by Rhian Cahill
“Yeah, I don’t think we’ll be driving out of here anytime soon, but if the snow stops falling we’ll take a run in the forest.”
Gordie yawned again. “Okay.” She drifted to sleep in the comfort of his arms.
* * * * *
It took two days for the snow to stop falling long enough for Steve to be happy about going outside. He’d put her off as long as he could but he’d given in this afternoon. The sun was starting to dip toward the mountain and he wanted to be inside before it dropped behind the ridge and they lost daylight. They were in the garage. The house was locked up and he stripped out of his clothes and shifted quickly to escape the cold.
Doc stood near the door. She wrung her hands and he thought she’d changed her mind about running. She took a deep breath and grabbed the hem of the sweatshirt she wore. In a flash she had the top up and off, and was stepping out of her pants. It took her longer than him to shift, but not so long that he panicked. Her coat was a mix of grays and whites woven in a tapestry of thick strands.
Like her human form, her coyote was small, about half the size of his. He trotted over, nuzzled her face and nipped at her side. She danced away, danced back and he butted her with his head to get her moving. Her bark surprised him but he answered and took off out the garage door.
They ran. Sometimes he led, sometimes he followed. He chased her, wrestled her to the ground and let her go. The air was clear and crisp, the snow fresh and soft, and his heart pounded with the beat of his paws as they raced back to the house. Steve slowed down to a walk and took the last few feet to the garage at a stroll. Doc kept pace with him and they went inside together.
She shook, water and snow flying every which way and he quickly joined her. Even with their coats of fur, the cold was starting to settle in. It might have stopped snowing and the sun might be shining but it was still chilly enough to freeze them in moments if they didn’t hurry. He shifted and reached for the towels he’d brought out before their run. Steve dried himself and waited for Doc to change.
“Hurry up. It’s freezing out here.” He held the second towel out for her to step into once she’d shifted to human form.
He watched her closely and realized something wasn’t right. She’d lain down on her side and was panting heavily. Panic spiked but he reeled it in and went to her. Steve used the towel to pat her down and soak up some of the dampness. Her eyes drooped and it all fell into place.
Doc hadn’t run in months, hadn’t shifted in just as long and they’d been out in the winter air for a good hour. She was too tired to shift. He draped the towel over her and picked her up to carry her inside. Going straight to the bedroom, Steve laid her on the bed and finished drying her.
“Have a sleep. You’ll be fine as soon as you’ve rested.” The words were for his benefit as much as hers.
She yipped softly and licked his face. He tossed both towels at the bathroom and crawled onto the bed beside her. Her coat drew his fingers and he combed the fur behind her ears until her eyes closed and soft snores came from her throat. The thought of leaving her never entered his mind and he lay watching her sleep for long moments before drifting off himself.
* * * * *
The phone woke him. He sat up and reached for the bedside receiver. Obviously the lines had been repaired this afternoon. He’d checked before their run and found dead air. Steve glanced at the clock. Six thirty. They’d been asleep about an hour.
“Hello.” He turned to look at Doc. At some point she’d shifted back to human form and lay on her stomach with her head buried in her pillow.
“Hey, Steve.” Kat’s voice came through crystal clear. “Just checking the two of you are still alive up there.”
“We’re fine.” He sighed and leaned against his pillow.
“Thought you would be, but I promised Mom I’d call.”
“Doc would have rung but the lines have been down since Christmas night,” he said.
“The crews have been working like mad to get everything back up. Good thing I’ve got that generator out back or I’d have lost a truckload of food these past two days.”
“The town lost power? Wow, it was a big storm.”
“Not real bad, more bad luck, I think. The big old tree over near the substation came down, took out the power and they would have had it up and running quicker if the snow had stopped falling sooner.”
“Anyone hurt?”
“No, nobody’s stupid enough to go out in this weather.”
He could hear someone talking in the background and Kat’s whispered “give me a second”.
“Are you at the café?” Steve asked.
“Yeah, Mom and Dad are here too. We were wondering if you guys would be able to head down here for dinner in the next few days.”
“Probably be another day or two and that’s only if the snow holds off.”
“Well you’ll be pleased to know they’re not predicting another storm until after the first of the year. Hang on a sec, Steve.”
There was some shuffling of the phone followed by what sounded like an argument and then Mrs. Monroe spoke.
“Steven McKenna, you get yourself and my daughter down here the minute you can. I want to see both of you within the next two days or I’ll drive up there.”
More shuffling and Kat was back. “Sorry.” Her sigh sounded like wind blowing through the line. “I tried to hold her off. She’s got some bee in her bonnet about you two getting married on New Year’s Eve because she and Dad are planning to leave on the first.”
“What?” He glanced at Doc, found her watching him intently. “Um, I’m not so sure about that, Kat.”
“Not sure? That’s not what you said the other day.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. I’m sure about the getting married part, it’s the when that’s uncertain.”
Doc sat up and arched one eyebrow.
“Have you two even talked about a date?” Kat asked.
“Not specifically. Look, Kat, I’ll talk to Doc, but no matter what your mother wants it won’t happen if Doc’s not ready.”
“I get that but you’ll have to tell it to Mom. The woman is driving both me and Dad batty.” Kat dropped her voice to a whisper. “I think she’s frightened Gordie will change her mind and run again.”
He laughed. “Doc has never run from anything in her life.”
“Yes, she has. She ran away after Anthony died and we didn’t see her for months on end.”
Steve sobered. “Kat, she wasn’t running from anything. She was running to something. Doc needed to find herself and she couldn’t do that here.” He watched Doc as he spoke to her sister. Saw surprise cross her face, fill her eyes.
“But what’s to stop her from doing that again?” Kat argued.
“Me.” It was simple really, love and trust would keep her beside him. “Look, I’ve gotta go. We’ll call and let you know when we’re coming to town.”
Steve leaned over and hung up the phone, never taking his eyes off Doc’s. He couldn’t read what she was thinking but he knew she was. That sexy over-thinking brain of hers was all but smoking as she tried to work her way through his half of the conversation.
“How did you know that?”
“What?”
“That I wasn’t running away when I left here?”
He shrugged. “You’re not a coward, Doc. Running would never occur to you.”
“But I thought I was running.”
“I never saw it that way. Before you married Anthony your plans were to go away to school, it seemed logical to go ahead with the plan after the accident. It gave you a focus, a dream you’d always had you could make come true.” He reached over and threaded his fingers into the hair at her nape, tugged her closer. “What other dreams do you have, Doc?”
Steve leaned in and kissed her. He flicked his tongue along the seam of her mouth and applied pressure until she let him in. His caresses were feather soft, not demanding, just offering. She had all of him, held his heart—his soul—
in the palm of her hand. Freely given, no strings. Take it or leave it, her decision wouldn’t matter, he was hers until the day he died.
He rolled her beneath him. Took the kiss deeper and savored the feel of her body melting into his. Her breasts were crushed to his chest, her nipples hardening as he rubbed against her. She moaned into his mouth and he drew the sound in, swallowed it whole. They arched together, his sex pressed to hers and the give became take. Neither of them had put their clothes back on after their run so there was only skin on skin.
Heat and need rolled through him. Pulled his balls up tight and made his cock throb. He tilted his hips, slid his length along her slit and reveled in the moisture that coated his flesh. She writhed below him, her hot folds gripping his shaft, dragging him deeper into the maelstrom of sensations bombarding him.
Her mouth left his, her teeth nibbling a trail down his chin, his throat. “Love me.”
“I do.”
“No. Make love to me. Now.” She bit his shoulder, her tongue soothing the sting with one long lick.
Steve leaned back, stared down at the woman under him and wondered if he could ever deny her a thing. “With pleasure.”
She spread her legs, wrapped them around his waist and dug her heels into the backs of his thighs to pull him inside her. He flexed his hips, brought his cock to her entrance and thrust deep. Her walls gloved him, scorched him with liquid fire and drove him to the edge of sanity. Passion flared, exploded in a burst of wicked wanting that stole every other thought from his mind except claiming Gordie.
He drove into her again and again. Thrusting to the hilt and withdrawing to the crown on each stroke. She bucked and thrashed, her body meeting his in need and demand. Her teeth grazed his throat, sank into his shoulder and he nipped at her ear, licked and sucked and bit until she moaned against his skin.
“Steve.” Harsh, hot breath coated his neck. “I want. Need.”
“What?” he panted. “What do you need, Gordie, what do you want?”
She arched under him and he sank deeper inside her, farther into the inferno consuming them. Her pussy squeezed him, gripped and released him in a punishing vise that stole his breath.
“You,” she screamed.
The orgasm detonated between them with such violence Steve lost control. His hips jerked, his balls imploded and blasted shot after shot of cum through his shaft. Fire licked up his spine and erupted to shower him from head to toe in ecstasy. He collapsed on top of her, all energy incinerated by their joining.
“Fuck.”
Doc’s lips curled on his shoulder. “Yeah, that fits.”
“Jesus. Give me second.”
“I want to stay.”
He lifted his head, looked down at Doc’s flushed face. “Was there ever any doubt?”
“For me, yes.” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath that raised her chest, pressed her breasts against him. Her lids lifted to reveal tears. “I don’t want to promise something I might not be able to give. I don’t know if I can do it, but I want to.”
“You don’t have to know. Life doesn’t hold guarantees, Gordie. All I ask is that you let me love you, love me in return and promise to never hold anything back again. No matter how trivial or how inconvenient something is, I want to know about it.” He searched her gaze. “Can you give me that?”
“Yes.” She kissed him quickly. “So you want to get married on New Year’s Eve?”
Steve smiled. “I’ll marry you whenever you want. I’d get dressed and plow our way to town now if you wanted.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
“Okay, let’s go.” She tried to push him off her.
He laughed, rolled to his side and pulled her with him. “New Year’s Eve is good enough if that’s what you really want. Besides, as far as I’m concerned we’re as good as married now.”
She laid her head on his chest, her fingers playing over his skin. “Steve?”
“Mmm.”
“This is my dream.”
Epilogue
The closer they got to town the harder her heart pounded. She could suck in no more than shallow gasps of air and sweat coated her skin, especially her palms. Her fingers trembled along with her stomach. Gordie just hoped she didn’t embarrass herself and throw up the second she got out of the truck.
Steve’s hand landed on her thigh. “Stop worrying. Everything will be fine.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Yes, I can.” He glanced her way, turned back to watch the road. “We have each other, don’t we?”
“Yes, but—”
“See, everything is fine.”
She took a deep breath. “That’s not what has me nervous and you know it.”
He patted her leg. “Gordie, you did what you had to, there was no other choice and those that matter to you, to us, know that.”
They turned a bend and the town came into view. It looked exactly the same as it had every other time she’d traveled this road. On the surface nothing had changed. But on the inside, like her, nothing was the same. Steve drove through the center of town, found a spot across the street from the café and parked. He switched off the engine and turned toward her.
“If you don’t want to do this now, would prefer to wait, we can.”
“What?” She spun in her seat. “No. I want to get married. I’ve wanted it for days. What I don’t want is to face the people waiting for us in there.” She indicated her sister’s café.
“The only people here are the ones we invited, our family and friends. None of them are going to judge you.” He unbuckled both their belts and pulled her across the console as he opened his door. “Come on, let’s go change your last name.”
Gordie laughed. “Is that all we’re doing?”
“Did I mention you’ll be tied to me for life?”
She shook her head.
“Probably best to leave that until after we change your name then.” He grinned and pulled her out of the truck behind him.
“What other secrets have you kept hidden?” They linked hands and checked for traffic before heading across the road.
“Oh, lifetime of happiness, a houseful of children, getting old and wrinkly together.” Steve put his hand on the door to Kat’s place. “Ready?”
“And willing.”
The noise from a party well underway greeted them. Kat came rushing over yelling above those already inside.
“They’re here.” She linked arms with each of them, separating them. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Her sister led them to a small flower-festooned arch that had been place in front of the big stone fireplace at the back of the room. William Brant stood in a creaseless suit waiting to commence the ceremony.
“Gordie, Steve, lovely to see you both.”
Steve shook the older man’s hand. “Thanks for doing this on such short notice.”
“Nonsense. It’s my pleasure.” William turned to Gordie. “Shall we start?”
“Yes.”
They removed their coats and stood facing each other, their hands joined. Everyone moved in around them and a hush fell over the room. The vows were simple and in only a few sentences she was Dr. Gordana McKenna. He bent down to kiss her. A soft brush that was nowhere near enough. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled herself up on her toes and showed Steve what a real kiss should be like. Breathless, she gulped for air while whistles and applause rang in her ears.
He grinned at her. “Hello, Mrs. McKenna.”
“That’s Dr. McKenna to you.”
His smile grew bigger. “Doc McKenna. Oh yeah, I like that even better.”
Steve picked her up and spun around. Gordie tossed her head back and laughed. He put her down and they were surrounded. Congratulatory hugs and kisses were delivered by all before Kat called an end to the ceremony and a beginning to the wedding feast.
Her mother cried. Silent, happy tears she reassured everyone but she continued to sniffle thr
ough the meal and Gordie sat beside her, holding her hand and talking. When everyone was stuffed full to the gills Brogan got up and made a speech. He kept it short but he did get in a dig at Steve for taking so long to chase her down. With the formal part of the wedding over a few people left but others stayed well into the afternoon and she sat back and enjoyed the rest of the day.
* * * * *
Steve watched his wife. Jesus. His wife. He’d wished and hoped and prayed for so long he still wasn’t sure it was real. Doc laughed at something Rowan said. The women had been sitting together deep in conversation for well over an hour and he had a feeling most of the discussion centered on the coming babies. Tatum got up and headed over to Dale. She whispered in his ear and they both looked in his direction before she returned to the table.
He wasn’t surprised when Dale walked over to stand beside him. The topic the sheriff brought up did shock him though.
“We went over the clinic with a fine-toothed comb. I know how he was getting in and out and where he’s been hiding all these weeks.”
Steve turned to look at Dale. “Marcus? Where?”
“It looks like he was hiding out in the roof cavity of the clothing shop next door. He removed some paneling to get into the clinic’s roof space. From there he just had to drop in through the manhole like he did at the house.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“Doctor Monroe has organized to have the roofing checked and repaired. The deputies cleared out all the evidence and the rubbish so Gordie doesn’t have to worry about that,” Dale said.
“Why are you telling me this today?”
“Because I figured I’d rather you tell her about it before she opens up the clinic day after tomorrow.”
“Coward.”
“There’s more.”
“More? What more could there be?” Steve asked.
“His brother’s coming home to claim the body.”
“What?” Steve glanced around, dropped his voice so no one would hear. “Brady hasn’t been seen in, shit, over ten years. Everyone figured old man Connelly killed him and his mother the year the Wilders were killed in that mountain accident.”
