“I imagine so,” Hannah had that same wry grin as her brother. Seeing it, I blinked back tears. “Though having the Maddox boys beat him up seems kind of redundant right now.”
I nodded again, barely looking up when Vaughn and Evan slipped back into the room.
“How about you, shrimp? You doing all right?” Vaughn finally said. “What’s-her-name said you would be, but it was harder than hell to ride out of here before you came around.”
“I’m fine,” I assured him. “We’re fine.”
“Oh, hell.” Vaughn shook his head, his black hair tumbling around his shoulders. “I still don’t even want to contemplate that. I mean we all knew you two had something going—”
“You did?” I should have known we couldn’t keep it a secret in a family of psychics and men who used scent as a targeting sense.
“Yeah,” Hannah agreed. “Ever since the wedding, the tension between you two has been different.”
“I’m not going to even ask why you got involved in an operation, given the circumstances,” Evan growled. “But it looks like Guardian now has a full-time profiler who isn’t allowed out of the office.”
“Yeah.” I didn’t care about any of that, as long as Will survived.
His hand shifted, touching mine. When his fingers curled around mine, I let them, grateful for both the touch and that one small sign of life.
I don’t know how long passed. Charlie and the other men returned and filled everyone in on the arrest of the three kingpins. Someone stuck a bottle of water in my hand and I drank it. Vaughn, Evan, and Hannah moved in and out of the room, and at one point, Hope stepped in and made me eat a bowl of posole, a thick soup with shredded pork, beans, and hominy, along with a couple fresh tortillas. She checked Will again, and I saw some of his wounds actually close under her fingertips. By the time she was done, he was still pretty messed up, but it was all on the surface. His complexion was back to normal, and his rest appeared to be a natural slumber. Hope, on the other hand, was ashen, her face tightly drawn.
“Sit down before you fall,” Vaughn snapped as she stood and swayed. He moved to intercept her on the way to the door.
“I will,” she spit back. She turned to Hannah and me with a wan smile. “He should sleep through the night. If you can bandage up the superficial wounds, I can deal with them in the morning. Charlie’s guys are doing the same for Nick.”
“Got it covered,” Hannah assured her. “Anything else I can do to help?”
“Keep all these he-men from killing each other while I crash?” She stepped shakily to the door, and didn’t even protest when Vaughn picked her up halfway there. “Goodnight, everyone.” She laid her head on his chest and let him carry her from the room.
“Well, we’re going to go get some sleep too,” Hannah told me, after she and Evan finished covering the cuts on Will’s skin. “We claimed the pull-out couch in the living room. Come get us if you need us.”
“Try and get some sleep yourself,” Evan added. He gave me a one armed hug. “See you in the morning.”
“I will,” I answered. If I could.
After I turned the light off, I crawled into bed beside Will, moving as cautiously as I could. No way would I be able to sleep anywhere else, and he seemed to gain some comfort from touching me. If I stayed away too long, his hand would begin to move restlessly until he found mine.
It was over, I reminded myself as I lay there shaking and trying not to sob out loud. The horror of the day was finally over, and we’d all survived. Once I was through crying, I finally fell into an exhausted slumber.
I woke this time, knowing exactly where I was. Will was pressed up against my back, his arms were around me and his lips were nibbling my ear. “Wake up, beautiful.”
I rolled over to look at him. “Will! You’re awake.”
“Observant, isn’t she? How are you, sweetheart?” He leaned up on one arm and ran his other hand over my face and down my side. “A few hours after you left me, I felt…something awful. But Hope says everything is okay.”
“When did you talk to Hope?” I scrunched up against the pillows, so I wasn’t flat on my back. A quick look at his shoulders and chest showed nothing but pink, healing tissue. Apparently Hope had also finished the job.
“She was in here about an hour ago. You slept right through it, but she caught me up a little bit.” A spasm of pain crossed his face before he turned it away. “I heard one of Charlie’s men was killed.”
“You know it can happen in this line of work,” I reminded him. “Even if we hadn’t been captured, they’d have had to go in and take down the bad guys sooner or later.”
“I know.” He sighed, then turned back to examine me. “But you’re okay, and so is the baby, right?”
“Thanks to Hope. It was pretty close, I think.” I didn’t even like remembering that moment of fear when I felt the bleeding start.
“I could feel your pain,” he said. “Then it just went blank. I was terrified.” He reached up to his neck and took my raven necklace off, then put it back on me. “You know I’m going to lock you in a tower for the next eight months, right? Maybe longer.”
“Only if I get to do the same. You felt something, but I saw you when Evan carried you in here yesterday. That’s not a moment I’m going to forget either.”
“I know.” He smoothed my hair, leaned over to kiss my lips. “I love you, Carys. I didn’t even know how much until I thought my nightmare was coming true. I don’t want to live the rest of my life without you.”
“I love you, too. And the same goes.” I sniffled back a sob.
“Carys Branwen Maddox, will you marry me? Not because of the baby—though that’s a bonus—but just so we can spend our lives together?” His eyes glittered as they gazed into mine.
“Of course I will.” I launched myself into his arms and we held each other tight. “You really don’t mind about the baby?”
“Not a bit,” he whispered into my ear. “You think she’ll be a shifter or a psychic?”
“She? Is that just a guess, or do you know something you’re not telling me? And I have no idea about the other. Maybe both. Wouldn’t that be fun to try to keep up with?”
“Just a guess. No visions, no real preference. Just more love than I ever knew existed.”
Epilogue
We kept the wedding small, opting for quick rather than big. Both our families were there, of course, along with Hope and Charlie Rivera, and a few other friends and colleagues. We held the ceremony on the beach at Big Sur, with the wind blowing and the sun shining, then booked a banquet room at a seaside restaurant for the reception. Honestly I didn’t care where we tied the knot, as long as we got it done before Will took off on another assignment. His wounds had all been healed before we left San Alonzo, but it had taken him a week or so to get back in top condition. We’d both taken several days off, and once we’d gotten back to San Francisco, we’d spent most of that long weekend in bed.
Now it was three weeks later, and after a short reception, we waved goodbye to our families and friends and took off for a week on the beach—this time in Monterey. Neither of us felt like flying anywhere again. After we arrived at our hotel, Will carried me over the threshold into our suite and we fell together onto the bed, ignoring our luggage, the cold non-alcoholic champagne, and even the gorgeous sunset we could see through the French doors to our balcony.
His kiss was deep and sweet, but full of all the same hunger and desire I was feeling for him. Our families had kept us apart last night, and the last two days had been so busy we’d barely seen each other.
“I love you, wife,” he said when we stopped to breathe. His green eyes glittered like dew-covered leaves as he looked down at me.
“Love you back, husband.” I smiled up at him and ran one finger along his cheek. “Now why do we have so many clothes on?”
“A very good question, Mrs. Lightfoot.” He untied the straps of the halter-top sundress I’d changed into for the drive, then low
ered the fabric to my waist. “Mmm. The brochure was right. The view in here is incredible.”
“Couldn’t agree more.” Mostly because I’d just finished unbuttoning his Hawaiian print shirt and pushing it off his shoulders. He had a few thin scars from his stab wounds in San Alonzo, but they didn’t detract from the masculine beauty of his smooth, sculpted chest. Playfully, I leaned up and nipped his shoulder. “Hurry up.”
“Fine.” He laughed, scooping me up off the bed and over one shoulder while he pulled down the covers. Then he dumped me back on the bed, peeling off my dress and panties as he went—though he did take just a moment to admire the white lace thong before he removed it. Finally, he slipped my sandals off my feet. Once I was sprawled naked on the sheets, he stepped back and made quick work of his jeans and sneakers.
I licked my lips at the sight of my warrior, so strong and proud, beside the bed. He stepped up slowly, the confident swagger of a predator claiming his mate. His cock thrust forward, hard and ready, and I spread my legs farther, already wet and craving him.
“You’re finally mine,” he said, as he knelt between my legs. He kissed me hard, then trailed his lips down to my breasts. His tongue laved each one until the peaks were hard and aching. They were starting to get bigger, and were so sensitive now, I nearly came.
“I’ve always been yours,” I said breathily. “You just took a while to figure it out.”
“Yeah, I’m a little slow like that,” he said. He took one hand and used it to rub the tip of his penis around my pussy, coating it in my cream and teasing the swollen folds.
“Slow can be good,” I said, lifting my hips to meet him. I wanted his length inside me more than I wanted to breathe. “But fast can be fun too.”
“You want it fast?” He straightened his spine to kiss me on the mouth again. The cool air on my wet nipples made them tingle. “I can give it to you any way you like.” His cock prodded at my entrance.
“Just give it to me then,” I demanded. “Soft and slow, hard and fast, it doesn’t matter…” I broke off and gasped as he filled me, sliding easily into my wet heat. My walls clutched at him, drawing him deeper. “Just as long as it’s you.”
“Always,” he promised as he began to move.
I smiled up at him, canting my hips to meet his thrusts. “Yes, my love. Always.”
.
About the Author
Cindy Spencer Pape has been, among other things, a banker, a teacher, and an elected politician, though she swears she got better. She does volunteer work in environmental education, when she can fit it in around writing. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two teenage sons, a dog, and a lizard, both of which are easier to clean up after than the three male humans.
Email: [email protected]
Cindy loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at www.total-e-bound.com.
Also by Cindy Spencer Pape
Guardian Investigations: Heart of the Bear
Brits in Time: Georgie and the Dragon
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