Epilogue
The wind whipped a flurry of golden poplar leaves
down the dark, deserted street, mixed them with a few wet
snowflakes. The Village Council’s monthly meeting had gone overtime
again. That was almost a tradition. The new publisher of the
Dunvegan Herald Weekly was the last one out
of the building. That was well on the way to becoming a tradition
too.
I’ve got to start
finishing my story notes at home. Or hire another reporter. It’s
got to be after 11 o’clock. Camera bag in hand, Zoey headed
toward the only vehicle left on the street: her old red Bronco.
Suddenly her peripheral vision detected a large dark shadow moving
stealthily along the bushes toward her. She stopped dead, heart
pounding.
The shadow resolved itself into an
immense wolf.
“Connor Macleod! That’s so not funny!”
The silver and black wolf bounded into
the amber glow of a streetlight, jaws grinning, tongue lolling. A
moment later, a tall man leaned on the hood of her truck and smiled
innocently at Zoey as blue sparks spiraled to the ground around
him. “Come on, you weren’t really scared, were you? I told you I’d
be waiting for you.”
“More like lying in wait! Good thing
there’s nobody around to see you at this time of night!” She dodged
his embrace and put the camera bag on the front seat. Sighed as he
moved in close behind her. Sighed more deeply as he brushed aside
her long hair and began warmly kissing the sensitive spot on the
back of her neck. She felt herself melting and slipped easily into
mindspeech. Mmmm. You get around me every
time.
Not every time. You
bopped me when I surprised you in your office last
week.
Yeah, but I only hit
you once. And I generously forgave you for sneaking up on me like
that, since you were kissing me so nicely.
“I did a helluva lot more than kiss
you,” he murmured. The two of them had ended up making love amid
the stacks of newspapers in the darkened print room. Later, it had
taken quite a while to shower the stubborn ink off their skin—but
that just provided an opportunity to enjoy each other all over
again. Come to think of it, I’d like to do a lot
more than kiss you right now, little falcon.
“Really?” She grinned and leaned back
against him, enjoying the warmth that radiated from him. “Now why
would that be?”
“Because my life’s goal is to finally
count all of my wife’s freckles. For some reason I keep getting
distracted and having to start over.” He slid a hand over her hip
and cupped her bottom. “I think I left off about here last time.”
She laughed and glanced down at the
antique ring on her hand, a Macleod family heirloom. Two silvery
wolves entwined around a large moon-white pearl. Connor had gently
slid the band onto her finger only a few months ago, during an
intimate ceremony with family and friends at the Macleod farm. At
the first touch of the ring, her psychic gift had shown her a
beautiful dark-haired woman, smiling at Zoey as if she heartily
approved.
It had been one of the nicest visions
Zoey had ever had, almost like a wedding present from her
extra-sensory side. And maybe it had been a sign as well. Accepting
her abilities had caused them to grow and flourish. Embracing a
relationship with Connor had done the same. It had seemed the most
natural thing in the world to say yes when he asked her to marry
him. The fact that she’d been a mountain lion at the time
notwithstanding . . .
“I have an idea,” she
murmured.
He nuzzled her hair until he could
brush his lips over her ear. And what’s
that?
“Let’s forget the truck and run
home.”
His mouth traveled down her sensitive
neck in long soft kisses and gentle bites. He slid his big hands
under her jacket, her shirt, seeking skin. “And then
what?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” The frosty night
air and the heat from his strong fingers was a delicious
combination. She shivered, but not from the cold. “Have wild and
crazy sex all night?”
“Mmmm . . . Just how wild and crazy are
we talking?”
She whispered in his ear.
Connor stepped back immediately and
Changed. The saddleback wolf loped to the middle of the street,
where he paused and looked back, waiting. In a moment, a sleek
golden wolf joined him. Together they ran through fallen leaves and
skiffs of snow, dodging in and out of shadows until they reached
the edge of town.
Suddenly the golden wolf vanished and a
tawny falcon took to the dark sky.
No fair!
Connor’s voice protested loudly in her head.
She only chuckled and soared higher.
Zoey watched her mate admiringly as he raced over the moonlit
fields, then, with a flip of her wingtips, overtook him.
Last one home makes dinner! Out of the
corner of her falcon’s eye, she could see the great saddleback wolf
redouble his pace. He was close, but no way was he going to catch
up to her.
He knew it too. I
always end up making dinner because you cheat. I could really lose my motivation here!
Not if you make
dinner naked tonight. And I’ll provide
dessert . . .
Fine, but I want
dessert first!
Zoey laughed and flew like an arrow for
home.