The Keeping (61 page)

His hair brushed
her cheek. She felt his hot breathe on her neck, his tongue licking
her skin. At the same time, she began to hear a thrumming, a
swishing sound... She could smell his blood, imagined its coppery
taste on her tongue, running down her throat. His body possessing
hers, his skin pressed to hers, his sweat blending with her own,
but it wasn’t enough. She needed more... She needed to taste him,
to know that they were one in every way possible. And then, without
even realizing it, her mouth latched onto the side of his neck, her
teeth piercing his skin as she felt a sharp but almost pleasurable
pain on her own neck. Greedily she lapped at the wound, lost in an
ecstasy she couldn’t begin to describe.

Ryne was
surrounding her, possessing her, his life force feeding her as she
fed him. Her mind opened, his thoughts and feelings seeping in,
mixing with hers. She felt his need, the way his scrotum tightened
to his body, the rhythmic stroking, and squeezing on his sensitive
shaft as he moved in and out of her, as her body milked his. There
was a tingling in the base of his spine as he neared his release.
It matched the unbelievable levels of desire in her. The way her
heart was pounding, the aching need inside her, the tension that
was so high, so tight she thought she’d die. It was close, so
close...growing...heightening. Another thrust and then one more.
She couldn’t believe anything could feel like this; she didn’t want
it to end.

Faster...harder...
Frantically, they moved together in a wild, untamed dance moving
ever closer to the approaching precipice. Straining... She couldn’t
breathe...everything tightened...and then her body clenched in an
orgasm so hard, she was sure she was breaking into a million
pieces

Her vision blurred
as she lost all control. Limbs shaking, she was free falling
through space, jolts of pleasure wracking her body over and over,
compounded by the waves of ecstasy that shot through Ryne as his
seed spurted within her. Again and again her pleasure fed off his
until she was screaming her release.

Sometime later,
she realized she was sprawled on the bed, arms and legs spread in
complete abandon. Ryne’s head rested between her breasts, his leg
wrapped over hers.

“Hey,” she
whispered to him.

Hey yourself. His
voice echoed in her head and she gave a start before giggling. So
this was the mental bond he talked about. Pretty cool.

“Yeah it is, isn’t
it?” He murmured against her still heated flesh. “Apparently, it’s
always strongest after sex.”

“Well, I guess our
bond will be pretty strong then, since I plan on having lots and
lots of sex with you.”

“Mmm... I like how
you think, Melody. I like how you think.”

Epilogue

Back in
Chicago...

Leon Aldrich lay
in a hospital bed, his eyelids half open. A ventilator pumped air
through the breathing tube in his newly repaired throat. The pain
medication made him groggy and the room kept going in and out of
focus. In his hand he held a crumpled copy of Greyson’s will. He
couldn’t believe he never knew about Cassandra Greyson and that
she’d inherit everything. Hazily, he thought that changing the will
in his favour would have been an easy thing to do, if he’d still
been able bodied. Even though Greyson had added a note warning that
two other copies existed, he could have searched the estate and
found them.

He needed to find
the girl. But how?

The sound of the
door opening caught his attention and he slowly shifted his eyes to
observe the newcomer. It was a nurse.

“Hello, Mr.
Aldrich. And how are we today?” She chatted as she checked the
ventilator and peered at his bandages. “Nasty wounds. I must say
I’ve never heard of a wild dog attack in Chicago.”

Aldrich tried to
speak.

“No, no, no. You
can’t try to talk. Your throat can’t stand the strain. If you need
something, press the call button and use this whiteboard.” She held
the objects up for him to see and then placed them on the tray in
front of him.

He blinked twice.
It had been his main means of communicating until today. Two for
yes. Three for no.

The nurse smiled
and applied cream to his dry chapped lips. “You must be exhausted
after that police interview. It was so brave of you to step between
Mr. Greyson and that attacking dog.”

Aldrich blinked
twice again. That was the story he’d painstakingly scrawled on the
white board.

Straightening his
covers the Nurse continued. “I heard the police talking as they
left. They agree it was an unfortunate accident; the dog jumped at
you just as you fired the gun and the bullet hit Mr. Greyson by
mistake. You’re so lucky the beast ran off before it killed
you.”

Two more
blinks.

She squeezed his
hand. “Your secretary is here to see you. She’s such a sweet thing.
When I said I just needed to check your bandages and medication,
she told me she’d go downstairs for a few minutes and browse the
gift shop until I was done. I’m sure she’ll be back in just a
moment or two.” With a final pat to his hand, the woman left.

If nothing else,
the woman’s chatter had helped clear his thinking. He found it
easier to concentrate on the problem of Cassandra Greyson. He
wanted to get his hands on Greyson’s money, but the girl stood in
his way. As long as she was missing, the estate would be tied up.
Mind you, that would give him time to heal, but once she was found,
then what? She wasn’t yet eighteen. Possibly, he could have himself
appointed her guardian, worm his way into her confidence and
then... But how to contact her? A gleam entered his eye as he
noticed a newspaper lying on the chair by his bed. That might work.
Slowly, he grabbed the white board and began to write.

By time he was
finished, he was wet with sweat from the exertion, but a satisfied
look covered his face. He ran the message over in his mind. ‘Place
a personal ad in all major papers around U.S.A. It should read
Cassie, please come home. You’re in grave danger from the wild
ones. Only I can protect you. – A.

He frowned then
added one more line.

There was a light
rap on the door and Ms. Matthews walked in. He assessed the
temporary secretary carefully, knowing she was the person who had
caved in to Greyson’s demands that she snoop in his appointment
book. She wasn’t exactly trustworthy... Damn Ms. Sandercock for
still being away! Well, Ms. Matthews seemed biddable enough. She’d
have to do. And she had brought him Greyson's will, after all. Not
having any other choice at the moment, he made his decision.

“Hello, Mr.
Aldrich.” Ms. Matthews set a magazine down on his bed table. “I
brought you something to read, in case you’re bored. Is there
anything I can do for you?

He gestured at the
white board and she picked it up.

When she was
finished reading, she gave him a puzzled look. “This is the girl
mentioned in the will?”

He blinked
twice.

“All right. I’ll
have a personal ad put in the papers for you and get some extra
guards posted outside this room, though I can’t think why. The
police were here all week...” Her voice trailed off as she copied
the message down on a sheet of paper. “Oh, by the way, Ms.
Sandercock called, and she’s taking an extended leave. Some family
business about the relative that passed away. Richardsons Temp
Agency is willing to give me the position until she returns, if
that’s all right with you.”

He blinked yes,
knowing he really had no other choice. It wasn’t like he was able
to interview for the position.

“I was hoping
you’d agree. You seem like such a nice man.” She stepped closer and
brushed his hair back from his forehead, letting her hand trail
slowly down his arm. “If you need anything...anything at all, just
ask. And feel free to call me by my first name. It’s Mary, though
some people use my nickname, Marla.” She smiled widely and stepped
away. “I’ll go place that ad for you, now. See you tomorrow.”

Stupid girl, he
thought as she left the room, vaguely noting she had the slightest
limp. If she thinks I’ll fall for that act... Ha! I know her kind
only too well.

Fin

Thank you for
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Preview of The
Finding.

Cassie stood in
the shadows at the edge of the alleyway, watching the cars and
people pass by. No one so much as glanced at her, but she stepped
back a bit, just to be sure. The street was lined with stores and
small businesses, and in the distance there appeared to be a number
of flashing, lighted signs with crowds milling about. If she didn’t
know better, she’d think it looked Las Vegas, but that was
ridiculous. The bus she’d been on couldn’t have travelled that far!
She furrowed her brow, wondering where she might be, and how she’d
ended up in an alley.

The last thing she
remembered was lying on a bed in a motel, having spent half the
night fleeing from the site of her uncle’s death and the wolf
attack. She’d taken her medication and tried to calm down by
thinking of happier places; that was the last thing she could
recall until waking up here, just a few minutes ago.

Her body had been
wedged between a brick wall and a dumpster. A mouse crawling over
her hand had stirred her from her sleep. She’d screamed and
skittered a few feet away, watching in a combination of horror and
disgust as the tiny creature ran into a hole under the metal bin.
Then, once she was over that shock, she’d looked around
frantically, wondering why she wasn’t in her motel room. Her heart
had been pounding, panic wrapping around her like an iron fist as
she realized that there was no bed, no TV, no faded curtains; just
brick walls, utility meters, bits of garbage and graffiti.

The strap of her
bag had been clenched in her hand; amazingly enough there was still
money inside of it, so she hadn’t been robbed. And her clothing,
though filthy and wrinkled, was intact which probably meant she
hadn’t been assaulted. Her skin crawled as she thought of all the
things that could have happened to her while she was unconscious.
Obviously something had occurred, otherwise how had she arrived in
this place?

She wracked her
brain but there was no recollection as to what might have occurred.
She looked around fearfully, wondering if the werewolf had
something to do with this. There was no sign of the creature but it
could still be following her, ready to end her life as easily as he
had ended Mr. Aldrich’s.

Just the thought
of the large black wolf and its blood drenched muzzle had her
shivering, despite the relative warmth of the air. She stepped back
into the alleyway and hunkered down by the dumpster where she’d
awoken. As she leaned her head back against the brick wall, she
stared at the graffiti covered sign that graced the steel door
straight across from her; Chinese and Thai Restaurant, Deliveries
Only. Apparently she was in the back alley behind a number of
businesses. As she glanced to either side, she noted other similar
doors giving support to her assumption.

At that moment a
delivery truck roared down the alley and she pressed herself closer
to the wall. It stopped a good distance from her hiding place, and
a man got out, whistling tunelessly. She watched him go about his
business, taking cartons out of the truck and handing them to
someone who stood just inside a doorway. He never once glanced in
her direction but she still felt the need to move. No doubt other
trucks would be through here in the near future and she didn’t want
to be found hiding here. People would ask questions, to which she
wouldn’t have any answers.

She bit her lip,
knowing she needed to do something, go somewhere, but it all seemed
so overwhelming. How she longed to be back in the security of her
uncle’s home. To hear him blustering away, to see Franklin pulling
faces behind the old man’s back, to have Cook fussing and making
her favourite meals... Her chin quivered. Oh God, how could her
world have been destroyed so quickly?

A lone tear
trickled down her face and she quickly wiped it away. Crying
wouldn’t help. Her uncle was dead and she was alone now. She had to
handle this situation on her own. As she searched her mind for a
possible course of action, she gave a short, wry laugh, realizing
that her private tutors had never covered topics related to running
for your life while being chased by a werewolf. How remiss of
them!

Her brief moment
of levity quickly died though as the delivery truck’s engine was
started up. It roared past her leaving a cloud of exhaust fumes in
its wake. Forcing herself to her feet, she gave an inelegant sniff
and walked back to the end of the alley, resuming her earlier
hiding position in the shadows. From the angle of the sun, she
could tell it was early morning. People seemed intent on getting to
their work or appointments. No one was taking notice of her. The
anonymity gave her some modicum of comfort.

There was a
restaurant on the corner and a variety store. She bit her lip and
squared her shoulders. Maybe...

“Hey there, girly!
What’re you doing?” A voice spoke from nearby and she jumped,
backing away until her spine was against the opposite brick wall.
It was a young man, probably in his early twenties. He had brown
hair, blue eyes, and was dressed in respectable looking shirt and
pair of pants.

Cassie clutched
her bag tightly to her chest while staring at him warily.

“Are you okay?”
The man had a faint look of concern on his face. “Are you in
trouble? A runaway?”

She shook her
head. “No.”

“Funny, ’cause you
sort of look like life’s been treating you pretty bad.” He studied
her for a minute, then smiled and held out his hand. “My name’s
Kellen. Kellen Anderson.”