white-hot flash of pure, indefinable power rolled from spine to balls to rock-hard cock. Burning a trail of pleasure so closely linked to pain, it coiled and struck him like a bolt of lightning. His body surged forward. He felt the hot blast of his seed and the familiar touch of Keisha’s mind to his.
Lungs bursting, lights flashing behind his tightly closed eyes, he cried out with his release. Still holding his mate in his arms, Anton’s hips continued their steady thrusting into her welcoming body. His heart opened to her love. His mind, all his thoughts and fears, were now an open book.
He could never hold a secret from his mate. No matter how hard he tried, in this she would always have power over him. Taking his seed into her body, she took his fears and his love into her heart. They fell together, collapsing against the thick comforter and tumbled sheets, their bodies still linked, their thoughts as one.
Keisha brushed the sweat-tangled hair away from Anton’s face and kissed him softly on the mouth. Her tongue circled his lips and tangled with his for a brief moment, easing him down from such a mind-blowing climax. Her taste was ambrosia to him, the food of the gods, and it was his alone this morning.
Just as his thoughts, his dreams and all his fears, were hers.
Keisha’s lips moved once more against his mouth. She sighed, a soft sound of exasperation and love. “It was a dream, my love. When will you learn to share your worries? You have to learn to tell me your concerns, not hide them from me. We’re mates. You’re not meant to carry these unnecessary burdens alone. No one will ever take me from you. No one will take Lily. We are yours and you will always keep us safe.” Her fingers combed through his long hair. Her beautiful amber eyes glistened with tears. “We will keep each other safe,” she said, and kissed him once again.
That she would try to shoulder his fears made him feel small and vulnerable, but her thoughts laughed at his foolish notion. Keisha shook her head. Once again she kissed his mouth. Lily stirred in her crib. Keisha raised her head and smiled at their daughter. “I’m going to miss her being so close to us at night.”
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
