The nurse took out Annabelle’s IV and gave her a set of clothes that Susan had picked up from the apartment. “Want to shower before heading out? It’s probably best in case you experience any dizziness or weakness. We have a pull cord in there so you can call for help if you need it.”
A hot shower sounded spectacular. Twenty minutes later, Annabelle was showered, hair dried and styled with her mom’s help, and dressed in a blue wool base layer, jeans, and a black down vest.
Susan was uncharacteristically quiet on the drive to the apartment, which Annabelle didn’t mind because it gave her time to look out the window and take in her community with new eyes that were full of appreciation. Her second brush with death in as many months was starting to sink in, and every moment felt precious—which was why she wished Sean had been able to visit her in the hospital that day. But she knew she’d see him soon enough, and when she did, it would be good.
When they pulled up to the small apartment building, her mom handed her the house keys.
“I’m pretty tired,” Susan said. “Do you mind if I meet up with you later? I’m going to go to the hotel and take a nap.”
“You’re not even going to come in?”
“I’ll come by later.”
Very strange, Annabelle thought.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. She couldn’t imagine her mother letting her walk alone into her apartment after everything that had happened. It was not only odd but disconcerting.
“Everything’s fine.” Susan gave Annabelle a kiss on the cheek and a warm hug. “Nothing at all to worry about.”
Once her mom drove off and Annabelle was confronted with the idea of her empty apartment, she felt hesitant to go inside. She knew Derrick was in custody, but her apartment didn’t feel like her safe place anymore. It would take a while to reestablish that feeling.
Or maybe I can move in with Sean, she thought. If he ever shows up again, that is.
She knew he would, but his absence was as strange as her mother’s behavior.
Shake it off, Annabelle.
She turned her key in the lock, and the first thing she noticed was the scent. The floral fragrance hit her like a wave, a smell that reminded her of alpine meadows and cold snow, warm high-altitude sun and everything good in life.
The second thing she noticed was the color blue. The blue of forget-me-nots, her very favorite flower.
Was this real, or was she hallucinating?
Her apartment was filled with forget-me-not flowers—hundreds of them. In vases, in wooden buckets and crates, in mason jars. The golden sun streaming through her windows and the bright sky-blue flowers on every surface transformed her small, plain apartment into an otherworldly garden, a magical mountaintop.
Her heart thumped with heat, with life, with the joy of who stood in the middle of it all.
Sean stood in her living room holding a bouquet of forget-me-nots, looking handsome in a well-fitting blazer and collared shirt, paired with jeans. His smile was a combination of sexy and loving, with a little bit of pride thrown in. He knew he was being romantic here, and he was obviously enjoying her stunned reaction.
“Hi, beautiful,” he said. “Welcome home.”
“Sean, oh my gosh!” Annabelle was finding it difficult to breathe, and the room blurred through tears. “How did you—what did you— this is insane! And beautiful! And the sweetest thing ever!”
He set the bouquet aside, stepped forward, and caught her up in his arms. His embrace felt solid and steady, and there was no place Annabelle would rather be.
He drew back to look into her eyes. “I’m in love with you,” he said. “And I know this is early days, but I don’t say that lightly. I feel different with you than I have with any other woman ever, and it just feels right between us. Even though I don’t have a college degree, and even if you can run circles around me intellectually, and even if—”
“Stop.” Annabelle placed her fingertips on Sean’s lips. “Just stop and go back to the first part, the very first thing you said.”
“I’m in love with you.”
“That’s all I need to hear. Because I’m in love with you, too.”
Their kiss seared with passion, and Sean was lost in the experience of Annabelle, the sweet taste of her, the smell of her hair and skin, the feel of her lips. In that kiss were desire and gratitude, love and acceptance.
These are the only lips I ever want to kiss, he thought.
After a while, she rested her head against his chest. Sean pulled her close against him.
“How did you do all this?” she asked, her eyes full of delight. “I’ve never seen so many flowers! Did my mom know about this? Is this why she didn’t come in?”
“Not just your mom.” Grinning, Sean took her hand. “Come with me. I have a couple of other surprises, too.” He led her into the apartment’s spare bedroom, her office. “Everything’s back. Your research, data, files, all of it.”
She gasped. “How?”
She stepped forward, reaching out and touching the external hard drive with the cat sticker as if she needed to feel it in order to believe it.
“After Derrick was arrested, the police took photos and documented everything that was in his possession. Since this is yours, we could return it to you.”
She looked up at him. Her eyes were the same vivid blue as the flowers. “Who’s we?”
“Peter and Linda, Lottie, Cameron, and your mom. She stayed with you today so I, along with Peter, Linda and the rest of them, could go up into the hills and spend the day picking flowers. I wanted you to see how much I could never forget you, and I guess the people close to you want you to know they bless this relationship.”
Annabelle’s eyes filled with tears again. She put both hands on his face and pulled him down to kiss her.
The kiss didn’t stop. Sean knew she might still be fragile from her ordeal, but nothing about the way she grabbed him by the shirt collar and dragged him toward her bedroom felt fragile in the least. She unbuttoned his shirt. Her hands roved across his bare chest, down the trail of hair on his abdomen, and then she felt his stiff manhood through his jeans.
“Careful,” he warned her.
She gave him a sultry grin. “Haven’t you heard? I like to live life on the edge.”
Despite Sean’s professional paramedic concern that Annabelle might overexert herself, there was nothing he could do to resist her touch. He let her unbutton his jeans, and then he grabbed her by the hips, swinging her down onto the bed with him.
She pulled off her shirt and bra at the same time, freeing her magnificent breasts. Her skin was pale fire in the late afternoon sun. Sean felt his breath grow short and ragged.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said.
Annabelle unbuttoned her jeans and slid them off. Sean moved his hand up her thigh, feeling her every exquisite soft curve. She was already wet for him, ready for him. It inflamed him even more to know how much he turned her on.
“On your back,” she said.
Sean raised his eyebrows. He liked this commanding, confident version of Annabelle. Obeying her, he laid down. She draped herself beside him, kissing his throat, his shoulder, his chest, moving down his stomach.
“I had too much time to think in the hospital,” she said. “And all I could think about was doing this to you.”
She was stark naked as she positioned herself between his legs and knelt forward, the gorgeous curve of her ass high in the air and her red curls spilling in every direction. Her kisses moved to the tops of his thighs, and then he felt her lips and tongue on the tip of his cock. He groaned, completely at her mercy.
When she took him fully in her mouth, her moan reverberated down into his core.
“Oh, Annabelle,” he gasped. “That feels incredible.”
Her lips were tight around him, her tongue flickering and her hand moving, and the sight of it made him want to come right away. But she sensed his building orgasm and slowed down to an agonizingly pleasurable
pace, taking him back from the brink.
“Not yet,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “I want to be inside you.”
Smiling, she raised her head, looking him in the eyes. Her lips were red and full, swollen. “Well, what are you waiting for, handsome?”
He pulled her up gently and rolled them both over together. He entered her with one swift thrust, and Annabelle let out a half-gasp, half-moan as she rocked upward to meet him.
It had always been good with Sean, but for Annabelle this time was different. Even better. She was aroused not by taking pleasure, but by giving it; as he moved forward into her, she thought This man loves me, and the knowledge combined with the sensation of his body driving into hers sent her spiraling toward orgasm.
She knew she’d brought him to the edge. His movements became slow, deliberate, and she could tell he was holding on to his self-control.
She wanted him to lose it.
“I’m yours,” she murmured in his ear, bucking her hips against him, and that was all it took. “I’m yours forever, Sean.”
He buried his face in the crook of her neck. “I love you, Annabelle. I love you completely.”
“I love you right back,” she said. “Now make me come.”
He moved faster, harder, deeper, and Annabelle felt her release building to a shaking crescendo as Sean reached his own climax.
Afterward, they kissed and cuddled as they recovered from the exertion.
Forget me not, Sean, she thought, knowing he never would.
Epilogue
It was eight in the morning and Sean was on breakfast sector at the fire station. It was the second day of his shift, and the windows of the kitchen were wide open to a clear, sunny June morning. He talked as he worked, cracking eggs, turning bacon, and flipping his famous sourdough pancakes.
Dylan Hart was on coffee sector. Jack Barnes and Tom Steele, the engine and ladder captains, were going over the day’s station duties at the kitchen table. Josh Barnes was giving Cody Bradford grief about his upcoming bachelor party because all Cody wanted to do was go fishing with the guys, while Josh thought the occasion called for more excitement.
“Executive decision,” said Sean, since he was Cody’s best man. “We’ll go fishing, but we’ll camp at least one night out by Cody’s cabin on White Spruce Lake, and there will be drinking and there will be poker and there will be cigars.”
“What about women?” Troy Garrett asked, coming into the room.
“Unlike you, Troy, none of us have any desire to stray from our women,” Sean said.
“Pussies.”
No women, and no Troy, either, Sean thought, smiling.
It was Troy’s last shift at Station One because the ladder crew’s regular firefighter paramedic, Rick “Maddog” Madsen, was back from Afghanistan and would be returning to work for their next scheduled shift.
No one was sad to see Troy go.
“Any word on Nate Halstead?” Sean asked Tom. His fellow engineer was on light duty in the city’s fire prevention office after his shoulder injury and no one had been temped in the spot yet.
“It’s not good,” Tom said from the kitchen table. “He needs surgery, and it’ll be at least a year before he’s back on the truck.”
“Poor guy,” Sean said. He knew from his hockey injury how much an injury could derail a person’s entire life. “Who’re they gonna temp?”
Not Troy, he prayed. He didn’t want his good mood ruined.
“It’s been a while since there was an engineer’s test, so there’s really no one available. Chief Moran said they’re actually looking to bring someone in from outside. I guess Chief’s sister-in-law is a fire captain down in Nashville and her engineer expressed an interest.”
There was shuffling in the kitchen as the eight firefighters loaded their plates. When Sean dug into his stack of pancakes, he remembered when he’d made them for Annabelle, three months ago after their first night together. He smiled to himself and brought out his phone to text her.
Thinking of you, my beautiful nerd-brain. I know you’ll do great. I love you.
Later that morning, Annabelle would defend her dissertation in front of three professors, including Peter Eubanks. If she passed—when she passed—she’d be an official PhD. Although it wasn’t customary to pre-offer professorship spots, Sean had been taken aside by Linda at one of her most recent dinners, and she’d drunkenly confided that the Alaska State University Department of Glaciology would do just about anything to keep Annabelle there.
That was good news for Sean. He liked Golden Falls, he liked his career, and he wanted to stay here, although he would have moved for Annabelle.
“What time are you leaving today, Sean?” Jack asked.
“Two o’clock.” He was taking the afternoon off, and the rest of the shift, to be with Annabelle. He had plans for her that night. He felt a tight anticipation in his chest, the same nervous-excited feeling he used to get before a big hockey game.
Jack and Josh Barnes shared a knowing smirk, which wasn’t lost on Sean. The guys were pretty perceptive, since they all lived together for days at a time, and firefighters were great purveyors of gossip. He would be surprised if his plans weren’t already known by the rest of his buddies . . . but it was also guy code not to butt in to others’ relationships unless invited to do so. Uncharacteristically, Sean was feeling private about this thing, and given all the hurdles that he and Annabelle had faced, he didn’t want to jinx it by talking too much.
As the ladder crew was washing the dishes, the engine got a call for someone at the nursing home with chest pain. For once Sean didn’t mind if they were busy all morning—it would make the time go faster, the time until he could see Annabelle.
Annabelle adjusted her suit jacket, took a deep breath, and reminded herself that her research was strong. More than strong: it was impeccable and cutting edge, as far as the glaciology field was concerned. Besides, this wasn’t speaking to a crowd, this was a small committee, one of whom was Peter. He knew her research and he knew it was rock-solid. The only spectators would be her fellow glaciology students.
Still, she took out her wallet and opened it. In one of the photo slots was a pressed, dried flower, a forget-me-not. A few weeks ago she and Sean had gone walking in the hills and picnicked in a meadow with the Nanook Valley spread before them and Denali in the distance.
Annabelle had told him how much she hated public speaking or anything like it. “I freeze up, I feel like I can’t articulate what I really want to say. I’m fine defending my dissertation, I know my stuff like the back of my hand. But what if I choke when I’m up there?”
“Performance anxiety is normal,” Sean had said. “A little bit is even healthy. We just need to find some techniques to help you through the worst of it. Once you get going, you’ll be fine. Here, stand up. Pretend I’m the committee. Rehearse your introduction. The more times you do it, the easier it’ll be to swing into it for real—it’ll be just one more time of many.”
Annabelle had. It was easy standing there, alone in the meadow with Sean, amongst the wildflowers and the fresh summer green, a little buzzed from their lunch wine. She gave her introduction three times with no hiccups.
“That was perfect,” Sean said. “So all you need to do is remember this and pretend you’re back here with me.” He stood, looked around, and leaned over to pick a flower.
A forget-me-not, of course, and Annabelle had smiled widely.
“Keep this flower with you to remember,” Sean said. He put it in her hand and kissed her.
She’d placed the flower in an empty container to be preserved later, and then they’d laid on the picnic blanket and kept kissing and made love right there in the meadow.
Waiting in the hall outside the auditorium, Annabelle brushed her fingers against the plastic sleeve. You can do this. Imagine it’s just Sean listening to you.
The door opened and Peter stuck his head out. “Annabelle? We’re ready when you are.”
She stood. “I’m ready.”
Sean showered and dressed at the station and only stopped off at home to pick up a few things on his way to meet Annabelle. He felt edgy and tense as an awful possibility had occurred to him. What if Annabelle didn’t pass? Or what if she was asked to do large revisions, extending the length of her PhD by a year or more? If either of those things happened, she would be upset, maybe crying . . . in other words, not in the mood for a romantic celebration.
He checked his phone. No word yet. He would be picking her up at the auditorium. It must be close to done.
“See you later, Samwise,” he called to the cat.
Twenty minutes’ drive later, he parked at the campus. Birds were singing and flowers were in bloom everywhere. It was hard to feel anything other than cheerful, but the lack of word from Annabelle had Sean worried. He entered the building and found his way to the auditorium. Just as he was about to go in, the door opened.
It was Annabelle, and she was beaming.
Sean stopped. “Did you—?”
“I passed!” She stepped forward and flung herself into his arms. The sexy, clean, cold-vanilla scent of her gave him a jolt, as always. “I passed with no revisions. Can you believe it? They said it’s the first dissertation they’ve had in years that didn’t require revisions.”
Sean laughed. “If anyone could do that, it’s you. I’m so proud of you. Congratulations, gorgeous.” He pulled back so he could kiss her. “So now it’s official? You’re Dr. Annabelle Keith?”
“Well, I have to be awarded the degree, technically. But yes!”
“It’s a happy day,” Sean said. “Come on. Let’s make it happier. I have a celebration planned for us.”
They emerged into the late afternoon sunshine. Sean walked them to his truck and he opened the door for Annabelle. When he started the engine and turned on the sound system, a song came on that made Annabelle exclaim.
Forget Me Not (Golden Falls Fire Book 4) Page 24
