Part 17 (1/2)

She had no trouble recognizing the pa.s.sion that leaped into his eyes. ”Because if I kissed you anywhere else, I wouldn't be able to stop.”

Spinning away, he forged his way to a garage and opened the door. In a minute or two, she heard a low roar and a snowmobile appeared. After a jaunty wave, he headed into the woods.

Bleddyn rode the snowmobile along the fence for about a mile, then guided it beneath the low-hanging limbs of a hemlock tree. Once underneath, he cut the engine, dismounted and stripped off his clothing. Black and gray mist danced with the still lightly falling snow and a large black wolf leaped from beneath the tree. He'd be able to travel much more quickly this way. Then he could go home to Meredythe.

A large snowflake landed on Meredythe's nose. He wouldn't stop kissing her? Shaking herself free of her musings, she returned to the house, leaving the boots and parka where she had gotten them. Once inside the kitchen, she quickly cleaned the skillet. Picking up the burned bacon, she headed toward the trash can. Pursing her lips, she stopped then wrapped it in a paper towel. She just might have a use for this later.

Slinging her briefcase over her shoulder, she grabbed her suitcases and headed for the staircase. Once she was upstairs, she opened the first door on her right. The room was dark, but she found the light switch easily enough. A large, unmade double bed stood in the center of the room. Odds and ends of furniture were pushed against the walls. Bleddyn hadn't been lying when he said his bedroom was the only one fit to use. Well, she'd take care of that right now. No way was she sleeping in his bed another night.

Staring at the bed, the memory of the kiss he'd given her in the break room leaped to her mind. Ruthlessly, she squashed it.

Striding across the room, she pulled open the heavy drapes. Weak light filtered in as she looked down over the hill that led to the front of the house. The path Bleddyn had made to get to her car was filling up again. Meredythe looked up. Heavy gray clouds still blanketed the sky, and a steady snow still fell. With a sigh, she turned her back to the window. If she wanted to sleep in this room tonight, she had a lot of work to do.

”Meow?” Methuselah minced his way across the room, his tail curled into a question mark.

”Thuse, you've come to keep me company,” she said as she lifted him and cuddled him against her chest. His rumbling purr rolled around the room when she set him on the bed and stroked him.

Smiling, she wondered if Bleddyn would purr if she petted him. Her eyes widened as she stared at her reflection in the mirror across the room. She had to stop thinking about him. Besides, he didn't look like the purring type.

”Get a hold of yourself, girl,” she muttered. ”You're here for a story, nothing else.” Her lips twitched. ”No matter how s.e.xy your host is.”

Methuselah's sneeze jerked her mind back to the project at hand. She wrinkled her nose. ”There is a lot of dust in here, Thuse. I'll bet this place hasn't been cleaned in months, and I, for one, don't plan to spend the entire night sneezing.”

The snow had finally stopped by the time Bleddyn returned.

Keri met him at the garage.

”What are you doing out here? I thought you wanted to stay inside next to a warm fire.”

Keri sat down and curled her tail around her toes. Meredythe has been sitting in front of Hammer's kennel for the last two hours trying to get him to come out.

Bleddyn c.o.c.ked to his head to the side. ”Why?”

She sees it as a challenge.

”And she told you all this? Somehow, I can't see her sitting down and having a conversation with a wolf. At least not yet.”

She told Methuselah.

”She talks to the cat? I thought she didn't know he was a Familiar.”

Keri sighed. You can be quite obtuse at times, Bleddyn. Humans talk to animals all the time.

You really need to spend more time with them.

His grin was wolfish. ”I plan to.”

She ran her tongue over her teeth. Don't jump to any foregone conclusions, Bleddyn.

Meredythe spent most of the day cleaning the front bedroom. She intends to sleep there tonight.

That wiped the grin from Bleddyn's face. ”I told her I'd sleep on the couch.”

No, you told Methuselah and me you'd sleep on the couch.

Muttering under his breath, he turned and trudged toward Hammer's kennel. The sight that greeted him stopped him in his tracks. Hammer stood in his outside run a few paces from the safety of his kennel, chewing on something yet growling at the same time. Meredythe sat in the snow on the other side of the fence.

Glancing his way, she said, ”He's so beautiful.”

Bleddyn glanced at the wolf-dog again, doubting that anyone had ever referred to him as being beautiful. He was heavier than a wolf, his Mastiff ancestry obvious in his blocky, muscular body and square snout. His fur was also shorter than a wolf's, a muddy brown color, or so Bleddyn had thought. Meredythe's comment had him looking more closely. In the dying winter light, he could see the wolf-dog's coat was a kaleidoscope of brown shades ranging from almost black to streaks of honey brown. In his own way, he was beautiful.

Squatting beside Meredythe, he asked, ”How did you get him to come out?”

She was still watching the growling dog. ”The burned bacon. I guess he was sick of dog chow.”

”And he came right out for you?”

She smiled and shook her head. Keri sat down beside her and Meredythe reached out to stroke her fur. ”He came out about ten minutes ago. I just sat here and waited for him. I got the idea from you.”

”Me?”

”The way you sat on the ground and talked to your wolves. I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. So I tossed the bacon over the fence, sat down and started to talk. I was discussing the importance of Shakespeare's Hamlet on modern literature when he finally came out.”

Bleddyn's chuckle caused the wolf-dog to snarl.

Meredythe propped her chin on her fist. ”I'll bet he's afraid of men. That's why you haven't made any progress with him.”

Bleddyn rocked back on his heels and looked from Meredythe to Hammer. ”You may be right. His owners beat him.”

”And his name isn't Hammer.”

Bleddyn's head snapped up. ”How do you know that?”

”I decided it was a terrible name, and I told him so.”

Keri's head rose a fraction of an inch. Shadow. His name is Shadow.

Meredythe continued, ”Shadow. That would be a good name for him. What do you think, Bleddyn?”

Her eyes were locked on the wolf-dog that now sat quietly staring at her, so she didn 't see the speculation on Bleddyn's face. ”How did you decide on that name?”

A happy smile on her face, she glanced at Bleddyn. ”It just popped into my head.

And I won't take no for an answer. His name is Shadow.”