Chapter 17
KIERA
The next morning, Kiera stepped out of the front door of her home-dome half asleep and still thinking about the dream she’d had.
It had been another one of those dreams—the kind she had started having ever since Buck came to live with her. Only this one had felt even more vivid than the others, so real she could still feel the ghost of his touch on her skin when she woke.
In it, she had been wrapped in a pair of huge, fur—covered arms and held close against a broad, muscular chest. The male holding her had been enormous—easily seven feet tall, maybe more—with thick dark fur over his shoulders and chest and powerful arms that encircled her completely.
And it was actually fur—he wasn’t just a hairy man—he was a man covered in fur.
In the dream, Kiera loved this—his pelt was so warm and luxuriously soft, like stroking the finest velvet.
The brush of it against her naked skin felt so sensuous, teasing every nerve ending, making goosebumps rise in delicious waves across her body.
Every time she shifted in his embrace, the fur dragged across her bare breasts, her belly, the sensitive insides of her thighs, sending sparks of pleasure straight to her pussy.
Her mystery man had cuddled her so close and so possessively that she had felt almost boneless in his embrace—warm and safe and strangely cherished, like she was the most precious thing in his world.
And God, it had been so sexy.
In the dream, the huge, furry male had nuzzled against the back of her neck and breathed her in deep, his nostrils flaring as he filled his lungs with her scent. His warm breath stirred her hair and ghosted over her skin, making her shiver with pleasure.
“You smell like mine,” he’d growled low in her ear, his voice rough with barely leashed hunger and his fangs grazing her earlobe just enough to make her gasp. “Sweet and wet and fucking perfect.”
His massive hands had wandered over her body, stroking her breasts and hips and thighs as though he was trying to memorize every curve…
every dip and swell. Rough palms cupped her heavy breasts from underneath, lifting their weight, kneading the soft flesh with eager hunger.
His thumbs circled her nipples slowly, teasing the tight peaks into aching hardness.
“Oh God…” Kiera moaned, arching into him. Her nipples were so tight they hurt, and her pussy was hot and wet and so ready for more.
He’d growled in approval, a deep rumble she felt in her bones.
“Love these gorgeous tits… so full and sensitive…” His thumbs pressed harder, pinching her nipples between thick fingers, rolling them with exquisite pressure that bordered on pain. “Love how tight they get for me… Love the soft little sounds you make when I play with them…”
Kiera had writhed in his arms, feeling absolutely molten from the waist down.
“Please… more… touch me…” she heard herself begging shamelessly.
Her mystery man had obliged, lowering his head to her chest. His hot, rasping tongue flicked over one tight nipple first—a slow, deliberate swirl that made her cry out—before he sucked it deep into his mouth.
He sucked hungrily, lips sealed tight around the peak, teeth grazing just enough to make her buck against him.
His other hand never stopped teasing her other nipple, plucking and twisting until she was panting, her pussy soaked and throbbing with need.
“God, yes… suck my tits harder… make them ache for you…” she’d begged, fingers tangling deep in his thick fur, holding him to her breast.
He’d switched sides then, lavishing the same worship on her other nipple, growling his pleasure as she moaned and writhed.
“Taste so good, baby… these pretty tight nipples… gonna suck them until you beg me to fuck you…” His deep, growling voice was barely human, but she loved it just the same.
“Yes, please…more!” Kiera heard herself moaning.
“Gonna give you more…but I need to taste you everywhere.”
And then he had flipped her onto her back amidst the silken sheets, spreading her thighs wide with firm but gentle insistence. He’d settled between them, that massive, furred body dwarfing hers, and pressed his face to the place between her thighs.
Kiera moaned again as she felt the hot, rough glide of his tongue—long and insistent—lapping at her dripping pussy from entrance to clit in one long, delicious stroke.
“So fucking wet for me, baby,” he’d rumbled, his deep voice muffled against her flesh. “This juicy little cunt dripping honey just for me… all mine to devour.”
Kiera had cried out, hips bucking as he spread her wide with clawed fingers, exposing her completely. His tongue plunged deep inside her, fucking her with firm, rhythmic thrusts…curling to stroke her G—spot while his thumb circled her swollen clit.
“Oh God, yes,” she heard herself begging. “Eat my pussy… tongue—fuck me deep…”
He’d growled in response–the vibration making her gasp–then sucked her clit between his lips, flicking it mercilessly with the tip of his tongue. He devoured her like a starving man, lapping every drop, two thick fingers joining his tongue to stretch her, pumping in time with his hungry licks.
“Gonna make you come all over my face… flood my mouth with your honey!” he’d commanded, golden eyes locked on hers.
The deep, commanding voice and the way he was teasing and tasting her was too much. In the dream, Kiera had come–hard–moaning his name as waves of pleasure rolled through her body, her pussy gushing over his tongue while he drank her down greedily, growling his triumph.
Yet, when she woke up, flushed and throbbing–aching for the mystery man’s touch–she couldn’t remember his name, though she’d been moaning it just moments before. Who was the man she was dreaming of? And why did he seem so familiar?
The strange thing was that the dream hadn’t just felt erotic–it had felt important somehow. As though the big, furry male in her dream had been trying desperately to tell her something.
It was as though he needed her help somehow. But how could she help him, Kiera wondered? What could she do for him?
She didn’t know. But the strongest feeling of all—the one that lingered even now as she stood barefoot on the front step of her home-dome in an oversized t—shirt, blinking into the pale purple morning light—was that he had needed to be close to her…
to touch her…to taste her. Because somehow that would help him… but how?
Again, she had no answers.
Kiera shivered a little and crossed her arms over herself, though it wasn’t really because she was cold. Her body still felt warm all over from the dream and there was a definite pulse of heat low between her thighs that had nothing to do with the morning air.
Get a grip, she told herself sternly. You are not standing outside mooning over your weird wolf—man dream. You have work to do!
She took a breath, tried to clear her head, and looked out over the sanctuary…and froze.
Two theebles were loose again.
One was perched on top of a low fence post near the petting—zoo section, fluffing its hot pink fur and cheeping, “Good boy! Good boy!” to absolutely nobody.
Another was hopping through the silver—threaded meadow grass with a strip of something shiny in its beak.
Kiera frowned.
“What the…?”
Then she saw something larger moving farther off. But it wasn’t just one creature…it was several.
A schoonie ambled past the edge of its own enclosure, humming to itself as though it had every right in the galaxy to be wandering free. Beyond that, she caught sight of a spooler hanging upside down from a cinnamon—trunked tree outside its habitat.
The last traces of dream—fog vanished from her mind instantly.
“What the hell is going on?” she whispered. “Are they all free?”
Buck, who had come out beside her with his usual silent grace, went instantly alert. His ears pricked forward, and he let out a low, uneasy chuff.
“Come on, Buck,” she said sharply, already moving. “Come on!”
She broke into a run, heading first for the petting—zoo section. But the farther she got from the home-dome, the worse things looked.
Animals were wandering loose everywhere.
Some were just milling around near their usual habitats, apparently too stupid or too content to realize they had escaped.
Others had already drifted farther afield.
A pair of tiny orange jibblets were darting in and out of the chiming trees like striped little missiles.
One of the spoolers had somehow gotten itself onto the roof of the feed storage shed and was dangling there by its feathered tail, looking smug about the whole thing.
“Oh no!” Kiera moaned. She spun in a circle, trying to take in the extent of the disaster. “How are they all out?” she demanded of no one in particular.
Then realization hit her–the emergency cutoff.
There was a manual safety switch around the back of the home-dome—an override installed in case the fence grid ever started malfunctioning and needed to be powered down quickly without taking down the entire sanctuary systems network.
It was housed inside a reinforced weatherproof control box and connected directly to the barrier distribution manifold.
You couldn’t trigger it accidentally–you had to physically unlatch the cover, disengage the safety clip, and throw the lever by hand.
Kiera’s stomach dropped–no work—bot would do that. They were specifically programmed to stay away from the cutoff system unless she or Commander Rarev authorized diagnostic access.
Which meant…
“Higgs,” she breathed, her hands tightening into fists.
She ran around the back of the home-dome, with Buck right beside her and sure enough–there was the control box mounted to the outer curve of the dome wall, its protective panel hanging open. The heavy red emergency lever had been thrown all the way down to GRID OFFLINE.
“Son of a bitch!”