Huskies from Hell

'Good boy.' she smirked. 'Now, let's eat.'

They ate their fill, checked the time and wrote it in the driver's log.

'What books did you take with you?' Ghost asked, putting the trash in a bag.

Petrash pulled four books out of his bag. 'Fantasy and science fiction, a spy novel and a mystery. Always have some choice of genre I like to read at the time.'

She pointed at the mystery novel. 'Can I have that one?'

'You like to read?'

She shrugged. 'On occasion. Nothing much to do for the next days anyway.'

'True that.' he said, handing her the book.

She crawled into the back with the book and held open the blankets. 'Well? What are you waiting for?'

He looked at her invitation. 'Can I really?'

'Unless you don't want to..'

'No, I want to.' he said, his ears perking up and unzipped his suit halfway. 'Ehm, like before?' he asked blushing hard.

She smiled. 'Only if you behave yourself.'

'I promise.' he said, undressed and took the fantasy novel with him, crawling against her under the blankets and both laid on their backs reading until hunger struck again or they snuggled up to sleep.

The books were thick enough to keep them from getting bored until three days later the distant sounds of an engine and tracks caught Ghost's attention.

'It must be them.' she said, her ears twitching.

Quickly they dressed and opened the doors to look because the windows had been covered by snow again.

'There they are!' Petrash pointed to a truck heading their way.

Soon the two men from the station helped in repairing the damaged wires and replaced the batteries with a spare one, enough to start the truck and enable it to get underway again. A quick message was sent to the station and the girls to let them know Ghost and Petrash were okay.

Ghost followed their truck and they drove non-stop all the way to the station, switching drivers a couple of times. The supplies were taken care of and the trip back to Zero proceeded without trouble.

The other girls were waiting by the time Ghost and Petrash reached Zero. Together they loaded the rest of the cargo in the station's truck and after it had left they all sank down into the couches.

'So what happened?' Dusk asked.

'The truck broke down halfway. said Ghost. 'Somehow a screwdriver had been left on the batteries and just happened to cause a short circuit while we were driving it. Without a way to get electric power we had to stay put for a few days until they'd search for us.' She sipped her shot. 'Plenty of food and drinks in the cargo though, so luckily not a major problem.'

'Nothing else happened?' Dice asked.

Both Ghost and Petrash glanced at each other, then looked away trying not to smile.

'Not really.' he said.

'Then why do I smell her scent on you?' Dice asked, leaning closer to him, sniffing.

'And his smell on you?' Dusk asked as she sniffed at Ghost.

'We just kept close to preserve heat.' he said.

'I'd say very close to still smell that strong.' Dice said.

Ghost sighed. 'Okay, I kept him warm by staying under a stack of blankets together. That's all.'

'Okay, now we know the reason. Just wanted to make sure.' Dusk said.

Rusty yawned. 'Can we go to bed now? It has been a tiresome week.'

The others agreed and the girls left while Petrash brought the paperwork to the office. He looked at the schedule with Ghost's and his name circled next to their last job. He sighed, then looked back as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

'Ghost?' he said, turning his head.

'I've noticed you looking down occasionally in the last couple of days. You okay?'

He shook his head. 'Honestly, I don't know. I miss the time I got to be close to you. Now I don't know if it'll ever happen again.'

She turned him towards her and kissed him for a few moments. 'I don't know either,' she whispered and smiled softly. 'but somehow I got a good feeling about the future.'

He watched her leave the office and stroked his lips. 'I think I do too.'

Ghost entered the bedroom and the other girls and Dawn sat on the bed waiting for her.

'What?' she asked seeing them.

'How was it?' Rusty asked.

'How was what?'

'Come on, we saw you looking at each other. Something more happened than just keeping warm together. We can smell it, you know.'

Ghost sighed and crawled into bed. 'Okay, we kissed.'

Dice raised her eyebrows. 'Really?'

Ghost nodded. 'After the first night. I pulled him under the blankets with me because he was freezing. The next morning I teased him when he was being shy and taunted him about not knowing where to start with me, but then he used his finger to show me where he'd kiss and then one thing led to another and then I kissed him.'

'Wow.' Dice said. 'I didn't think he had it in him.'

Ghost hid her face in her hands. 'Neither did I when I teased him.'

'Must be good if you just did it again.'

'What?' Ghost asked, looking through her fingers.

'I can see it on your lips. You kissed him again just now, right?'

Ghost nodded once.

Rusty sighed and lied down on her back. 'How the mighty have fallen.. Are we all going to fall for him?'

Dusk sat up. 'What!? You too!?'

'Ever since our little competition, whenever I see him looking tired or sad I want to be his beloved plush for him.' Rusty said softly, then grinned a little. 'But I've seen the look on your face when he's grooming Dawn. I think you'd like to be groomed by your personal hero as well Dusk.'

'I..' she started saying, then plucked on Dawn's tail silently.

'And even you, Dice. You keep perking up as he checks up on you.'

Dice sighed. 'He saved my life, how much more caring can you get from a guy?'

Dusk laid back, staring at the ceiling. 'So, what are we to do?'

After a while Rusty spoke up. 'I don't like the idea of letting go of this good guy. I want to keep him.'

The others agreed.

'Let nature take its course and just go with the flow. We'll all get to kiss him when the time is right and whatever comes next, comes next.' Dice said.

With that said they crawled together to sleep.

'Why are you all clinging really close to me now?' Ghost asked.

'Simple,' Dusk explained. 'you still carry his scent.'

Ghost looked up at the dark ceiling. 'Right. Tomorrow I'm going to steal his pillows for you to cling to.'

'You okay?' Rusty asked when she walked into the office a couple of days later with a mug of tea for him.

'Thanks. How so?' Petrash said when he took the mug and she sat down on the corner of his desk.

'You look kinda tired.'

He smiled softly. 'I guess I kinda am. Haven't really slept well lately.'

'You're not feeling sick, are you?' she asked, leaning a little closer to examine his face.

'Nah, it's just that I can't find the right, posture, to sleep. Nothing feels comfortable now.' He stood up and filed the day's paperwork into the cabinet. 'It'll pass, I'm sure.' He took his mug. 'I feel like having a snack. Want some?'

Two minutes later they sat on the couch nibbling on dried meat sticks, watching a new show about racing in the snow ring. Although they lived the life there, seeing the extreme cold circumstances in which the teams competed made them crawl together for extra warmth. Shattered car parts, shredded tires, ice covering an entire car, Rusty wondered how they managed to keep up the hard work and have fun at it at the same time. She turned her head to say something to Petrash but found him leaning asleep against her. She stroked a pluck of hair from his forehead and noticed he had a high temperature.

'Idiot. You should have said you were sick.' she said as she laid him down on the couch and pulled a blanket on top of him.

Sleepily he opened his eyes. 'It's nothing bad, it'll go away after a good night sleep.'

'Not if you can't sleep properly.'

'Don't worry your pretty little head about me.' he smiled sleepily.

She blushed. 'There's nothing planned for the rest of the day and since I'm the only one here I guess I'll take care of you.'

'Thanks, but I couldn't ask that of you.'

'Just tell me what you'd like and I'll get it.'

'Ehm,' he hesitated. 'could I hold you until I fall asleep?'

She looked away for a second, then nodded and crawled under the blanket with him.

'Thank you.' he whispered as he rested his head against hers. 'I've been dying to hold you cuties ever since I've been with Ghost.'

Rusty wanted to say something but he had already fallen deep asleep. 'So maybe that's it?' she whispered.

When Petrash woke up he found Rusty still in his embrace. 'Thank you for staying.' he whispered.

'I only did it to make sure you'd get plenty of sleep.' she said looking away.

He chuckled softly. 'And now I'll have to repay you plenty for acting as my old plush again.'

'Just tell me next time. I'll be your plush if you really need it.'

'I'd rather snuggle up with you, not pretend you to be my plush.' he said softly.

She felt her face turn hot. 'But that's the only good part about me.'

'You still think you're not pretty?' He ran his fingers through her red-brown hair and caressed her ear. 'You're really cute and you have a warm heart. I'm happy to be close to you.'

She looked at his grey eyes and knew he'd gotten to her too, then let herself go and kissed him. His surprise soon made way for his desire and he caressed her fur all over.

Eventually they felt satisfied and Rusty turned to snuggle with her back up to him and turned the TV back on. 'Think you can be satisfied with this for the time being?'

He nuzzled the back of her hair gently. 'I don't know. Feels like I want to experience this even more now.'

She smiled. 'Well, you'll have to find another way then as you know I'll be gone again for a few days tomorrow.'

He sighed, 'I know.' then chuckled. 'I'll just have to live on my memories.'

Still feeling tired he fell asleep again until Rusty woke him up just in time to prepare dinner.

'I'm not good in the kitchen so I need your help.' she said feeling embarrassed.

'No worries,' he said as he sat up and ruffled his hair to clear up his mind. 'Sleeping next to you has done wonders.'

'Glad to help.' she said and pulled him up to drag him into the kitchen. 'Now you do wonders.'

Later that evening after Petrash had gone to bed early Ghost sat down next to Rusty. 'You too, eh?'

Rusty flipped mindlessly through the box with movie disks. 'What?'

'This time I can smell his scent on you.'

She stopped going through the selection and looked down in embarrassment. 'Yeah. I can see why you gave into him.'

Ghost sighed and leaned her head back on the couch, looking at the ceiling. 'Looks like things are going to be a whole lot different from now on here.'

Chapter 06

Since Dawn usually joined Dusk on her trips she demanded extra attention from Petrash when they were back at Zero. One of the things she enjoyed most is being groomed by him and this day was no exception. She occupied as much of his lap as she could while he carefully brushed her fur. Dusk sat opposite on the other couch eating cookies.

'Something on your mind?' he asked.

'Hmm, why?' Dusk asked.

'Well, you've been silent the whole time, just eating cookies and watching us.'

'It's nothing.'

He grinned. 'Are you jealous of the treatment she gets?'

'What!? No way!'

He laughed a little. 'I've been wondering if I'd ever get to groom both Dawn and you at the same time.' He started brushing Dawn's tail. 'Your fur matches so well it would be like taking care of the family.'

That reminded her once more of his remark about Dawn being their daughter and she felt hot. She saw how gentle he ran his fingers after the brush along Dawn's back she started imagining how it would feel on hers. After a while her curiosity got the best of her and she let out a resigned sigh. 'All right, I'll let you groom me too.'

Petrash smiled. 'Just in time as I'm finished with Dawn.'

Dawn wagged her tail happily and licked his face as he laughed. 'That tickles! Stop it, I know you love it.'

He managed to move her aside and looked at Dusk who stood before him. 'Just don't be like that if I do a good job.'

She huffed and hit the top of his head with her fists while he laughed. 'Just kidding! Just kidding!'

She turned around with her arms folded.

'Gomen. I'll behave.' he sat back and spread his legs patting the couch in between. 'If you sit here I can start brushing your back.'

She looked back over her shoulder.'Promise? I'll bite you if you don't.'

'I promise.' he said, holding up his hand.

She took off her shirt and he felt a strong heartbeat pound his chest. She sat down carefully and he draped her hair to the front over her shoulder. 'Starting on the back first.' he said and stroked the brush slowly and carefully from her neck down her spine.

She felt a tingle going down along it and shivered once.

He pulled back the brush. 'You okay? Did something hurt?' he asked worried.

She shook her head. 'Just getting used to this.'

'Okay.' he said and continued his gentle strokes down her back, seeing her tail twitch each time he reached her lower back. 'Your fur's really pretty and soft.'

She blushed quietly.

He followed her curves with the brush and his fingers and felt her leaning into it a little. Then he pulled back her long hair and started brushing from the end up. When he reached the back of her head he started on the sides of her head and she leaned her head back so he could easily reach the front. With each stroke down the back of her head she moved back more until she pressed up against him.

He didn't want her to move away and continued brushing her hair for a while before gently brushing her cheeks and neck. She moved her head so he could freely brush her everywhere. When she leaned back completely back against him he started on her chest tuft. She puffed up her chest giving him trouble ignoring the smooth shape of her small breasts.

He felt awkward in the silence. 'How do you like my grooming so far?' he asked.

She turned her head to him and smiled a little dreamy. 'You may stay.'

He chuckled. 'Want me to continue with your front?'

She stood up, turned around, closed his legs and straddled him. 'Please do.'

He moved the brush slowly from her tuft down her belly and with each stroke it tensed. She held onto his shoulders leaning back so he had enough room to see where to brush.

He tried to concentrate on the brushing. 'So, make this a regular appointment after Dawn's grooming?'

She looked at him. 'You'd be willing to do it that often?'

He looked up at her. 'I like being close to you and brush you, so it's my pleasure.'

He stroked her cheek with his fingertips and she leaned into them closing her eyes. 'If you keep doing such a good job, yes,' she said.

'Thanks,' he said and smiled. 'Just no eating cookies after it, otherwise I'll have to start brushing out the crumbs again.'

'Why you..' she said and poked him playfully.

He laughed and tickled her in defence which made her squirm and grab his hands to fend him off. She panted looking into his eyes for a moment before they both leaned closer and kissed. And were so engulfed in their passionate kiss they didn't hear the other girls coming in.

'Oh my.' Ghost said in surprise, although she had expected it would happen one day.

Startled by the arrivals Dusk moved next to Petrash.

'Ehmm.' was all he could say now.

Rusty sat down on the other couch. 'Looks like it's three out of four now.'

'What's three out of four?' asked Dice who just walked in.

'If we don't count Dawn, you're the only one who hasn't exchanged intimacies with Petrash.' Ghost said, smirking a little at the blushing Petrash.

Dice looked at Dusk. 'You too?'

Dusk nodded and shrugged. There was no going back and deny her feelings. 'Yeah.'

Petrash saw Dice looking at him in thought, then she firmly stepped over to him. Expecting the worst he braced himself but then she straddled him and grabbed his head, kissing him forcefully at first but then gentler and he returned her deep kiss after the initial shock.

A few moments later she pulled back. 'I don't want to be the one left behind.' she said meekly.

He smiled softly at her and stroked her cheek. 'I'm happy to hear you say that.'

'Well,' Rusty said. 'seems it's pretty clear now that we've found our alpha.'

'Alpha?' Petrash asked.

'Alpha male.' Dice said. 'As in the male leader of a pack. The one who fights and contributes to the continuation of the species.'

'Ah.' he said, then the meaning dawned on him. 'What!? Wait, what!? Are you serious!?'

Dusk leaned closer. 'Did you think we were just fooling around? Or are you?'

He shook his head quickly. 'No! I mean, I am serious about how I feel, I just never thought it would be real and I never thought further about it.' He sighed. 'Just being this close to you all wasn't in my expectations.'

Ghost grinned as she sat down next to him. 'Spoken like a true virgin.'

'Hey! No fair!' he said but was silenced by her kiss.

'We all don't know what to expect now, so don't worry. We'll learn as we come along.' she said and stood up. 'The only thing I expect though is a good dinner after we get out of the bath.'

He saw her grin back at him and felt better. 'That, I can do.'

'At least the alpha's got one thing going for him.' Dice said deviously and kissed him before joining Ghost.

Dusk kissed him, then stood up as well. 'I'll admit your grooming isn't that bad either.' she said with a devious grin.

He watched them leave with a satisfied smile on his face.

'Happy now?' Rusty asked.

He looked up at her as she walked up next to him. 'How could I not?' he said, smiling wide.

She leaned close. 'Ever thought you'd have four life size plushes in your life?'

'Beyond my wildest dreams.'

'Good, remember that if you ever feel bad.' she said and kissed him as well before heading to the bath.

Ghost's chuckling made him look back when he was in the kitchen getting the food ready for serving.

'What's so funny?'

She stepped into the kitchen. 'I bet your tail hasn't stopped wagging the whole time.'

He looked at his tail and felt embarrassed.

She took the bowl with vegetables from his hands and kissed his forehead. 'Don't ever stop being cute.'

'Eh, but, hmpff.' he muttered in protest as she walked to the common room.

Soon they all sat down to eat but things were a little different this time. He sat at the head of the table and two of the girls at each side as before, only now they sat close enough to him as to almost sit on his lap.

'Heh,' he let out.

'Hmm?' said Dusk.

'First time I made dinner you kept so much distance from me I felt really alone. And now I feel like we're a very tight family.'

'That's because now we are.' Dice said. 'And if you play your cards right, it'll only grow bigger.'

Petrash almost snorted out the food through his nose and Dusk slapped his back as he coughed.

'I guess he still hasn't gotten used to the situation.' she said with a smirk.

After dinner Petrash took care of the dishes together with Rusty. They didn't say much but Ghost saw how their tails were locked standing next to each other. She sat down on the couch and smiled to herself.

'You're in a good mood.' Dice remarked.

'Aren't you?'

'Yeah. Just a little anxious as well.'

'There's no helping that. Our lives have been turned upside down after all.' said Dusk.

'Oh well, let's just enjoy tonight and forget about the future for now.' Ghost said and opened the first bottle of vodka.

When Petrash and Rusty left the kitchen the action movie had just started and they settled together on one couch. Dusk sat down on the other side of Petrash and handed them their full glasses. Huddled together like this they drank and watched the movie. When it was finished the girls kissed him goodnight and he cleared the table bringing the dirty glasses and snack bowls to the kitchen. He came back and sat down on the edge of the couch again, staring at the blank screen by the soft moonlight shining through the windows. He sat there for quite some time when he heard footsteps.