Chapter 2

He studied her quietly, his body responding to her simple presence. A slow smile teased her lips as she reached up and traced his lips with one slender finger. Eyes as blue as the summer sky locked onto eyes of molten gold, a question riding deep within their depths, a question that was answered by a rueful smile as the golden eyed woman slid from the bed wrapping a sheet around her in one fluid move. He sat up and watched as she stepped behind a dressing screen and returned a few moments later full dressed in cut off shorts and a light blue sleeveless top.

He wasn’t too sure what to say or do next. It wasn’t often that he found himself in bed with a total stranger, at least one he didn’t actually invite into his bed in the first place. He exhaled softly then stood and made his way over to the woman who was now starting a pot of coffee on the small hot plate next to the refrigerator. He propped against the wall and flashed one of his smiles, tempting the girl to at least say hello and got a soft smile in return. He wondered then if the girl could talk as she didn’t seem to be inclined to even ask him what he was doing in what was obviously her place.

He watched silently as she reached for a couple of small jars above the fridge and opened them, taking a pinch of whatever was inside and slowly stirring it into the cup of coffee she poured. He wondered exactly what she was putting in the cup, but refrained from asking as she probably wouldn’t answer any way. A grin flashed over his fine features as he continued to observe her, deciding he liked what he saw. She was petite to the point of being tiny, her head having only reached to the top of his chest, and her skin was the color of golden honey, which made him wonder if she tasted as sweet. Her hair was straight, hung nearly to her ass and was the color of wheat. As she turned to walk toward him he flashed a smile her way. Damn she was the prettiest thing he had seen in a while with her golden eyes and that tiny waist that he was sure he could span easily with his hands.

His brow arched comically as she sat the cup of coffee in front of him. He could see the herbs floating there and shook his head, unwilling to be a guinea pig to whatever hoodoo she had placed in the cup. Soft laughter caressed his ears as she pushed the cup closer to his hand. “It won’t hurt you, it will help your throat, it’s simply an herbal remedy I learned. Her voice was honey smooth and it went straight to his groin and he again commanded his body to behave.

With an arch of a brow he lifted the cup and sniffed it. “Doesn’t smell like any coffee I’ve ever had,” he offered in lieu of taking a sip.

Her laughter again washed over him, making his heart thunder in his ears. “Don’t be such a puppy, drink it, it will help you I promise. It’s an herbal coffee, probably not that poison you buy in the cities. You trusted me last night, trust me this morning.”

He looked up at her quizzically, not remembering even seeing her the night before, “I trusted you last night?”

She smiled gently, her hand reaching out to wrap his hand around the cup. “That’s an explanation for another day. Drink up.”

He lifted the cup and took an experimental sip, his nose wrinkling in distaste at the odd smell that came from the cup. “Well it’s definitely gotta be medicine because it tastes like shit.”

She winked as she turned back to the refrigerator. “I never said it would taste good.”

In a few short moments she was setting a plate of breakfast and a cup of coffee in both places at the table. Seating herself across from him she indicated that he should eat while it was hot. He took a sip of the hot coffee and couldn’t help but grin when the caffeine hit him like a bolt of lightning. “Now that is coffee.” He grinned. “By the way I’m Jon.”

“I’m Dusty, now eat before it gets cold,” she exclaimed as she tucked into her food.

As he ate he continued to watch her, there was something about her that called to him and he wanted to figure out what it was. As he finished his meal he leaned back with a soft groan of appreciation. He cradled his cup of coffee in one hand as he propped his bare feet on the remaining chair. “So what happened to the wolf that was here last night? She your pet or something?” He watched as her fork dropped to the table and her golden gaze skittered up to meet his curious blue eyes.

“Not exactly, you never tame a wolf, you should know that yourself, but she’s a friendly thing that comes around sometimes.” She hesitated a moment before continuing, “Solitary creatures usually, they don’t befriend many humans so it’s odd how she took to you.”

He grinned as he sipped his coffee. “Yep, she crawled right into bed with me. Funny thing I don’t recall her leaving.”

A slight smile slipped over his lips as the girl in front of him nearly choked. “Careful there Dusty, coffee can be lethal if you try to inhale it.”

She gave him a weak smile and reached for his empty plate. Moving over to the tiny sink she silently washed everything up from breakfast. He could almost hear a soft catch in her voice when she finally began to talk. “I guess you’ll be wanting to head out and find whatever it is you’re looking for. I’ll just go and get that spare can of gas I have out back.”

She didn’t want him to leave; he could tell that by the catch in her voice, the question was why? He felt it in air between them, a connection that defied logic and time. Hell he didn’t know her from Adam, yet something about her sang to some deep dark part of himself that he didn’t even recognize. He shook his head slightly, “Nope, no one’s looking me and I’m not looking them. I think my gas running out here was meant to be, so if it’s ok with you, maybe I can just hang here for a few days.”

She turned and studied him intently, then nodded her agreement.

~~~~

The next couple of days passed in an amiable way. He’d wake up each morning to the beautiful blonde who would then offer him that god awful herbal drink before fixing his coffee and breakfast. She would then disappear to where ever and the wolf would appear. That wolf kept him company on a lot of long walks around the desert area. At first when he was riding through the land seemed unfriendly and inhospitable, but now just a scant two days later, it was serene, a simple balm to his exhausted soul. He talked to the wolf just like she was a person, pouring out all his frustrations and worries over his life and career. It was almost like she understood all his fear about his music and singing, or how hard it was to tour like that non stop. Sometimes he would bring his guitar along and simply play, while he and his wolf companion watched the sun dance upon the sands.

“Doc said I shouldn’t ever sing again, but ya know, it’s my job. Hell it’s my life, all I ever wanted to do was be a rock star and I did it, Machine took us over though and it nearly destroyed us all. I told Richie; my best friend, that we just needed time apart. We need to find ourselves again, but he’s probably off banging some girl and here I am in the desert of all places.” He grinned as the wolf seemed to snort. “That’s ok girl, I’m actually liking it here, liking it too much considering.” He absentmindedly began to caress her fur. “I just wish I could figure out what it was that has Dusty so distant. Seems she has a secret she’s afraid to tell me, or maybe she don’t like me. I want her wolf, I do, but what can you do if a woman won’t even give ya the time of day? I wake up beside her every morning, where the heck do you go by the way, and she’s there and my body, my soul wants her, but she just vanishes again. No insult to you wolf, you’re a great companion and all.” He stared out at the desert. “Why am I telling you all this huh? Not like you can fix it for me.”

He pushed up off the desert sand and began to walk back to what he now called his lil desert home. He knew he’d eat and sleep and the wolf would be there, but he knew that on the morrow the beautiful blonde with secrets in her golden eyes would be there, and he was going to go for the gold, learn her secrets and make her his, once he figured out exactly how to do that.

Chapter 1

(Mid August 1989)

He’d been riding aimlessly for hours across land parched for a taste of water when his bike had sputtered and died. With a muffled oath he dismounted his bike and stood staring into the distance. The heat pulled at his skin as the barely there wind teased him with promises of cool relief. He peered off into the distance, the heat waves undulating in the air around him. There wasn’t a building in sight, no stores or homes or even broken down abandoned barns. “Well fuck, now what?” he thought to himself as he stared down at his now gasless transportation. “Well when you fuck it up you really fuck it up, I should have never left the guys back in the last town,” he thought to himself as he pulled an ever present bandana from his back pocket and slowly mopped up the sweat that had gathered under his unruly mop of hair. Shaking the bandana slightly, the heat drying it quickly he slipped it over his head and tied his hair back. Hopefully the bandana would catch a small bit of the sweat that was already beginning to bead upon his forehead. With a hoarse groan he reached forward, kicked the brake off and started pushing his bike forward.

Two hours later, sweat soaking through his leather jacket, he stopped and looked around. It amazed him that even here in the good old US of A there were still areas that were seemingly totally uninhabited. He was exhausted, and not in the way he would be had he sang onstage for three hours, this exhaustion went straight to the middle of his bones, unlike the adrenaline charged crash a show gave him. Once again he cursed himself for the urge to strike out on his own for a bit. Sure he had gave the guys a date to meet him and a town to meet him in, but it looked like he might not ever make it there. As he stared off into the distance he couldn’t decide if the sun’s apparent descent was a good thing or a bad thing; good because the damned heat would finally break and bad because, well night in an arid desert like area might not be as comfortable as motel room would be. With a final glance around he saw a small dirt road about 100 yards up that lead off towards an outbreak of rocks. He knew that would be a piss poor bedroom, but beggars certainly couldn’t be choosers, and at least the rocks might shelter him from the cold that would greet him in the desert at night.

~~~~

Ahh there it was, an odd scent on the wind, musky, sweaty and something that evaded her. It was at odds with the arid scents of sand and wind and had her curious as to what was invading what she considered to be her territory. She raced the wind towards the scent, her golden gaze taking in the serenity of the starlit night. The scent pulled at her in a way nothing else ever had, it called to her in a way nothing ever had, and it was so close, right in front of her floating away from a circle of light near her favorite rabbit haunt. She crouched low and veritably crawled until she was right outside the circle of light; the scent overwhelming her as she finally recognized what it all added up too. It was a man, one unlike anything she had seen before because somewhere deep beneath the scent of sweat, musk and spice was the scent of her kind, and that made her sit up and pay closer attention to the man in front of her.

If she could grin she would have as she took in his body. He was there in skin, yet the unmistakable signs of fur were there, on muscular arms and that chest of his, even his face was scruffy. She longed to stick her nose into his hair that even in the shadows seemed to be so very long and curly. She tilted her head as his slender fingers strummed over the object in his hands lovingly, which caused what she recognized as music to issue out into the night. It had been a long while since she’d heard music but the haunting melody had her aching to be closer to the one making it right up until he growled. Her head nudged forward as he stood and moved to the metal monster next to him and she watched as his hand disappeared into its pouch and came back empty.

“Fuck, no food or water.” He sighed as he stared off into the dark desert night. “I really have it in for myself don’t I? Try to destroy myself with eighteen months of tour, nearly ruin my throat and of course in my quest to be alone I forget food and water.” He shook his head and wandered back to the rock and slid back down to sit and stare at the flames. “Gonna be a long night Jonny boy, just get adjusted to the fact.” Wrapping his arms around his legs he laid his head on his knees and just stared into the fire with a lost sad look on his otherwise handsome face.

She got to her feet slowly, this one was hungry and maybe she could do something about that, but how. She had never before risked exposure, but something about him had her blood racing in her veins and had her heart beating to a strange odd rhythm. She’d try to help him even if she could. She knew it was a risk, sometimes those like her were not too accepting of strangers, but she couldn’t let him go hungry, not if she could help it. Standing, she began to edge her way to the circle of light moving slowly, she wanted to help him, not give him a fright. Her concentration was so intense upon moving slowly and gently she never noticed when his head turned and his breathing began to hitch.

“Holy fuck was that a wolf creeping up on him?” His thoughts raced as he blinked a few times to clear his sight. “Wolves aren’t supposed to be around this area were they? Thought this place was all about coyotes and cougars, not that I want to see one of those either.” He watched as the wolf crept closer, its eyes were glowing an odd gold-like color in the firelight. Oddly he felt no sense of threat in the animal so watched as it moved closer offering up a slight prayer that it was only curious and not hungry. “Jon Bon Jovi’s bones found in the desert, details at 11,” the thought quirked his lip upwards slightly as he kept his eyes on the wolf.

He almost jerked when he felt the press of cold nose on his chest then took a deep breath and looked down into the softest golden eyes he had ever encountered. “Well darned if you don’t seem to be a friendly one.” His voice was soft and still carried the traces of hoarseness caused by months of abuse during the tour. “Whatcha finding so interesting there wolfie?” He choked out a laugh as the animal’s nose poked him again, this time at the nape of his neck, maybe he was on the menu after all.

She sat back, her tail thumping the ground in a ridiculous type of abandon. Yes he had the scent of one like her, but he seemed totally unaware of it. Well this was going to be harder, she couldn’t just howl and him answer; he obviously wouldn’t get it. She stood and reached over and took his hand into her jaws very gently and began to pull at him. Maybe she could just lead him; that would work, if he would just stand up. With a huff she stepped back and looked at the man resolutely sitting at the rock. Her head tilted and she woofed softly then reached for his hand again and began to pull as she tried to move backwards.

His brow arched as the wolf took his hand in mouth. He began to wonder if that’s where the pain would start; the wolf had decided on fingers for breakfast but his eyes widened as he realized all it was doing was trying to pull him to his feet. As he went to stand he risked a glance at the wolf and noted, strangely enough, that it was a female wolf. “Well Jonny,” he thought as he began to stand, “you’ve always had a talent with the ladies, but damned if this one don’t take the cake.” He stood up and studied the wolf silently for a moment before speaking aloud. “Ok you wanted me up, so now what oh furry one?”

He watched as she released his hand and walked off a pace or two then turned to look back at him. He could almost see the question in the wolf’s eyes, “well idiot are you gonna follow or what?” He laughed softly at the look and slowly kicked sand into his small fire. Reaching over he put his hands onto the handlebars of his bike and began to push. Maybe the sun had fried his brains, or the lack of water had melted his control, but what the hell, it was the mid of night in the desert, he had no where to go and there was a guide of sorts wanting to lead him somewhere. With a shrug of his shoulders he pushed forward and began to follow the wolf.

When the small building appeared Jon could have wept in relief. It wasn’t much to look at in the dark, but it was a building that would shelter him from the cold of the night and possibly the heat of the next day. With a final shove he kicked the kickstand back down and left the bike to walk up onto what served as a tiny porch, all with the wolf by his side. Opening the door he stepped inside the dark room and waited until his eyes adjusted to the dark. Reaching over to the wall he felt for and found a light switch and went to flip it up praying that it would work. Miraculously the light switched on bathing the room in a dim light. He grinned like a fool when he heard the generator suddenly kick on and realized that not only had his little guardian led him to safety, but to a nice little home away from home, complete with small refrigerator and bed. Reaching down he ruffled the wolf’s head in thanks as his eyes surveyed his simple little domain.

Stepping further into the room he cracked the door of the fridge, nearly crying in relief when he found bottled water along with the makings of sandwiches. “I don’t know who owns this place wolfie, but I sure hope they don’t mind feeding a starving man.”

The wolf huffed softly at him as her golden eyes took in the way he nearly inhaled the water then the food in its turn. She had done well, she had gotten the man to follow, he was safe and he wasn’t at the mercy of the desert night any longer. She watched as he finished the food and then walked outside to grab his belongings from his bike. As he stepped back inside room she huffed again softly, recognizing the dominant feature in him that took over what he considered to now be his, at least his for now.

His belly full and his voice feeling better after the water, he wandered around the room taking in its oddly clean yet homey atmosphere. There was even a small fireplace, but there didn’t seem to be any wood. He shivered a bit as the coolness of the night began to remind him of its presence. “Well wolfie there’s no wood, so no warming fire, but there’s a bed, and it’s got a few covers, so I think I’m going to just warm up and take a nap.”

He grinned over at the wolf, “I know you don’t understand me, but thank you for the help.”

He sat down on the edge of the bed and toed his boots off and before he had the chance to pull covers back he found himself sharing the bed with one very warm and very furry wolf body. He shook his head; well the fur had to be warmer than just covers right? Laying down he took a deep breath and slowly fell asleep.

~~~~

He turned over, his hand reaching out to pull the warm body closer to him, His hand splayed out over the belly as he nuzzled into the warmth, her spicy scent filling his nose. She shifted back against him, wriggling closer to his warmth. His body responded to the curves shifting against him in the ages old way a man responds to a woman. His eyes flew open as that thought penetrated his sleepy mind; for god sakes he was laying next to a wolf, why was his body doing that? It was then the soft golden hair tickled his nose and he realized much to his amazement, that in the place where the wolf had been now lay a very blonde very naked woman.

“Holy fucking hell, where did she come from,” he thought as his hand mindlessly kept stroking the skin over her belly. He heard her sigh softly and his hand stilled as she turned over to snuggle up against him. He groaned softly as he felt pert breasts rub against his chest. His brain nearly shut down on him as her hand slid over and draped itself over his waist. “Mother of God, where did she come from? Where’s the wolf? What the hell am I gonna do now?” He swallowed hard as her hand slid down from his waist to his ass and swallowed harder when his shaft decided to spring to attention. “Not now, ‘Lil Jonny, Dammit” he thought as he studied the unknown body lying next to him.

He looked into her face and noted how ethereal she looked. When her eyes fluttered open he was amazed to see golden eyes peering up at him. Those eyes were the same color as the wolves, but that wasn’t possible was it?

~~~~~

He awoke with a shudder and sat up to run shaky hands through his hair. Sweat coated his body making it nearly shine in the moonlit room. With an oath he slid his legs from the bed and stood to walk to the window. Why was he having that dream again? It never failed; every time his life grew too stressed or too pushed his brain would pull that damned dream up. August 1989 had not been a good time for him and he had gone in search of himself only to end up lost in the desert. Even to this day he couldn’t decide if all he dreamed and remembered was real or just a figment of his imagination, he just knew that every time he started to get the urge to run far from the stresses of his life that dream would return. He hadn’t dreamed it much in the last two or three years, mostly due to the fact the band had taken it easy, but with These Days getting ready to come out the dream had returned full force. With a shake of his head he stared out at the New York skyline and let his memory fill with thoughts of a golden eyed wonder.