It was beautiful. There were fluffs of snow coming down that looked real. And the two wolves were having a good time, like children left on their own. In the background, under a great oak, sat Sire as he watched the children before him.
“This is the pack meeting area. Sire picked it after this day to always remember that there was goodness coming from their lands. He loved that all of his children were around him when there weren’t meetings too.” He looked at the other figure, the one hidden almost out of sight from the wolves playing. “It’s a human there, isn’t it?”
“No. I mean yes. It’s Coop, your father, as he might have been as a human. His face isn’t there because he couldn’t think how he’d look. And he didn’t want him to look too much like Cooper. But he knew that the dragons watched over them as much if not more than he did them. It’s why they are always so willing to help us—they have been a part of this group since the beginning.”
The paintings were incredible, and he couldn’t stop staring at them. Grace told him that there would be four more, all of them a memory that he had with his family. When he asked if she was going to sell them, Grace told him that Sire had begged her to, and to not let his son buy any of them.
“But I asked if he could have a picture of them, for himself. And he consented to that. I really do speak to them, Lincoln. I want you to know I’m not being silly.”
“I know that, love. And I’m profoundly sorry for what I said. I hope you can forgive me.” She laid her head on his chest and he felt better already. “Can I come in and chase you around the tables again?”
“Yes, right now would be wonderful.” She backed from him and began taking off her shirt. “I’ve been so busy that I forgot how much I enjoy when you make love to me. How I feel like I’m on top of the world when you do.”
He started to pull off his own clothing when she smiled at him. It was a wonderful feeling, how much he loved her. And her smiling at him like he was king of the world.
~~~
Grace wanted to touch Lincoln. Not just to make love, but to feel his skin against hers, to have his breath mingle with her own. And when he caressed her, his fingers brought on so many emotions, it felt like her heart was too full for all the love she felt for him.
“I love the way your skin feels when I touch it.”
She moaned when he nipped at her throat. Taking off her bra, he stood behind her and ran his fingers up and down her spine. It made her feel taller, her body stronger to have him touching her like this. When he cupped her, Grace felt her nipples harden and her breasts swell with need. But he only teased her.
Her pants were simple leggings. She found them easier to move around in rather than a pair of jeans or jogging pants. They were skin tight on her, and she thought that they were easier on her legs too. As he pulled them off her, taking her panties with them, Lincoln kissed every inch of her flesh as he exposed her to him.
“Have you any idea how much I love looking at your body? If I were a painter, I’d only paint you in the nude. I love the way your muscles look when you’re aroused. The way your nipples pink up in anticipation of me taking them into my mouth.” Moaning again, he ran his fingers over the tops of her breasts to her nipples and they tightened more. “Your skin is soft yet so very strong. I could hold you like this all day.”
“Please? I need to touch you too.” He told her not yet, it was his turn. “We’re taking turns? The next time I have you in bed, I’m going to use mine to make you suffer in ways you can’t imagine.”
“Oh, but I can imagine a great deal. Like you bent over that table and me fucking you from behind. I can imagine you standing against the wall, my cock buried so deep inside of you that you don’t know if it’s me or you that you can feel there. I will be a part of you, we’ll be one.” His words were like flames over her body. “Come on, my love. Lean over there for me and let me have my way.”
She moved to the large table, and was thankful it was screwed to the floor. Otherwise she was sure that they’d move it across the room before they were finished. When he came up behind her, his cock between her legs, she felt her pussy juices, and the thickness of his cock being soaked with it. At his moan she laid her head down on the table and waited for him to take her. In fact, all she could think about was having this man inside her.
His hands moved up and down her back, his thumbs at her spine rubbing hard enough that she moaned for the pure pleasure of it. And as he massaged her, making her muscles pliable, softer, she was getting wetter and wetter with each stroke.
“I need you.” He growled low as he nipped at her ribs this time, his cock moving over her pussy until she thought she’d die from the pleasure of it. “Lincoln, fill me, please. I need you to take me.”
He did, but gently so. Like he was doing just as she wished, filling her with himself. As he made love to her body this way, holding her breasts from beneath, telling her how much he loved her with not just his mouth but his hands as well, Grace fell in love with him again. Her heart was so full for him that it was overflowing into the rest of her body. So that when he cupped her, sliding his fingers into her pussy with his cock, Grace came apart, screaming out his name over and over until he bit her.
His teeth were longer than his human ones. As he sank them into her flesh, she came again and again. It was like she was being impaled by him, marked in some way, and when he came with her, giving her more than she’d ever dreamed of getting from any person, her body stiffened once more as she screamed for him to finish her, and he touched his finger to her clit, bringing her such relief that she fainted from it.
When she woke she was lying on the cot with Lincoln spooned behind her. She knew that he was awake—his fingers were dancing up and down her arm. It was as if he couldn’t get enough of her. The same way she felt about him.
“Your show is in three days. I’d almost forgotten about it.” She turned and looked at him. “The family is going, I think you might have known that, but I wanted to tell you some of the faeries are going to keep an eye on things for you.” She rolled to her back and he looked down at her. “When is Garrett coming to get these paintings?”
“In the morning. He said that he has it all set up the way he wants it to look. He just needs to get them in place. And some of my other paintings will be there as well. I found a few when my art supplies were brought from the house I was staying at before you barged into my life. Thank you for that.” He kissed her. “I’m not as nervous this time. I know that I can sell or not, and it’s not going to break me.”
“Are you going to let Hank see these?” She told him she wasn’t sure. “I think you should, but that’s just me. And if he wants to buy them, tell him what you told me about his father.”
“Will he believe me?” Lincoln told her that he’d believe her more than anyone would. He was a spirit animal. “I don’t know what that means.”
“His image is on a totem pole. Something that they hold very special in their hearts. And not only that, when one of them passes from this life to the next, they believe that they’re born into the body of the next child. It’s the beliefs that they’ve had since they were made.” She thought about the next painting in the series. “What are you thinking, love? That you don’t believe their story?”
“No, nothing like that. I was thinking of the next painting. It’s of a totem pole, but not like the ones you see now. I mean, they have them in Indian camps and such on television. This is made of stone. Carved into the long piece of granite by someone much stronger than anyone in their pack. The carvings are of an eagle, who is perched at the top. Then the wolf, a bear, then the face of a woman. She’s so beautiful that it defies words. Her name is Dawn, mother of all earth.”
“Mother of all faeries is Dawn. Is it her?” She said she’d never met her, but that sounded about right. “When you show this to Hank, ask him what they mean. I’m sure if anyone knows, it’s going to be him.”
“I’ll call him now.” They both got up to dress, excitem
ent racing over her skin. “The image is all drawn in, but not painted yet. I can tell him what it’s going to look like before I can give him the pictures Sire said he can have.”
“Why is that, I wonder?” She knew, but wasn’t to tell anyone. Not until Hank said the words aloud. “I’ll make the call now if you want to get them ready. He might be able to come right away.”
After he got off the phone with the alpha, she stood in front of the canvas where she’d penciled in the drawing. She hadn’t had to do that to the other and didn’t understand why until now.
Hank would be seeing it today, and she wasn’t going to start painting until tomorrow. Sire wanted him to know that he was thinking of something important that only Hank knew about and could take care of. And whatever it was, he wanted her to tell the story. And when the alpha got there, she was to tell him that he must do it soon. For whatever reason, something was about to happen, and Sire wanted it taken care of.
As soon as the alpha showed up, she had a feeling that he wished to be anywhere but here. Something had happened, and when he told them about the contractor buying up the land on the other side of their mountain, she knew. The totem was there, and it could be damaged or found when they started working. Showing him the painting had more importance now, and she was glad that she could help him.
“That is the pole of my people. It was carved by a great dragon, a witch, and a sorcerer.” Lincoln asked where it was. Laughing, he told them. “It’s in the mountain. A path that leads to it is said to have been there since the beginning of time. We have our greatest events there. Weddings, the announcement of a newborn. Also, the death of one of our kind. I’ve not thought of it in many years. My father, I think, was the last to have used it.”
“Why do you think he wanted you to know about it now?” Hank looked at her. “I’m sorry. But he didn’t tell me anything other than to show you this painting.”
“If the men blast, as I think they’re going to, the totem of life will be harmed. I don’t know this for sure, but even if a part of it is broken off, then all our magic will as well. It’s our power, our life—it’s why we use it, or did, for such events. I’ll have it moved right away.” She asked how he was to do that. “The earth. I will ask, and if she’s of a mind to, which I think she will be, then she’ll help me move it. It’s her face there, the one that has started this all for us.”
“Your father, he said that you couldn’t buy any of the paintings. Do you know why?” Hank laughed, which brought a smile to her face. “You know, don’t you?”
“He never liked what he called foo-foo things. There are few in the pack house. A picture of him. A horn that was on a great animal from long ago, and a few daggers that were a part of the first tools that we used. Yes, he’d say that. It would be clutter to him, foo-foo or unnecessary items. But I would, if you could, like pictures of them. Especially the one of the two wolves playing in the snow.” She told him that she’d make sure he got a good one too. “Thank you, my friend. You may have saved us a great many heartaches with your news. If you should need anything, let me know and I’ll have it for you.”
“Thank you. And your father, he wanted me to give you a message. He said that your son needs to go to college—that you should send him.” Hank laughed again. “He also said that you can laugh at him should you want, but you know him to be telling you the truth.”
“I do. And thank you again.”
He left with the pack that had come with him. When they were gone, she leaned into Lincoln, who stood behind her, and closed her eyes. Peace rolled over her. And the muse thanked her for her help.
Chapter 10
Walton moved to stand in the shadow of the barn. He knew that she was here, and the sooner he got her, the faster he could get out of town. He wasn’t sure how that was to work yet, but once he had his little boy he’d be home free. Things would finally start to go his way. He saw her before she turned and was glad that he’d been here to see it. Ginger was there, and she was holding his son like she was somebody.
“I know you’re there.” He turned to look, but it could only have been him that she was talking to. “You’ve been stalking me for three days, and it’s time we finished this. I’m going to tell you now, you’d be better off running. But knowing you, instead of running from the trouble you’re causing, you’ll head right to it.”
“I want him. You give me little Walton and I’ll go away without hurting you. I know you’re here all alone—stupid as usual on your part—but I want my son.” She told him she wasn’t going to give him up. “You will when I kill you.”
“Will you? I don’t think so. And besides, you have always thought me stupid, and yet here I am, the person that your poor dear mother left everything to.” That shocked him, and he told her that she lied. “I’m not. Don’t you read the papers? I’m an heiress. People are lining up to tell me how glad they are that you didn’t get the money. There was quite a bit of it too, Walton. More than enough to take care of her grandson.”
“You’ll have to sign that over to me, Ginger. It’s my son and money. My mother wasn’t anything but a stupid cow who murdered my father. You don’t deserve it any more than she did.” She told him it was hers in the first place. “Yes, yes, I heard that too. But Father had to take it from her because she was so bad with it. All women only want to go shopping, and I would imagine that my mother was no different. He saved her from being poor.”
“You think that, do you? From what I’ve been made to understand, she ran a multimillion-dollar company while under his rule, and when he told her that she was to sign over her holdings to him, she didn’t. Your mother was brave in that. He might well have lost it like he did most of the holdings he had before they were married.” Again, he called her a liar and asked why she’d say such thing. “It’s the truth, whether you want to believe it or not.”
“It doesn’t matter who had what. It should have come to me, and I want it. I’ll need it to raise my son.” She told him no and laid the little bundle at her feet. “What are you going to do now? Fight me? Good. Come on, Ginger. It’ll be like old times. I’ll knock you around until you’re out cold, then I’ll take my son and we’ll all be happy.”
“You’re not taking him. I’ve decided that I don’t want you around either. I’m not going to be looking over my shoulder at every dark shadow that might be you.”
He laughed, not sure where all this bravado was coming from, but he’d surely knock that out of her soon enough. Taking a step toward her, he was surprised when she didn’t back away. It was a game that they had played all the time when she’d been with him. It made the chase more fun when she was afraid of him.
“What’s gotten into you? You used to know the rules of the game. You need to play with me or it’ll not go well for you. Come on now, I’ll hit you and you’re going to cower on the ground.” She said that she wasn’t afraid of him any longer. “You’d better be. I’m going to knock the shit out of you and take my son. Then you’re going to be a good girl and give me what I want.”
“I’m never giving anyone what they want again. You’re nothing to me.” He lunged toward her and she moved. It was fast, like she was prepared for anything that he put out. Well, he wasn’t having it. Not today. When she was far enough away from the baby, he snatched him up. Looking down at it, he saw that it was nothing more than a kid’s doll. A girl at that.
“What the fuck is this?” She laughed, and he had a moment of fear. It didn’t sound at all like Ginger. “What are you doing with my kid, Ginger?”
“Not Ginger.” While he watched she changed from his wife to something else. The creature standing before him looked like a giant bug, one that had wings and sparkled when they moved. “I’m Winnie. Someone that you should fear, but I know you won’t. You are stupid, aren’t you?”
“Where’s my son? Where is Ginger? Tell her that I want her to bring him here, and my money. It’s mine, you fucking cunt!” She asked why he had to resort to name calling. “You
called me stupid.”
“No, I said that you were, I didn’t call you that. And I’m not going to get her here, you won’t get that precious little boy, and you are never going to terrorize anyone again.” She laughed, and he felt that same shiver of fear run over him. “You really should pay attention to your surroundings, Stupid. And yes, that time I did call you Stupid.”
He turned around when she nodded to his left. And when he did, Walton quickly turned back to stare at the woman, or whatever the fuck she was. But when she walked by him, taking the little dolly with her, he turned too. There were five of the biggest fucking dragons that he’d ever seen—of course, he’d only seen one before, but they were fucking huge. The man with them came toward him, and he knew it was one of the Mannings. It occurred to him that all the rumors were true. They were dragons.
“Hello, Walton. I’ve been waiting for you to come here. It’s a shame that you had to make it today—we’re sort of pressed for time.” He said he’d come back. “No, no. I’d rather get this over with, wouldn’t you?”
“What do you think you’re going to do? Kill me? Not going to happen. I don’t know how you’re making those dragons, but you won’t let them hurt me, will you?” The man just nodded, and one of them blew a stream of fire so close to his feet that he jumped back from it. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You could have killed me.”
“That’s the plan, you see. We’re going to make sure that you’re dead before we go to the gallery tonight.” He asked where Ginger was. “Oh, she’s feeding Wendall. And then she and her sister are going to get dressed for the opening tonight. It’s really too bad that you can’t be there. Well, it’s not—you weren’t invited anyway. But you’re going to die today, and that’ll be the end to all your terror.”
“Just like that? You think you’re going to kill me like I’m nothing at all. People know that I’m here.” He said that they didn’t, nor did anyone care. “They do. I’ve got plenty of friends that’ll avenge my death.”
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