Page 53 of Untamed

I toss him a smile over my shoulder but don't stop and stare. Crazy Mactiir, talking about the goddess again. I want to touch the knob with red and blue. I gasp and jump a little when wind is suddenly blasted at me from the big black top of the vehicle.

"That's the heat and air conditioning,Qitsuk," Mactiir offers. He reaches out and shows me how to make the air warm, then cold. The wind changes in speed as he pushes buttons and turns the knob. "Your seat has warmers, too."

My butt grows warm. I give a wriggle, then reach over and shut off the warmth on my seat. It's too hot to be comfortable.

"The truck runs on diesel fuel. Most personal vehicles run on regular gas, but Rhet goes big. Diesel engines last longer and can handle more weight when you tow. I'll show you the engine later, alright?"

I nod absently, my attention caught by the glass in front of him. As the sun sets, the pictures behind the glass start to glow. I lean over, but I can't see it all, so I crawl into his lap with his deep chuckle in my ears. He adjusts his arms so that I fit, then slowly takes me through the levers and knobs and buttons that make everything under the glass blink and light up and glow.

I follow his movements, copying his actions to make my blinks, lights, and glows.

"Come here, my Bliss," he murmurs against my hair, then slides us around so that my bum is nestled in between his legs. "So, you feel this?" He runs his hand down my right leg, then lets his jump a little under me. "Down under my right foot is the gas pedal. Then the brake, then the clutch on my left." His left leg jumps and shakes mine. "Here," he takes my right hand in his and places it over the knobby stick that he is always grabbing. "This is the shift. Now feel." He moves the knobby stick with my hand, and his left leg moves, then his right flexes just a little. The truck goes faster, the...engine...making a louder hum than before.

"Now," he says huskily, "if we brake..." His right leg shifts, sending my bum deeper into his lap. "We slow down."

I think theknobby stickin his pants is growing under me.

"Then, we downshift." Our right hands move with his left leg. "And we can pick up speed again," he kisses my ear while I watch him steer.

I half-turn, tapping his chest and wriggling my bum in his lap, looking at him expectantly. I ignore the low groan and the nip of his teeth on my ear. Mactiir chuckles again. "I'll teach you how to drive during the day,Qitsuk. In the parking lot at the school, maybe, where it's open."

I growl softly at him, but he just smiles and shakes his head. "I have my hands full with you, don't I?"

Pouting, I slink back into my seat to fiddle again with the buttons and knobs in the center of the big, black truck. Before too long, we are pulling into a low-hanging open shed just the right size to put this vehicle.

"So this is where we park to get to the cottage. Luna Gloria, she's the one who built the cottage; she didn't want easy access. She liked her space," Mactiir steps out and waits for me to follow him. "It's a little bit of a walk, but we'll be home before it gets completely dark.

As we walk, I reach out to skim my fingertips over the bark of the trees. There is nothing, no thread of panic, no expulsion of energy from dying trees to these. It makes me sad. Nothing could tell me more clearly that this isn't my forest. I must be so far away that the fire consuming my trees isn't affecting these.

"What's wrong, my Bliss?" Mactiir pushes my hair from my face, cupping my cheek.

I stop to stare at him. His touch is so gentle, even when I can feel the power in him. How did I become accustomed to him so quickly? He went from my enemy to someone I want to cuddle with in no time at all.

I take a step away from him. Disappointment flashes in his eyes. "Not something you want to tell me?" he asks. Then he seems to catch himself and laughs. It's not a nice, deep chuckle like the one in the vehicle. It's a harsh sound.Sardonic; bitter, sharp, salty.

"Don't pull away," he snaps suddenly and grabs at my hand.

I slap his hand away from me, glaring.

"Qitsuk," he growls. "Why are you doing this? What happened?"

I grab the chain and shake it, letting the sound of the bells become a cacophony of angry noise.

"I won't take it off," he says. His voice has deepened to something low and dangerous.

I growl, and he growls back. We stand, nose-to-chin, glaring into each other's eyes as the sun dips behind the mountains and the shadows under the canopy grow. His walnut-eyes are glowing slightly in the dark. Small slashes of white mar his deep skin tone, his canines beginning to poke free.

The moon's light filters through the trees, and his body seems to swell, his muscles bunching and bulging. His body is fighting to shift, his wolf ready to come out.

I take a half-step away from him, my eyes narrowing on his face. He growls again as I move, but I do it anyway, crouching into position, getting ready to pounce or be pounced on.

I won't lose to his wolf again. Father would give me a scolding and a whipping for losing so quickly, even if I lose to a hungry-Ogre.

Fur explodes, a race to tooth and claw. Snarling, I lung at his forelegs, knowing that he's so much bigger I have to take him out from underneath.

It's pathetically fast. He's on top of me in just a moment, his body covering mine.

I feel something long and hard at my vulnerable backside, and my she-wolf snarls. The harsh sound echoes off the trees as we slide down to the ground on our belly, our tucked tail the only protection we have. And, it'smeasly; paltry, puny, insignificant. My she-wolf instinctively knows that he will hurt us. Males hurt females. She is afraid of the Ogre again.

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