Collide (Talon Security Series Book 3)

by Megan O'Brien

  She smiled at her son, love emanating from her in a way only a parent could express. “Yeah, honey. I love you so much, Hud.”

  “Love you, Mommy.” He sighed sleepily.

  “Love you, little man,” Sid added, reaching his hand up to cup the back of his son’s head.

  “Love you, too, Daddy.”

  “Good luck,” I mouthed to Sam with a wink, shifting Hudson’s weight in my arms.

  “Let me take him, sweetheart,” Theo coaxed, lifting Hudson gently out of my arms and situating him on his shoulder.

  “Do you want me to stay?” Danny asked when she’d returned with a nurse and a wheelchair for Sam.

  Sam looked to Sid with a smile. “No, I think we’ve got it. Right, baby?”

  Sid cupped her cheek, his ardent gaze locked on his wife. “We’ve got it,” he confirmed.

  I grinned, looking up at Theo, thinking of the day when we’d start our own family. Where he’d look at me with a mixture of panic and awe as we brought a new life into the world.

  “You thinking about poopy diapers?” He winked with a grin.

  “Something like that,” I agreed softly.

  He wrapped his free arm around me, kissing my temple. “Me too, baby. Me too.”

  ****

  “I think right here, don’t you?” I asked Theo with a smile. It was five days later as we stood in the middle of my parents’ pasture. “We could erect a big tent, face it toward the mountains.”

  “Sounds good,” he agreed, just as easily as he had with every other detail I’d suggested.

  When I’d pushed him on it, he’d explained he just wanted to marry me; the details were just that. Details.

  It was fitting that we’d returned to Munro so soon after the event with Mitch Weston. It was where we’d put the wheels in motion to end my multiyear nightmare. Now, we could return here to enjoy the planning of our future.

  After digging into Weston’s alibi which had shown him to be out of the country at the time of Jess’s murder, it came to light that he’d chartered a private jet paying handsomely to stay off the radar so that he could fly in and then back out in order to complete his gruesome ordeal. Several people would be doing time for aiding in the cover up.

  “Dinner!” my mom called from the house.

  Theo groaned, clutching his stomach. “Babe, I swear, I don’t know if I can do it.”

  I laughed, pressing a hand against his taut stomach. “You could just not eat everything she gives you,” I pointed out dryly.

  My mom always piled his plate especially high.

  “Impossible.” He shook his head as though I was daft for even suggesting it.

  I shook my head at him as we made our way back toward the house.

  “Did you see the latest text Sam sent through?” I asked with a smile. They’d been discharged from the hospital two days ago with baby Lucas. She’d been sharing lots of pictures of her boys. I’d only been able to hold Lucas briefly when we’d visited the hospital before leaving for Montana. I couldn’t wait to get my arms around him again.

  “Teo! Auntie Sawah!” Owen cried as we stepped up onto the porch.

  I nudged Theo. “Soon to be Uncle Theo.”

  Theo grinned, bending to scoop Owen up in his arms. “What do you say, bud? Ready for dinner?”

  “Yes!” Owen cried eagerly.

  “We are just so thrilled you’re getting married here,” my mother tittered as we found our seats around the dining table.

  “Yes, Mom. You’ve said,” I replied, suppressing a smile. She’d made the same comment at least ten times.

  “Well, you know Mom.” Charlotte smirked. “Enthusiasm really isn’t her thing.”

  “You girls,” Mom scolded our sarcasm. “We’re just so relieved that awful man was put away along with his son. Now our girl can move on in peace.” She looked at me, her eyes shining with love and relief.

  Theo wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me in to kiss my temple.

  “Hopefully that moving on includes grandbabies,” she added.

  “There it is,” I replied wryly.

  Theo suppressed a chuckle, barely. “We’ll do our best, June,” he assured her with a grin.

  I smacked him lightly on the arm, blushing profusely.

  “We’ll need more space, a yard,” he mused, and I looked at him in surprise. I hadn’t realized he’d been even thinking about that. “Room for you all to come visit.” He looked at my parents before his eyes turned to Charlotte. “And for you and Owen to come and stay as long as you like.”

  His invitation had tears burning my eyes. He knew I wanted that. We’d never talked about it openly, but he knew it.

  Charlotte was fighting emotion as well as she blinked rapidly. “Thanks, Theo.”

  “Anytime. Family is always welcome.”

  After stuffing ourselves to the gills, Theo and I sat out on the porch swing. I pushed us gently with my toes as we stared out into the expansive darkness.

  “I think we should buy a place out here someday,” Theo mused.

  “Oh yeah?” I looked at him. “You’re just full of surprises today.”

  He pulled me closer as I continued to propel us in a gentle motion. “It’s nice to get out of LA every now and then,” he said. “I want our kids to have that.”

  “Me too,” I agreed with a grin. “Speaking of which, I have a secret,” I confided.

  He looked over at me with a raised brow.

  “I stopped taking my pills a few weeks ago. Figured we’d get a head start.” I shrugged.

  He was up with me in his arms so fast the swing hit the side of the house. “Babe, careful.” I laughed as he moved purposefully toward the front door. “My parents are probably still up,” I hissed.

  “Don’t care.” He shook his head as he carried me back to the guest room. “You just told me I have a shot of putting my baby in you. Not passing that up.”

  “It will probably take a bit longer before we could really try,” I warned him. “More like a month being off them.”

  “I have strong swimmers,” he assured me, dropping me to my feet only to close the door quietly behind him.

  “You can’t possibly know that,” I teased as he backed me toward the bed.

  “Oh, I know,” he assured me, whipping my dress up over my head. His shirt soon followed, and I eyed his muscular chest hungrily.

  “You’re everything I ever wanted, Sarah,” he murmured, his callused hands warming my skin as he slipped my bra off. “More than I could have imagined.”

  I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “You made my dreams come true.”

  He shook his head. “Maybe some of them. The rest, I’ll work my whole life to give to you.”

  I didn’t argue, knowing he wouldn’t believe me. But he already had. Because those dreams, they were our life together. No matter what it amounted to, no matter what obstacles we faced. As long as I had him, I was done dreaming.

  Instead, I was living.

  Epilogue

  “Babe, you keep holding her like that she’s going to barf,” Sarah warned as she walked into the living room, watching as I carried our two-year-old daughter upside down over my shoulder.

  Fiona was giggling in delight, and Sarah’s gorgeous face warmed watching the two of us. “It’s your shirt.” She shrugged as though it was all the same to her. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d been barfed on and I knew it wouldn’t be the last.

  I righted Fiona, her wild brown hair in disarray as I set her on her feet, making sure she was steady before I let her go. I stepped close to my wife and pulled her into my arms. “You sleep?” She’d gone to take a nap a few hours ago.

  “Some,” she assured me.

  At six months pregnant, she was exhausted. She insisted on keeping up her schedule at Talon, and with Fiona being a handful, it was taking its toll.

  “You sure you want to fly?” I asked, not for the first time. We were due to fly out to Munro in two days. We’d bought the
cabin that sat alongside her parents’ property. The renovations were nearly done, but we’d be staying with the Scotts for this one last visit before we could stay at the new place.

  Though June was thrilled we’d be so close, I knew she relished having us all under her roof. Over the years, Munro had become a home away from home. We visited whenever we could.

  “I’m sure,” she replied, a smile tugging at her gorgeous mouth. I knew I was overprotective. She secretly liked it, most of the time anyway.

  I splayed my hand over her rounded belly. “How’s my boy doing today?”

  “Active as ever.” She smiled, putting her hand over mine. “Going to keep us busy like his sister.”

  We turned to watch as Fiona attempted to scale the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs.

  Sarah groaned, but I just looked on with pride. My girl was a little warrior. Tough as nails but sweet as hell. How I got so goddamned lucky, I’d never know.

  “You think one more?” I asked with a raised brow. Hell, I’d have ten more kids with her if she’d let me.

  She snorted. “Why don’t you ask me when I can see my feet again.”

  I took her mouth in a leisurely kiss. “You’re gorgeous.”

  And she was. If it was possible, Sarah got more beautiful every day. There was just something about her body full and round with my baby that turned me the hell on. I could barely keep my hands off her.

  “Maybe we can get Fee to take a nap,” I murmured against her lips, reaching behind her to squeeze her amazing ass.

  “Maybe,” she agreed breathlessly. “Sam, Sid, and the kids are coming for dinner,” she reminded me.

  “We have plenty of time.” I grinned, still holding her close.

  And we did.

  The last few years, we’d relished the time we had. We lived in the moment and dreamed of the future.

  Part of that future had always included Munro.

  I knew Sarah liked living in Los Angeles, but part of her yearned for big sky country. Our buying property there was just the first step toward that reality.

  Someday, when I retired, we’d make a permanent home there. For now, our situation worked for us. We had her family in Munro, and here in LA we had about as close to family as friends could get. The team had grown over the years as babies were born and new relationships formed.

  I loved my life.

  “If you can get her down, meet me in the bedroom,” she murmured against my mouth before stepping back. She stopped to kiss our daughter lovingly before looking over her shoulder at me, her gaze hooded. I watched her hips sway as she left the room, and bit back a groan.

  I looked over at my sweet little cock blocker. “Come on, Fee, let’s take a nap,” I coaxed, praying my daughter would comply.

  I needed to be inside my wife.

  After twenty minutes, two bribes, and a song, Fee’s eyes finally slid shut. I left the room as soundlessly as possible, my body already hardening in anticipation.

  I found Sarah in a bra and panties, her gorgeous belly on display, waiting for me in our bed.

  “Christ. You only get more beautiful,” I rumbled, pulling my shirt over my head.

  Her brown eyes slid over my body in appreciation, her expression saying everything without words.

  “Not in the mood for gentle,” I warned.

  “Me either,” she whispered, biting her full lower lip that I always wanted to sink my teeth into.

  That was my girl, always ready to take what I gave her. Ready to stand by me even when I knew she was worried, especially when I traveled overseas. She knew I loved what I did just as much as she knew I’d always choose her above all else.

  Always.

  ~The End~

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