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Mist burst from her gaping mouth as she ran through the knee-deep snow from her pursuers, stumbling, she slid on belly across the snow down a few feet where she stopped against a log. Looking back over her shoulder to scan behind her, she knew that they couldn't be far behind her but what she couldn't figure out was why they were chasing her. Then again, ever since her involvement with the recovery of the prehistoric woolly mammoth in Siberia, she was being followed and had been receiving prank phone calls. Flinging her long dark hair out of her pale blue eyes, she crawled over the log and took off again. The sound of panting and curses came to her ears just before the ground beneath her gave out and her scream disappeared with an echo.
Three exhausted men dressed in heavy parkas looked down into the deep sinkhole; one of them pulled a flashlight from his pocket and shinned it down at the unmoving body below. His voice harsh from the cold, he panted out.
"Guess that's the end of one problem; let's get out of here before it gets dark." He clicked off the flashlight and led the way back the way they had come.
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Her body lying and covered in freezing snow, Shiloh dreamt of the warmth of a lover's embrace, the softness of fingertips caressing her skin and eternal love. She blinks her eyes open and can see her body at her feet, fearing her death; she drops to her knees and digs through the snow with unfeeling hands. The puff of mist from bloodied lips calms her, but the bruised and swollen face of her other self brings tears to her eyes. "What can I do?" She cries out to the darkening ski above. "Mother, what can I do?" She drops further to the ground, covers her face with her hands, and weeps.
"You have always been strong my daughter, this time is no different." An older woman drew her to her feet and gazed up into her pale eyes with golden orbs wizened by centuries. "Rise up and seek the deer, look into her eyes and find your future." Shiloh nodded her head and kissed the hands of mother earth before shift-changing to a raven. Flying up from the hole, she flew until she found a small pasture with a herd of reindeer feeding on a round bail of hay. Swooping down to a weathered railing on a porch, her pale blue eyes saw a small woman sleeping in a reclining chair in front of a blazing fire. Flying to the windows ledge, she pecked at the window until she saw the woman jerk from sleep. Fanning her wings out, she cawed until she was seen. Tilting her small ebony head to the side, she watched green eyes blink and then widen in surprise. Fluffing her feathers, she flapped her wings when they came eye to eye through the window. The pulling of her soul surprised and scared her, deep down; she knew she had found her deer.
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Kody shook her head and walked away from the window; she hadn't seen a Raven up close in a long time or been eye to eye with one, especially one with blue eyes. With living in the land of the Lakota's, she took in all the tales from the elders and did her part in keeping the land whole. Being a believer in spirit animals, she knew that the Raven was there for a reason. The Raven was great magic and feared if one has been dabbling in areas that they have no knowledge of or that has had, a spell backfired on them. Kody didn't dabble in anything except living life to its fullest and taking care of her reindeer and buffalo. One thought came to her, someone needed her help, it was well known that the Raven was also a guardian of ceremonial magic and was the one to guide healing magic.
"If it's a band aide thing I can help, anything more drastic and I'm puking." She said to her sleeping cockatoo Dumbass. "Guess I better go out and patrol the area for broken wings." She grabbed her gear and went out into the cold.
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The jingle of sleigh bells and Kody's god-awful voice sang out in the twilight hour, the glow of lanterns and the steaming breath of the reindeer announced the arrival of the crazy woman of Jackson South Dakota.
"Grandma got run over by a reindeer, walking home from my house Christmas Eve, you can say there's no such thing as Santa. But as for me and grandpa we believe?Ohhh SHIT!" Dressed in a long deer skin fur lined coat with long fringe at the yoke and sleeves, high boots, fur covered hat with ear flaps and heavy mittens, Kody jumped down from her sleigh and led her team of reindeer around the sinkhole. "Now how did that get there?" She pulled a flashlight from her pocket and shined it around and down into the hole. Pulling her hat off, she scratched her scalp and messed up her short blonde hair more than before. "This does not look good." Going to the side of her sleigh, she pulled out a coil of rope, tied it to the rear and tossed the other end into the sinkhole. "God how I hate holes," At the sound of the ravens caw, she looked up into the tree and saw it flapping its wings. "Well then, I guess I'm in the right place." Grabbing onto the rope, she eased over the side of the hole and slowly lowered her self to the bottom. Stepping gingerly around the body, she knelt down beside it and brushed back the dark hair covering the face. She cringed at the sight of the bruised and bloodied flesh, removing her mittens; she pressed her fingertips to the pulse point of the woman's neck and felt a weak pulse. "Now to get you out of here without hurting you any more than you all ready are." Wrapping the rope under Shiloh's arms, she wrapped her arm around her waist and gripped the rope with the other. "Here goes nothin," She mumbled. "Hey Dopey move your ass and get me out of here!" She heard the jingle of bells and then the rope pulled taught. In a couple of minutes, she was lying on her back looking up at the treetops with the heavy weight of Shiloh on top of her.
"Was it good for you?" She grunted as she pulled herself out from under the dead weight and looked to the tree limbs for the raven. "Guess ya flew on home, sure leave all the work for me." A half hour later and melting the snow with her cussing, she had the sleigh headed for home. "The weather outside is nasty, what I wouldn't do for some?some?the weather outside is?Dopey the cross eyed reindeer has very bloodshot eyes, If I didn't know no better, I would say she's high." She snorted when her reindeer snorted and blew out a deep grunting breath. Stopping the sleigh outside the front door of her large log cabin, she jumped down and trotted over to open the front door.
"Go away fuck head!" She heard screamed from the living room.
"Shut up Dumbass or you'll be supper tonight."
"Ass wipe mother fucker!"
"Dickhead," She yelled back at her cockatoo and threw an almond at him before she went back outside to try and get Shiloh inside. "Damn loud mouthed feather head, I should tape his beak closed."
"Love you Kooody!" He yelled from inside and brought a wisp of a smile to her face. "Just my luck, the only thing that loves me is a big mouthed bird." Stopping beside where she had Shiloh lying, she pulled the heavy fur blanket off her and tossed it up on to the seat. "Hello hernia," She gasped as she lifted Shiloh's dead weight up and dragged her backwards towards the waiting warmth of her cabin. "Damn you're heavy; I should work out more, pump some roids or something." Finally dragging Shiloh's body up onto her bed, she laid panting and wiping sweat from her face. Resting a few minutes, she went back outside, led her team of reindeer to the barn, took their harnesses off, and turned them out to pasture. Going back into the cabin, she shed her heavy clothes, grabbed her first aide kit and went into her bedroom. "Now let's see what I can do for you." She pulled off the worn heavy work boots and the wet socks and grinned at the tattoos circling each ankle. "What else am I gonna find with your unveiling?" After she had Shiloh stripped of all her clothes, she stepped back and took in all the dark bruises on her chest. Lifting the bulletproof vest up, she matched the holes with the bruises.
"Just who in the Hell are you?" She searched through the wet and muddy Levis, pulled out a worn black leather wallet, and flipped it open. "Dr. Sooleawa Shiloh Blackraven, now why would a doctor need a Kevlar vest or this?" She placed the .9mm in its clip on holster on her dresser and stepped back beside the unconscious Shiloh. "You should be glad that you're out of it right now because this is really gonna hurt like a big bitch." She grabbed Shiloh's left wrist, put her bare foot against her ribcage and under her armpit and was about to pull her shoulder back in place when blue eyes blinked open.
"What?are you?doing?" Shiloh's raspy voice asked and then her eyes grew in size with pain when Kody yanked on her wrist and her shoulder popped back in. She screamed out and fell into oblivion again.
"Gods that was a scary noise," Kody shivered and gently moved Shiloh's arm to her side and placed her forearm across her tight stomach. "Don't move I'll be right back." When she was finished, Shiloh's arm was bound so that she wouldn't be able to move it. Pulling a thick quilt up over her body, she went into the bathroom for a hot shower. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head forward and let the hot water wash down over her back. "That raven didn't bring me magic or anything good, a beat up Indian with a gun and probably loads of trouble." Finishing her shower, she dressed in old sweat pants a Boulder sweatshirt and fur lined leather slippers. Grabbing a quilt from the closet, she went into the living room and cuddled up in the recliner. Her dream self kept seeing the raven and the crystal blue eyes that glittered silver in the moonlight. She jumped awake at the sound of a loud thump and a curse coming from her bedroom, tripping over the quilt, she hopped free and staggered to the door.
Sooleawa where are you going?" She went to the struggling woman's feet and pulled the dirty Levis out of her hand. Her heart lurched up into her throat when silvery blue eyes held her in mid movement. "The raven?was you?" Coming back to her senses, she held a hand out to Shiloh. "Back in bed right now."
Shiloh moved her hand behind her back and narrowed her eyes. "Who are you and how did I get here?"
"I'm Santa's head elf, now get back in bed."
"Where's my gun?I have to get out of here."
Kody rolled her green eyes and pointed to the bed. "It's late, I'm tired and you are in no condition to go anywhere Sooleawa."
"Don't call me that," She growled, climbed onto the edge of the bed and pulled the quilt up to cover her breasts. "It's Shiloh, now I need to get out of here so I can find Dr. Shaughnessy."
"What do you want with that old crazy bitch?"
"I'm not telling you anything until you tell me who you are." She got up from the bed, wobbled and sat back down with a loud groan.
"And I'm not telling you anything until you tell me why you have a gun and a vest full of holes." She toed the vest and held the silver gaze. "I'm Santa's elf and you could be a spy from Mattel."
"You're insane."
"Yeah and you're a bloody mess, don't move." She went into the bathroom leaving Shiloh to look around the comfortable bedroom. The bed was a thick goose down with flannel sheets and a thick hand made blue and white quilt, the walls packed with a pure white mortar between the smooth logs. All the furniture was old, well loved and the tops covered with brightly colored Native American blankets. What caught her eye was an old quiver of arrows and bow that hung from a set of deer antlers. "Those belonged to my great-grandmother; she was the bread winner so to speak." Kody said as she sat a ceramic bowl filled with warm water on the nightstand and held out a washcloth. "She was in her eighties and still hunting every year at deer season." Tilting Shiloh's face upward, she wiped the dirt and blood from her face. "Now what is a Winema doing looking for Shaughnessy?"
Shiloh's pale blue eyes narrowed at the Algonquin word that the small woman used. "How did you know I'm a chief?" Kody pulled on the eagle feather hanging from a braid at the back of Shiloh's long black hair. "Forgot about that. I'm here to warn her that she's in danger, now where can I find her."
"What's this danger, maybe I can help?"
"I doubt it?damn that hurts!" She flinched when Kody cleaned the cut in her dark eyebrow.
"Do I look like I can't fend for myself? I'm Kody Shaughnessy, now who did I piss off this time?" Shiloh grabbed Kody's hand and lowered it to look into light green eyes.
"You're Dr. Kodiak Takchawee Shaughnessy?I was expecting?"
"A little old wrinkled Sioux grandma? I take after the Irish side of the family, are you hungry, I'm starving." She took the bowl back to the bathroom and tossed a blue fluffy robe to Shiloh. "Come into the kitchen and I'll fix us some stew and coffee."
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Kody leaned back in the heavy wooden kitchen chair sipping her coffee and listening to the wild story Shiloh was telling her.
"When I left Siberia and came back home, I had the feeling that I was being followed, and then I got threatening letters at the museum where I'm the curator for the mammoth exhibit. I put it all down to some nut case that was pissed off about the possible cloning of prehistoric animals, until your name was mentioned in the last letter. I pulled up your name at the library and found your last paper about growing the prehistoric seeds and using pollens to study for beneficial purposes in these times. It goes hand in hand with me studying the mammoth DNA for a sign of a disease that may have killed them all 26,000 years ago."
Kody leaned forward on her elbows and stared into tired blue eyes. "So you think someone is afraid of us pulling off a Jurassic Park thing?"
"Yeah, I mean that movie made a lot of people afraid of what 'us' scientists are capable of doing and then with this cloning of humans that's being done?" She shrugged and whimpered from the pain in her shoulder. "How did you find me anyway?"
"A big black raven told me; now what kind of threat did they mention?"
Shiloh cracked a grin that made Kody's heart pound in her chest and her palms sweat. "Ohhh that we would be the next archeological excavation find made in the black hills."
"That's lovely, I always wanted to be buried, dug up by some archeologist and stuck in an exhibition. Any ideas who we pissed off and what we're supposed to do now?"
"Well, the three guys chasing me were a Swede, Russian and American, I have no idea who they are but they're good shots and hopefully think I'm dead. I was hoping that you would know what to do." Kody ran a hand through her messy hair and sighed.
"You realize that you led them right to me don't you?"
"Nope," She grinned wider showing all her perfect white teeth. "I got lost after getting directions and when I finally found my way here, they were ahead of me. When I caught up to them, I rammed them with my Explorer and ended up rolling a few times before a ditch and a tree stopped me." She rolled her head on her shoulders and winced at the pain. "I think I gave myself whiplash." Kody got up and pulled a large bottle of aspirins from a cabinet, pouring four into her hand, she went back over to Shiloh.
"Let me see your eyes,"
"Why, they're still both there."
"Humor me Chief; I wanna see if you have a concussion to go with the dislocated shoulder."
Shiloh looked deeply into light green eyes and felt her entire existence in those orbs, her breathing became shallow and she swore her skin burned where small hands gently cupped her face.
"She has amazing eyes, every color of the sky is held there with a bit of the darkest of night. Falling into them would be so easy, to let them surround me with their warmth." "I don't see anything abnormal, pupils react normal. How's your head, any pain, dizziness?"
"Ohhh everything above and then some!" "Nope, just really tired and sore all over."
"OK, back to bed with you, we'll figure this out in the morning and take it from there." She helped Shiloh up from the table and walked her to her bedroom; she stopped and hesitated before picking up all the dirty clothes and turning back for the door. "If you need anything I'll be in the living room."
"Where are you sleeping?" She asked while running her fingers across the swollen area above her right eye. She felt her heart seize when Kody smiled and wiggled her eyebrows.
"In my magic finger massaging recliner, best investment I ever made, night Chief." Shiloh stood for a few moments before sinking into the comfortable mattress and trying to find a position to sleep in without excruciating pain. What felt like hours went by before she drifted off to a restless pain filled sleep. Kody, on the other hand, slept like the dead. Her chair relaxed her entire body until she was a mass of jello; it wasn't until Dumbass sat on her lap and crowed like a rooster that her eyes blinked open. "You are so annoying, why do you have to wake me up every morning like this?"
"Feed me Kooody!" He fluffed his feathers, opened his wings and bobbed his head up and down while dancing across her legs. "Starving bird?starving bird!" He made a choking noise and fell over on her legs with his legs kicking in the air.
Shiloh stood leaning against the doorway watching the huge salmon colored cockatoo go through his morning ritual; she straightened up when Kody grabbed him by his feet and carried him towards the kitchen. "Starving my ass, you eat more than I do." She put him on the kitchen counter and searched through the refrigerator for breakfast. Pulling a banana from the crisper, she laid it on his chest and watched his eyes open. "And don't you throw the peel on the floor."
"So they are as smart as everyone says." She walked stiffly into the kitchen and sat down across from Dumbass. "How long have you had him?"
"Ohh almost 20 years, he belonged to my grandma and she gave him to me. I think he's 35 or so and may not live past breakfast." She pointed a finger at him when he went to toss the peel on the floor. "Don't you dare throw that, you know where it goes."
"Kody's a bitch!" He flew across the kitchen and dropped the peel in the trash before going back to the table and cocking his head sideways to look at Shiloh. "Wanna lay my eggs?" He said and strutted in front of Shiloh. "Hung like a donkey." Shiloh laughed at him and looked at a red faced Kody.
"Who taught him the phrases he uses?"
Dumbass flapped his wings and imitated a buzzard. "Kody talliwacker!"
"He's all I have to talk to and he knows how to turn the TV on." She shrugged her shoulders and went back to making omelets.
"What's he watch the Playboy station?" She chuckled when Kody's shoulders stiffened, she turned and gave her a raised eyebrow; Shiloh was seeing more into the recluse type life of Dr. Shaughnessy and it was a mark towards her sexual preference. "I prefer the ecstasy channel myself, more action." She got up from the table and started a pot of coffee. "So what's the plan for the day?"
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Shiloh leaned back in the leather seat of the sleigh and watched Kody put a small funny looking coat on Dumbass. Seeing seven reindeer hooked up to a sleigh was shocking but when the cockatoo flew out the door and landed on the sleigh was more shocking. "Does he go everywhere with you?"
"Pretty much yeah, after he ran up my phone bill one month, I decided not to leave him alone." She climbed up into the sleigh, pulled the thick fur blanket across their laps and got them on their way. Go on Dumbass, set them off."
"On Dopey, Grumpy, Doc, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, and Happy, watch the pot holes I have hemorrhoids!" Shiloh relaxed her six-foot frame as much as possible and took quick looks at her traveling companion.
"So where we headed in Santa's sleigh with Snow Whites dwarves?"
"Over to Kadoka and then we're gonna take my plane into Hot Springs and drop in on the site, ya know see if we can scare the Hell out of anyone." The smirk that came to her face sent chills down Shiloh's spine.
Shiloh gripped the fur cover closer and shivered. "Too late, you're already scaring the Hell outta me."
"Gee and I haven't even sung yet." Shiloh watched with interest as Kody bounced in the seat, her lips moving without sound and Dumbass spreading his wings and tipping them as if he was flying on the thermals. Watching the quick step of the reindeer, she smiled at the romanticism of it. The crisp air, snowy landscape, jingle of bells and the small strangely dressed woman beside her. "So why are you way out here in Jackson and not closer to Hot Springs?"
"Easy, I hate being around all those tourists and the political aspects of the dig. The boss isn't thrilled with me pursuing my studies of the vegetation samples, he said that it's a lost cause and the grasses won't survive our soils or climate."
"But you think differently, have you gotten anywhere with your work?"
Kody grinned and turned back to her driving. "Top secret stuff there Chief, and yes, I have gotten some results by drafting the samples with prairie grass. I have around thirty acres of it that I've been bailing for my reindeer and buffalo."
Shiloh turned in the seat and faced Kody's profile. "I thought you were a paleontologist."
"I am I just like to play in the forbidden grounds, cause hate and discontent."
"Looks like we're both good at that, I'm the one who sent you the samples against orders from Dr. Sullivan." A scary thought occurred to her, they knew that the mammoths died of a disease, but they hadn't been able to do enough research to find out how it was contracted. She straightened and gave her full attention to Kody. "You haven't found any abnormalities with the samples, changes in metabolites in your animals, illnesses, anything?"
"Nope, the only thing that I've found is the stuff grows really fast and is digested quicker than regular prairie grass, figure that the mammoths ate 700 pounds a day, so it was either because of the quick digestion or because of the energy they needed to move." She pulled the team to a stop outside of a fenced in area and turned to Shiloh. "Have ya thought that maybe the disease was contracted by way of parasite, huge skeeters carrying it like ticks and lime disease?"
"I've thought of it but we don't have enough tissue to do testing and we haven't found anything with the insects found at the sight." Kody jumped down, opened the gate and then led the team into the enclosure. Shiloh watched when an old man came from a barn, his tanned features weather worn but his brown eyes full of life and cheerful.
"Little Kody, going flying today?"
"Hey grandpa, that all depends on whether or not you plan on eating one of my reindeer." She wrapped her arms around the older man, hugged him and kissed his cheek.
"Not one of them, I've had my eyes on that damn bird for years," He looked to where he knew the cockatoo would be and cocked a grey eyebrow at Shiloh. "Who's your friend?"
"Chief Blackraven, she dropped in for a visit last night." They moved closer to the sleigh and stopped beside where Shiloh sat waiting. "Shiloh this is my grandpa John Shaughnessy, grandpa, Chief Shiloh Blackraven."
He looked up into her pale blue eyes and smiled. "I've heard of you, you've done good things for our people, glad to meet you." He held out his hand and was surprised by the strength of her handshake. "I like a woman with a strong shake and makes eye contact."
"Likewise sir, I don't trust people who look at my chest." She gave him a wink and climbed down from the sleigh, when she came to her full six foot height, she gave him a smirk.
"Damn but you're tall, how can someone not look at your chest, their heads will fall off having to look up into your eyes."
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Shiloh looked at the planes controls and was confused instantly; she had never flown up front before and felt overwhelmed. "Who taught you how to fly?" She turned to see Kody putting an old tan fedora on in place of her fur hat. "Should I call you Dr. Jones or is Indiana OK?" Kody was interrupted by Dumbass yelling from the back.
"We're gonna crash?assume crash position!"
"Well that's reassuring," Shiloh rubbed her hand down her face and glanced at a smirking Kody.
"I watched the movie Top Gun a few times and ya can call me Ice."
"Just peachy, I don't even have two hands to hold on with."
Kody gave her a big grin and a wink. "That's OK you won't need to hold on when we crash." She hit buttons on and the cockpit and engines of the 1997 Cessna roared to life, pushing the controls forward, they rolled forward and started down the snow-covered runway. Shiloh closed her eyes as they picked up speed and held her breath when they lifted off. What really unnerved her was the war cry Kody let out when they soared upward.
"What's the matter Chief, flying around as a Raven is OK but in a plane turns you to a chicken hawk?"
"I've never been in a plane where a bird keeps screaming that we're gonna die or had a pint sized Indiana Jones in the cockpit."
She pushed her fedora back on her head, narrowed green eyes and jabbed Shiloh with a finger. "Did you just say I'm pint size?" She got up from her seat and left Shiloh with her jaw hanging open. "Just for that you can fly it yourself?Chief Chicken hawk." She went into the back and sat on the bench next to dumbass.
Panic set in, pale blue eyes grew in size, as Shiloh looked at all the blinking lights and the yoke in front of her. "Ohh my Gods we are gonna die! Kody?please come up here and fly this thing."
"Not until you say you're sorry and that I'm not pint sized."
"OK ok, I'm sorry and you're not pint sized?please come back up here." Kody kicked back and closed her eyes ignoring Shiloh's pleading. "What are you doing!?"
"Take it easy Chief, it's on auto pilot," She got up from the bench and grabbed two Cokes from a small cooler. "Wanna Coke, we got chicken salad sandwiches and Doritos." Shiloh got out of her seat, grabbed the front of Kody's coat and pulled her so they were chest to chest.
"I can't believe you did that to me and I promise some how some way I will get you back."
"You know you're really beautiful when you're scared."
"I was not scared?ok so I was, is there a tribal law against that?"
"No but I think there's one against smashing chicken salad against your chest." They looked down at the smashed sandwiches between them.
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They stood at the top of the stairs that led down into the sinkhole of the Hot Springs excavation site. People were everywhere and the drone of voices came from where clusters of tourists were discussing one of the areas being worked by college students.
"This is one of the things that irritate me to no end," Kody said only loud enough for Shiloh to hear. "Trying to work when you have idiots yelling questions at you." She pointed to where a man was leaning over the railing and yelling to a college student.
"I can see what you mean; I'd yank the idiot over the side and bury him."
Kody grinned evilly and shook her head. "I have a better piece of armory against them." She threw Dumbass up into the air and laughed when his version of a prehistoric birdcall rang out and caused people to duck and look around.
"Mean and nasty?I like it." Shiloh said and draped her good arm over Kody's shoulders. "A friend of yours?" She nodded to where Dumbass was sitting on top of a woman's head with his wings spread out.
"You can say that, that's my sister Mika, but I call her Rascal. She's an anthropologist looking for any sign of humanoid forms on the site." Shiloh watched the woman stand and would never have known that she and Kody were related. Where Kody was fair, Mika was dark except for the golden eyes that twinkled up at them.
Mika raised a hand in the air and yelled. "Takchawee!" She threw Dumbass in the air and came at a run towards the stairs, when she reached them; she engulfed her sister in a bear hug and picked her up off the floor. "You finally came out of hiding!"
"Only for a good reason, Rascal this is Shiloh." Rascal gave Shiloh the once over and raised a dark eyebrow.
"Dr. Blackraven with my sister, that's a good reason for a party."
"We are not together that way you grave robber."
Rascal gave them both a smirk. "Not yet ya ain't who knows what the future holds, come on Katy's down in the office."
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Shiloh ducked her head through the door to the small cramped office; she looked around and came upon Rascal sneaking up on someone who was bent over a table examining layouts of the site. She wasn't prepared for the yell or Rascal being flipped over the table to land in a shipping crate.
"Hi baby, that's twice this week ya flipped me over the table." Gold eyes twinkled up into hazel.
Brushing long curly blonde hair back from her eyes, Katy said. "That's because twice this week you've snuck in here and grabbed my ass?" She turned when she heard snorting behind her. "Kody will you do something with your sister?"
"Me?" She thumbed her chest. "You're married to her; don't know why since ya coulda had me."
"Excuse me but is anyone gonna help me?" Rascal kicked her feet and waved her hands.
"No!" Came two voices and then loud snorts when Kody and Katy dropped down into chairs at the table. "Hey Shiloh come here and meet my sister in-law."
"Hey come on guys help me out here." Shiloh reached down and pulled Rascal out of the box then stuck her tongue out at Kody.
"Hi I'm Shiloh Blackraven." She held her hand out to Katy, stepped on Kody's foot and gave her an evil smirk. "Don't I know you?"
"I was in one of your classes a few years ago?"
Shiloh raised her eyebrow and nodded her head. "I kicked you out because?
"She flipped me over her desk and I took out two other students, still have the bruises on my ass from that." Rascal dropped onto her wife's lap and kissed her softly.
"And she still hasn't learned to not sneak up on me after all these years."
"Bullshit," Kody chuckled. "That's you two and your sick idea of foreplay." Katy wiggled an eyebrow at her.
"So what brings you two here, anything interesting?" She looked first to Shiloh and then to Kody. "So it is something?and I'm getting the awful feeling that it's not good."
"It's like this, someone wants us to disappear and we have no idea who." Kody looked up to Shiloh and felt her insides quiver from the intense look on her chiseled face. "They tried to kill Shiloh when she stopped them from getting to me."
Katy and Rascal looked between each one of them before looking to each other and trading nods. "We're in, what do you want us to do and where?" Rascal said to her sister.
"We need to start in Khatanga where the wooly mammoth is, that's where everything started." Three sets of eyebrows rose and then cheers made her ears ring. "I guess it's OK then?"
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Kody and Shiloh stepped out into the cold white landscape of Khatanga Siberia and took deep breaths of the cold air. "Ooohhh how I love sleeping in nasty smelling lodges on runners," Kody wrinkled her nose and looked to Shiloh. "Strange parasites crawling all over my body, reindeer grease covering everything and the stench of burning reindeer shit on a fire." Shiloh tried to hold back her laughter but failed; she busted out and fell against Kody.
"Sorry but the expression on your face?" She sobered when she felt something crawling down between her shoulder blades and saw green eyes twinkle with mirth. "We have igloo tents?" She struggled out of her parka and tried to scratch between her shoulder blades, moving to the corner of the lodge, she wiggled trying to smash what ever was crawling on her.
"For Gods sakes come here," Kody chuckled and pulled Shiloh's thick layer of clothing up so she could get to her skin. A wide grin came to her face when Shiloh sighed and arched her back when she scratched hard with short blunt fingernails. "How's your shoulder?"
"Better, I think I might keep the binding off after tonight and see how it feels." She shrugged her shoulders to get her clothes rearranged. "The tents are over in the tunnel, all we have to do is set them up and we'll be set for our stay."
"How many tents and how big, not that it matters but sharing with Katy and Rascal will be the death of us."
Shiloh cracked a grin and took Kody's hand to lead her over to the tunnel where the gear and the wooly mammoth were. Stepping inside didn't change the temperature one iota and the row of stacked reindeer carcasses brought about Kody's temper. She knew that reindeer meats were a main staple of food for the natives but it didn't make it any easier. Turning her gaze away, she saw the pile of supplies stacked against a wall. "Is that the stuff we're using?" She stepped closer and touched the thick shinny material of one of the igloo tents.
"Yep, they're two ma?woman tents there, space heaters and everything to keep us alive and bug free, we should be good until the turn comes in two weeks." She grabbed one end of a tent and pulled it down from the stack. "After that, the temps should be high enough to go without the heaters except at night." She turned at the sound of voices coming there way, Katy and Rascal were with two students from California State university that were there to do research on the mammoth. Katy walked up to Shiloh and pulled her to the side.
"There is nooo way in Hell that we're sleeping in one of those lodges like the others do, we'll build an igloo if we have to." Shiloh wrapped an arm around her shoulders and took her over to the equipment.
"Not to worry, we have igloo tents to stay in and we have enough MRE's to last a while."
"How can those kids stand to live like that?" She rubbed her hands on her pant legs and grimaced. "When you took us to sites it was never like this, not even when we went to the Aztec site in Mexico with Kody."
"That's the difference between how a man runs a site and a woman, he doesn't worry about anything until his dick falls off." She crossed her arm over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Why the change to Archeology from paleo?"
Katy gave her a wide grin and snickered. "I didn't change majors; I only took your class so I could drool over you." She slapped a stunned Shiloh on her shoulder and went over to help sort through the gear.
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Shiloh struggled with her sleeping bag and was ready to throw it out the flap when Kody grabbed her hand and stopped her. "Calm down Chief, I'll fix our sleeping bags while you sit there and figure out what supper's gonna be," She turned around and then back with a finger pointed at Shiloh. "And don't say reindeer, I refuse to eat anything that looks like one of my kids."
"We left your kids and your bird with your grandpa, he might eat them."
"No he won't, he's a vegetarian and only eats that phony meat, high blood pressure and cholesterol has saved many a furry creature from his gun."
The four of them sat around a small campfire warming there hands and hoping to catch attention from who ever sent the men after Shiloh and Kody. All day long, they made it known that they were there to continue with their research. If the men responsible for attacking Shiloh were sent from the sight, they were sure to try and finish what they started. Many people died from exposure or became lost never to be found again, so they knew the risks but were still willing to take them.
"I don't know about you guys but I'm exhausted and I'm turning in." Kody got up from the small stool she was sitting on and went into the igloo that she and Shiloh were sharing. Stripping out of her outer clothes, she left her long johns on and crawled into her sleeping bag, minutes later, she was asleep. Rascal watched Shiloh's eyes follow her into the igloo and remain there until the light went off inside.
"How long have you known my sister?"
"A couple days short of a week why?" She looked up from the fire and caught Rascals odd golden eyes watching her. "She saved my life and I pray that I can keep her safe." Rascal snorted and leaned against Katy.
"I'm not worried about her safety, she can take care of herself, it's her heart that I'm worried about."
Shiloh sat up straighter at Rascals insinuation. "What are you getting at?"
"Besides you being drop dead gorgeous?," She took a quick look at her wife. "Sorry baby?anyway, Kody's been burned before and I don't want to see it happen again."
"What makes you think that we'll have that kind of relationship?"
Rascal was about say something when Katy clasped a hand over her mouth. "Ignore Rascal, she's over protective of Kody for a good reason but she shouldn't be accusing you when you haven't done anything." She took a deep breath and continued. "Kody was involved with another professor for a while; they worked on a paper together for a year before it was ready to turn in?"
"Let me guess, this other professor claimed the work for herself?"
"Not exactly, before she submitted the paper, she switched certain parts with other copies and turned it in with just Kody's name on it. She then turned in one similar with her own name on it."
Shiloh dropped her head and rubbed her face, she now knew what Kody meant by the political aspects of digs. "She got burned out of a permanent position and slammed for a bad paper."
"Give the Chief a cookie; it took a long time for her to get over that." Rascal leaned forward to look into pain-filled eyes. "I love my sister?"
"Don't worry Rascal; my intentions are neither for professional gain nor personal relations, I like her a lot and I just want to catch the assholes who want us dead. I won't hurt Kody in any way, shape or form if I can help it." She got up, went into their tent, and sat for a while going over the personal information.
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Katy slapped her wife on the shoulder and glared at her. "What did you do that for, Kody's a grown woman and if she wants more from Shiloh then it's her choice." Rascal dropped her head in shame.
"I know, I just worry about her?she deserves to have what I have but I don't wanna see her get slammed around."
"Rascal, let those two do what they want and lets go play in our tent."
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Shiloh groaned, rolled over and gasped from the pain shooting through her shoulder. Taking deep breathes, she tried to ignore the pain and felt tears running down her cheeks.
"Shiloh you OK?" Kody asked with a raspy sleep laden voice.
"Go back to sleep, I'll be OK." She flinched and covered her face when a small light came on. "I'm OK, I just laid wrong."
"Bullshit Chief, you've been moaning and groaning since you lay down. Let me see your shoulder." She rummaged around in her pack and pulled out a bottle of Tylenol, a bag of pills and a tube of Zostrix HP. "Take your shirt off and let me see." The look Kody gave her had her pulling her thermal shirt over her head and waiting without a word.
"You're gonna torture me for waking you up aren't you?"
"If I wanted to do that I would have just let you whimper in pain." Handing over the Tylenol, two pills and a bottle of water, she squeezed out the Zostrix in her hand and rubbed it into Shiloh's shoulder. She tried to remain detached but failed when her fingers glided across warm skin and felt Shiloh's thick muscles flex. Massaging all the way up to Shiloh's neck and down to her upper back, she faded away until she heard a deep groan come from Shiloh.
"Keep that up and I'll fall over on my face." Kody placed a hand towel over her shoulder and helped her pull her shirt back.
"Don't do that, you'll break your nose, bleed all over the place and I'll puke. Now switch sleeping bags with me." Shiloh gave her a funny look but moved over to the other bag.
"Why are we doing this?"
"Because?this way you can't roll over onto your bad shoulder because I'll be behind you." Shiloh lay down on her side, pulled the sleeping bag up to her chin and tried to relax. She stiffened when Kody leaned against her back, keeping her from rolling over and fell asleep with a loud snorting noise.
"She needs those nose strip things, or I need ear plugs?" Were her last words when the pills kicked in and dropped her into a deep sleep.
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"How in the Hell can they sleep like that?" Katy asked her wife from where she was on her knees inside Shiloh and Kody's tent. She pointed to where Shiloh was halfway on her back with Kody underneath her lying on her stomach.
"No idea but they look awful cozy." Rascal crawled in and stuck her finger in her Shiloh's ear; she snickered when a low growl and then a deep snore rattled in her chest. Sniffing the air, she wrinkled her noise at the medicinal smell and then lifted one of her eyelids. "She ain't waking up any time soon; Kody must have given her one of her sleeping pills." Grabbing Kody by her arm, she pulled her free of Shiloh's dead weight and flipped her over. "What to do with little Kody?" She looked to her wife with an evil grin.
When Kody finally came out of her coma like sleep, she searched for her clothes and stopped to watch Shiloh sleep. The noise she was making reminded Kody of a yaks mating call, brushing dark bangs back from Shiloh's forehead, she leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to warm skin. How I wish I were brave enough and something more than I am then maybe I would stand a chance with you. "Big bad Chief is really a wimp when it comes to pain."
"Am not?just hate pain," She peeked up at Kody and jumped. "What happened to you?" She opened her eyes wider and looked closer at the blue tattoo running along Kody's hairline on her forehead.
"Nothing happened to me?why?" She looked at Shiloh's exploring eyes and knew that something was wrong. "What, did I grow a mustache or something over night?" She ran a finger across her lip and was relieved not to find any thick hair.
"No but it looks like an Amazon shaman paid you a visit. The blue sets off your eyes beautifully."
Kody rolled her eyes and swore, pulling her collar away from her neck, she looked down her shirt and moaned. "I will kill them both!" She pulled her shirt up and flashed Shiloh.
"The M&M guys, why would they draw them on your chest?"
"That is something you will never find out if I can help it." She pulled her shirt down and dressed before she went hunting for her tattoo artists. Shiloh snickered and lay back down in her sleeping bag.
"You're lucky Kody; they could have put a bone through your nose." A wide grin covered her face and the thought that ran through her mind gave her the energy to get up.
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"Are you sure we're not cooking it, it smells like roasting meat in here?" Kody pulled her scarf up over her nose.
"This is the best way to not destroy anything, reminds me of being in the sweat hut." Shiloh turned off the hair dryer she was using and picked up the comb lying on the mammoths back. Running the comb through the thick hair, she dropped fibers and other specimens into a plastic bag. "This always reminds me of being a forensic pathologist, ya know looking for evidence."
"I feel like I'm a prehistoric beautician and should be braiding this things hair, maybe putting some fancy beads in it."
"I think mixing up some BBQ sauce and getting the pit ready is a better idea." Rascal stepped beside them and leaned over her sister's shoulder. "Looks like your legs Kody."
Shiloh chuckled and yelped when she was kicked in her leg. "Sorry?want me to braid your hairy legs?"
Twinkling green eyes looked up at her. "Only if I can do the hair on your chest."
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A tall dark haired woman paced in her hotel room, the glare that drilled into the three men before her could give them third degree burns. "You're telling me that you couldn't take out two women!" She walked up to the Swede, punched him in his jaw and knocked him out cold. "Kill them both or I will kill you, now get this piece of shit off my floor and finish the job!" When she was alone, she slammed her fist through a wall and screamed like a banshee. "It was my dig Blackraven, my last chance for notoriety and you took it away from me!" She pulled a worn folder from her briefcase and flipped to a newspaper clipping picturing Shiloh at a Tribal awards meeting, in the background was Kody with Rascal and Katy. "And you Dr. Shaughnessy just had to claim 2000 acres and turn it into a wildlife reserve, you probably don't even know about the burial grounds on your land." Pulling pictures from her briefcase, she laid them out and gazed at them with an intensity that was close to being hypnotic. "It will all be mine and then I'll be bigger than either one of you!"
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The four of them sat at a table in a tent eating what looked nothing like anything safe for human consumption. Shiloh stabbed something orange with her fork and waved it in front of Rascal. "Any idea what this is?"
"Nope, I'm still trying to figure out what the grey jello stuff is; maybe we should ship it off to the lab for typing or something." Kody looking a pale shade of green, and pushed her tray to the side.
A wicked gleam came to Shiloh's eyes. "How about if we steal a truck and go into town and get some real food, like at maybe the hotel?" Three trays were shoved to the center of the table and chairs slid back with enough force to scratch the wooden floor that they were sitting on. "Whose truck are we stealing?" Kody asked and then all eyes turned to Shiloh.
"If I remember correctly, Dr. Jarvis dissed me the last time I was here, his truck will do nicely."
Kody placed her hand on Shiloh's upper arm and leaned close to her ear. "What about keys to his truck?" Shiloh pulled a pocketknife out and grinned.
"Got them right here, still game for real food?"
"Hell, I'll cut the wires myself for a cold bag of greasy French fries." She pointed to Rascal and Katy. "You two are on lookout, anyone comes near you go into convulsions or something."
Shiloh gave them all a cocked eyebrow and stopped at twinkling green eyes. "How come I get the feeling that you all are not as pure as the driven snow?"
"We'll have you know that we are held in high regards by the Reservation police force." Kody took her larger hand and dragged her to where all the trucks were parked. "Which one," She looked at all the vehicles before Shiloh pointed to a Ford Explorer. "Please tell me that he got that here and didn't have the college pay for shipping."
"OK I won't tell you that now come on before we get caught."
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The three men looked around the area where the igloo tents were before looking into each to find the one that Shiloh and Kody shared. "What are we doing in here?" The Swede asked while watching out of the flap.
"We're gonna make sure that they're all nice and cozy tonight." The scrawny man from California said as he cut the propane line on the small gas tank used for the cook stove. Throwing a sweatshirt over the tank, he hid a small electronic device near the doorway and nodded his head that they were done and to head out.
The Russian rifled through Shiloh's backpack and the Swede looked through Kody's possessions. "Blackraven won't need this any longer." He showed them a large Bowie knife in a beaded leather sheath with fringe hanging from the edge. "What about all the foot prints?" He pointed to the snow at the front of the tent.
"Forget about it, do you think women are gonna notice, now lets get out of here before I freeze to death." The Swede and Russian looked at the other man in disgust; they didn't like him and wished that they had never gotten involved with the whole mess. The only thing that pushed them on was the money; they would be very rich men in their own countries when the job was done, if they survived.
The Californian smiled when the picture of an exploding tent and blood curdling screams came to mind, it would be one of many fires he had set in his lifetime.
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Shiloh ran a hand across her lips to hide her grin; she eyed the front of Kody's parka and chuckled. "I can't believe you did that Dr. Shaughnessy."
"Hey we paid for the all you can eat buffet and I plan on eating this later." She patted her protruding jacket and winked. "I might even share with you."
Rascal wrapped an arm around her sister's neck and pulled her sideways. "Little Kodiak is gonna share with all of us or I'm gonna let everyone know about a certain drunken thing she did."
"I was not drunk, I was stoned and it was you two that are the reason I ended up doing what I did and running through the reservation naked." Shiloh stopped and looked at the three of them with curiosity.
"How are they at fault, did they fill your peace pipe with something other than corn silk?"
"I wish, those two dummy's brought "fresh mushrooms" for the spaghetti sauce."
Katy gave Shiloh a huge grin. "We found them out on the manure pile, best damn spaghetti we've ever had."
"Ohh shit, you used peyote buttons?" She started laughing and shook her head. "Naked through the reservation huh, care to share my srooms for a journey?"
"Get lost Chief of the perverted, my clothes only come off for special occasions."
Rascal ran up ahead of them and yelled. "Yeah, reindeer mating season!"
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"Out or I smack the Hell outta you!"
"Come on Kody," Shiloh stood outside of the shower room shivering. "Let me in, you don't have anything that I haven't seen before."
Kody yanked the door closed, locked it and yelled through at Shiloh. "Yes I do and you are not gonna see it!"
Shiloh leaned back against the side of the small building and sighed. "Ohh the Chief struck out." Katy leaned beside her with her shower bag in her arms.
"I don't get it, she'll run through the reservation naked but she won't let me in the showers with her."
"Don't take it personal, she lives alone and she still locks the bathroom door, the woman is just plain strange." Katy turned and leaned sideways against the building. "Kody has serious issues?intimacy issues," She closed her eyes and mumbled. "I should just keep my yap shut."
"Come on Katy, this is important to my working relationship with her, I don't want to do something that's going to hurt her or cause her to mistrust me. I need to know so that I can protect her."
"Don't touch her in any way that can be construed as sexual and run the other direction when she changes clothes."
Shiloh's brows drew down over her straight nose; she shook her head quickly and pinched the bridge of her nose. "She flashed me this morning, kissed my forehead and dressed in front of me."
"She had a sports bra on, she's kissed me and she just pulled her clothes on over her long johns, big difference. Let's go in your tent and talk, my tits are about to freeze off."
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Kody stuffed her dirty clothes in her bag and then stood before the small mirror looking at her naked body. Sadness filled her green eyes at what she saw; she was nothing special and was told so countless times. Now Rascal was someone to run around half-dressed and be noticed, her body hard and muscular from hours in the gym and from digs. "Face it Kodiak, you're a scrawny thing." Moving over to one of the showerheads of the open showers, she turned it on and let the luke warm water flow over her head and wash away her tears.
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Shiloh sniffed the air and looked to Katy and Rascal. "You guys smell propane?"
Rascal stepped further into the tent and started searching through the boxes of provisions. "Where's the cook stove hidden?"
"It should be over where Katy is; at least it was until Kody moved stuff around."
Katy pulled the sweatshirt off the stove and coughed when the gas rose up at her. "Gods, what did she do knock it loose?" Shiloh and Rascal stepped closer and looked down at the tank with teary eyes.
"That hose looks like its cut," Rascal picked up the tank and showed them. "By a sharp knife, let's get out of here and let it air out." Shiloh looked around the tent and noticed her backpack tipped on its side, she grabbed it and followed. "Well go to the food tent and wait awhile for it to air out." They made it to the other tent when Shiloh thought of Kody; she stopped and turned towards the door.
"I'm gonna go tell Kody to stay away from our tent until its safe, be back in a minute." Going back towards where their tents were, she saw Kody step into the tent, she yelled and took off at a sprint and was thrown backwards by the force of the explosion.
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"Why didn't you blow it while the other three were in there?" The Swede whispered from where they were hiding near the tunnel.
"Because Frank, It'll be more fun this way that's why." He shoved the remote into his pocket and walked away from the two men. Frank turned to the Russian Mikhail and snarled.
"I hate that man; we should kill him and take care of this quickly."
"And how do you plan on doing this and getting away with it?"
"Easy, you have Blackraven's knife, we use it on that imbecile and she gets blamed. She'll be out of the picture and we'll be richer men."
"We'll do it tonight after he goes to sleep."
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Rascal, Katy and other people came running with the sound of the explosion; Shiloh jumped up and ran towards the flame-engulfed tent. She screamed Kody's name, pulled her hood over her head and dove through the doorway.
"Ohh my Gods!" Rascal screamed and ran towards the tent with Katy following; others came running with extinguishers and started spraying the flames. "SHILOH, KODY!" She screamed and was held back from entering by Katy tackling her.
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Shiloh covered her face and felt with one hand for Kody, she found her hand and gripped it with faltering strength. Throwing her weight backwards, she fell through the back of the tent and rolled in the snow to smolder the flames on her clothes. Throwing snow on the smaller woman, she was able to put out the flames. Looking down at the badly burned face, she screamed out her pain and collapsed into the snow sobbing. Strong hands dragged her back from the tent and struggled with her, it took a punch to her jaw to be able to get her into a safe area.
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Kody sprinted from the shower and saw their tent in flames; she ran to where Katy was struggling with her sister and engulfed them in a hug. "Stop Mika!" She yelled in her sister's ear. "What happened and where's Shiloh?"
"Oohh Gods Kody?she thought you were?" Rascal said in between sobs. "She's?" Kody stood up and looked at the leaping flames.
"NOOO!" She ran around the back of the tent and came to a sliding stop when she saw Shiloh sobbing in the snow before a burned body. "Shiloh?" She walked closer, laid a hand on a quivering shoulder, and felt the melted fabric and heat still radiating from it. Grabbing her under her arm, she tried to move her farther away from the flames but found it harder than expected with Shiloh fighting her to get back over to the burned body. "IC^I'KTE SOOLEAWAA!" She fought with Shiloh's larger and stronger body and came to the only decision; she pulled back her fist and hit her square on the jaw. She tried to keep them from crumpling into the snow but failed and fell on top of her. She dropped her head down on Shiloh's chest and panted from her efforts, raising her head; she looked at the soot-covered face with tracks from tears and the slight swelling beginning to show along a strong jaw line.
"Kody are you two all right?" Katy dropped down beside them and brushed frozen hair back from Kody's face. "I'm OK but I don't know about Shiloh," She rolled off her and got to her knees. "I punched her." She looked over her shoulder at the lifeless form. "Who did she pull from the tent?" A small group of people came over including Dr. Jarvis; he looked down at the burned body and signaled to one of the college students.
"Get something to cover her up, and call the authorities." He came towards where the three woman where hovering over an unconscious Shiloh. "What happened that caused the explosion?" Katy explained what they had found right before they headed to the food tent; she cast a quick glance to Kody and saw the tears filling her eyes. "I want you four to go to the hotel tonight and not come back until this is straightened out, I've lost a student because of you four and I'll not lose any one else." He stomped away yelling orders to the other scientists and students before casting one last glance back at them.
Rascal growled and flipped him off. "Son of a bitchin asshole that could have been all four of us in there!" Kody cupped snow in her hand and wiped Shiloh's face with it, blue eyes blinked open and a low moan came from her lips.
"Hey Chief time to wake up."
"Kody?I thought?" She wrapped her arms around her and pulled her to her chest. "I saw you go in?"
"It wasn't me; it was one of the students." She felt the sobs racking her friend's body and pulled her head to her shoulder. "Let's get out of here Chief before we freeze to death."
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When they got to the hotel, there was only one room left with two twin beds, not being choosy, they took it and would figure out what to do later. Rascal left them at the door and went to the nearest store to get clothes for Shiloh and Kody along with first aide items. She had no idea what would happen once the local law enforcement talked with them but she knew that who ever caused the explosion was still around and would find out that they failed. Rushing through the store, she made it back in time for Shiloh to come out of the shower; she saw the red angry flesh on her hands and one side of her face. She handed the bag of clothes to Kody and took the first aide kit over to the nightstand. "Let me take a look at those burns, I got some stuff that will make them feel better." She sat down beside a silent Shiloh and looked into her haunted blue eyes. Katy took Kody's hand and pulled her towards the door.
"Come on let's go down stairs and see about getting some food."
Kody stood stock-still and looked to Shiloh. "You go ahead I'll?"
"Go on sis, I'll take care of her." Rascal said in a low voice and nodded to her wife, when they were alone, she placed a hand on Shiloh's leg. "What you did tonight was the bravest thing I've ever seen, I was wrong about you and what I said the other day."
"She could have been killed and it's my fault, I shouldn't have brought you guys here, I should have come here on my own."
She rolled her eyes at her. "Yeah like we would have listened to you, let me take care of your burns and you can tell me why you risked your life."
Shiloh was the color of a tomato after telling her story of earth mother and her search for her deer, she narrowed her eyes when Rascal chuckled. "You asked and now you're laughing at me?"
"When we did the spaghetti thing that time and went off on our warped little journeys, Katy was trying to climb trees looking for raccoons, I was throwing dirt in the air thinking it was fairy dust and Kody was chasing anything with wings."
Shiloh flinched when Rascal taped gauze around her hand. "Fairy dust, why fairy dust?" She couldn't picture a buff Rascal having anything to do with fairies.
"Katy's middle name is Chapi (Fairy), I was trying to catch her with?fairy dust." She blushed and gave Shiloh a toothy grin. "She knocked the Hell outta me when I threw dirt all over her, and then I stepped on a branch, it broke my nose and gave me a raccoon mask."
"She never thought of your name meaning raccoon?"
"What can I say, the srooms made us a little loopy. Anyway, Kody instead of a raven caught this little bat and brought it home with her?in her hair. That was the reason she was running naked through the reservation, she found a whole bunch of them and they were clinging to her clothes." Rascal made scissor movements with her hands. "That was fun until the next morning?she looked like the?"
"Dutch paint boy," Kody and Katy carried in trays of food. "A beautician she is not," She sat a tray down beside Shiloh, cupped her face in one hand and examined the redness of her burns. "It doesn't look too bad, why did you go into the burning tent?"
"Katy do you hear the shower calling us?" Rascal grabbed her wife's hand and pulled her towards the bathroom. Shiloh looked into dark green eyes and asked.
"What would you have done?" Kody grinned and shrugged her shoulders.
"The same thing, I almost did but for some reason I ran around to the back. Sorry for punching you." She ran her fingertips across the bruise and swelling on Shiloh's jaw line. "Does it hurt?"
Shiloh shook her head and missed the warmth of Kody's fingers when she removed them. "I've become a big klutz in the past couple days, falling in a hole, playing with fire and getting popped in the jaw. Ya know you're the first one to knock me out with one punch."
"Does that put me in a special category or anything?"
Shiloh chuckled and gripped her hand gently in hers. "Yeah, the one that's labeled people to not piss off, what kinda food did you guys get?"
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Two hours later, a very prunny Katy and Rascal emerged from the bathroom to find Shiloh and Kody sound asleep in the twin bed. Rascal moved to her sister and started undressing her of her dirty clothes and Katy removed the trays from where they rested on Shiloh's stomach.
"Only my sister would wear long johns with mighty mouse on them." Rascal pulled the damp long johns off and tossed them on the pile of dirty clothes.
"Are you going to leave her in her underwear?" Katy whispered and held up clean clothes.
"Yep, she can put clean ones on after her morning shower."
"What about her issues?you know how she is?"
Rascal pulled the blanket over them and smiled. "She's just gonna have to get over them, Shiloh's not going anywhere. Plus, Shiloh's not the one whose gonna have to make the first move. And just maybe this will help her."
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Frank and Mikhail looked from each other and back to Dr. Tends, for the first time in either of their lives they were frightened. Her eyes glowed with something they couldn't put a name to and when she walked over to the large window and turned, they knew their end was near.
"So they still live and only you two are left?" She moved to stand in front of her desk and dropped her hands on the edge. "That makes it easier for what I have to do." She pulled two silenced pistols from her desk drawer, shot both men and then went to stand over their bodies. "Let's see, drug deal gone bad." She pulled a bag of coke from her pocket, dropped it by Frank and placed a pistol in each of their hands. "Now to do what I should have done in the beginning and not left it to men."
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Kody woke to the feeling that she was being watched, she blinked open her eyes and found Rascal looking at her from the other bed. "What?" She grumbled, closed her eyes and snuggled back down into the comfortable warmth beneath her. Her eyes popped open at the sound of a strong heartbeat beneath her ear and the softness of a breast beneath her hand.
"Comfy little Kody, nice and warm and silky smooth to the touch?"
"Shut up Mika before you wake her up." She whispered.
"Wake who up little Kody?" Shiloh whispered and ran her fingers through messy blonde hair to scratch the back of her neck softly. Kody lifted her head, looked into wide-awake dark blue eyes, and blushed.
"You?I thought you were still asleep."
"Nope, been awake for a while now," She ran her fingers lightly down Kody's back and saw her shiver. "Are you comfortable?" Her answer was Kody looking down to see herself dressed only in her underwear, scrambling from the bed, grabbing her clothes and rushing into the bathroom. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "Did I just fuck up?"
"I have no idea," Rascal whispered and then growled when a pissed off Kody came from the bathroom and went out the door slamming it on her way out. "Answer your question Chief?"
"What did I do besides ask her a question?"
Katy leaned over Rascal, yawned and gave it a shot. "I think she's embarrassed, she got caught in a compromising position so to speak."
"Damn it to Hell!" Shiloh rolled from the bed, shed her robe and grabbed up the clean clothes from the small table. Rascal and Katy took in her muscular form and saw two long scars running horizontally above her firm breasts before she pulled her shirt on. "This has to end now before I go nuts." She pulled her heavy boots on, went to the door, stopped and looked back at them before leaving. Rascal looked to her wife with worried eyes.
"What did she mean?"
"I have no idea but I don't think it's gonna be pretty."
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Kody ran down the hallway and came to a hard stop up against the chest of a Russian police officer; he grabbed her arm and pushed her face first into the wall. "You have saved us a trip to your room, where is Dr. Blackraven?"
Kody forced her face away from the wall and tried to look at the officer. "You've found me now could you ease up and tell me what this is about?" She winced when he pulled her arms up awkwardly and snapped handcuffs onto her wrists. "Hey what the Hell are you doing?"
"You are under arrest as an accessory to the murder of Thomas Benedict."
"Who the Hell is he, I don't know him and I definitely didn't murder anyone."
"Hey let her go." Shiloh yelled from down the hall and found herself grabbed from behind and slammed into the wall. "What in the Hell, someone better tell me what's going on here and now would be good!" She yelled and dropped to the floor when a rifle butt struck her in her lower back.
"Take them in and place them in a holding cell, I will be there shortly." The lead officer turned and left the hotel. Rascal and Katy moved back around the corner and waited until the coast was clear.
"I think Jarvis set them up, we have to find out what's going on without ending up sharing a cell with them."
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Kody paced the small dark and damp cell until Shiloh was thrown through the door to land face first at her feet. "That really hurt," She tried to get to her knees and failed. "I know you're pissed at me right now Kody but could you get these ties off my wrists?"
"Well, I kinda like you with your hands bound, that way they can't touch me and make me think that you mean it." She went over to the concrete slab and sat down. Shiloh rolled to her side so she could see Kody.
"What are you talking about, I haven't touched you."
"Yes you have, this morning and it's not gonna work on me."
Shiloh rolled over onto her back and sat up with her back to Kody, she was getting pissed from being accused of nothing. "You need your head examined; you're the one who was playing with my tit!"
"You took my clothes off last night!"
Shiloh's temper raged, her muscles rippled across her shoulders down through her arms to straining wrists, the bite of pain in her wrists was ignored and then the snap of plastic shocked Kody. She backed up against the wall and prayed that she would become part of the bricks. Shiloh got to her feet, shook the blood from her cut wrists and advanced with panther like movements towards Kody.
"Listen here Kodiak, I did not take your clothes off and I promised your sister and Katy that I wouldn't touch you, so what ever your issues are they do not involve me!"
"You promised them to not touch me?what did they tell you?"
"Nothing, they were worried that I was just going to use you and warned me off and now I know that they have no idea how nuts you really are!" She placed both hands on either side of Kody's shoulders and leaned in close enough that they were sharing the same air. "One minute you're acting comfortable with me and the next I'm some kind of rapist! What is your problem, is it me?" Her voice softened at the end and warmness filled her eyes. I like you a lot Kody and I need to understand."
Tears filled Kody's eyes, she tried to look away from glacial blue but found it impossible. "It's everyone OK; I'm a poster child for everything mental!" Shiloh dropped to her knees and placed her hands on either side of Kody's thighs.
"What did she do to you?"
Kody hugged herself tightly and shook her head. "Nothing that concerns you, just leave me alone." She whispered and ignored the tears falling down her cheeks.
Shiloh closed her eyes and dropped her aching head forward to rest on Kody's knee, deep in her chest, her heart was hurting and her soul was shredding. Never had she thought that she could feel another's pain as acutely as she did Kody's. "Please Kody, maybe I can help."
"How, lie to me and tell me that I'm everything you've ever wanted, that I'm a flawless beauty! Get real; women who look like you don't want plain women like me. You probably have a woman in Hot Springs just waiting for the great Chief of the Algonquin to come home to her."
Shiloh knew what the problem was, she never thought that Kody's issues came from thinking she was inadequate. "I have no one waiting for me," She raised her head to capture tear-swollen eyes with her own misty orbs. "I've never been with anyone, my standing with the people came with the death of my dad the Chief, and my mom and brothers in a car accident, I was raised by the wise woman." She pulled her shirt over her head and pulled the front of her sports bra down to reveal the long scars. "Do you know what these are from?"
With a hesitant finger, Kody traced one of the long scars and looked deeply into Shiloh's eyes. "You did the sun dance?only men do that."
"I did it to gain the honor of our people and to seek answers from the spirits; it was a small doe with emerald green eyes that I saw then and it's the same thing I see in all my dreams." Kody traced the other scar and shivered with the pain Shiloh had felt when she hung tethered from the cotton tree during the ceremony. She knew that it took hours for the flesh to tear free and that many saw visions and or the Great Spirit. "I have waited for you Takchawee."
"I don't think so," She shook her head and placed her hands under her arms. "I'm damaged goods, loads of luggage, neurotic?" She felt her world tip sideways when her head was pulled forwards and her lips were met by Shiloh's, every nerve ending in her body misfired and brought a deep moan from her chest when a soft tongue slipped into her mouth to gently search every recess. Her hands came free to tangle in long hair and pull Shiloh closer. When the kiss ended, they stared deeply into each other's eyes. "Let me in Takchawee?please."
"Why should I Sooleawa, I've been kissed before, lied to and heard the same proclamations."
"You are a hard headed woman! Do you realize that we may never get out of prison, I'm on my knees here," She threw her head back and growled. "When we get out of here, you do the sun dance with me."
"You just said we might not get out of here."
Eyes the color of glaciers drilled into her with determination. "I'll dig through the damn wall with my bare hands if I have to just to show you what I know and feel." She stood up, turned her back on Kody and pulled her shirt over her head. Kody rose from the bench and grabbed the back of her shirt.
"Why's your lower back all bruised?" She went to pull the shirt up and flinched from the feline like growl.
"Another mark for my troubles, I should have gone to the police and let them handle this bullshit." She planted her hands on her hips and let her head fall forward. "Yeah like I can pull stars down from the heavens," She turned and took Kody's smaller hands in hers and traced the rough calluses on her palms. "I haven't lied to you Kody and I'll do anything to prove that to you."
"Dr. Blackraven is this yours?" She turned as an officer interrupted them and held up her Bowie knife inside a plastic bag; Shiloh stepped closer and eyed the bloodstained knife.
"What ever I had with me was burned when our tent exploded, so no, it's not mine." She knew that it was her knife but was not going to admit to it.
He pointed to the bone handle and showed her the initials SSB engraved on a silver plate. "These are your initials are they not?"
"I don't have a patented on them, they could be anyone's." Kody could see the rage building in Shiloh; she stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"She didn't kill anyone; we were together all day yesterday."
He pulled out another bag with a gold pocket watch in it. "We know this Dr. Shaughnessy; you were there with her and left your watch behind at the crime scene."
Dark green eyes flashed at the officer, Kody stepped closer to the bars and snarled. "That was in my belongings in our tent that exploded; shouldn't you be looking for the person or people who caused that?"
"We have investigators working on it, but you could have set it up yourself."
"Brasneive let them out," An older man said from behind them. "They have concrete alibis for there where abouts, the other two murders have been connected to both the explosion and first murder." They could see that the man was American but had no idea who he was or how he got involved. Brasneive turned to the Sandy haired man and shook his head.
"I have not been informed of their release, until then, they stay."
"OK then," He handed him a paper and grinned. "And maybe you can explain how their passports were discovered on the black-market, if they had committed a crime; I can't see them trying to get out of the country to avoid prosecution without them." Brasneive folded the paper, stuffed it in his pocket and pulled the keys to the cell.
"If I find out differently, I will have them brought back in." He opened the door and waited for Shiloh and Kody to exit the cell.
The sandy haired man offered his hand to both women. "I'm Ambassador Hamilton, let me get you two back to Khatanga, your family is waiting for us."
Kody stepped up beside him and eyed his fancy suit and wavy hair. "Did my sister get in contact with you?"
"Yes she did along with Katherine; now let's get a move on before Brasneive gets a wild hair up his ass." Shiloh snickered and walked behind watching the sway of Kody's hips with hungry eyes, an amused smile came to her face when she then noticed that Kody had to take two steps for everyone of the ambassadors.
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Rascal paced back and forth in front of the tunnel with Katy trying to get a snow tan, occasionally, Katy would hit her in the back of the head with a snowball and snicker. "Will you stop all ready geez; you've paced a trail through the ice right down to the dirt."
"I can't help it, this feels like one of those awful movies where everyone goes to jail or gets whacked."
Katy rolled her eyes. "Ohh yippee yeee haaa, just what we need on top of those two fighting." Rascal came to drop down beside her wife and placed her hand on her thigh.
"Do you think Shiloh can help Kody?" Katy looked over the top of her sunglasses and remarked.
"Ohh I think we may need to help Shiloh, take a look at your sister's expression."
Rascal's mouth dropped open from shock; she had never seen her sister checking out anyone like she was doing with Shiloh. She swore Shiloh's Levis were about to bust in flames. "I heard jail does that?"
"Rascal, they were in jail for three hours, I don't think that had anything to do with it, besides Kody's always been a little dyke." She got up from her chair and pulled her wife up with her. "I'll grab Kody, you grab the Chief and we'll compare notes later."
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Rascal grabbed Shiloh's arm, propelled her in the opposite direction of Kody and didn't stop until they were in one of the empty lodges. She checked both directions before closing the door. "What are you pulling Rascal?"
"Shhhsss?little Kody might hear you."
Shiloh rolled her eyes and dropped down onto a small stool. "You're all nuts and she hates me."
"Ohhh we saw how she was trying to make your clothes burst into flames."
"More like disintegrate my whole body, she hates me more now than she did this morning." She rubbed her face and ran her fingers through her tangled hair. "I thought I kissed pretty good, she on the other hand was not impressed."
Rascal's golden eyes widened, she shook her head and then dropped her thick dark eyebrows down over her nose. "You kissed Kody, what was it a grandma kiss or something?"
"Yeah I lost control and If I kissed a grandma like that I'm sure I'd get knocked into the next year or be sharing a lodge with someone covered in muscle rub and toothless from chewing on hides."
Shiloh related what had happened in jail and then asked how she and Katy were able to get them out of jail so quickly.
"Ohhh Gods, no wonder why she was looking at you like that, she thinks you're nuts!" She wrapped an arm around Shiloh's shoulder and winked. "Anyway, it was Katy's idea, I had a jail break all planned but got caught stealing reindeer to use to pull the wall down." She grinned and polished her short dirty nails on her pant leg. "Would have worked to if that little kid hadn't narked on me, little shit didn't like the pack of Camels or bottle of Bud I gave him."
"Ran out of blue magic markers huh, maybe a tattoo across his forehead or chest would have worked better, ya know, give him the complete sailor look?"
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"What are you doing Kody," Katy asked close to her sister in-laws ear. "This morning you slammed out of the room, went to jail and then ended up checking out the Chiefs ass. Did you two make up?"
"I was not checking out her ass, I was?she drives me nuts and she's insane, worse than me!" She threw her hands in the air and pointed a finger to where she had seen Rascal drag Shiloh. "She thinks that we are meant to be 'together,' she saw me in a vision during the sun dance. She wants me to do the sun dance with her so I can see for myself."
"Now you and I both know that you believe in the spirits and stuff, what I want to know is how do you feel about the Chief and don't try to lie?"
Kody leaned back against the wall of a lodge and mumbled. "Doesn't matter what I feel for her, the second my clothes come off she'll be out the door."
"For Gods sakes Kody, don't throw Shiloh into the same grouping as that crazy bitch. She's different as night and day, she went into an inferno to save you." Katy grabbed Kody's jacket in both hands and shook her gently. "That crazy bitch only wanted your paper and when she got what she wanted, she played dirty and threw low blows."
Tears slid down Kody's cheeks, she closed her eyes, buried her face in Katy's shoulder and sobbed. "You have no idea Katy?she saw me?naked once?from then on?we had sex?fully clothed."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know she did that to you, take my word for it, there is not one single thing wrong with you." She pulled back to look into tear filled eyes. "I've seen you in your underwear and I wouldn't lie to you. Give Shiloh a chance; you might be surprised at what you see in her eyes. I saw how she was when she found out you were OK and not killed in the explosion."
She wiped her face and sighed. "I've looked into her eyes and it scares me. What am I supposed to do strip and see if she runs away screaming, I suck at stuff like this, I've had one relationship and Shiloh says she's a virgin."
Katy's face broke out into a huge toothy smile and her eyes twinkled brightly. "Now that's surprising, I wonder why that is?"
Kody blushed and looked to the ground. "If it's true it's because of me, but damn can she kiss." She ran her fingers across her lips and chuckled at the look on Katy's face. "She's amazing!"
"That's it, we gotta find out who wants you guys dead so we can go home." She took Kody's hand and dragged her towards the food tent. "We have a sun dance to do."
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Dr. Tends stood back and watched Kody and Katy go into the large tent, she knew that the other two had to be around somewhere. Her only problem was killing them, now she had four instead of just two. Moving quickly into the tunnel, she searched for Jarvis, he hated the man but he was her only chance of getting the four of them back to South Dakota. She had more freedom in the states to do what needed to be done, and better resources. She went to the very back of the tunnel past the scientists doing their work and found Jarvis sitting at a wooden table going over test results. "I want you to send Blackraven and her friends back to the states."
Jarvis looked up and moaned. "What no hi how are you, lick my boots, and kiss my ass?"
Her eyes darkened further and a snarl came from her. "Go to Hell Jarvis, send them back or I'll let the world of science know that you steal your students work and claim it as your own." His eyes grew wide at what she said; sweat broke out across his forehead and upper lip.
"I'll get rid of then tonight when the supply truck goes to the airport." He sighed with relief when she nodded and walked away. "I hate that woman with a passion." He mumbled and got up from the table to do her bidding.
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The four women cast glares out of the back of the supply truck, Jarvis had them escorted to the truck and practically thrown into the back. Shiloh looked to Kody and caught her looking away from her at the last moment. Katy and Rascal watched them peek at each other all the way to the airport; they held back their chuckles but whispered into each other's ears. "Come on guys it could be worse," Rascal snorted. "We could have had to sleep in one of those nasty lodges tonight, instead we getta stay in a nice comfy hotel tonight."
"Yeah well what about the one who wants us dead?" Kody asked and shot a look to Shiloh. "Any ideas ohh great Chief?"
"Yep, a nice hot shower, good food and a nice big soft bed." She wiggled her brows and added. "And maybe a few hours of XXX movies, wanna join me?"
"And why would I want to watch XXX movies with you?"
"Just thought that after the stressful day we've had ya might wanna have a good laugh?" She shrugged her shoulders and looked to the other two shocked faces. "What, I think they're hilarious, no plot and all the," She threw her head back and closed her eyes. 'Ohhh Gods yes! Ohhh right there baby?harder?ohhh yes, yes YESSS!" Opening her eyes, she looked over to a wide-eyed blushing Kody. "What do you get out of them if not a good laugh?"
Katy coughed, rubbed the drool from her chin and looked to Kody. "What you said earlier today, I'd bet my life on it that it's true."
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Katy stepped up to the desk in the small hotel in Seattle Washington and looked over her shoulder at Kody with a grin. "I need two and a half rooms for tonight." The clerk looked at her in udder confusion.
"Ma'am did you say two and a half?"
"Ya the blond is pint sized, she doesn't need a full room." Katy held back her snicker when Kody kicked her in the calf and growled. The clerk grinned and ran a finger down the monitor screen.
"I have two rooms left, one double, and one twin."
"We'll take them." She signed the receipt and handed Shiloh the door card for one of the rooms. "What time is check out and do you have room service?"
After getting the information, they went towards the stairs with a grumbling Kody throwing murderous glares at Katy.
Shiloh placed a hand on her shoulder and led her down the hall. "Come on Indy, I'll make sure no little kids attack you." Kody pulled her fedora off and smacked Shiloh over the head and shoulders with it while chanting.
"I am not pint sized!"
Shiloh covered her head and laughed. "I didn't say it, hit Katy."
"But you told her so I'm hitting you!" Shiloh stopped before their door and tried without success to slide the card through the locking mechanism.
"For Christ sakes Indy, give me a break here." She hunched her shoulders and fended off Kody.
"Which arm do you want broke?" She crawled on Shiloh's back, wrapped her legs around her waist and covered her eyes with one hand while still hitting her over the head with her hat.
"Neither and unless you stop, we're going to sleep in the hallway." Kody pulled the card from her fingers and slid it through the lock. With her shifting weight on Shiloh's back, they fell against the door and through when Kody turned the handle. With floundering steps, Shiloh hit the edge of one of the small beds and fell only to roll off onto the floor between them. "I swear before this is over I'll be in a body cast." She let her head hit the floor with a thump and gasped when Kody jumped on her stomach before getting up.
"Or in concrete shoes with your luck, I'll be in a straight jacket bouncing off a rubber wall." She got up and looked around the small room. "Why do I have to share a room with you anyway?" Shiloh got up, scurried over to the bathroom before replying.
"I could call downstairs, order a crib for you and have it put in your sister's room." When Kody spun around, Shiloh slammed the bathroom door laughing hysterically. Kody looked between the bathroom door and one of the beds with an evil grin, when she heard the shower start; she went to work on her plan and then left the room.
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Shiloh leaned forward and placed her forehead against the shower wall to let the hot water run down across her aching shoulders and back, the last week had been Hell on her body. Turning the water to a hotter setting, she let out a low groan and shivered from the heat. She was thankful that Hotels had huge water heaters because she planned on staying under the relaxing spray for as long as she could. Soaping up her hair from the small shampoo bottle, she rinsed and then struggled with the micro bar of soap. After rinsing off, she was about to turn off the water when ice came flying over the shower curtain to rain down on her head.
"HOLY GOD DAMN SHIT! DAMN YOU KODY!" She threw the shower curtain back and found herself alone in the bathroom. "Ohhh just you wait?I will get you back." She pulled on one of the robes from the back of the door and went stomping out into the room. "Ohh now there's only once place you could be hiding." Going to the door, she flung it open and went down the hall to Rascal and Katy's room, pounding on the door brought curses from inside. She flinched when the door was yanked open and a naked Rascal growled at her. "Sorry Rascal, but is Kody with you guys?"
"Naa uhh, she's supposed to be with you." Shiloh slapped her forehead and groaned.
"Ohh that rotten pint sized little creep," Her head shot up and turned towards her room. "She wouldn't lock me out would she?" She heard Katy bust out laughing from inside and could only groan at her stupidity. She ran down the hallway and tried the door handle to find it locked. "Come on Kody let me in." Losing her temper, she pounded on the door and kicked it.
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Kody waited until Shiloh left the room and then crawled out from under the bed, she ran to the door and locked it with a huge toothy grin on her face. "Take that Chiefy, teach you to call me little or make short jokes." She went into the bathroom, locked the door and took a quick shower. When she came out, she heard Shiloh pounding on the door and pleading to be let in. Stepping closer to hear her better, she covered her mouth to keep from laughing.
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"Come on Kody, please let me in, I'm freezing out here." She dropped to her knees and rested her forehead against the door. "I'll do anything you want just let me in." With the sound of whispering coming from behind her, she turned her head to see a couple who just had to be honeymooners watching her. "Uhhmm?hi," She pounded on the door some more while still smiling at the couple. "I kinda locked myself out?my ahhh?"
"Ohh we understand," The man said with a chuckle. "Honeymoon jitters will get you every time."
Dark brows drew down over her nose; she shook her head at them and stuttered. "That's not it at all?she?my?KODY!" The door opened dumping Shiloh into the room at Kody's bare feet; the couple looked between the two of them and smirked.
Kody cocked an eyebrow at a blushing Shiloh, grabbed the front of her robe and pulled her to her feet. "And just where have you been, out flashing innocent people again while I'm waiting in bed for you?" Slapping Shiloh on her ass, she waved at the couple. "Sorry, she's a pervert and loves to flash people." She closed the door, grinned at Shiloh before going over to her bed and crawling under the covers.
"I can not believe you did that." She cocked her left eyebrow, planted her hands on her hips and looked down her nose at a yawning Kody. "That was just pure evil; first the ice and now that couple thinks I'm a pervert." She went over to the other bed, pulled down the covers and tried to slip under. A low whimper escaped her lips when she couldn't get into bed; she threw the covers back and growled. "You short sheeted my bed?" She grabbed her pillow and beat Kody over the head with it a few times before fixing the sheet. "I hope when you count sheep tonight, they step on your head afterward."
"Is that before or after you have carnal knowledge of them?" She grinned at the shocked look on Shiloh's face. "Night Chief of the perverted." She turned the light off leaving a fuming Shiloh in the dark.
"I have never?" She became even more flustered and nothing but gibberish flowed from her mouth.
"Riiight and all that moaning and groaning you do in your sleep is what?"
"Shut up Kody and go to sleep." Shiloh pulled her pillow over her head to drown out Kody's snickers.
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Shiloh took the tray from room service and placed it on the small table before going over to wake Kody; she sat down on the edge of the bed and took in the pale flesh exposed from Kody moving around in her sleep. Her insides warmed and she was unable to stop her hand from caressing the smooth flesh of a muscular thigh and hip. At the sound of a low moan, she jerked her hand away and pulled the blanket up over Kody.
"Rise and shine Indy, I have breakfast." She chuckled softly when small hands pulled the blankets over a tousled head and a low grumble came from underneath. "Ohh good, more waffles for me but I'll warn ya, I love waffles with strawberry preserves." She went back to the table, lifted the lid off the tray and gave out a deep rumbling moan. "Ohh and there's fresh whipped cream to go with." She was pushed away from the tray by small hands on her hips and watched all the waffles being taken over to a rumpled bed. "Hey what are you doing?"
"If you want some you better get over here." Kody handed her a plate and put one waffle on the plate keeping the other seven for herself.
"Come on Indy, this ain't fair." Amused green eyes turned to her with a wisp of a smile on her face.
"Yeah it is, I need all of this to grow taller." She looked to her plate then at a pouting Shiloh with puppy dog eyes and gave in. "I didn't think that look could be done with blue eyes."
"I have many looks to give, that's only one of them."
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After their flight to South Dakota and winning the fight over where they would stay, Shiloh steered the rented Explorer up her driveway and smiled at the gasps coming from her passengers. She knew her house wasn't much and that it was the large pond with the ducks that had their attention. She parked close to the side of her house, climbed out and waited for the others. "My house isn't that big but there's enough room for all of us, I have a guest room and a comfortable couch."
Kody gave her sister the evil eye. "Fine, I'll take the couch," She went around the front of the truck grumbling under her breath. "Should have flown home in my own plane." When Shiloh opened, she let Kody go in first. Kody walked in and stopped dead in her tracks. "Hey Chief I think you really need a house keeper." She stepped aside and flinched at the sound of a low yell coming from Shiloh. The living room was a complete disaster, books, CD's, what used to be pillows and other objects lay scattered across the hardwood floor. The couch was flipped over and long jagged cuts marred the tan leather, sticking out of the couch was a Spanish saber with a note stuck through the pommel. Kody grabbed Shiloh's hand keeping her from touching the note.
"Don' touch that, where's your phone, we have to call the police."
Shiloh looked around the mess and cussed. "I have no idea, there's another one in the kitchen." Rascal gripped her sister's shoulder and headed towards where she thought the kitchen would be. "This is just fucking great, I go away for a week and my house is destroyed!" Katy gave her a brief hug and followed Rascal. "Chicken shit asshole won't face me but will tear up my house." She ran a hand across her face and stepped over broken items on her way to her bedroom. Kody didn't know what to do, she didn't want to invade Shiloh's privacy but thought better of it when she heard her yelling from her bedroom. She stopped in the doorway when she heard squishing under her feet. "They killed my waterbed and ripped up my clothes!"
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With the help of her friends, Shiloh had her house somewhat in order after the police had come and gone. Many of her possessions were destroyed and some were impossible to replace, she grieved their loss but felt lucky to still have some precious treasures. Once she sat cross-legged on the floor leaning back against her destroyed couch, Kody sat quietly with her eyes closed and soft breaths escaping slightly parted lips. An ache so deep that she knew it came from her soul tugged her to caress those lips with her own. Instead, she took a deep breath and left the house to go to her sweat lodge. Ducking through the small doorway, she shed her clothes for a deerskin breechcloth, lit sage and cedar and the hickory wood in the fire pit. When the fire was blazing, she placed rocks in it to heat. Placing an old brass bowl in front of her, she used tongs to remove the stones and then sprayed them with a mixture of sandalwood and water. Steam rolled up and surrounded her in a heated haze, she took deep breaths and chanted low under her breath.
"En na hay?en na hay." With each word, she felt her body sinking deeper into a trance until she felt her soul leave her body and sweat lodge. Looking around her, she felt the tall grass brush against her shins and the sun upon her face. Her hearing was acute as well as her eye sight, the soft breeze blew her long hair back to brush across strong shoulders. Off in the distance, she could see a doe grazing on the tall grass, it lifted its head and looked to her with light green eyes. Moving slowly forward, she felt her body changing until the sleekness of her muscles bunged under silver fur. Trotting towards the doe, she stopped before her and whined, licking the tan muzzle, she rubbed her head against a long leg. In this world, there were no enemies only the joining of souls. She closed her blue eyes and sat obediently only to move her head when fingers ran through her hair. Light green eyes so full of love looked down upon her and made her soul soar. Pale blonde hair dropped across a smooth forehead and pink lips smiled at her.
"Come Sooleawa before you have to return." Small hands pulled her to her feet and they walked off into the forest hand in hand. Never before had they changed into human form, what came to her thoughts was, she hadn't found the right woman, until Kody.
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Kody felt a hand come down on her shoulder; she looked up with blurry eyes into her sisters' amused golden orbs. "What time is it?" She asked while stretching her arms over her head.
"Time we found something to eat, we were thinking of running into town and getting take out or something." She looked around the room for Shiloh and groaned when she got to her feet.
"Where's the Chief at?"
"Last I saw, she was going out the back door, she looked kinda in pain?emotional pain." Rascal shrugged her shoulders and patted Kody on the shoulder. "Maybe you should go talk to her, its gotta be hard to have your home invaded and almost completely destroyed."
"Ohh like I'm good with doing sensitive talking, I am no where near the social butterfly."
"Well do what you do best, insult her." She chuckled at the rolling of green eyes and went in search of her wife.
"Ohh yeee haaa, this should be loads of fun and I'll have you know that I don't insult her. I terrorize her, big difference." She grumbled before going out the back door.
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With head tilted back and hands lying limply on her muscular thighs, Shiloh's skin shone in the fire light as sweat trailed down across her naked flesh. A low whisper came from her slightly moving lips in the ancient language of the Sioux. In the other world, the scent of pine, the softness of the needles beneath her bare feet and the warmth of her companions hand in hers calmed her soul. She gazed deeply into green eyes, smiled and knew for the first time that her world was complete.
"Sooleawa, it's time that you went back. You have your answer now." Before her eyes, Kody changed and became mother earth. "Now go and be happy for a change." She felt her soul pulled back to her body at a rapid speed, she hated the hard jerk when she woke from a trance. It reminded her of the falling dreams she sometimes had.
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Kody saw the smoke coming from the sweat lodge; she edged her way towards the small door and stopped. She didn't know whether or not to go in or wait for Shiloh to come out. Throwing her hands in the air, she squatted down, went through the hide door and froze. Her breath caught in her throat; her pulse tripled at the sight before her and made her sink to her knees. She had never before seen a more breath-taking woman until this moment. The steam made Shiloh's skin glisten and Kody's fingers ache to trace the path of the droplets that ran down her body. She inched her way closer and jumped when Shiloh jerked and expelled a rush of air from her lungs. In a move that seemed in slow motion, she fell backward and lay gasping for air. Kody scrambled to her side and lifted her up to rest in her lap; she ran her fingers through wet bangs and whispered close to her ear.
"Come on Chief time to open those baby blues." She was getting scared when she felt how hot Shiloh's skin felt and that she had stopped sweating. "You've been in here too long Chief." She spotted the spray bottle, grabbed it and started spraying Shiloh down with it. "Am I going to have to baby sit you so you stay out of trouble?"
"Only if you spank me when I'm bad."
Kody rolled her eyes and smacked Shiloh on her shoulder. "What were you trying to do, drop from heat exhaustion?"
She sat up, rubbed her face of moisture, and grinned over her shoulder at Kody. "I was having too much fun where I was, besides, I like the heat. It makes my aches and pains go away."
"Well, since it's hotter than Hades in here you should have no pain, Rascal and Katy should be back with chow so let's go before they eat it all." She stood up and handed Shiloh her clothes. "Dress first or they'll live out their fantasy about you."
"What's your fantasy?"
Kody felt a blush work its way her neck and color her face. "Like I would tell you Chief pervert." Shiloh grinned at her, no words were needed, Kody's expression spoke volumes.
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Kody fell back on the floor rubbing her stomach and groaning, they had killed off twelve pounds of BBQ ribs, potato salad and fresh rolls. Kody knew that she had eaten a good portion of it herself and was now paying for it. She rolled her head to the side and saw that Shiloh was doing the same; a light chuckle came from her when she saw the BBQ sauce smeared over Shiloh's chin. She rolled to her side, took the napkin from Shiloh's hand and wiped at her chin. When pale blue eyes caught and held hers, she felt her insides quiver and her hand tingle when long fingers wrapped around hers.
"Never can eat ribs without wearing the sauce, thanks." She starred deeply into Kody's eyes and thought she saw a flicker of a deeper emotion held there. "About sleeping arrangements tonight, I have some air mattresses we can use, put them here by the fire place."
"Well, I guess that's our queue," Katy said before collecting the paper plates and putting the rest of the trash in a large plastic bag. "See you guys in the morning?Rascal move it." She toed her wife in her leg when she saw that she was just sitting there wiggling her brows at the other two.
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When Shiloh came back into the living room after changing her clothes, Kody gave her a strange look. "Your shirts on backwards."
"Yep, good reason for it." She turned to show the big hole in the middle of the shirt. "Who ever it was ruined my favorite shirt." She dropped to her knees and arranged the quilt over her air mattress before stretching out to look at Kody's profile against the flickering flames of the fire. The fire light brought out the fine gold strands of her hair and danced in her eyes, Shiloh had never been so captivated in her life. She felt herself going up onto one elbow and leaning closer.
Before she could stop herself, she spoke her heart. "Niye manu mitawa niya toki, mitawa hopa." She closed her eyes and dropped her head in embarrassment. "Sorry Kody." She rolled over placing her back to the stunned blonde. Kody ran the statement through her mind and smiled.
"You steal my breath away, you're beautiful." She had been told similar things many times before by others but never believed it, this time she felt it clear to her soul. A tear trailed down her pink cheek to drip off her jaw, moving to her friend's side, she placed a gentle kiss to her cheek. "Thank you." She said in a soft voice before going back over to her own air mattress. She closed her eyes and felt her tears flow down her temples, she had felt the walls she had built up around her heart start to fall right after meeting the tall Chief but now, they crumbled and fell away. Sleep came quickly for her, she felt her body become light and then she was walking in a large meadow. The scent of wild flowers and pine needles came to her; the sun shone down on her face and warmed her. Slowly walking over to a tall bunch of black-eyed Susans, she put her hand out to a monarch butterfly. The large orange and black butterfly walked across the top of her hand and then took flight to circle above her head and then fly off. She envied the freedom and careless existence and wished it for herself. Dropping down to sit in the fragrant surroundings, she saw the tall grasses bending towards her. Squinting, her breath caught when a large wolf appeared before her. Its silver fur glistened in the sunlight, the black guard hairs of its cape shone blue as it dropped to its stomach. Her heart stopped from fright, she stiffened as it approached slowly towards her. A high whine came from the large wolf and then it rolled over onto its back offering its stomach. With slowness, she reached out and ran her fingers through the silky fur. A smile came to her lips when the wolf placed its large head in her lap and licked her arm.
"You're a beautiful animal, such gentleness in your quiet strength." She looked down into the pale blue eyes and felt a strong connection; she caressed its furry ears and watched it close its eyes. Lying back, she continued to run her fingers through the silky hair until she fell asleep in her dream and woke in the early morning of the real world. A heaviness was on her stomach and her fingers were tangled in silky dark hair, she looked down with blurry eyes to see pale blue watching her. "Nitawa hopa mitawa to ista sumanitu taka."
Shiloh gave her a sleepy smile and rolled from the most comfortable place she had ever been. "Blue eyed wolf huh," She grinned and dropped her eyes to where Kody's hand was resting on her arm. "You hungry, I think I have some potatoes and onions in the cellar and eggs in the refrigerator." Kody gave her arm a slight squeeze and nodded her head.
"Sounds good, you get the stuff in the cellar and I'll start the eggs." They both felt the shift in their relationship, smiling shyly at each other; they went about getting breakfast ready.
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Rascal and Katy came shuffling into the kitchen and stopped to watch Shiloh and Kody standing close together at the stove, they knew that something had changed between the two of them over night. Rascal grinned at her wife, snuck up behind her sister, and sniffed at her neck causing Kody to jump and almost put her hand in the hot skillet.
"Nope, they didn't do anything." She said to Katy before taking a seat at the table. "Don't know what they're waiting for, took us a whole two hours before we got naked."
Kody slapped her sister in the back of her head and turned back to the stove to hide the blush that covered her face and neck. "I'm surprised it took that long since you wore your clothes with the Velcro fasteners on them." She felt her face get hotter when Shiloh looked down at her and grinned.
"You got any of those clothes?" She wiggled her dark brows at her. "Could be kinda fun to see if we could get them to stick to stuff, like the couch, floor, flannel sheets?" She snorted when Kody bumped hips with her.
"No I don't and besides, you'll never get the chance to see me naked if you don't behave." She looked up into wide unbelieving blue eyes, filled four plates with food and put them on the table. "Now lets eat so that we can get to the store before it gets crowded, we have a lot of stuff to get today and get over to the site."
Shiloh chewed and swallowed before asking about going back to the site. "Because, we were sent out of the mammoth site on the supply truck after someone tried to kill us, frame us for murder and now your house is wrecked. It has something to do with the site here and something that we've done, what better place to look then right here at home?" She pushed her plate away, crossed her arms on the table and looked to Shiloh who was sitting beside her. "Any ideas of who you pissed off in ohh say?the last ten years?"
Shiloh rolled her eyes at her. "Do you have the next month free so I can give you the list? I don't know anyone that I haven't pissed off around here or on other continents." She placed her plate on top of Kody's and then took them over to the sink. "What about you, who have you pissed off besides who ever it is that sent me nasty grams?"
"No idea, I thought I made a lot of people happy when I turned my land into a wildlife preserve. Then again I'm sure that there were some people that were pissed off, there's an ancient burial ground on my property that I won't let anyone near."
Rascal nodded her head and then her eyes shot wide. "What about that one bone collector that tried to get it stopped because of a value to science?" She looked to Katy and snapped her fingers. "What was her name?shit, I can't remember." Katy ran a hand over her eyes and held it there for a moment.
"Wasn't it Dr. Bends?Tends or something like that, I knew she went as far as trying to get a court order and pulling the college in on it."
Kody slapped a hand down on the table and nodded her head. "That's her, Dr. Tends; she was pissed as Hell when it went through. She wanted to excavate the burial grounds and take everything back to her lab, she didn't give a damn that it's on reservation land and is covered under the treaty and other laws."
"How stupid could she be, the whole nation would have pounced on her and I would have been the first one to do it?with both feet!" Shiloh said as she collected the rest of the dishes and started washing them. "Where is she now, anyone know?" Kody got up, grabbed a towel and started drying the dishes.
"Last I heard she was in Texas doing something with the Alamo, I'm sure the Texans are just thrilled to death about having her there causing trouble."
"Guess we'll do some investigating on her where abouts," She looked to everyone and dropped her eyes to the floor. "I had some problems with her a few years ago at a dig, I was working a dig up in Alaska and we found some pottery fragments and then a frozen humanoid. I called the college and they sent out Dr. Tends and her associates, as soon as she got there, she tried to take over my site. Needless to say, she lost and left in a fiery blaze so to speak. I thought for sure that I was going to burst into flames from the glare she gave me."
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After everyone had showered and changed back into their dirty clothes, they headed for the nearest mall to replace their clothes and some of the necessary items for Shiloh's house. Shiloh moaned and groaned the entire way to the mall, she hated shopping and if given a choice between shopping and having the hair plucked from her legs with pliers, she would gladly present her legs. She whimpered and dragged her feet behind an amused Kody and tried to run off at the last moment before they got through the doors. A hand grabbing the back of her waistband brought her up short and she was dragged backwards through the door.
"Please Indy, I don't wanna shop, I hate shopping so I'll sit out in the truck and wait for you guys." She tried to run off again and felt a handcuff snap over her wrist. "What are you doing Indy," She held up her wrist and then quickly hid it from passerby's. "This is insane and?completely kinky!"
"Either you behave or I'll tell everyone that you're on release from jail to get tampons and to ignore your outbursts because of PMS."
"They could think it was you on release, after all I am bigger and I don't think you could handle me if I ran."
"Don't fool yourself Chief, I can handle you just fine, now move it or I'll find the nearest microphone." Shiloh growled at Katy and Rascal for laughing at her predicament as she was dragged literally into the Gap store. She blushed when one of the employees approached them asking if they needed help and Kody raised their hands and waved the young woman off.
"What kind do you want Chief and you better not say 'I don't care." She looked up into wandering eyes and gave up; she spun Shiloh around and looked at the label on the waistband of her dirty Levis. "What do you do, pay someone to do your shopping?" She pulled her towards the section where the Levis in her size were kept, pulled five pairs off the shelf and handed them to her.
"I run in, grab what I need and run out or I order what I need off the Internet." Before she could say another word, a pair of jet-black Levis was added to her arms along with a couple button down shirts. "Kody, I don't need all of these, a couple pairs of Levis and a shirt or two is all I need." She groaned when more clothes were added and she was taken to another section. Before she fell over from the weight of the clothes in her arms, they were up at the register and Kody was pulling out her charge card. "I'll pay for them Kody, just let me get my wallet out."
"Ohh this shopping spree is going on the college budget, my little way of pissing them off and causing more hate and discontent." She signed the receipt and took two of the five bags before pulling Shiloh from the store with Katy and Rascal snickering behind. After two more stores, Shiloh was released from the cuffs and sat on a bench with a tired and frustrated Rascal while Katy and Kody continued to shop. They looked to each other, shook their heads and sighed. Shiloh mumbled and grinned at a smirking Rascal. "Women, they'll be the death of us one way or another."
"So ya wanna nail my sister or what?"
Shiloh choked on the Pepsi she was drinking and gasped at the burning sensation going through her nose. "Gods you're so subtle Rascal," She wiped her nose and mouth before she connected with Rascal's questioning look. "I like her a lot...," She dropped her head and looked at her feet. "I think I'm in love with her but the decision is not all mine ya know, besides, there's so much going on right now that I'm stressed to my limit. Not to mention that I think she would rather beat the Hell outta me than kiss me."
"Well, from what I heard, you floored her with one kiss so I don't think you have anything to worry about in that area. Now all we gotta do is find out who wants you guys dead and the path is clear."
"What happened with you warning me off and all?"
"I changed my mind, I kinda like her cuffing you and dragging you around. It shows that I'm not the only one that can be whipped." She gave Shiloh a toothy grin and then whimpered when she saw their masters coming back with more bags. "Think we can die from carrying too many shopping bags?"
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Shiloh and Rascal collapsed on the couch and whimpered when fingers were pointed at them. "Ohh no you two don't, we have more stuff out in the truck to bring in and the furniture store said that they would be here in," Kody looked at her watch. "45 minutes, so that means we have to get the waterbed mattress out of the frame."
Rascal looked to Shiloh and whispered only loud enough for her to hear. "Got any quick acting poison we can take, I'd rather go to the hospital and have my stomach pumped than be bossed around by my sister."
Shiloh got up from the couch and pulled Rascal after her. "Be thankful she hasn't found my bullwhip?" They flinched at the sound of said whip cracking in the bedroom. "How fast can you run?"
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Sitting on the floor in front of the bathtub, a garden hose in her mouth, Shiloh sucked as hard as she could but still no water came through. Trying again, she sucked until she got dizzy and her eyes felt like they were about to pop out. Dropping the hose, she crawled with stars floating in front of her eyes to her bedroom. Falling onto her stomach, she waited for her vision to clear and felt like screaming. Kody sat on the beds frame with the hose kinked between her hands.
"So Chief, ya ain't no good with blow jobs huh?" She let out a loud laugh at her expression and fell off the bed when Shiloh grabbed her foot and pulled.
"Give me something real ta suck on and I'll show you how good I am." Crawling on top of her, she bit down on Kody's neck and sucked hard enough that she let out a deep moan. Small fingers tangled in her hair and pulled her tighter against the warm flesh.
"Hey aren't you two supposed to be draining the mattress and not each other's blood?" Rascal stepped into the room and smacked Shiloh on her ass. "The furniture guys have all the stuff out there, where do ya want it?" Shiloh released Kody's neck and rolled off onto the floor.
"I was trying to drain the bed but someone was kinking the hose on me," She patted a blushing Kody's stomach and rolled to her feet. "We'll put what ever the two shopping maniacs bought in the living room for now." She ran a hand down her face and moaned from the wetness that was between her legs. Since meeting Kody, her body had been doing all sorts of new things to her. "Then I'll go throw myself in a big snowdrift." She said to herself in a low tone, blushed when she realized that Kody was behind her, and heard what she said. She jumped and flattened against the wall when Kody ran a hand up the inside of her thigh.
"Touchy touchy big Chief." She winked at her and swaggered down the hallway to the living room. "Not if I beat you there first." Ignoring the fact that she was extremely wet, her pulse racing and hormones screaming for mercy, Kody started ordering everyone around. She gave them all smirks when they had to keep moving the new furniture to a different place until she was satisfied. Rascal and Katy dropped onto the old couch and looked at an exhausted Shiloh.
"Whose house is this now and why do we have to listen to Indy over there?" Katy asked and shot Kody a glare.
"Because you guys have no sense in decorating and I do, so now the only thing left is the mattress."
"It would have been done if someone hadn't been being mean to me."
"You had your fun Chief so stop complaining and let's get to sucking." She stopped thought about what she had just said and groaned. "That's not what I meant, I mean you have to get?let's go!" She grabbed a grinning Shiloh by her hand and pulled her towards the bedroom. Two hours later, they had the old mattress outside and the new box spring and mattress fitted into the old frame. Shiloh had decided that she just wanted a regular bed so that she would never have to worry about water flooding her house again. That was after it took them hours of using the shop vacuum to clean the water off the floor. She fell back on the bed and moaned when every muscle in her body screamed and then relaxed.
"Oh no you don't, we have to get the sheets on the bed first and you need a shower."
"Are you saying I stink?" She rolled onto her side and watched Kody pull the new flannel sheets she had washed out of the laundry basket. "I could say the same thing about you ya know."
"You could but you won't because then I won't cook and you'll starve." She threw the pillowcases at her and grinned. "Getting hopping there Chief, suppers calling."
"Can I hop anywhere I want?" She wiggled an eyebrow at her and then rolled off the bed before Kody could smack her. "OK, I'll get the bed made."
"Getting awful sure of yourself that I'd let you do any hopping on me." She said before she walked out of the room with a wink of an eye and a raised eyebrow. She knew damn well that's exactly what she wanted but didn't want to seem so needy. She still didn't think Shiloh was a virgin, she was just too good at flirting and raising her blood pressure. Then again, she did watch XXX movies and probably absorbed everything.
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Dr. Tends paced in front of her desk, a scowl covered her face as she thought of her efforts to destroy Shiloh's house. During her time of tearing the place apart, she expected to find the files on the mammoth site among others. She found nothing, not one single piece of paper on any of the sights that she had worked. She was hoping to get something that she could use to discredit the other professor and take the credit for herself. The only other place she could look would be her office at the museum, which would be hard because of all the people wandering around the area. A thought came to her and brought an evil grin to her face, she could always go there after the place closed for the evening. She would only have the security guard to avoid for the walk down the hall and then she would be safe inside Shiloh's office. Going to her closet, she pulled out a black trench coat and a leather sap. "I'll get you one way or another Blackraven and when I do, I'll have your office and all the recognition that should have been mine to begin with!" She slammed out of her office and made her way to the buildings exit.
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The table was cleared of all the dishes and Shiloh and Kody were washing and drying them from their meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans. Kody didn't think she would ever be able to get the grin off her face, Shiloh had thrown so many compliments to her during the meal that she was lucky to get her head through the doorway. She glanced up at her and felt her heart pound frantically in her chest, Shiloh's profile showed her classic beauty perfectly. Her straight nose, perfect dark brows and the tip of her tongue sticking out the corner of her pink lips. Dropping the towel she used to dry the dishes on the counter, she took Shiloh's upper arm and brought her other hand up to the side of her face. Turning her face to her, she pulled her head down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. A low rumbling moan came from one of them but neither cared as the kiss deepened and tongues dueled. Shiloh was pushed back against the wall and moaned into Kody's mouth when warm hands worked their way up under her T-shirt to caress the smooth plan of her stomach. Her legs weakened when her breasts were cupped and thumbs teased her nipples. Sinking to the floor, she felt Kody pull away and gaze hungrily down into her eyes.
"Do you want me to stop?" She ran her thumbs over taut nipples, watched Shiloh close her eyes, and then whimpered when she gently pinched them between her fingers.
"If you do, I'll yell for your sister." She moaned when Kody straddled her hips, pushed her back onto the floor and nipped at her neck. Her pulse raced and she felt herself grow wetter with Kody's attentions. Running her hands down her back, she gripped her tight rear and pulled her tighter to her hips. By instinct alone, she thrust her hips upward and gasped at the feeling of them grinding together. Kody pushed up her shirt and kissed the tops of her breasts before teasing each nipple with her tongue. Pulling one between her lips, she sucked and gently nipped with her teeth; Shiloh arched her back and thrust harder against her.
"Holy God damn shit!" Rascal yelled, ran from the kitchen and yelled for her wife to bring a calendar. Katy walked past her, ducked her head into the kitchen and saw what had set Rascal on a search.
"Boy, I like your idea of dessert." She snickered and left them scampering to get off the floor. "Hey Rascal, better mark that calendar with great big red letters, ain't everyday your sister gets laid on the kitchen floor!"
"Shut up Katy." Kody growled as she pulled a flustered Shiloh with her towards the bedroom. "And stay away from the bedroom door."
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Kody closed the door behind them, she turned and yelped when Shiloh picked her up and carried her to the bed. She laid her down, crawled on top of her and ripped her T-shirt down the middle. "You have no idea what you do to me." She growled and dropped her head to kiss her hungrily until they needed to break for air. She kissed her way down to Kody's pulse point, nipped the skin and sucked until Kody squirmed on the bed. When she brought her head up, she saw the dark purple mark left behind and gave Kody a lopsided grin. "Mine." Was all she said before capturing her lips once again, they dueled and sucked each other's tongues while undressing each other in a frenzy. Deep moans rumbled through the room when flesh pressed down in to flesh, pulses raced and hands explored until Shiloh moved downward to hardened nipples. Taking one into her mouth, she suckled while rolling the other between her fingertips. The noises that Kody was making along with her blunt fingernails digging into her back made her center twitch.
Kody whimpered and thrust upward to press against Shiloh's hard stomach, she felt her juices flow from her center and wash the warm flesh against her. Never had she been so aroused or wanted someone as much a she wanted Shiloh. Tangling her fingers into long dark hair, she held Shiloh's head to her breast and ground against her stomach. She knew that she was loosing control fast and would drop over the edge. She whimpered when her lover released her nipple, went up onto her hands and kissed her gently. "I love you Kody." She whispered before kissing her way down her body until she stopped before short blonde curls. Taking a deep breath of her lovers scent, she kissed the soft tender flesh on the insides of her thighs before kissing each nether lip. Kody dug her fingers into her hair, pulled her up against her center and spoke unintelligibly. "Uuhhh?Shi?ohh?please!"
Her first taste of her lover's juices sent a flood of her own arousment from her center to soak into the sheets below her. Running her tongue between swollen lips, she stopped to flick the tip of Kody's clit and was rewarded by her scream and juices flowing across her tongue and chin. Pushing her tongue deeply into her center, she felt her muscles convulse around her tongue and pull. Plunging in and out, she rubbed her lovers swollen clit with her thumb and felt her legs tightened around her head and then scream out her name with another climax. Placing a gentle kiss on her dripping curls, she climbed up her body and held her close as tremors rippled through her body.
"Ohh sweet mother?I've never," Kody panted and wrapped her arms around her lover tighter. "That's never happened before," She leaned back and looked into dark blue eyes. "I love you Chief." She took her lips in a gentle kiss that grew more heated; she rolled over on top of Shiloh and continued to kiss her until they needed air. She leaned up onto one hand and ran her fingers across her sweat-dampened cheek. "You're so beautiful and I want you so much." She whispered against her lips before kissing her deeply.
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"Holy God damn but she's loud," Rascal said and covered her ears again. "There's no way Shiloh's a virgin if she made my tight ass sister scream like that."
Katy rolled over on the bed and pulled her wife's hands from her ears. "Rascal, the woman watches XXX movies and thinks they're funny. She probably has the damn things down pat, so that means?"
"Oohh they're like an instructional film for her, damn and I've been watching educational stuff and I'm still dumb." She rolled over on top of Katy and nuzzled her breasts. "Let's see if I can make you scream that loud."
"You're far from dumb and I can't think of a time you haven't made me scream." They flinched when they heard a loud yell that came close to shaking the rafters.
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Shiloh's back was arched off the bed; one leg was over her lover's back as her tongue plunged into her center. She felt liquid heat coarse through her body and erupt in a tidal wave between her legs. Her head fell back and her hands clenched the covers in a white knuckled grip when her first climax tore through her. She screamed out Kody's name and shuddered with each ripple that ran through her body. Before her body could calm, Kody ran a finger between her lips to collect the juices flowing from her. "Look at me baby," Kody whispered and brought her wet fingers up to her mouth to lick clean. "You taste so good, I want more."
"Take all you want, I'm yours." Kody placed one last kiss upon dark curls before crawling up to straddle a muscular thigh.
"Together Sooleawa, we do this together." She brought their lips together for a lingering kiss and rolled them to their sides, their hands traveled gently across flesh to take them higher towards the pinnacle. Kody ground her center against Shiloh's thigh and moaned deeply. She looked into dark blue eyes and ran her hand down between her legs to cup her sex. Dipping a finger between her lips, she checked her lover's eyes for permission.
"Please Kody; I want to feel you inside me." She brought her leg up onto Kody's hip and pressed her hand tighter against her.
Kody's eyes became teary; she leaned closer to her lover and gently kissed her. Slowly moving her finger's, she slipped one into Shiloh's center and felt her tight muscles flex around her. With slow movements, she took her higher and when she cried out her release, she entered her all the way. With gentle movements, she moved inside of her while riding her thigh. Soon they were moving against each other and cresting in shared volcanic like climaxes. They lay in each other's arms panting and waiting for their bodies to calm. Shiloh tucked her face against Kody's neck, breathed deeply of their combined scents and drifted off to sleep with words of love mumbled against her damp skin.
"I love you too Shiloh, more than you can imagine." She wrapped her arms tighter around her and joined her minutes later in sleep.
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Blue eyes took in the warm soft skin of her lover's hip and thigh; she ran her fingertips down the silky flesh and watched as Kody brought it up higher onto her thigh. For someone who had issues about her body, Shiloh was at a loss as to why. She certainly didn't show any issues the night before with their love making. Shiloh grinned as a flash of what they had done came to her. The XXX movies she watched had nothing on Kody; she also knew that she would be walking stiffly for the next week. Stretching out her legs, she whimpered when Kody pressed her thigh closer to her pulsing center. "I'm gonna die?ohh sweet mama...," Her back arched off the bed when small fingers replaced a muscular thigh. "Gods?Kody." Her fingers dug into the mattress when a warm mouth nuzzled her dark curls and took her over the edge. Panting, she looked with half lidded eyes down into dark green orbs.
"Mornin' Chief," She crawled up Shiloh's body until she was able to go nose to nose with her. "I'm hungry, how about you?"
Catching her breath, Shiloh replied with a deep growl. "Can wait, better things ta do." She rolled Kody onto her back and had her screaming loud enough to make Rascal and Katy fall out of their bed.
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"Are they trying to kill us or themselves?" Rascal asked from where they lay in a heap on the floor in tangled covers. "I didn't sleep but maybe five minutes the whole night." She pressed her face against Katy's breasts and whimpered.
"That makes two of us; I never knew Kody was a nympho."
"She's gonna be a dead nympho if she keeps that up," She cringed when another yell reverberated through the house. "Let's go hide in the kitchen, the smell of food will bring her out of the bedroom and give us some time for our nerve endings to calm down."
Katy got up from the floor, pulled Rascal with her and looked into bloodshot golden eyes. "Do we really wanna give her food; it'll give her more energy." She pulled Rascal with her out into the hall; they paused for a second and then took off running towards the kitchen when they heard a yell getting louder.
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"Ohhh Gods Kody, right there?harder!" Shiloh groaned, bit down into the pillow beneath her face and yelled when fingers dug into the cramped muscle in the back of her thigh. It hurt so bad that all she could do was laugh and squirm on the bed; never had she ever had a charley horse like this before. At the most inopportune time at that. Kody finished working the cramp out of her leg and ran her hands up the thick muscles in the backs of her lover's thighs. It seemed to her that in one night, all her walls collapsed and disappeared. What further amused her was the fact that she was sitting astride her lover, completely naked and it didn't bother her like it had in the past. A wicked gleam came to her dark green eyes, she leaned forward and bit a muscular cheek until Shiloh screamed and fell off the bed.
"You bit me, why'd you do that?" She asked while rubbing the area.
Kody wiggled her brows at her and grinned. "It was right there in front of me and I just couldn't help myself." She crawled off the bed and sauntered into the bathroom. "I smell bacon cooking!"
"Hope you're willing to bring me some food, I can't walk." She fell back on the floor and closed her eyes. "I think I need a doctor, maybe some morphine and a vitamin shot." She looked up when she felt a cold foot run up her shin.
"If you don't get off the floor, you'll be in need of a casket." Kody stood between her wide spread legs and gazed with lusty eyes at dark wet curls. "Come on Chief, I'm about to pass out from lack of food." She held out a hand and helped her lover off the floor.
Dressed in just large T-shirts, they went into the kitchen to see two-exhausted women falling asleep over their breakfast. Kody snickered, dropped into a chair across from her sister and watched her head fall closer to her scrambled eggs. Just before her face was about to drop onto her plate, Kody kicked her under the table. "Come on Rascal, breakfast can't be that boring." She grabbed her sister's plate and was ready to start eating when a fork stabbed close to her hand. "Knew that would wake you up." She laughed at the horrified expression on her lover's face. "She always misses, but I don't." She snagged a piece of bacon off her plate and popped it into her mouth.
"Go ta Hell Kody," Katy mumbled and shot her a narrow eyed look. "Kept us up all night with your nymphomania," She looked to a blushing Shiloh and pointed a finger at her. "You broke my sister in-law, she used to be a nun ya know."
"A naughty nun most likely, I thought I knew everything from watching dirty movies." She limped over to the cabinet and pulled down two coffee mugs. "Shows how naive I am," She looked over her shoulder when she heard chuckling. "What's so funny?"
"That big ol' bit on your ass, I shoulda warned ya that she's a biter." Rascal snorted out between her chuckles. "I can only imagine where else she got ya."
"That's easy ta answer, everywhere."
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The office was pitch black except for the thin beam of a penlight that scanned across a neat desk and then to three large filing cabinets. The penlight went out and a small desk light replaced it when Dr. Tends turned it on. Her tall dark form blended in to the shadows when she went over to the filing cabinets. She pulled on each drawer and swore when she found them all locked. Pulling a small crowbar from a cargo pocket, she pried open the first drawer. Rifling through the files, she became disgusted when she didn't find what she was looking for. Going on to the other drawers, she gave up and started throwing them to the floor. Her next place to tear apart were the ceiling high bookshelves, each book was rifled through and thrown to the floor. When she had finished, Shiloh's office resembled her house. With one exception, Tends beat every surface with the crowbar. Skulls, pottery, artifacts and other objects took the brunt of her temper. The files she wanted had to be somewhere but she had run out of places to search. With CD's stuffed in her pocket, she left the office, she hoped that the information she wanted would be on them. If not, she would get the information she wanted by grabbing Shiloh.
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Shiloh led her rag tag band of miscreants down the hallway to her office, she always got the feeling that she was inside a tomb when she was at work. Being down in the basement of the museum had to be the worst place to work, she loved being outdoors and having to be underground made her claustrophobic. Taking a deep breath, she stuck her key in the lock and growled. "It's not locked, I always lock my office." She pushed the door open and howled at the top of her lungs. "Son of a mother fucking bitch!" She pushed papers out of the way her with foot and stepped all the way into her office. "We have to find this asshole before I don't have anything left!"
Rascal stepped inside and retreated. "I'm going to get security; someone's gonna loose their job over this bullshit!" She yelled as she jogged back down the hallway.
"Chief, what in the Hell is this person looking for, do you have the map to the Ark or something?" Kody asked as she bent down to pick up a large Encyclopedia on Ancient Greece.
"If I did, I would be living there, at least then I wouldn't have to put up with my stuff being destroyed." She picked up papers and started stacking them on a corner of her abused desk. "What I'm worried about is your cabin, what if who ever has done the same thing there?"
"Not a chance," Katy said as she started helping with the mess. "Grandpa is looking out for her cabin; he would have called if a bird hit a window." Shiloh went over to the bottom drawer of her desk and kicked it.
"They took all my computer CD's! It took me weeks to make those damn things!"
"What was on them, maybe that's what they were looking for?" Kody asked while placing books back on the shelves, she looked over at a grinning Shiloh and became confused. "What are you grinning for?"
"Ohh just that they're gonna be really pissed when they look at them, that's all. Those are loaded with fan fiction, music, pictures and sound bites from movies. If it's my files they were looking for, they won't find them in a likely place. I keep them in a leather pouch out in my sweat lodge."
Kody and Katy Dropped down onto opposite corners of the desk and gave Shiloh raised eyebrows, they knew that Shiloh was unorthodox but never thought she would keep her files in her sweat lodge. "You're right; no one would ever look there."
Katy snorted and then picked up a magazine from the messy desk; she waved it in front of her and then handed it to Kody. "She has a subscription to Playboy are ya surprised?"
"Ya got any here in your office; I missed last month's issue." Rascal ran over and dropped to her knees in front of Shiloh. "Please tell me ya got it, my wife won't let me look at the?articles." She looked over at Katy and stuck out her tongue.
"You don't look at the articles, you drool on the pictures and then they get all nasty and stick together."
"EEWW! That was just too much information, thank you very much for that nasty insight into my sister's perversion." Stepping closer to Shiloh, she grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her down so that their eyes were meeting. "You don't drool on the pages do you?"
"Nope, I actually read the articles. Now if I had a picture of you, then yep, I'd be drooling all over the place." She dropped her head and captured soft lips in a kiss that hinted at what they would be doing later that night.
Rascal rolled her eyes and grabbed the back of her sister's waistband. "Come on you two, no sex at the museum unless it's in one of the scenes upstairs."
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The four of them stood in the security office with one of the guards that were on duty; he pushed a security tape into the VCR and fast-forwarded it until the clock on the bottom hit eleven o'clock. "This should be the right time for who ever it was to get into the lower area, we check all the doors each hour and at 11pm the back door was fine." He hit the play button and the fast-forwarded the tape until they saw a dark form come through the door; he stopped the tape and let them look. "Any idea of who the person is?"
Shiloh leaned closer to the small TV and then hit the play button. "Ohh yeah, I know exactly who she is. That's Dr. Tends, any idea of where she's now working?" She looked at the security guard and waited.
"I can check through the computer, if she has access to this museum, then she'll be in there. You might want to check with the other professors, maybe one of them would know?" He went over to his computer and searched for a while before looking up to them. "There's no record of her at all, sorry." He grabbed his hat and left the office to do his rounds.
Kody wrapped an arm around her lover's waist and leaned into her side. "We can call some of the other private organizations and see if she's working for them."
Shiloh shrugged her shoulders. "Or we can flush her out by running a phony piece in the museum paper, give me the credit for some relic find and say that it's being held under lock and key."
"Hey wait a minute here," Katy stepped forward and crossed her arms over her chest. "How come you get the glory how about put all our names in there and see who she goes after first?"
Kody's eyes blazed and bore into each one of them. "Are you all nuts or something, I don't like the idea of any one of us being used for bait. If it's going to be anyone it's going to be me!" Shiloh placed a hand over her mouth, wrapped her other arm around her and carried her out of the security office.
"What are you doing Kody; I can't let any of you do this." She released her and pulled her around so that they were nose to nose. "I love you and I won't let you do this."
Kody grabbed her by her braid and dragged her down the hallway until they came to an outside door. She opened it and then pulled a cussing Shiloh behind and shoved her up against the wall. "You listen to me Chief, we're in this together and I just happen to have something that she wants besides you. I have the burial ground that could make her famous like she wants and that's what we're gonna use to flush her out."
Shiloh dropped her head in defeat; she knew that Kody was right about the burial grounds. She would think of a way to get Tends without her getting her lover or family. "OK, but we do it my way. I don't want any of you getting in her way, she's killed how many so far and she won't think twice about doing it again." She pulled Kody into her arms and rested her cheek against hers.
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"Come on little Kody do it again!" Rascal yelled and hung onto the straps hanging down from the ceiling of the small plane. When the plane began to roll, she let out a war cry and lifted her feet off the floor. Kody looked over to Shiloh to see a greenish pallor to her sweat-covered skin. She reached out, gripped her thigh, and completed the barrel rolls. "That's it Rascal, no more rolls, we're too close to home and I know that the Chief and Katy can't handle any more."
"Ahhh they're big wimps!" She let go of the straps and took a seat next to her wife. "How about a couple of dives and buzzing grandpa's house?" Katy reached over and grabbed her by her ear. "Never mind Kody, grandpa might kill you for buzzing him."
"Yeah right Rascal, more like Katy will open the hatch and toss us out." She felt her hand taken and a light squeeze to her fingers.
"Thanks Kody, I know I couldn't hold on to my lunch if you did anything else. How soon before we land, I don't feel so good."
"About ten minutes until we get to grandpas, we'll take my truck home, it'll be quicker."
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Shiloh held onto the door and dashboard to keep from being thrown around the inside of the trucks cab, Katy held onto both her and Kody's thighs to keep from being tossed and Rascal was in the bed of the truck hanging onto the roll bar screaming her lungs out. Shiloh looked into the side view mirror and shook her head. "How many times has she been clobbered in her head?"
Katy laughed and leaned into Shiloh. "You should have met her before I hit her with a baseball bat; she was way worse back then."
Kody snorted and elbowed her sister in law. "She didn't hit her with no bat; Rascal slid into home plate and collided with her bat."
"Either way, she's not right in the head." Shiloh said after looking in the mirror and seeing Rascal jumping around in the back of the truck. "Maybe she should be hit a few more times and it'll give her brain a jolt."
Kody pulled up to her cabin, got out and waited for Rascal to hand her their bags. Tossing her keys to Katy, she then grabbed Rascal by her arm and yanked her over the side of the truck and into a snow bank. "Hey that wasn't fair; I didn't even have a chance to?" Was all she got out before Kody stepped on her back on her way to her cabin.
"What are you waiting for Rascal, spring thaw?"
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Shiloh dropped both hers and Kody's bags on the floor by the bed, dropping down on the edge; she fell back and closed her eyes. Her body ached along with the headache pounding behind her eyes, a deep groan rumbled in her chest when she rubbed her temples. A small grin came to her lips when she felt the bed dip and hands run from hip to shoulders. "Can we take a nap for a while?"
Kody kissed the side of her neck and then rested her head on her shoulder. "I think we can get away with a nap, how about if we change clothes first?"
"You just want me out of my clothes so you can take advantage of me." Shiloh rolled them to their sides and started with the buttons of Kody's flannel shirt. "Cuz if it's that way, I get to start first."
Kody looked into her darkened eyes and raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to take a nap and here you're taking my clothes off?"
"The Hell with a nap, we can do that later." She rolled on top of her and took her mouth in a deep burning kiss. Clothes came off in a frenzy and hit the floor; low grunts filled the air, muffled screams and then silence. Katy and Rascal just shook their heads and went back to going over the map of Kody's land. They would map out an area close to where the ancient burial grounds were and then figure out the best way to get Tends to fall for their trap. Before they left the museum, Katy had written up an article and gave it to the professor in charge of the newsletter. She told him the real reason behind article and to thwart any of the others from investigating the site. He was one of the many professors who had a sore spot for Tends and would help anyway he could to put an end to her reign of terror. Katy looked over at her snickering wife with narrowed eyes. "What are you making noise about over there?"
"I have the perfect artifacts to plant, guaranteed to send Tends over the edge." She got up, ran towards where the attic door was, and disappeared. A little while later, she came back down with an old beat up cardboard box with Kody's name scribbled on the side. "This ought ta do it baby!" She placed the box on the floor and pulled it open to show her prizes to her wife. "Well, what do ya think, will it piss her off ta no end?"
Katy picked through the box and busted out laughing. "You are truly an evil woman," She kissed her forehead and nodded her head. "That ought ta do it, let's stash them in our room and turn in for the night."
"But baby, it's only three o'clock in the afternoon."
"Yeah but when I'm done with you it'll be much later than that."
Rascal's eyes grew wide; she grabbed the box with one hand and Katy's hand with the other. "Come on, we don't wanna waste a second!"
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Shiloh wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked down at the area that they had dug up to look like an excavation site. She wished that they had a bobcat to make it go by faster but that was just a wish. She looked over to where Kody and Rascal were stringing white rope with pink flags between stakes that Katy was pounding into the ground. One thing, she was glad that this area was protected from the snow; she didn't even want to think about digging into a few feet of the stuff to hit dirt. Propping her shovel up against the rock wall, she dropped to her haunches, leaned back and looked up at the rock ledge that covered the area where they were working.
"Very interesting ancient Indian paintings ya have here Indy, what's the age on them?"
Green eyes twinkled and a crooked grin came to her face. "Ohhh some of them go back as much as 25 years ago, I especially like the one on the other end from where you're being lazy."
Shiloh stuck her tongue out at her and then crawled to the other side before looking up. A huge white outline of a heart with her and Kody's initials painted in red took up four foot of space. She looked to her smiling lover and shook her head. "You're a mushball Kody, when did you paint it?"
"She didn't," Rascal replied. "Me and Katy did it way before you two got down here. Ya like it, Katy stood on my shoulders ta paint it?"
Shiloh gave them a beaming smile. "Yeah I like it, thanks guys for putting us into history."
When they had finished with their set-up, they started for the trail that would take them to where they had left the truck. As they came through an opening in the trees, Kody looked up at the sky and grinned. "Grandpas here with the lurkers." She held her arm up and waited for Dumbass to drop down from the sky and land.
"Eat shit Koooody!"
"I see grandpas been teaching you more stuff to yell at me, it's no wonder he can't get a date." She looked out into the field and saw her grandpa with her sleigh; she waved a hand and walked towards him. "Are we all set for when the rat comes for the goodies?"
"Yep all ready, I have look outs on all the roads and guys out in the trees waiting for her. When she comes in, they'll call on their radios to let you guys know." He joined them at the truck and gave each woman a hug. "We have snares rigged up all over the place to set off flares if she triggers them and I checked on your trap Chief and it looks good. You can't see it at all and if I hadn't known what to look for it would have gotten me." He squeezed her upper arm and gave her a shake of his head. "You would have been Hell to deal with in Vietnam."
Kody looked up at her lover and raised her eyebrows. "What did you do that I don't know about?"
Shiloh pulled her into her arms and placed a soft kiss on her cold lips. "You'll see if Tends takes off in that direction, its a little pay back for all the trouble she put us through."
"OK, but if not, I wanna see what the great Chief has done. Let's go back to the cabin; I'm starving and half frozen."
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In the early morning hours, Shiloh felt a hand shake her shoulder and whisper in her ear. She rolled over from where she was wrapped around Kody to see grandpa looking down at her. "Tends was spotted going into the trees from off the road about two miles from here, the guys are watching her."
"She took the bait in a whole three days, she must be desperate?" She rubbed her eyes and shook Kody. "Are Rascal and Katy awake yet?"
"I'll go wake them up now, I wanted you to know first." He left the bedroom with a huge grin on his face; at first, he wasn't sure of the relationship between his granddaughter and the Chief. Now he knew that they were more than just friends and felt it in his heart that it was right.
"Come on Indy, we have a thief to catch." She rolled Kody onto her back and nipped her neck. "Rise and shine Kodiak, icy cold weather awaits us."
"I hate snow?cold air and you right now." She mumbled and rolled over to bury her face against her lover's breasts. "Why couldn't she wait until like noon or later?"
"That would have been nice huh, let's get going so that we can come back here and celebrate." She kissed Kody until she squirmed in the bed and then got up to dress.
"If you promise to do that again when we come back, I'll run out there naked and tackle that bitch."
Shiloh looked up at her lover with an amused expression. "You run out of here naked, I'll tackle you and say the Hell with that bitch."
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Dr. Tends pulled a paper from her pocket along with a compass, she had written down the directions from the museum newsletter before she left the night before. It wasn't like she didn't know where the burial sites were but to be on the safe side, she had come prepared. Reaching into her pocket for her gun, she pulled it out and stepped through the trees until she came to a deer trail. Moving slowly, she felt her foot catch on something and then a whooshing sound whizzed past her head. She closed her eyes when the sky right above her head lit up in a bright flash and then died down. "Damn assholes, what are they trying to do blind rabbits?" Being a little dense, she continued onward until she stopped at the first open area, she knew she had to cut across two of them and then head west to a strip of trees before she came to the area that was marked on the map that was in the newsletter. "I can't believe you Shaunessy, putting a damn map of your find in the newsletter. You may have dug up some stuff, but as soon as I get it into my hands, I'll get the credit. I have all sorts of places that it can be found that you don't know about." She jogged across the open area and ducked into the tree line, looking back over her shoulder, she searched for anyone following her.
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"Chief, this is lurker two, I have site of her. She's heading into the next open area."
Shiloh raised the radio to her lips and spoke softly. "Set loose the beast and wait, we're about three minutes into the first field."
"The beast is free Chief."
Kody pulled her lover down to her lips and spoke softly. "What beast is free, you didn't tell me anything about a beast."
Shiloh pointed up ahead of them where a man dressed in white deerskin was standing beside a bush covered in snow. If not for him waving to them, she wouldn't have seen him. "Now look to his left and up the trail, that's the beast."
"You turned my sister loose on Tends?"
Shiloh grinned. "Of course, she's meaner than anything I can think of and is crazy enough to pull the next snare off."
"And what's the next snare?"
"Something totally gross and disgusting, Rascal will love it."
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Rascal took to the trees near the next snare; the guys had rigged ropes to swing from making it easier than jumping to the icy trees. She landed quietly in the tree where the rope she was to cut would set off a nasty surprise. Pulling her bowie knife from its sheath, she waited for Tends to crawl over the tree that had been cut down to block the trail. As soon as she hit the spot notched in the bark, Rascal cut the rope and held back her laughter. A large piece of plastic opened and dropped blood and guts on top of Tends, she screamed and jumped back trying to wipe the gore from her eyes. She looked up but all she saw was bloody plastic and nothing else. "Sick God damn bitch, I'll get you Kodiak!" She flung the gory mess from her body and trudged off towards the area where she knew her prize awaited.
Rascal swung down out of the tree and landed in front of Shiloh and Kody, she grinned and then pointed to the gory snow behind her. "That was great; she looks like she visited a butcher shop!"
"Rascal whose idea was that nasty trap?" Kody asked while looking at the mess.
"Mine, who else would think of something gross and disgusting but me?"
"You're right, no one else would think of that," She turned to her lover and jabbed her in her chest. "Where's Katy and how come I didn't know about all of this?"
"She's up ahead getting ready to let loose the other beasts and I thought it would be better that you didn't know how gross and disgusting we really are." She gave her a quick kiss and answered the radio. "Go ahead Katy."
"She's almost here; get ready for a lot of screaming."
The three women took off at a slow jog to the next area; they saw some of the men along the way and waved for them to go off to their secondary areas. When they hit the next strip of trees, they heard barking, howls and then a loud scream followed by gunshots." Rascal swore and took off as fast as she could through the snow with Kody and Shiloh on her heels. Shiloh grabbed her by the back of her white deerskin jacket and pulled her in the right direction. Dug deep in the side of a snow bank, they found Katy cradling her arm to her chest and swearing under her breath.
"That bitch has a gun, she shot me!" She pulled her hand away to show it covered in blood. "Get that bitch and rip her eyes out for me!" Rascal dropped in front of her and pulled her into her arms. "I'm OK Rascal, go get that bitch!" She kissed her wife softly and smiled. "I'm tougher than ya think baby, now go on and I'll wait for you right here."
"Katy, I can't leave you here." She cried and held her wife tighter.
"Go with Shiloh, I'll stay here with Katy until you guys come back." Kody turned to her lover, kissed her before she pulled Rascal up, and gave her a shove towards Shiloh. "Go get that bitch and string her ass up."
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Tends tried to outrun the dogs that had been set loose on her, she had fired her pistol and heard a yelp but didn't know if the dog had gone down or not. She really didn't know how many were chasing her only that she needed to get to the shed she could see up ahead. Pulling off her jacket as she ran, she dropped it to the snow and ran for the shed. Using the butt of her pistol on the lock, she broke it free and yanked the door open. Once inside, she searched the small area and found a leather backpack sitting on a small bench. Pulling it over her shoulders, she opened the door and saw the dogs shredding her jacket. Slipping out of the door, she ran and jumped over the ropes to the dig site and headed down a trodden trail. "So predictable Shaunessy, leave your findings behind a flimsy lock."
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Shiloh was ahead of Rascal as they ran towards the site; they ran past the dogs and down another trail that would bisect the one that Tends was on. Off to their sides, they saw white moving on white and knew that it was the other guys keeping track of Tends. Shiloh jumped over a downed tree and cut left, slowing, she dropped behind a large snowy bush and looked to a panting Rascal when she dropped down beside her.
"She should almost be here, if she misses the trap, we take her down and wait for the Sheriff."
"I hope she misses it, I owe her for shooting my wife." Rascal growled deep in her chest. "There she is, where's the trip wire?" She pointed and looked to Shiloh with wild golden eyes.
"Another three foot and she's at the wire, get ready Rascal for one Hell of a sight." The sat huddled close to the ground and looked through the branches of the bush, Tends tripped and fell and in the blink of an eye, a net came up around her and pulled her high into the air.
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"SONOFABITCH! I'LL KILL YOU SHAUNESSY!" Tends screamed and struggled in the net, she tried to pull her gun from her pocket and saw that it was lying in the snow below her. "Mother fucking assholes!"
"Well this is a first, all the other animals I catch like this don't talk." Shiloh said as she walked around the netted Tends and poked at her with a long stick. "What should we do with it Rascal, set a fire under it and have roasted psycho?"
Rascal lifted her foot and drop kicked a struggling Tends in her ass. "I think we should let the dogs tear her into tiny little pieces for shooting my wife!" She grabbed the net and spun it causing Tends to yell louder.
"Ohh isn't that one ugly ass beast?" Kody said from where she and Katy stood a few feet away. "Isn't that my back pack she has there, I swear ya can't have nothing without someone else stealing it." She looked to her right at the Sheriff. "What do ya say about that sir, not only that but she's trespassing on private property." Shiloh and Rascal walked over to them and stood behind them.
"I'd say that it deserves some jail time and a call to the other agencies." He walked up and used a stick to pick her pistol up out of the snow. "Can't forget to add attempted murder to the long list."
Kody walked closer to Tends and pointed to the backpack that was under her arm. "Go ahead and open it so that you can see what you'll never have."
"Go to Hell Shaunessy, you'll never get me on anything. It's my backpack and I'm bringing charges against you people for endangerment!"
"Come on Tends," Shiloh said from beside Kody. "You suck as a scientist and we all know you're a grave robber, lets see the coup you stole." She looked over to Rascal and raised an eyebrow, she had no idea what was in the backpack and was curious.
"Fuck all of you, it's mine and you're not getting it!"
Shiloh waved to one of the men standing beside the tree where the rope to the net was. "Go ahead and cut her down, if she runs, shoot her." In the blink of an eye, the net fell and a dozen men dressed in white stepped into view. Grandpa walked forward with a long knife and cut the rope at the top of the net and set Tends loose. "She's all yours sheriff, but for our amusement and yours open the backpack." With the help of the other men, they pulled Tends to her feet and pulled the backpack off of her; the sheriff opened it and dumped the contents on the ground at her feet. Shiloh scratched her head and looked into murderous dark eyes. "Well doctor, I don't know about you but carrying sex toys and GI Joes around in a backpack is kinda sick."
Kody pointed to the GI Joes and then smacked Rascal. "You were in the attic and took my dolls!"
"I thought it would be funny." She shrugged her shoulders' grinned and then gave out a yelp.
"I can't believe you Rascal," Katy growled after hitting her wife in her head. "Those are our toys!"
Shiloh looked around at all the men and snickered at the red of their faces; she motioned to the sheriff and then pulled Kody to her chest.
"Get that piece of shit out of here before we scalp her."
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After a long trial involving different agencies and states, Tends was facing numerous years behind bars. She was linked to the other murders and the destruction of Shiloh's house and office by way of fingerprints and the security tape. Now, a month and a half later, Shiloh looked to the area cleared for the Sundance and felt her nerves jump. Kody had agreed to do the dance with her if she agreed to move in with her. They had spent the last month going between both houses and it was wearing on them. Instead of selling her house, Rascal and Katy were going to live there and give up the apartment that they had been living in close to the museum. She knew in the end it would all work out and she couldn't be happier. For the first time in her life, work meant nothing to her. Just a little blonde who wore funny clothes and a worn out fedora. Closing her eyes, she listened to the low drumbeat that was coming closer to the center of the area. Kody and Rascal's grandpa along with some of the elders had helped her set up the trees that Kody would hang from. She, Rascal and Katy would be tethered to the tree that Kody hung from and one of the other men would carry the buffalo skulls tethered to his back. She turned her head when she felt her lover's presence coming up behind her, her pride shown bright in her pale blue eyes. Wearing only a breach cloth, Kody stepped up to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Baby, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."
Kody shook her head and squeezed Shiloh tighter. "Nope, I promised and I never go back on a promise. This is really gonna hurt isn't it?"
"I won't lie to ya, at first; it hurts like a gigantic bitch. The trick is to go into a deep trance before they pierce the skin and stay that way throughout the whole thing."
"It's a good thing you taught me how to go into a trance then."
Kissing her gently on the temple, Shiloh whispered. "I love you Kodiak and I'll be waiting in the other plane for you." She walked Kody to where the Shaman stood with Katy and Rascal and whispered loving words and complete devotion the entire way.
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Kody looked around her where she stood in a meadow full of flowers, it looked familiar but different at the same time. Picking a flower, she brought it up to her nose and sniffed at the delicate scent of lavender. When she looked up, she saw an older woman dressed in white deerskin coming towards her. The woman smiled and held out her hand to her, her eyes the shade of a summer sky calmed her and made her feel safe.
"I've been waiting for you Kodiak, what took you so long?"
Kody looked at the woman and became frightened. "You've been waiting?am I dead?"
The woman's laugh sounded so familiar to her, the way her head tilted back and eyes twinkled. "No you're not dead; I'm Sparrow Blackraven, Shiloh's mama. Now come on, we have a lot to do before you have to go back."
"I don't understand?" She stuttered and looked around her.
"You will, Shiloh was right, you're as hard headed as she is." Sparrow pulled Kody behind her through the clearing until she came to the edge of the tree line; she looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Ohh come on, I know this isn't your first time on this side of life." She didn't wait for Kody to answer but pulled her down a path that stopped at a small open space with a white teepee sitting in the center. Kody stopped and looked at the designs painted on the stretched leather and knew what it meant. Before she could say anything, the small flap opened and Shiloh stepped out. Her breath caught in her chest when she looked at her lover, Shiloh wore pure white deerskin. The jacket had blue beadwork covering the front in the shape of a raven and hanging from the fringe of the sleeves. Down the outside of each leg was a blue and red beaded pattern that matched the belt around her waist. She stepped forward and offered her hand to her.
"Come Kody, I've been waiting for you." She took the smaller hand and pulled her lover to her. "Thanks mama, I knew you'd find her for me."
"It wasn't hard; the other women I found weren't standing around smelling the flowers. And believe me; all the animals are staying clear of the area they're in." She laughed at the blush covering Kody's face, waved and walked off into the trees.
"She found Rascal and Katy out there?" Kody asked and then felt her heart slam into her chest when she looked into her lovers hungry eyes. "Oohh who cares, what cha got in your teepee?"
"Not much, some nice thick furs with our names on them." She opened the flap and let Kody go before her, once inside; she stood and took in her lover's body. Her deerskin was like her's but the front had deer running across it and hoof prints ran down the outside of each leg. What caught her attention were the loose laces at her chest, she could see the swell of her breasts at the opening and felt her mouth water. Moving to stand in front of her, she ran a finger down the front opening and saw the sparks in her green eyes. Kody reached up and ran her hands down across Shiloh's chest and felt her breath hitch in her throat, running her hands underneath, she lifted it up over her head and dropped it to the rush covered floor. Looking at the white scars above her breasts, she leaned up and licked each one.
"How come we've never done this before?"
"I never?thought?of it," Se moaned deep in her chest when warm lips encircled a hardened nipple. "Boy was?I dumb." She sunk to her knees and then felt herself lowered into the thick furs. Her hips thrust upward when Kody ran her fingers beneath the waist and started untying the leather ties, lifting her hips for her, she kicked her feet free of the leather. "You're over dressed baby."
"Last time I remembered, I was under dressed, near naked to be exact." She quickly pulled the deerskin clothes off and laid on top of Shiloh to kiss her into a near comatose state. When they broke for air, Kody waited for her eyes to open. "I love you Shiloh." She dropped her head and nipped at her neck before moving downward to lavish attention upon each breast. Her lover's deep moans made her center twitch and her juices flow to coat her inner thighs. Moving downward, she threw a leg over so that they were in a 69.
"Ohh Kody, you're trying to kill me aren't you?" Shiloh moaned and then wrapped her arms around her lover's thighs. "You're so wet baby." She pulled Kody towards her and licked up the sides of her thighs, when she felt a warm mouth enfold her clit, she slipped her tongue between nether lips and moaned deeply. As they pushed each other closer to the edge, their bodies jerked and struggled to hold on longer. With a silent signal to each other, they let themselves go and experienced the strongest climaxes they had ever felt. Their nerve endings sang out, juices gushed, colors flashed before their eyelids and then everything became calm.
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Rascal and Katy leaned against each other on the hard packed ground; their tethers had torn the pieces of bone from their flesh and dropped them into unconscious heaps. After being attended to, they came back to the center area to watch Shiloh and Kody who were still hanging by their tethers. Rascal was amazed at her sister's strength, she had never underestimated her at any time but this raised her high above the pedestal she had placed her years before. The pride she felt in her heart was near bursting and it brought tears to her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Katy and cried softly against her neck.
"What's wrong Rascal?"
"My baby sister is something else isn't she, I'm so damn proud of her."
"So am I Rascal, I'm proud of you too."
"Love you Katy and I'm proud of you and proud to be your wife. Now if those two would come down so we can go home and pass out." She lifted her head in time to see both Shiloh and Kody's bodies arch outward, jerk in a full spasm and then fall free of their tethers. She crawled to her sister and cradled her in her arms while Katy pulled Shiloh into hers. Rascal looked up as the Shaman came over and checked Kody; the older woman smiled at her and nodded her head.
"Take her into the teepee; I'll be there in a second." She walked over to check on Shiloh and placed a hand on Katy's shoulder. "Our Chief is a brave woman, you're very lucky to have her as a sister." She winked at Katy and waved to two braves to carry their Chief into the same teepee where Kody and Rascal were. Katy followed trying to figure out what the Shaman had meant by Shiloh being her sister.
They laid Shiloh and Kody beside each other and covered then with sheets up to their waists. The Shaman kneeled next to them and cleaned the torn flesh before she sutured it, when finished, she placed antibiotic over the areas and covered them with sterile pads. "They'll come around in a little while; they hung longer than you two did. It took a lot more out of them, keep an eye on them and come and get me if there's a problem." She rose to her feet, gripped grandpa's shoulder and left them to watch over their loved ones. While they watched, Shiloh rolled to her side and pulled Kody against her body.
Rascal looked over to where her grandpa was sitting and saw a big smile on his weathered features. "Grandpa what happened before they fell down, did we do that?"
"Yeah but nothing like them, Katy fell first and then a few minutes later you fell, it looked like Kody and Shiloh were one body."
Katy wrapped her arms around her wife's shoulders from behind and rested her chin on her wide shoulder. "Shiloh was right, they're connected." An hour later, Shiloh opened her eyes and moaned. She lifted her head from where it lay on Kody's shoulder and looked around the teepee until they fell on grandpa. Her voice dry and raspy, she spoke in a whisper.
"How long have I been out of it?"
"Ohh quite a while, how ya feeling, besides like you were stretched between two trees?"
"About like the first time I did this but a lot more tired." She looked over to a sleeping Rascal and Katy and grinned. "Who fell first us or the devils spawn over there?"
"They did, we thought you two were going to be up there for days. I was ready to make a pizza and beer run." He chuckled at her and got up to go get the Shaman. "Get some more rest; I'm going to tell Little Bear that you're all right."
She nodded her head and placed soft kisses on Kody's cheek and forehead. "Hey Chief?I'm hungry, where's the food?" Shiloh chuckled and pulled Kody closer to her.
"You just amaze me Indy; we hang out there for who knows how long, lay unconscious just as long and you wakeup hungry."
"Well, we didn't eat today and if I don't get some food soon, I'm gonna chew on your leg." She leaned up and kissed Shiloh. "So where's the food and the two rabid sex fiends?"
"Over there on the other side of you and I think they're roasting a deer outside, I can smell food cooking." Kody moved so that she was lying across her lover, a low moan escaped her lips from her aching muscles moving. Gazing down into her face, she lifted one hand and traced her lips with a fingertip.
"I will never ever not believe you again when you say that we were meant to be. There's only one thing left to do," She reached down and pulled a small leather bag from her breach cloth and handed it to Shiloh. "That's for you; I just don't have the strength to open it."
Shiloh used her teeth and pulled the small bag open; she stuck a finger inside and looked with startled eyes to Kody. Pulling her finger out with a solid gold band on the tip, she held it out to Kody.
"I knew what the markings meant on the teepee, so since we were joined in the other place, I want the same thing here." She placed the ring on Shiloh's finger and placed a kiss on it. "I love you with everything that I am Sooleawa."
Tears came to pale blue eyes; Shiloh reached down between their bodies and pulled out a gold wedding band on a leather thong. She snapped the leather with her teeth and held the ring out to Kody. "I was going to ask you before we did the sun dance but chickened out, I'm glad I waited." She placed the ring on her finger and kissed both the ring and her palm. "Forever Kodiak, I'll love you forever." She lifted her head and kissed her wife with all the love she felt in her heart and soul, when the kiss broke, they turned their heads when they heard sniffling noises.
"You two are killing me." Rascal whimpered and then buried her face in her wife's neck.
Katy hugged Rascal to her chest and wiped the tears that were trailing down her face. "I'm so happy for you guys, I have another sister." She dropped her head and cried into Rascals shoulder. Grandpa walked in, saw the two sobbing women, and looked to Shiloh and Kody.
"What's wrong with those two," He saw the tears trailing down their faces and rolled his eyes. "Women, I tell ya, they cry at the drop of an arrow. Come and eat the foods done, plus ya can let everyone know that you two are joined." He gave them a crooked smile and left the teepee.
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Months down the road and after spending an extended honeymoon in Canada, all was right in their lives. They had retired from chasing prehistoric animals across the planet and settled down to a life of raising reindeer and buffalo. Shiloh helped Kody with the development of the cross between the grasses that once flourished across the earth centuries ago with what was now becoming short in abundance. They were also working on a smaller project that would change their lives as they knew it, they couldn't wait for that to come to fruit. And that's what was on Shiloh's mind as she sat at the kitchen table with Dumbass standing in front of her with his head cocked to the side; she tapped his beak and spoke again. "Gimme sex Kooody." She waited and repeated it again. "Come on Dumbass, I know you can say it."
"What are you doing to my bird?" Kody leaned over her shoulder and looked at Dumbass. "Is she teaching you dirty words again?"
"Strap it on Kooody!" He fell over onto his back and kicked his legs. "Ohhh yes Kooody!"
Shiloh felt her face heat up all the way to the tips of her ears; she dropped her face into her hands and groaned. "I didn't teach him that, I swear."
"You didn't have to, he has great big ears," She took Shiloh's hand and pulled her up from the chair. "Let's go see what else he can learn, maybe pick up that sexy grunt you do."
"Just what we need, a bird that can do phone sex."
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Rascal looked at the phone receiver and then put it back to her ear, a huge grin came over her face and then she busted out laughing. "Baby come listen to this!" She handed Katy the phone and fell off the couch when her face turned beet red.
"I can't believe that damn bird," She hung up the phone and looked to her wife. "He wants to suck my nipples! And they call us sex fiends; just wait until I see those two."
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Dumbass stepped on the phone receiver and speed dialed a number, when he heard a voice on the other end, he yelled. "I'm hot for you!"
"Ohh my God! Kooody he's doing it again!" Shiloh yelled and then picked up the phone. "Hello, this is not a perverted phone call honest."
"Hey Shiloh, I see he still remembers what I taught him." Grandpa said and then busted up laughing.
"You wanna come over for some fried chicken, it'll be fresh." She glared at Dumbass and then jumped when Kody grabbed her ass. "Just kidding grandpa, I'll talk to you later." She hung up the phone and grinned at Kody. "We really have to hide the phone from him before we end up in jail."
"How about if we get him his own phone and he can make us money giving horny old guys phone sex, we could retire and stay in bed all day long."
Shiloh rolled her eyes and pulled Kody up against her. "We're all ready retired and spend most of the day in bed."
"Ahh but there's a reason for that," She dropped to her knees, pushed up Shiloh's t-shirt and placed a kiss on her swollen stomach. "The little chief wears the big chief out, four more months and neither one of us will get any sleep."
"Ohh yes I will, you're on diaper duty until the little chief is potty trained and can fix her own breakfast." She pulled Kody to her feet and then to their bedroom. "It's time for the little chief's tae boxing lesson."
As soon as they were out of sight, Dumbass started stepping all over the phone trying to hit speed dial. When it connected, he yelled over the phone. "Kitchen utensils?got me pregnant!" A loud roar echoed through out the house and then a loud squawking when Kody chased Dumbass through the house with a fly swatter. Shiloh lay on the bed with a wide grin on her face as she listened to the noise over the speakerphone.
"Life couldn't get much better than this." She rubbed her stomach and drifted off to sleep.
The end.