by Carol Lynne
“There it is,” Hakan said, pointing out the window.
The beauty of Crater Lake was breathtaking. The water so blue it looked like a child’s blue crayon had melted in the sun.
As soon as the helicopter touched down, Hakan jumped out and took Daniel so Ryker could get out. When he started to reach for Daniel, Hakan pulled back slightly.
“I’ve got him,” Hakan whispered, placing a kiss to Daniel’s forehead.
Seeing the small coyote shifter in his lover’s arms made the situation even more real. Daniel already looked…
“Let’s go.” He refused to think of anything beyond getting Daniel into the water.
The helicopter lifted off, as ordered, with strict instructions to be on standby. Ryker had no idea how long the cleansing would take, or what was involved, but he knew Daniel deserved a certain amount of privacy.
The climb down the steep bank was difficult and lengthy. Several times Hakan almost fell with their precious cargo in his arms. Ryker took the lead, hoping to stop a fall if Hakan were truly to go down.
After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the steep rocky bank of the lake.
“Here, take this.” Hakan handed Ryker the blanket they’d used to wrap Daniel in after they’d rid him of that damned red robe.
Ryker hugged the blanket to his chest, inhaling the scent of his lover as it drifted up from the soft wool. Hakan carefully laid Daniel on a group of rocks just under the clear blue of the water.
“Bring me the largest, smoothest rock you can carry,” Hakan instructed.
Ryker studied the area, eyes settling on a stone he thought would work. It took every ounce of strength in him, but he finally managed to get it into the water where Hakan indicated. The splash-back was ice cold. Ryker shook his head. Dammit. He hated this.
Hakan lowered Daniel’s body into the water, propping his head on the rock Ryker had retrieved.
“Now what?” Ryker asked. “We let him die of hyperthermia?”
The words had barely left his mouth when Daniel’s body jerked several times, his head tossing from side to side. Ryker started to lunge for him, but was stopped by Hakan’s strong arms around his waist.
“No. It’s begun.” Hakan turned and pointed to a thick stand of trees several hundred yards away. “We can wait over there.”
As Ryker picked his way across the jagged rocks, he glanced over his shoulder several times. He wished he had a better idea of what Daniel would face in the cold water of Crater Lake.
* * * *
“You’re next,” The Hunter snarled.
How many different times and ways would they try killing him? Daniel stood, stepping in front of his pack. He noticed they hadn’t brought Rico, Jeff or Rita back after they’d taken them to the torture room. Had they finally discovered something that would kill them?
Daniel turned around and studied the faces of his pack. How many years had he been unable to rescue his brethren from the hell they’d been forced to endure? As a leader, he was a complete failure and they knew it. A few of the men stared back at him. In the outside world, such a look would be considered a challenge. Did they think they could do a better job? Daniel silently welcomed the idea of someone else taking responsibility of finding a way out.
Turning back toward The Hunter, he stepped out of the unlocked cell. He wondered what they had planned for him this time. How many times would he walk into the small chamber filled with the scent of his pack’s blood?
The underground lab was musty as he was pushed inside, the cold metal table the predominant fixture in the room. Maybe he’d get lucky and The Hunters really would succeed in killing him this time. Anything, even death, was better than the daily reminders of his failures to protect and lead his people.
He stretched out on the cold surface without being prompted. The Hunters began adjusting the steel bars that kept him in place. Daniel should tell them the security measures were no longer necessary. They’d already won the battle of whipping him into submission.
A syringe was held in front of his face. “See this?”
Daniel stared blankly at the needle. This was something new.
“After many years of trial and error, we finally found it.” The Hunter looked at the syringe. “Your people fled the threat of smallpox from the settlers who’d invaded your land.”
Daniel gasped. He’d seen what smallpox had done to a few of his strongest warriors. Closing his eyes, Daniel prayed to Earth Mother for the last time.
Please take care of my people in death. Give them their passing into the afterlife without fear or pain. I’m sorry I failed them and you. I did my best, but as you can see, I’m not the man you thought I was when you granted me this position. I’m sure I won’t see you in my afterlife. Failures don’t deserve such a privilege. Please tell my pack that I love them, and I’m sorry I let them down.
He felt the needle pierce the skin of his neck. How long would it take? Would it be like the illness that had ravaged his people?
Daniel opened his eyes. Where was he? The weight on his chest drew his attention.
“No!” he screamed at the sight of the decomposing body trapping him. He looked around, bile rising in his throat. The faces of the people he’d failed to protect stared back at him from lifeless eyes.
They’d done it. The Hunters had managed to kill them all.
Daniel gasped and sat up, his body free of the weight of before. He was sitting in the coldest water he’d ever felt. Crater Lake? His mind spun at the nightmare he’d had.
He shook his head, trying to clear the fog. It wasn’t a nightmare. It was a memory. His heart skipped a beat. I died.
Tears spilled down his cheeks at the realization. How many years had he lived believing he was the sole survivor of his pack?
Without warning, his body lurched forward as memories continued to assault him. A glowing green hand helped pull him out of the open pit of dead bodies. The hand of Earth Mother.
“You’re needed, my child.”
“No. Please, Mother. Let me join my people in death. I don’t deserve to live.”
“You’ve already joined them in death. Now it’s time for you to take your place among my favored children.”
Daniel wiped at his tears. Why had he been reborn when he’d been the least deserving? He looked around at the beauty surrounding him.
“Why me?”
Daniel was thrown back against the rocks, the jagged edges cutting his flesh with the force. Images flashed through his mind, destruction of the planet at the hands of man. One nightmare after another, rainforests being stripped of their oxygen-giving trees, the majestic landscape of Mother’s Earth being raped of its precious gifts.
Just when he thought he could take no more, a blinding light replaced the images. He saw Hakan and Ryker with him in the center. A peaceful feeling came over Daniel. New images came into view, the slow healing of the planet, trees rising once again from the barren patches of the rainforest.
“Hakan and Ryker need you. Father Sky and I have great plans for the three of you,” Earth Mother whispered in his ear.
Daniel shook his head. “No they don’t. They love each other, not me.”
“No, my child. You’ve spent so many years loathing yourself for something that was beyond your control that you’ve shut out the ability to hear anything you feel you don’t deserve.”
“And my people? Will this give them a second chance as well?”
“They don’t need it. They’ve accepted and embraced their lives among the stars. They’re happy.”
Daniel rubbed his eyes. “I don’t understand. I died. Why didn’t I join my people among the stars?”
“You would not have joined them. There are differing ideas of heaven and hell, and who decides where a soul goes when a person dies. The truth is, only the person dying can decide where their final resting place will be. It’s what’s in your heart, in your soul when you pass that determines the path you will take in the afterlife. Your hea
rt was filled with self-loathing for something it didn’t deserve. I couldn’t allow you to spend eternity hating yourself. Despite everything, you led your people honorably.”
“So you saved me from hell?”
“Yes, if you choose to call it that. I didn’t anticipate that even in rebirth, you’d continue to live half in and half out of the dark place you call hell. Even with all my power, your body could not continue to be drained by the hatred you hold within.”
“The Hunters? Have they been killed?”
“Yes, but your hatred wasn’t for The Hunters. By seeing the truth of your past, you’re body is slowly healing, like the landscape will eventually.”
“What do I need to do?”
“Accept the things you cannot change. Embrace who you are.”
“The Bridge,” Daniel mumbled.
He thought he actually heard Earth Mother chuckle. “Legends are never completely accurate. Once you accept your place in this life, you will become the most powerful Guardian on the planet. You will earn the respect of not only humans, but nature. You are the voice of me and Father Sky. Go to the humans, explain to them what they are doing to the earth and sky, they’ll listen.”
“And if they don’t?”
“You will have the powers within you to make them. I warn you though. Nature isn’t something to mess with when you’re angry, take it from me.”
A thought occurred to him. “Do Hakan and Ryker know about this?”
“Father Sky is doing that as we speak.”
“Will they resent me?”
“Open yourself to their love, and you’ll find the answers you seek.”
He could feel Earth Mother pulling away. “Wait! I don’t know what to do next.”
“You will,” Mother’s voice replied in a loving manner.
Knowing the legend of Crater Lake, Daniel got to his feet and dove in off the stand of rocks that had been his bed into the deep clear blue, frigid lake. As he began to swim across the healing waters, he tried to release the last of the guilt he still carried. How many times could you say you were sorry? Would it ever be enough?
Mother’s information that his people were happy went a long way in driving the guilt from his soul.
By the time Daniel made it back to the shore, Hakan and Ryker were there waiting with open arms. The first thing that registered was the overwhelming love they felt for him. Their emotions were so strong they almost knocked him back into the water. Had they always been there?
“Yes. We’ve always loved you,” Hakan informed him.
Shocked, Daniel’s jaw dropped in surprise. “You can read my mind?”
“Not exactly, but we’ll forever share a special link between the three of us.”
Ryker draped a blanket around Daniel’s nude and shivering body. “Ready to go home?”
Daniel turned to look out over the lake one last time. “Yes.”
* * * *
Daniel cuddled between his two men on the plane ride home. They’d just been informed the cat shifters had made it to Refuge safely.
“Did Jack say how Jarek is doing?” Daniel would forever be in the cougar shifters debt.
Ryker nuzzled Daniel’s neck, bestowing erotic licks and open mouth kisses. “He said the burns on his back were healing nicely and they should all be at Refuge by morning.”
Daniel had yet to bring up the subject of Layla. The betrayal of her actions still hurt, but he needed to know about his old friend. “Layla?”
Ryker’s teeth released Daniel’s skin. “She was killed.”
Daniel closed his eyes. He knew she’d most likely met her fate at Ryker’s hands, not that he blamed his lover in any way. “Can we bury her at Refuge?”
“What? Why would you want to do that?” Hakan asked, his voice full of confusion and anger.
“Because I think she hated herself for what she did. Her soul is already in hell. I’d feel better if at least her body was at rest in Refuge.” Daniel looked up at his men. “I don’t hate her. She loved her parents, and I believe they used that love against her.”
Hakan lifted Daniel onto his lap and kissed him, thrusting his tongue deep. Once again, Daniel felt the love Hakan had for him. Ryker’s lips soon joined in the erotic kiss.
Daniel didn’t know where it came from, but an image of the three of them making love came to mind. He broke away from the mouths of his lovers. “Is there a natural spring at Refuge?”
Ryker seemed surprised by the question. “Yeah. Actually, it’s close to the house. Why?”
“I’m not sure, but I think we need to go there as soon as we get home.”
* * * *
After checking on their new arrivals, and the returning guards, Ryker, Daniel and Hakan made their way through the trees to the hidden spring.
Daniel blinked several times. It looked just as he’d pictured, moss covered stones and wild flowers circling its shore. Without a word, Daniel began taking off the clothes he’d put on earlier.
Hakan coughed. “You trying to tell us something?”
Daniel grinned up at his men. “Get naked. We’re going for a swim.”
“Are you nuts? This isn’t the healing water of Crater Lake. This shit will be freezing cold, and we’re damn sure gonna feel it.”
“It’s meant to be.” Naked, Daniel stepped into the water and turned to face his lovers. The contrast between the two men struck him once again, Ryker with his blond hair, Hakan with his long black. They were every man he’d ever fantasized about.
Holding out his hands, he waited for them to join him. Arm in arm, Hakan and Ryker stepped into the water, slowly wading toward him. Daniel couldn’t take his eyes off their hardening cocks. Evidently, he’d been right about the cold water not affecting them. He couldn’t keep the grin from his lips as he knelt in front of his Guardians.
With the water lapping at his hardening nipples, Daniel took both cocks in hand and drew them to his mouth. Alternating between the two, he worshiped the heavy sacs first before moving up to the deeply veined shaft of Hakan’s erection and then to the crown. He tasted his lover’s pre-cum, feeling a tingling on his tongue. Surprised by the new sensation, he turned and took the head of Ryker’s cock into his mouth. He pulled away, convinced his lovers’ essence was more powerful than it had been before.
Hakan thrust his hips, his shaft bumping against Daniel’s mouth. “More.”
Following his instincts, Daniel shook his head. “I need you both to make love to me.”
“No time for foreplay, huh?” Ryker chuckled.
Daniel stood and cupped Ryker’s face. “This is about more than sex.”
Ryker sobered. “I’m sorry.”
Daniel smiled. “Don’t be sorry. It’s going to be wonderful.”
He maneuvered Hakan over to the shallow end of the spring. “Sit.”
Hakan did as asked, and Daniel straddled him. Before he could lower himself, Hakan buried his face against Daniel’s pubic hair and grabbed his ass.
“We don’t have any lube.” Hakan’s fingers slid between Daniel’s butt cheeks and circled his hole.
“We won’t need it in here.” Daniel didn’t know how he knew this, but he did.
He continued to lower himself, until Hakan’s cockhead kissed his hole. He felt Ryker’s warmth as his body pressed against him.
Daniel continued to sink lower, impaling himself on the thick shaft. He’d been right. Not one ounce of pain came from the union. It was a blessing granted by the sacred waters of Refuge.
Ryker’s fingers circled the point of union between Daniel and Hakan. “So sexy,” his blond lover moaned.
Daniel used his leg muscles to slowly ride the cock inside of him. He threaded his fingers through Hakan’s thick black hair and pulled him in for a kiss. When two of Ryker’s fingers joined Hakan’s cock inside of him, Daniel was surprised at the complete lack of pain. The dual invasion only made him need more.
Breaking away from the kiss, Daniel gazed over his shoulder at the othe
r man he loved. “I need you in me, too.”
Ryker’s head gave a little shake. “It’s too much. You’re too small.”
“No. It’s what’s meant to be. It’ll join us like nothing else ever can.”
Ryker removed his fingers. On Daniel’s next downward motion, Ryker’s cock pushed in alongside of Hakan’s. Full didn’t begin to describe the sensation. All three of them moaned at the same time.
Daniel’s body felt like it was vibrating from the inside out. Gods, please don’t let them knot when they come.
Hakan’s superior strength took over, holding Daniel slightly off his lap as he and Ryker thrust up into Daniel’s ass in tandem.
Ryker was the first to notice the glow of Daniel’s skin. “What’s happening?”
Daniel released Hakan’s hair and looked at his hands. A faint rainbow of colors seemed to pulse from Daniel’s pores. The longer they made love, the darker the colors became. It’s happening. Daniel wondered what other changes were in store for him.
Reaching just beneath the water, Daniel wrapped his glowing hand around his cock. The energy transmitted to his balls was like a zap of electricity. Daniel’s cock erupted in orgasm, the thick, white fluid mixing with the spring fed pool of water.
As Hakan and Ryker continued to thrust their way to climax, Daniel couldn’t take his eyes off the water surrounding them. A grunt from Hakan, followed a few strokes later by Ryker’s normal hiss, signaled their coming.
Ryker and Hakan further sandwiched Daniel between them, both his loves collapsing against him. Daniel still couldn’t take his eyes from the water.
“Umm…guys? Look.”
Ryker was the first to pull back. “What the fuck?”
Hakan gathered a handful of the white, milky water in his cupped hand. “Sweetheart, I know you usually come more than the average man, but damn.”
“It’s a sign.” He gazed into Hakan’s dark eyes. “It’s begun.”
Read on for a preview of Carol Lynne’s Evolution, the third book in the Refuge Series.
