dauxhter
He was out of bed before even fully waking.
Sheets still warm from the heat radiating from his form and damp with sweat clung to his legs as he rose, causing him to stumble. Bare feet slapped the cool floor soon joined by the clicking of claws. Fingers coiled about the door knob; the other hand clung to the frame of the door as he pushed it open just a crack. Wide, blue eyes peered into the room, and there she was.
The grey light of dawn was spilling over the bed in a pale band; the rest was veiled by the heavy curtains. For a few moments, he watched the subtle rise and fall of her chest beneath the sheets and comforter. His heart slowed, his breathing stilled, and his mouth turned up into a soft smile. Cold, slick noses pressed against his bare calves and tongues licked his toes; paws found his shoulders and he was greeted with several sloppy kisses. He pulled the door quietly closed again and with his pack of dogs surrounding him like a protective barrier, he moved back down the hall.
He thought of going back to bed, but the morning’s pump of adrenaline had left him wide awake and a little antsy. Instead, he fixed himself a mug of warm milk sprinkled with honey and cinnamon and stepped outside onto the cabin’s wrap-around porch. The dogs all scampered away, nosing the dew damp earth and circling trees and rolling across the ground in tangled heaps of flailing limbs and tails. He sat down on the porch swing, tugging a blanket over his legs, and sipped at the steaming drink.
Winston was the first of the dogs to pad back to the porch. He climbed up onto the swing by Will and draped his upper half over the man’s lap. He folded one foreleg over the other and laid his head down atop them, his tail swaying in slow, contented wags.
