Читать книгу Sexy Beast - Vivi Anna - Страница 8

Xandi found Keisha at the kitchen table in the morning. She stared blankly out the window, but turned when Xandi entered the room. Her lips were trembling, and her hand holding the half-empty coffee cup shook.

“I heard the phone ring. What’s wrong?”

Keisha sighed. “I just talked to Anton. I called him first thing, told him about Carl Burns. He contacted Burns’s publisher to complain. Anton just now called me back to say the paper fired Burns more than a month ago. It looks as if he’s not working on a story. He’s stalking me.”

“Have you called the police?” Xandi poured herself a cup of coffee and sat across from Keisha. “Is Anton coming out?”

“Anton’s stuck in meetings until Friday…he may even have one Saturday morning. I told him not to come.”

Xandi snorted. “You mean he listened?”

“I don’t think he’s got a choice. This deal involves millions of dollars. It’s a huge investment for him. I’ve got a call in to the detective who worked my assault case. I’m hoping he can tell me how to keep Burns away from us.”

“In the meantime?” Xandi took a sip of her coffee.

“In the meantime, I need to check on my project, make sure we’re still on schedule. The next couple days are going to be really busy.” She smiled sadly at Xandi. Her amber eyes filled with tears. “Why won’t he stop following me? Why won’t he leave me alone? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“When was the first time you were aware of him?”

Keisha frowned. “Not until the article came out in the paper, the story about my assault.”

“How did he get there so soon? He was at the crime scene really fast. I saw the pictures. There were still bodies in the room.”

“I don’t know. I was so out of it. I never saw Burns, at least that night. At first I thought the photos were from the police files, but I learned later they weren’t.”

“Did the police let him in?” Xandi recalled the lurid black and white photo, the torn and mutilated bodies of three men, the superimposed photo of a rabid, snarling wolf covering the picture. “Could he have been there before the police arrived?”

Keisha slowly raised her head. “I don’t know. I can’t imagine the police letting him take pictures. It was a crime scene, but he had to have been there right after it happened to get those shots. How could he have known?”

Xandi reached behind Keisha and grabbed the phone. “Call the detective. Now.”

Early Friday morning, Keisha surveyed the stark stone monument, its sharp edges softened by the gently swaying grasses she’d carefully selected for the design. She’d picked them out of hundreds of other similar plants in the months before her attack, long before she knew Anton, Stefan or Xandi, or anything about the Chanku.

Now Keisha leaned over and plucked a single golden stem and slipped it between her lips. She straightened up, chewing thoughtfully, to study the finished project.

She found it absolutely fascinating, realizing her body had known the nutrients she needed to discover her Chanku heritage. Somehow, instinct had led her to choose exactly the right combination of plants for the memorial, had driven her to chew on the woody stems and suck on the slender grasses until her body had responded, until the tiny gland near her brain stem had finally developed enough to let her shift from human to wolf.

Thank God it happened in time, or she would have been the one who died in that bloody apartment so many months ago.

The sun chose that moment to break through the morning fog and cast shadows exactly as she’d planned, reflecting a jagged silhouette reminiscent of the Himalayas. Keisha nibbled on the stem of grass and studied the dark line of stone.

She stared blindly at the monument, but she hardly thought of it, nor did she consider the impact it would have on the people who came to view it for the first time. No, her mind was filled with thoughts of her mother, of her Auntie Camille and her missing cousin and uncle. Of her father, a proud and hardworking gardener who’d taught Keisha to love plants and all growing things.

Had he been the one who carried the Chanku genes? Most likely not. Anton believed it was recessive in men, but dominant in women. Had her mother shifted? Her Auntie Camille? Or had they gone through their brief lives without knowing their own potential?

What of her cousin? Tia would be a grown woman now, at least in her mid twenties. Did she carry the Chanku genetics within her DNA? If so, as Keisha had been for most of her life, was Tia unaware of her heritage?

Keisha started when Xandi slipped an arm around her waist. “It’s a fitting tribute, sweetie. Absolutely gorgeous. I can see why your design won the competition.”

Xandi’s praise should have filled her with pride. Instead, Keisha was aware of a terrible emptiness. If only her mother could be here…or her father. She put the impossible out of her mind, remembering instead her brief and unproductive conversation with the detective. She’d finally reached him after two days of calls, only to learn there wasn’t anything they could do to stop Carl Burns from following her. Not until the reporter broke the law.

She sighed. One more thing she’d just as soon not think about. Shoving thoughts of Burns and the San Francisco Police Department aside, Keisha returned Xandi’s hug. “At least the project’s done, under budget and on time. I just wish I could feel more excited about it.”

“You will. Once everyone shows up for the dedication. Stefan and Anton haven’t seen the finished project. They’re going to be amazed at how gorgeous it turned out. Now let’s clean up around here so it’s perfect for Sunday. Your rake, m’dear?”

Sighing, Keisha took the rake from Xandi and began clearing away the accumulation of branches and leaves left by the workmen. She missed Anton. She missed Stefan.

She missed the sense of peace she’d lost the moment Carl Burns came after her again.

Unbidden, thoughts of her mother and her Auntie Camille crept back into Keisha’s mind once again. Why now, of all times, would she find herself mourning both her mother and her aunt?

Mourning the dead and wondering about her cousin…where was Tia? Why was the sense of the missing women in her life so strong, here in the midst of Golden Gate Park?

Hours later, standing in the neatly cleared garden, Keisha still couldn’t find answers to her questions or the sense of achievement she’d hoped to feel.

She’d won a national landscape design contest, created something lasting and beautiful, yet all she wanted was to get as far away from San Francisco and Carl Burns as possible.

“Xandi, I think we should go home.” She slanted a look at her friend. “Back to Montana. Let’s skip the dedication and just leave. I have a really bad feeling about…”

Xandi planted her rake in front of her and shook her head. “No. You’ve worked hard. You deserve recognition for this. Besides, I’m staying alert. I’ve been watching. I don’t think Burns is nearby. One of us would sense him.”

Keisha shook her head. “What if we don’t? They can’t arrest him because he hasn’t done anything. There’s no record of his stalking me, but I certainly don’t want to give him an opportunity to hurt either of us just so the police will take notice. How do I make him leave me alone? I’m not even certain why he’s following me.” Keisha wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. She’d been feeling so strong, so in control. Feeling like her old self, for the first time since her attack.

Not now. Now the old fears were seeping into her bones, the insecurities, the lack of confidence…it was all coming back.

“If he’s been fired from his paper, he probably wants film to prove you exist, that you shift.” Xandi’s eyes continuously swept the park as she spoke. “He wants his job back and figures you’re the key. We just won’t give him the opportunity.”

Keisha sighed, staring blankly at the memorial garden she’d worked so hard to create. “Do you miss it as much as I do? Shifting? Last night I practically lost it. I stood at the window in the middle of the night, tired from working out here all day, yet wanting so badly to shift and run…but I didn’t dare.”

Xandi leaned close and gave her a tight hug. “Two more days. You can make it. Anton and Stefan will be here tomorrow, the dedication is Sunday morning, and our flight leaves Sunday night.”

Keisha nodded, then turned to Xandi and grinned. “Okay. Two more days. I can do this. You realize, of course, I’m gonna be real tense.”

Laughing, Xandi grabbed Keisha’s hand. Together, they walked back to the car. Keisha paused by the driver’s side and brushed one hand across the back of her neck. She turned her head slowly and scanned the lush park behind her. There was no one visible, but a subtle sense of contact, of being watched, lingered.

Xandi?

Xandi paused in the act of opening the door on the passenger’s side. Yeah?

Don’t turn around. Just smile like we’re talking about the project. In fact, look back in the direction of the memorial and see what you feel.

Okay…why?

Do you sense anything? Anyone?

Xandi laughed and looked back in the direction of the memorial. After a brief moment, she turned back. Keisha noticed a small frown between Xandi’s eyes when she looked at Keisha over the roof of the small rental car.

I’m not sure. For a moment there, I thought I sensed a wolf. That doesn’t compute. The guys won’t be here until tomorrow at the earliest.

I know. I felt the same thing. Keisha sighed, then laughed, but even in her own ears, the sound lacked humor. “It’s probably just wishful thinking. Let’s get home. I’m beat.”

Anton tossed his briefcase on the wide bed, thoughts of Keisha filling his mind, teasing his body. More than three thousand miles away with that blasted tabloid reporter on her tail and not a damned thing he could do about it. Thank goodness Xandi was with her.

One more meeting early in the morning and they’d head west. He ached for her, needed her sweet body as much as he needed to breathe, needed to feel her beneath him, crying his name, wrapping her gorgeous legs around his hips.

Needed…

To run. To feel the wind against his muzzle, the cool grass beneath his feet, the sensory input that kept his Chanku soul alive. The need to shift was almost overpowering, but it wasn’t worth the risk. Not here, not in the heart of the city.

Which brought him back to a toss-up between what he could have and what he needed. He’d have to find another way to burn off the energy.

A good fuck? Anton glanced at the door separating his room from Stefan’s and wondered if his packmate was as exhausted as he was, as wound up from their day.

He tossed his coat on a chair and tugged at his necktie, then stretched and grimaced at the crackling in his joints. Damn. As tired as he felt, he was still high. He’d never worked with a partner before, much less one who read his mind. It had been an amazing experience, communicating telepathically while pulling off a huge business deal.

Before long, Stefan would be as adept at handling their investments as he was, though he couldn’t imagine anything more effective than the two of them working together.

Which brought him full circle to how the hell he was going to burn off all his excess energy. Anton glanced back at the connecting door and grinned. The available options had an immediate effect on his libido. Remembering Stefan, his amazing mouth and aggressive tongue, had Anton’s cock surging against his zipper. He loosened his belt, appreciating the fullness, the heat of his erection.

Imagining what Keisha and Xandi might be doing together even now sent a fresh surge of heat to his cock. He cupped himself through his slacks, recalling other business trips, other lonely hotel rooms. Evenings had been the worst. Occasionally, there’d been a woman to share a meal and more, but even feminine companionship hadn’t eased the aching loneliness, the soul-deep yearning he’d felt for a true mate.

His thoughts turned once more to Stefan.

With Keisha on the other side of the country, a packmate would do in a pinch. Stefan had already proved that. He wasn’t Keisha, but he wasn’t bad. Anton’s grin broadened. No, Stefan wasn’t bad at all.

The door between their rooms swung open. Stefan stood there, barefoot and shirtless, a big smile on his face. “I keep hoping to sense Xandi. Instead all I pick up is your sad but horny refrain.”

Anton laughed. “Damn right I’m horny. The women are too far away. I can’t reach Keisha, either.”

Stefan sauntered into the room, all alpha male swagger and sex appeal, a man fully aware of his effect. “So…you think I’m not bad, eh? That’s all I get? A ‘not bad’?”

“It’s a start, don’t you think?”

“Barely. You can do better.”

“I intend to.” Anton began unbuttoning his shirt, taking each button in slow motion. He sensed Stefan’s growing excitement…as well as an unusual sense of hesitation.

“I…uhm.” Stefan cleared his throat.

Anton bit back a smile. Ah, that explained it. Stefan still had trouble initiating sex with another man, no matter how often the two of them had made love. Not a problem Anton shared.

Stefan cracked his knuckles and cleared his throat once more, before the words tumbled out of him. “I ordered in tonight. A couple of rare steaks, some potatoes…the basics. You looked tired and I know I really don’t want to go out. Hope that’s okay.”

Maybe things were changing. Anton ducked his head to hide his smile. “Sounds good. Have you heard anything at all from the girls? I checked my phone—no messages.”

“No, but it’s early in California.” Stefan glanced at his wristwatch. “Just a little after three for them. They’ll call later. This was Keisha’s last day to work on the project before the dedication, so I imagine they’ve been busy.”

“I’ve been worried about her…about both of them. I wish they weren’t so far away.”

“They’ll be fine. She and Xandi can take care of themselves for one more night. I have to admit, though, I’ll feel a lot better when we’re all together again.”

“Me, too.” Anton threw his shirt in his laundry bag. He straightened up slowly when he felt Stefan’s hand brush lightly over his bare shoulder. “Isn’t dinner on the way?”

“Not for an hour. I suggested they deliver it around seven. That gives us a little time to unwind. Why don’t you sit and let me rub some of the knots out of your back? It’ll help take your mind off Keisha.”

Anton laughed. “You must really want something if you’re offering a massage.”

“Oh, I do.” Stefan laughed but didn’t say anything more enlightening. He did, however, slowly remove his slacks and briefs.

Anton turned away. The need to fall on his knees in front of that perfect body, to grab Stefan’s cock and roll his tongue around its blood-filled head, to suck him deep into his mouth…damn. It would probably shock the hell out of Stefan. Generally he was the one kneeling in front of Anton.

He bit back a grin. This was Stefan’s show. He decided to let the younger man call the shots, at least this once. Anton took a shaky breath and willed his cock under control. His legs felt like rubber.

Sighing, he practically fell onto the desk chair. He turned it backwards, straddled the seat and leaned his forehead on his crossed wrists. Stefan stood close behind, straddling his back, his big hands working magic on Anton’s sore muscles.

Stefan’s solid cock brushed against Anton’s spine. The feel of that hard length burning across his bare back sent a shiver through Anton, a charge that grounded itself deep in his gut.

His own cock pressed against his zipper. His balls drew up tight and hard between his legs. He shifted on the wood seat, managed to lean closer to Stefan. He opened his mind to Stefan’s thoughts and found them blocked.

Wondering, not knowing what his packmate was thinking, turned Anton on even more. That and the hard length of cock riding back and forth across his backbone.

“I could do a better job if you took off your clothes and stretched out on the bed.”

“I’ll bet you could.” Laughing, Anton stood up and reached for his zipper, but Stefan beat him to it. It was the first time another man had ever unzipped Anton’s pants for him. Anton grabbed the desk behind him as Stefan’s fingers slowly peeled the fly back and released the snap. Then, moving even slower, touching only the tab, Stefan dragged the zipper open, one metal tooth at a time.

Anton gritted his teeth. This teasing, confident male was a new side of Stefan, one Anton hadn’t experienced. He put his hands at the waistband, intending to slide his pants down, but Stefan shook his head.

“I’ll do it.”

He slipped his hands inside the waistband and slowly lowered both Anton’s slacks and briefs. The elastic of Anton’s briefs caught against the root of his erection. Stefan shoved the loose slacks to the floor, but left the briefs in place.

The band pressed against Anton’s cock, holding it down between his legs unnaturally close against his body. The elastic cut lightly into his ass. Stefan led Anton to the bed and gestured to him to wait while he threw a heavy towel over the bedspread.

Anton lay down, still partially clad in the white briefs.

The sensation, though not uncomfortable, drew Anton’s attention to both his cock and his ass, as Stefan straddled his hips and began to rub his back. Stefan’s huge cock rode against his cotton briefs, prevented from sliding up and down the crease between Anton’s buttocks by the thin layer of soft cotton.

Anton’s frustration grew. Generally, he penetrated Stefan—took him in the ass while either Xandi or Keisha sucked hard on Stefan’s cock—but this was totally different.

Just the two of them, Stefan on top and Anton squirming beneath him, trying to find relief from the growing pressure in his cock, the hard ache in his balls.

Stefan continued to massage his shoulders and back, but the touch of his hands was secondary. Anton shuddered under the weight of his packmate straddling his hips, the tantalizing sweep of Stefan’s cock over his ass, the rough abrasion of coarse hair on Stefan’s legs sliding across his thighs.

After long minutes of rubbing and teasing, Stefan rose up on his knees and slipped Anton’s briefs down over his legs, then tugged them past his feet.

He spread Anton’s legs apart and lay on top of him. Anton shifted, better to wedge Stefan’s long cock tightly between his cheeks, then he grabbed the top edge of the mattress, wishing for his bed at home with the stout iron railings.

He waited, breath caught in his throat, heart practically stuttering in his chest, for Stefan to fuck him. Instead, he felt fingers reaching under his belly, finding his cock, stroking it in long, slow, teasing sweeps.

Groaning, twisting beneath Stefan’s weight and heat, Anton thrust his hips down, pressed himself into Stefan’s grasp, practically wept when Stefan slipped his hands away.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I figured it was your turn for the bottom.” Stefan chuckled, then slipped away from Anton. “Don’t move.”

Anton lay there, remembering. The first time they fucked was the first time either of them had ever had a sexual encounter with another man. Stefan had returned to Anton, caught halfway in his switch between man and wolf, angry, needy, so frustrated he literally bristled in his half wolf, half human pelt.

Unaware of his Chanku heritage, Stefan was convinced Anton had cast a spell on him. He had no idea the shift had occurred within himself, that he alone was responsible for his bestial appearance.

For five long years, Anton had waited for Stefan to come to his senses, to realize he needed Anton. It had taken Alexandria’s love and compassion to convince Stefan it was time.

Stefan had been afraid and belligerent at the same time, and he’d burned with a sensuality that was almost intimidating. Anton’s breath caught as the full memory blasted through his mind. He’d shifted, half afraid of his prodigy. He’d become the wolf and wrestled Stefan to the ground, had speared him with his wolven cock without care, had taken him in what would have been an act of rape if only Stefan hadn’t wanted it so badly.

Not merely taken him—he’d screwed Stefan in front of Alexandria. Fucked him hard and long, shifting from wolf to human, filling Stefan’s firm ass with his sperm and bringing the young magician to an incredible climax.

Then he’d walked away and let Stefan and his future mate sort it all out themselves, something they’d done admirably.

Later, the tables had reversed. With youth and anger, passion and lust on his side, Stefan eventually bested his mentor, but there’d been no losers, only winners…packmates, and just as important, friends.

A new beginning.

The bed dipped. Still lying on his stomach, Anton spread his legs wider, giving Stefan access. He felt the gentle touch of Stefan’s fingers, rubbing some sort of lubricant between his legs, around his sensitive ass. Anton groaned when Stefan slipped one finger inside his tight sphincter muscle, then shuddered when Stefan slowly guided him up on his knees and rubbed his balls and cock.

Stefan’s hands stroked and teased, fingers circled Anton’s balls, then traced the sensitive length of his cock, slipped back between his legs to lightly squeeze and massage his balls once more.

Trembling now, Anton buried his head on his crossed arms and braced himself. His breath rushed in and out in short puffs. Stefan’s hands were everywhere, rubbing his cock, circling the hard crown, massaging the pulsing vein back to his balls.

He felt the solid head of Stefan’s cock pressing tightly against his ass. Grunting, forcing himself to relax, he sighed as the huge crown pressed hard, harder, then slipped past the tight sphincter. Anton shuddered again as Stefan filled him in one long, slow, burning thrust.

Both of Stefan’s hands wrapped around Anton’s cock. Covered in lube, they slipped to the very end as Stefan withdrew, then slid back against his belly as Stefan thrust forward.

Anton felt Stefan’s balls pressing against his for the briefest of moments, then once more Stefan was sliding out, moving his hands in the opposite direction.

In, out, faster, harder, Stefan’s fingers tightened around Anton’s cock with each thrust…pressure increased in balls and gut, breath rasping, muscles clenching, Anton’s mind open and screaming on the edge of orgasm.

Suddenly Stefan was there, deep in Anton’s thoughts, sharing the sensations of heat and pressure, of cock stuffed deep in his lover’s hot bowels, of the slick slide of fingers over straining cock, a link that went full circle, growing, building, layering sensation upon sensation, peaking as one, coming as one, both of them crying out, hanging there in a sensual high for what seemed like forever.

Yet lasted only seconds. Mere seconds before Anton’s cock was shooting his seed all over Stefan’s hands, mere seconds before Stefan’s cock was spasming, pumping his ejaculate into Anton’s welcoming body.

Minds open, hearts open, both of them linked as tightly as two people can be. Open to each other.

Open to love, to emotions so deep and powerful there were no words to explain.

Together they heard Keisha’s mental scream.