Love's Salvation

by Jenny Penn

  Actually, she had hands, and she put them to good use, fondling the tender sacs of Brock’s balls. After three weeks, she knew just how he liked to have them gripped and how hard he wanted her to suck. Her speed was set by Brock’s hand as it buried itself in her hair to grip her head and make her bounce faster and faster, in perfect rhythm with the escalating pants falling from his lips.

  Tex kept pace with them, driving Daisy to the brink of an explosive climax and pushing her over the edge as he lapped frantically at her clit. Brock came with her, shouting out his pleasure with such force it echoed through the mountains, a cascade of sound that matched the seed pumping out of his dick. Daisy swallowed, trying to take it all while not choking on her own moans of satisfaction. Those moans spilled out as Brock lifted her head, his gaze catching hers and holding it as Tex shifted onto his knees behind her.

  She could feel the thick press of his cock against her tender entrance and knew what came next. It was time to fuck, and she was aching for it. Lowering her head again, Daisy arched her back and offered herself up to the swift invasion of Tex’s dick. He pounded into her with a feral ruthlessness that she loved. With every stroke, he lit her world up with mighty bursts of pleasure that fueled an only deeper need.

  It was time.

  She wanted it in the ass.

  Barely capable of words, Daisy managed to glance over her shoulder at where Tex was riding her with every bit of strength he had. She could see he was straining, sweating, trying to hold back and knew that he wanted to come, knew what she was about to ask of him would make it even harder for him not to.

  “Fuck me…” Daisy panted out, her words falling out so softly she doubted he heard. She licked her lips and tried again, gaining instant response as she did. “Fuck me in the ass.”

  Tex froze, his dick throbbing deep inside of her as his fingers tightened on her hips. “Are you sure?”

  “It’s time.” Daisy was sure of that.

  They’d stretched her and teased her and filled her with so many toys it had left a permanent ache burning inside of her. She wanted more. She wanted it harder and longer. Daisy wanted them. What Daisy wanted, Daisy got.

  She moaned over every inch as Tex slowly pulled free of her cunt. The rounded head of his cock left a sticky trail as it slid up toward the clenched opening of her ass. Tex’s hands directed her hips until they were in the perfect position. Then he hesitated, allowing Brock the chance to stretch up and capture her lips in a kiss that had her head spinning and her whole body relaxing as Tex began to lube her ass up with the small bottle of lotion he must have brought.

  Daisy didn’t know about the details, didn’t care. All that mattered in that moment was the delicious feel of Tex bringing the thick, flared head of his cock up to lodge against her ass. Then he finally began to press inward.

  It was heaven. Daisy felt every one of her muscles as they stretched around the heavy length of Tex’s dick. As each one gave to his steady invasion, the pressure inside of her built and built, becoming tinged with a rapturous agony that demanded more. She couldn’t help but buck within Tex’s hold as she tried to claim that more.

  Tex snarled behind her, his fingers digging into her hips almost painfully. That was just how he sounded⎯in pain. “Don’t tempt me, beautiful.”

  That warning only fed Daisy’s desires, and she tore her lips free of Brock’s kiss to toss a saucy smile back at Tex. “Give me all you got, big guy.”

  She wiggled her ass at him with that, making his eyes glow as he growled and did just as she bid. Unleashing his most ferocious desires, Tex kindled hers as he began to ride her with smooth, hard strokes that quickly picked up speed until they were both gasping and rocking in a frantic rhythm that set Daisy’s ass on fire.

  The flames flared straight up her spine, igniting an inferno Daisy couldn’t help but give in to. They consumed her whole, searing straight down to her soul as her whole body shattered with a frenzy of orgasmic delight. Tex followed her, unloading his seed into her as he bit down on her shoulder once again, marking her as his forever.

  In that moment Daisy knew no doubt. This was where she belonged. As if in agreement, the snow owl that had guided her to her mates soared overhead before dipping down to land on the Devil’s face. It stood there staring at the three of them as both Tex and Daisy collapsed half on top of Brock, half on top of the blanket.

  Chapter 10

  Brock stared up at the Great Owl and bit back a curse. Its appearance could mean only one thing. Daisy was right. She was being called by Malsumis, and that scared the crap out of Brock. He didn’t want his mate called, didn’t want her to be placed into danger, and knew then what Nodin must have felt when his Sally had been taken.

  The urge to deny the god was strong, but Brock controlled it, knowing neither Tex nor Daisy would allow him to interfere. This was his challenge, and he would defeat it. Glancing down to where Daisy’s face rested on his stomach, he repeated the vow silently. Nobody and nothing was going to take his mate from him. Even if he had to walk through the gates of hell with her, she wouldn’t walk alone.

  With that mission giving him strength, he dared to rouse the two lovers, who still appeared oblivious of their visitor.

  “Well, I think your offering was accepted,” Brock murmured, drawing Daisy’s gaze to his. He glanced pointedly at the bird staring at them with an unblinking gaze. “The Great Owl has arrived.”

  She turned her head and frowned. “I know that bird…That’s the Great Owl?”

  “In the immortal flesh.” Brock nodded as both Tex and Daisy began to rouse themselves.

  Brock watched Daisy bite her lips, and her lashes fluttered as Tex withdrew from her body. Instantly, his brother’s arms were wrapping around her, pulling her into a big hug.

  “I didn’t hurt you, did I, beautiful?”

  “Only in the best of ways,” Daisy assured him with a beautiful smile. “Now you know. My heart is wholly yours. There is no doubt.”

  Tex caught Brock’s gaze, and they shared a moment, both wishing that there had been a little doubt. That would be easier than whatever road lay ahead. It was time to get started on that path. The Great Owl made that clear as he took flight, his talons releasing the nose he’d perched on as a chunk actually dropped free.

  That wasn’t a good sign. Neither was Daisy’s enthusiasm as she wiggled out of Tex’s hold and hopped up to squirm back into her jeans. Then she was rushing over to pick up the chunk of stone that had come free and smiled as though she’d been given a diamond instead.

  “Look, it’s hollow.” Daisy held the tip of the old man’s nose out to Tex and Brock as both brothers moved slowly to adjust their clothes and gain their feet.

  Brock reached her first, but he was still reluctant to take the stone from Daisy’s hands. He stared at it, unimpressed and certainly far from excited, but Daisy was. Her smile was as eager as her tone as she leaned in to point out the holes cut into the large chunk.

  “We’re going to put the fire in there. This will help us carry it back.”

  Brock didn’t want to carry anything back because he didn’t want to go anywhere to come back from, but as Daisy blinked up at him with such enthusiasm, Brock knew he was doomed. He’d lost the argument, and now all he could do was ensure that she made it back.

  “If you say so.” Brock handed the rock back to Daisy. “Then I guess this belongs to you.”

  “You know, we could take it. We could bring the fire back here,” Tex offered up with a hopefulness that Brock feared was doomed.

  “This is my mission.” Daisy cradled the stone close to her as if afraid they’d take it from her. “They’re my dreams. I have to be the one to carry the fire back to the ghost town. It has to be burned.”

  “She’s right.” As much as Brock hated to, he had to agree with Daisy. “The Great Owl didn’t come for us. He came for her.”

  As if in answer to that, the Great Owl swooped overhead before soaring off down the mountain. The message couldn’t
be clearer. They were to follow. Brock had a feeling he knew exactly where they were being led⎯to the eternal flame. It was a long walk from North Carolina to Virginia, and it started with just getting Daisy back down the mountain safely in the dark.

  She was tired out by the time they made it to the water’s edge and Brock insisted that they camp there for the night. He didn’t care if he was defying a god. His first obligation was to take care of Daisy. She was exhausted. Although she hadn’t said anything, the truth was there right before his eyes.

  So Brock spread out the blanket, insisting that Daisy roll herself up in it before he and Tex took up their positions on either side of her. They sandwiched her tightly between them, protecting her from the cold, and within seconds, Daisy’s breathing evened out with the rhythm of sleep…but it was not a restful sleep.

  * * * *

  Daisy’s dreams went beyond nightmares that night. There, on the edge of the mountain, she didn’t just feel what happened to all the lost souls. She experienced it, the pain and agony tearing at her so that when she finally awoke, she was shaking with tears in her eyes and bruises forming on her body.

  The excitement of the previous night washed away as she realized what it would mean to leave the mountain and go on this pilgrimage. She was going to suffer in ways she didn’t even want to conceive. That was the cost of freeing all those souls, and as the sun peaked out from behind the mountain to cast its first golden rays over the water, there was nothing more that Daisy wanted to do than to flee back up the mountain.

  She didn’t. She didn’t even tell Tex or Brock about the wounds forming on her body. Instead, she asked for a few minutes of privacy and scurried around the cove until she could weep in peace. While Daisy wept, she bathed, moving constantly forward. Whatever this path cost, it was her path, and she was committed to it.

  That silent vow gave her the strength to wipe her nose and wash her face, greeting her men with a bright, if forced, smile as she returned to the small camp they’d set up. It was time to cross the lake. They used one of the canoes the pack kept shored along the coastline to make it to the other side. Then they hiked for another three hours, until Daisy’s legs felt as if they were going to give out from underneath her.

  She didn’t complain, didn’t make a comment. She didn’t have to. Brock and Tex were aware of her every move, her every breath, and seemed aware of the exhaustion starting to wear on her. Without a word, Brock swept her off her feet and carried her the rest of the way to the road. He waited there with her, just under the shade of the forest as Tex continued on to the town where, apparently, they had a connection that would rent them a car.

  “You have driver’s licenses?” Daisy asked, not even having noticed that her men carried wallets.

  Money was of no use in the village or to the pack outside of paying for things like Internet service. They did all of that, along with most of their selling, online. That didn’t explain how they had bank accounts or got goods shipped to them. Daisy has figured out from comments made that the pack had all sorts of connections, though, to assure they got what they needed.

  “Tex does.” Brock shrugged. “But we can both drive. The trick is not to get pulled over.”

  Daisy rolled her eyes at that bit of wisdom but didn’t bother making a comment on it. She was still stuck on the first part of Brock’s explanation. “How did Tex get a license? Do either of you even have birth certificates?”

  “Our births are recorded.” Brock paused before correcting himself with a slight smile. “At least, by our records, and Tex bought his license.”

  “From who?” Daisy frowned, wondering if they had a forger in the pack that she’d failed to meet.

  “By the Masters…The Masters of Cerberus. We’ve mentioned them before, haven’t we?” Brock frowned as if appalled that they hadn’t.

  “No. You mentioned Cerberus, but no masters.” Daisy didn’t even want to think of what would be required to master a beast such as Cerberus. The records at Mr. Gibbins’s had been filled the brutality of the beast’s insatiable desires.

  “The Masters is an organization of people who assist our kind and assure that things stay balanced between us and the humans.” Brock leaned back against the tree he’d settled down next to and tucked Daisy in close to his chest, his hand beginning to rub up and down her back in a soothing motion as his tone lulled her into closing her eyes and allowing the visions of his words to fill her mind.

  “The beast pulled its power from those it consumed, twisting their souls into the same savage image of the beast itself. That’s why it couldn’t be killed. It had feasted in hell and then in the lost lands for billions of centuries.”

  “But I thought you said the beast was created after man?” Daisy glanced up, perplexed by that contradiction.

  “And it is also said that one day is a million lifetimes in hell. Time is not consistent.” Brock shrugged. “And so the beast is older than man and was still born after the first ape rose up on to two feet.”

  “Hmm.” Daisy lowered her head, accepting Brock’s explanation, even as it made no real sense. Logic, though, was useless sometimes, especially when it came to her men.

  “Obviously the hunger still gripped the beast when it stepped into this world, and it is said that the gods so feared that it would consume all of the world that they barricaded the other passageways, sealing this world off from the rest.”

  “The rest?” Daisy couldn’t help the little laugh that escaped with that question. She was almost certain now that he was teasing her. “And how many worlds are there?”

  “Millions,” Brock answered softly with a solemnness that had Daisy glancing back up at him.

  “You’re not kidding.”

  “Nope.” Brock shook his head only once, his gaze aimed at the sky. “They’re all out there.”

  “But blocked to us?”

  “To us.”

  There was something in his tone that had Daisy narrowing her eyes and asking another question. “But not to all?”

  Brock shrugged. “I believe that the Masters can open gates with the blessing of the gods, but then that’s so they can go fight in the outlying worlds where chaos still reigns.”

  Daisy considered that for a long moment before resting her head back against his chest. “You tell the best stories.”

  She felt Brock’s chest lift with a laugh that came out more as a snort of air. “If that’s what you want to believe.”

  What Daisy wanted to believe was that everything would work out and that, at the end of this mission, she would finally be free. Free of the dreams. Free to leave the mountain. Free to choose Tex and Brock, to love them forever.

  Daisy held on to those dreams as the day flew past, thanks to the car and the owl soaring overhead. Tex seemed to know exactly where he was headed. The Great Owl only confirmed their certainty as they drove into the night to reach the Silver Grove Mountains.

  It was in the heart of the mountain’s valley on a rocky island surrounded by another lake that the flame flickered, flickered and was protected, but before they even got near it, a sudden shift on the road had Tex slamming on his brakes and cussing as the back end of the car fishtailed down the highway.

  For a moment, Daisy thought the ghosts had come to haunt more than just her dreams. There were men there, forming out of the shadows and then vanishing nearly the second the car slammed into them. They reappeared seconds later, but Daisy could see them clear enough in the headlights to tell that they were men. She could also tell by the way Tex and Brock snarled and leapt from the car that they knew the men.

  “Stay here,” Brock commanded before slamming his door. Tex didn’t even take the time to do that, and she could hear him ripping into the two men who stepped forward to greet him.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Klah? We could have wrecked.”

  “I think you would have survived,” the larger of the two men who stood at the head of an ever-growing pack of men responded, not appeasing
either Brock or Tex with that answer.

  “Our mate is in the car!” Brock roared. “She might not have survived, and neither would you.”

  “Whoa!” The leaner of the two men heading what was clearly a large pack of wolven held up his hand and stepped forward. “We didn’t know that. What the hell is your mate doing off the mountain?”

  As if in answer to that, the Great Owl landed on the bumper of the car, its shadow growing in the glare of the headlights. All the men turned to stare and bow their heads in a brief recognition of the bird’s authority.

  “Oh, I see.” The leaner man sighed. “You’re on a mission.”

  “Our mate is,” Brock corrected him. “She’s here to light a fire from the flame. Now, will you let us pass?”

  There was a moment’s hesitation before the one Tex had addressed as Klah finally nodded. “We’ll even offer you sanctuary for the night, but you have to find your own canoe to get across the lake. We all drifted over.”

  If Daisy had any questions about what that meant, they were answered as the men started to fade away, disappearing into the shadows and becoming one with them until Tex and Brock were standing in the middle of the road by themselves. They shared a look that, even from a distance, Daisy could read.

  They were among their own kind, but that didn’t mean they were with friends. Daisy didn’t suspect that the Great Owl cared too much about that. It took flight as Tex and Brock turned around. Both men slammed back into the car, muttering to each other about the annoying habits of the Sami and Chea packs.

  Daisy had no idea what they were talking about. She was still stuck on how the other wolven had simply disappeared. It took her a moment to finally get her question asked, and by then, they were headed back down the road.

  “Did those men just emerge from the shadows or…I mean⎯”