Authors: Maddy Barone
Glory noticed that Rose"s eyes were watering lavishly while she tried to swallow the home brew. Glory would have grinned except that her eyes were a bit wet too. Maybe it wasn"t just the strength of her drink. She had been really lucky to have found Shadow and the others when she did. She could have ended up like Tami, a sex slave somewhere.
“Your ranch might not be there anymore. It"s been fifty years,” Carla said matter-of-factly.
“Maybe not. I didn"t want to believe that I"m in the future,” Tami said. Her reddened hands tightened over her glass. “But it"s hard to deny. I guess I just have to see the place to really believe it.” She swallowed the rest of her booze. “So how did we all end up here? I mean, here in this town.”
Glory told the story of how she had stumbled on Shadow and his cousins hunting, and Marissa, Renee, and Rose added their bit about how the Clan had come and taken the survivors staying with the plane to their camp.
“You all were pretty lucky,” was Tami"s comment.
Carla agreed. “Yeah, but I didn"t think so at first. I mean, sold to Ray to be married to whatever guy fought best in the bride fight? But from the beginning, Taye treated me great.
His wolf chose me, which is pretty weird to us, but normal for them. And in bed,” her voice lowered. “He"s wonderful. Gentle. Caring. He"s always doing new things to me, but no matter what, he always makes me come first. You know one of the best things about it? He doesn"t care if I"m flat-chested. He
likes
this little spare tire around my waist.”
Rose giggled, then put her hand over her mouth, looking owlishly embarrassed.
Jill smiled like a toothless shark. “Think about it. Women are scarce. Who does he have to compare you to? You"re the only woman he"s ever been with. Any man of the Clan who hasn"t been married is in the same boat.”
“Do you mean,” Renee said slowly, “Hawk is a virgin? A man that good-looking? At
that age?”
“Who would he fool around with?” Jill shrugged and drank. “It"s not because of morals as much as lack of opportunity. How many women have you seen here? How many of them are alone? There"s not too many ministers either, so church weddings are rare. These days, in this region, if you sleep with a man, you"re married to him.”
“So, does that mean women have harems?” asked Marissa, giggling.
Jill cackled. “Actually, yes. But not around here.” She passed the second bottle round.
“What happened to Tami is frowned on here in this area. But you go further west there are lots of communities where one woman will marry two or three men. Seems to work out. And if you go east, Omaha is the new Sin City.”
Marissa choked and lowered her glass. “Seriously? I grew up there. It"s the most boring place on earth.”
“Not anymore.” Jill topped their glasses off again, except for Rose"s. She paused, then tipped a teeny bit more in the teen"s glass. “Omaha is one of the biggest cities left, and it"s growing. Men like that guy who is building the railroads are making money. Any place with a lot of newcomers is a little wild. Remember the gold mining towns in the Old West? What did they have except saloons and brothels? That"s what Omaha is like now.”
“But,” Rose"s voice was small and blurry. “That"s where Sky went.”
“I know,” said Jill grimly. “That boy had better not be following in the footsteps of his brother Jimmy.”
“If he does, I"ll kick his ass,” said Rose darkly.
Glory felt a snarky grin twitch her lips at the bad language. If Jane were here she would have washed Rose"s mouth out with soap.
Carla said quickly, “Harems?”
Jill nodded. “There"s a religious community northeast of here that worships a goddess.
There"s over a hundred men and one woman. The High Priestess is called “the Ia,” and she chooses a different guy to sleep with each night. It"s supposed to be a sacrifice they make to the goddess. Oh, the things men will do for their religion.”
Glory choked on her drink. “Really? I"m not sure if that would be fun or disgusting.”
“Disgusting,” Tami muttered.
“When women are rare, men will do just about anything for a little sex.”
Rose"s cheeks were pink, from either the drink or lingering embarrassment. Or both?
“But my mom told me that wherever there are men there will be prostitutes. Aren"t there any here? I mean, besides in Omaha?”
“Well, as a matter of fact, there are a few ladies of that sort north of here, just over the Missouri River. It"s Omaha that has plenty of those kinds of ladies. But they cost cash money—a lot of it—and who has that?”
“Maybe we should send Heather up that way?” Glory mumbled.
Carla snickered. “She already left. I don"t know where she"s going, but she"s with some man. Did anyone else think it was funny how most of the men around here ignored her? I bet she"s not used to that.”
Jill smirked. “Back in 2014, her figure was the ideal for a porn star. Tiny waist, long legs, big boobs … Here, a figure like Marissa"s or Glory"s is the ideal. I don"t think Heather could take the way the men drooled over Glory and Marissa.”
Rose giggled. It was the kind of giggle that suggested she"d probably had enough to drink. “Yeah. I don"t think she liked the way Shadow fell for Glory. He
really
likes Glory!
He really likes her—
hic!
—you-know-whats.”
Yeah. Glory drank more while she thought about that. Shadow liked her figure. He truly thought she was sexy just the way she was, big belly, wide hips, thunder thighs, and all. Back home a guy who looked like Shadow would never have noticed her. He would have had to peel a few of the Heather-like bimbos off his buff bod to even be able to see her. But here it was different. Shadow was a gorgeous hunk who was hot for her, not Heather. He had once called Heather a bag of bones. If Glory could have invented her perfect man it would have been Shadow. Not only was he gorgeous, he had a sweet side. He had looked so horribly sorry when he thought he had hurt her, and he was so tender, and so protective and … He sometimes made love like a wild man, and sometimes he was so gentle in bed. And he was hers. Just hers.
When did she become a maudlin drunk? Glory sat with her butt getting numb in the hard chair, listening to the women laugh and talk, imagining that Shadow was in her room waiting for her. God, she missed him. She imagined that she would walk down the hall and open her door, and she"d see him lying in her bed. He"d lift the covers for her to join him, and then she"d feel those big hands stroking over her…
Glory sighed and took another drink. Spring was a long time away.
Glory went out to the backyard to draw. Mikey sighed over her stubbornness but followed her with an extra blanket folded over his bare arm. Carla was with Renee and Rose and her horse, giving them riding lessons. Rose didn"t look particularly enthusiastic about being bounced around on a horse. Her face had a distinctly greenish cast to it. Glory sympathized. She had been a bit hung over herself this morning. Several wolves in both their forms were there too, racing each other and practicing their fighting skills while watching over the women. Glory settled herself on a thick sheepskin on the ground and opened her sketch book. She was determined to get the sketch of Shadow just right today. Last night she"d had a hot dream of him, and although his face wasn"t the only part of him she remembered being in the dream, it was clear in her mind.
If Shadow had a flaw, it might possibly be his nose. It was a proud nose, with a slight Roman arch to it. Glory felt pretty sure she had it just right when she noticed a familiar scent in the crisp air. She inhaled deeply, her heart flinging itself into her throat.
“Shadow?”
She thought she yelled, but it came out in a choked whisper audible only to wolf ears.
She didn"t notice the way all the wolves stopped their play to watch her scramble to her knees and swing around. He was there, long hair drifting in the breeze over his naked body, gaze fixed on her. She devoured him with her eyes, seeing that she had gotten the nose right, but she had missed the stud he wore in … Hey! That was her stud! She had left it in his tent, and she had thought it was lost forever. He looked magnificent, all bare brown skin and taut muscle under what seemed like miles of black hair. She noticed a certain part of his flesh swelling and snatched the blanket from Mike.
“Shadow! For God"s sake, cover up!” She flung a glance over her shoulder, to where Renee and Carla were politely looking away while Rose gaped. Teenagers. She shook out the blanket and held it out to him.
He ignored it to fold her in his arms. “Sunshine,” he murmured into her hair. “You"re cold! And so thin! Have you been sick?”
Thin? She opened her mouth to retort, but he smelled heavenly, and though he was
completely bare, his skin was warm. She could feel his erection, and her lonely girl parts remembered the dream from last night. “Where are your clothes?” she demanded, and then, without pausing, “Do you want to go to my room?”
His mouth blew warm air over her throat when he nuzzled against her. “Yes. You"re cold. I need to get you warm.”
She choked on a laugh. “Pressing against me like that again will get me real hot, real quick. Oh, Shadow, I missed you. Why are you here? How long are you staying? Are you staying for the winter?”
“Only a few days. I was lonely for you, sunshine.”
The thought that he was leaving hurt, so she diverted herself by kissing him. “My room is inside,” she reminded him. “I want … Let"s…”
*
Shadow knew what she wanted, and it was the same thing he wanted. He picked his mate up and ran across the yard with her, smiling at her squeals of mock alarm. He ignored her orders to put her down and wrap the blanket around his waist. Why should he do that? He was going to take it off the second they got to her room anyway. His kin smiled at him as he went past, but didn"t try to talk to him.
He got them into the room and the door closed, then set her down and began carefully stripping her clothing off her. He didn"t want to tear anything, but he wanted to see her bare.
Even though she had lost some weight since he"d been with her last she was still the most beautiful woman he"d ever seen. Her embarrassment over her body was something he
couldn"t understand. A more beautifully made woman he"d never seen. He followed the curve of her belly with a loving hand, enjoying how the tips of her soft white breasts crinkled into pink buds.
“You have the wickedest smile,” she told him. “I love seeing you smile. You should do it more often.”
“What do I have to smile about except you?” he said into her hair.
Her bed was rumpled and unmade, which made tucking her with him between the sheets easy. The bedclothes smelled like her. It made his erection even fiercer. He said, “Sunshine, I"ll get you warmed up.” He meant physically warm, since her bare flesh still held lingering chill from the cold air outside, but she laughed and undulated her body against him.
“I"m warmer by the minute, big guy.”
The feel of her belly pressing against his cock made him suck in a breath. He wanted to be inside her so badly he shook with it, but her body wouldn"t be ready for him yet. He kissed her with almost savage passion, but he forced himself to ease back. “Put your hands here, on my chest,” he ordered, then paused. “Please put your hands on my chest. Touch me. My body heat will warm your hands.”
She did, letting her fingers play with his nipples before drifting downward. He caught them and brought them back up. “Not yet, sunshine. I want to taste you. Let me taste you.”
He loved the feel of her nipples inside his mouth, the soft smoothness of her breast giving way to puckered nipple against his tongue and teeth. But he loved the sound of her gasp even more. He wanted to play with her for a long time, but the heavy throbbing between his legs told him he wouldn"t last very long, even without her touching him. “Are you ready for me?” he asked hoarsely.
“Well,” she said teasingly. “I"m not sure.” She stretched one of her legs straight and bent the other, propping her heel against the bed close to her buttock. “Why don"t you take your fingers for a test drive and find out?”
The blond hair between her legs was soft and wet. Gently he slipped a finger along her folds and found them delightfully slick. He slid a finger inside her and rejoiced at the welcoming warmth. She pushed against his finger, forcing him deeper.
“I had a dream last night,” she said. Her hand coasted down his chest to his penis.
“About you. And this—” She gave him a tiny squeeze. “—was inside me, deep and hard. I liked that dream a lot, but not as much as I like the real thing.”
“I have dreams like that too.” He shifted over her, brushed her hand away from him and put the very tip of himself inside her. “This deep?” he asked innocently.
“Oh, I think a little deeper,” she groaned.
He pushed in an inch further. “This deep?”
“Shadow, if you don"t quit kidding me I"m going to screeeee—”
Her screech when he pushed himself completely inside her with one forceful thrust made him smile. “In your dream, was I this deep?”
Glory"s head was flung back, her chest rising with jerky breaths. “Oh, yeah,” she finally managed. “But you were moving. So, move, Shadow.”
“Oh? Are you never satisfied, woman?”
She groaned. “Should I be? You need something to strive for. Everyone needs a hobby.”
“Hobby? You think you are a hobby?” He propped himself on his elbows, feeling her soft belly against his, her legs parted on either side of his hips. The teasing died out of him.
“Glory, I missed you so much. I missed this.” He gave her depths a tiny nudge. “But I missed
you
. I wanted to see you. I wanted to know that you were all right. Everything I did when I worked on the house was for you, so you would have a warm place next winter. I wanted to wake up with you in the morning and lie down with you at night. I want us to be together, a family within the Clan, with our children gathered around us.”
Her eyes, looking up at him, were pale blue, shiny with tears. “I"m not pregnant.”