after you.”

He leaned over and kissed her, loving the sexy twinkle in her eyes. “If you’d come in to get me, we’d still be there.”

Matt and Deacon laughed. Daci merely shook her head and snorted. “Men,” she said. “You’re all alike. Human, Chanku … it doesn’t seem to matter.” Then she cast a sly glance at Millie. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”

Ric chuckled and raised his cup in salute. Then he sat in the chair beside Millie. “Good morning, brats.” He took a sip of his coffee, studying each of the kids over the rim of his cup. Young, maybe, but they were all powerful Chanku, each with a strong sense of the pack.

They were good people. Honorable and loving, and as true as any man could ever hope to call his friends, his packmates. And, just like him, they worried about the wizard. “So, any news about Anton?”

Deacon sighed. “I called AJ last night. He’s able to communicate long distances, but I get the feeling it’s tiring for him. The phone was easier. He said Anton’s planning to go back to Montana. He’s had some dream or vision—something about the Goddess. He told AJ he might need him, that Eve told him he’d know when. Other than that, it’s all just a waiting game.”

Millie squeezed Ric’s hand. “What about the girls? Are they okay?”

Deacon’s smile changed his entire appearance. When Ric first met the kid, he’d known exactly where the nickname came from. Christopher March—otherwise known as Deacon—had looked like a dour, rather morose old-time preacher. His Goth style and penchant for wearing black hadn’t helped. He’d lightened up a lot over the months he’d been here in Colorado, but he still wasn’t one to smile a lot.

Now he was definitely smiling. “Yeah,” he said. “Tala and Lisa are fine. They’re trying to decide whether to go to Montana for their deliveries or stay in San Francisco. Logan said he’ll do whatever they want, because Anton
will have Adam and Liana for medical care. AJ said they’re hoping the two of them might be able to help figure out what the problem is. Logan can’t find anything to fix, so his hands are tied.”

Ric squeezed Millie’s hand and tried to imagine what it would be like not to have the link that kept them connected at all times. Not that he knew what she was thinking. That wasn’t the most important thing. No, it was the sense of a part of her always connected to him. As if their souls were never separated.