Darius’s scowl deepened.
Gabe snorted a laugh.
“May we live in interesting times,” Austin saluted her with a shrimp pinched in his chopsticks.
Rest had finished eating and sat with his arm along the back of Donna’s chair. His thumb idly caressed the nape of her neck.
She put down the fortune cookie she’d been crumbling, wiped her fingers and touched his knee. “Time to go home?”
Emotion deepened the brown of his eyes, the lines at their corners showing the strain of the day. Kelly-Ann had healed Donna and she felt as good as new. Rest was exhausted from worrying for her. The tension in his posture lessened at her question. “I’d like to get you home.” Safe, he meant.
“I’ll dash upstairs and say good-bye to Viola and Larry.”
The other three guys concentrated on finishing their meal while Rest started to clean up.
The Nob Hill mansion was stunning, but the desert ranch was home. Donna felt the release of stress she hadn’t realized she carried when they stepped out of the portal into the quiet desert night. The old ranch house was dark. For her and Rest, it didn’t matter. They walked around it, over the low hill, and there was the new house, also dark, but theirs.
While she’d been being kidnapped in San Francisco, Rest and the team had collected the furniture she’d ordered for the master bedroom and living room. Now, when she and Rest walked through the kitchen and into the living room, the high-ceilinged space welcomed them with large leather sofas and armchairs placed to face the fireplace, but also to allow comfortable viewing of the television. The cushions she’d chosen in the colors of the Navajo rugs on the floor lay scattered on the sofas and window seat.
“Home.” She turned and walked into Rest’s arms.
He locked her to him, finally able to release his emotions. “I’m not good enough for you. Olafur should never have been able to kidnap you. I failed to protect you, my heart.”
“My heart.” Tears threatened as she repeated his beautiful endearment. “I like that. You’re my heart, too.”
He wasn’t feeling romantic. “I failed you, Donna. I can’t keep you safe as someone like Darius could.”
“Loving me isn’t about keeping me safe. It’s about loving me.” That wasn’t the most coherent answer she’d ever given. She growled, hurting for the pain and self-recrimination in his eyes, and her inability to fix it with words. She kissed him. “You are everything to me. You. And you did save me. You came for me. You brought your team—”
“Our team. You’re one of us. The guys all tried to find you.”
She smiled in a wobbly manner. “Our team. That’s all the magic I want. For things to be ours. You and me, together.”
He pressed his mouth to hers, kissing her with a fierceness that blended devotion and promise, and sheer relief.
“Make love to me, Rest.” She led him into the master bedroom. The air mattress they’d shared was gone. A big, oak bed and matching furniture filled the room. The bed was what mattered. Rest had even made it before he’d heard of her kidnapping and rushed to rescue her. The corners of a wine-red blanket were tucked in with military precision.
He flung back the blanket and the sheet beneath it, as Donna undressed. With quick movements, he caught up with her, till they were both naked in the dim lighting from the moonlight that shone in through the large window and the light that spilled from the hallway.
“I was so scared.” He held her hands, pulling her with him as he fell backwards onto the bed.
She bounced and jostled, and it wasn’t actually that comfortable, but settling over him, feeling the excited beat of his heart and the hard strength of his body, that was like coming home. Her true home. “You were probably more scared than me.” She kissed his jaw, the corner of his mouth.
His hands moved up and down her body, caressing her and reassuring him that she was safe and whole, unhurt.
“I wasn’t awake long on Alcatraz before you arrived.” She rolled over, tugging at him to follow. “Enough talking. I want your weight.”
“You want to be squashed?” The beginnings of a smile lifted the corners of his mouth.
“Only by you,” she teased. Then sighed as he fitted himself to her.
Their foreplay built slowly, both of them holding back so that they could have more contact, enjoy more of one another. Until holding back was no longer possible.
When Rest joined with her, that was the perfect moment. And it only got better as the rhythm of loving drove them together. Every beautiful, powerful movement of Rest’s body drew her into answering urgency. He compelled the joy in her. Just as the look in his eyes—pure love—bound her heart and soul to him.
Her orgasm shattered her, splintering her apart with the words of love on her lips, so that she shouted them. “I love you!”
Her words and her climax triggered his, and that was perfect, too. He was hers, forever. All mine, she thought dreamily.
“I love you.” He cuddled her close.
Thank goodness the desert cooled enough at night that he could. She loved snuggling with him. She loved everything about being with Rest.
In the morning, she woke to find him gone. Since she could smell coffee, he couldn’t be far away. She pulled on a white cotton dress, chosen because it would be lovely and cool when the day heated up. For now, just past dawn, she wrapped a charcoal-gray shawl around her shoulders before going in search of Rest.
He stood in front of the house, studying it. He smiled when he saw her and came to meet her, so that he caught her in a coffee-flavored kiss on the veranda.
“Admiring your castle?” she teased him, and curved her hand around his, guiding his coffee mug to her lips to steal a sip.
“I was thinking that I built it for you.”
She stared up at him, stunned by the quiet certainty in his voice.
“You’re the seer,” he continued. “But my hands knew what they were building. A home to shelter the woman I love and our children, one day. A place where we will welcome friends and offer sanctuary to those who need it. Our home.”
She put her arm around his waist, leaning into him as he held her close against his heart.
They didn’t know who had ordered the hit on Paul Webb or who terrified General Olafur. Maybe it was Gerald Svenson, as she believed. Maybe it was a different enemy. It didn’t matter, not for them, not now. People like Darius and Olga would pursue the question. Those two were guardians, driven by the need for justice. Donna understood it, but she had a far more important purpose in life: loving Rest.
“Thank you for building our home,” she said huskily, and kissed him. Today was the beginning of their forever.
Want More?
I’m glad you enjoyed Desert Devil. Although it’s a stand-alone read, it sits fifth of seven books in the Old School series that I’m writing in 2017. Darius and Olga’s romance will be the focus of the last book in the series, Shangri-La Spell. And yes, I’m evil, making you wait for it. But Effie and Angelo in Amaranthine Kiss are something special. Two dedicated doctors facing an impossible medical and magical mystery.
Phoenix Blood
Fantastical Island
Storm Road
Fire Fall
Desert Devil
Amaranthine Kiss
Shangri-La Spell
If you haven’t already discovered it, don’t miss my complete paranormal romance series, The Collegium. Magic, mystery, shifters and demons.
Demon Hunter
Djinn Justice
Dragon Knight
Doctor Wolf
Plague Cult
Hollywood Demon
Alchemy Shift
Catch up with me on my Facebook page, Twitter @Jenny_Schwartz, or at my website.
Jenny
rom.Net
Desert Devil (Old School Book 5) Page 19
