by Susan Hayes
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again.”
He blinked at her. “Of course you are. Why the hell wouldn’t you?”
She looked up at him with red, swollen eyes. “Because I’m not cut out for a life of adventure. I wanted to be, but I’m not. And that’s the kind of woman you need. Plus, I need to hide for a while, and we both know running and hiding isn’t your style.”
He chuckled, the sound almost lost in the din of the engine noise, but she felt the comforting rumble from deep inside his chest. “Bullshit. From where I’m sitting, you and I just survived an epic adventure.”
“No, we ran from a group of assholes who wanted to put us in cages. It wasn’t an adventure, it was a nightmare.”
“Ah.” He wiped her tears from her cheeks and cuddled her closer. “I see the problem. I’ve got news for you, sweetheart. Every grand saga and exploit you’ve ever heard was a fucking nightmare to the ones experiencing it. I think it’s like childbirth. At the time it’s happening, it’s all pain, screaming, and solemn vows to never do it again. After it’s all over, we gloss over those bits. Time passes, the memory fades, and we end up going off to find trouble all over again.”
She shook her head. “I’m never going to want to find this kind of trouble again.”
“Care to make a bet on that?” His cocky smile was almost enough to make her laugh.
“You really think so?”
“I do.”
“And what if I have to disappear for a while?”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Don’t borrow trouble. We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.”
“Right.” Some of the sadness left her, and the tight bands around her chest loosened up enough that she could breathe easier. She laid her head on Sergei’s shoulder and closed her eyes, just for a few seconds.
She woke up when they landed, the bump shaking her awake. How the hell had she fallen asleep in all that noise?
“Cat naps are the best naps,” Sergei declared as he yawned and stretched.
“You, too?” If Sergei had also been asleep, she could stop feeling like the weakest link.
“Out like a light,” he admitted without a trace of shame. Then he stood with her still in his arms and made for the door.
“I can walk.”
“Yes, you can.”
“I mean right now. Put me down.”
“I think we’ve had this conversation before. Remind me, how did that go for you?”
She huffed. “You got bossy and wouldn’t listen.”
“Yeah. That’s kind of my thing. I thought you’d realized that by now.”
“So, you’re not putting me down?”
He grinned, tightened his grip on her, and jumped from the chopper to the ground with an annoying amount of grace and style. “Nope.”
“Stubborn cat.”
“Glorious gothicus. Smile, we have company.”
She’d been focused on their conversation and hadn’t paid attention to anything else, like the gathering of cadets, instructors, and staff waiting for them on the snow-streaked lawn. As she looked up in shock, they started to cheer, led by the distinctive figure of the Director herself. By her side were some familiar faces: Annie, Danny, Pete, and Janice.
Relief hit her hard. Miranda had said they were all okay, but now she could see for herself.
“You made it!” Annie rushed forward. “We’ve been so worried.”
“Indeed we have.” Alyce shot the overeager bear an imperious look, and Annie took a quick step back. “Anything I need to know?”
Sergei didn't answer the question. Instead, he asked two of his own. “Did Miranda and the others find the mercs? Who are they working for?”
“Yes, and that’s classified,” Cooper replied.
Sergei growled. “Then you better find a way to declassify it for Tabi and me, soon.”
The director’s mouth twitched in the faintest trace of a smile. “I’ll take that under advisement. Now, is there anything I should know about?”
“Yeah. They were SCUMBAGs, and they’ve been watching this place waiting for Tabi to leave. You might want to up your security a bit, Director Cooper. All is not as quiet as it seems, and someone is trying to abduct one of your employees.”
Alyce bared her teeth. “Not on my watch. Ms. Willows was the focus of this attack?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tabi interjected. “They kept referring to me as the primary target.”
Everyone in earshot quieted at that bit of news.
“You were close enough to hear them talking?”
Sergei raised his voice so everyone could hear him. “Tabi saved my tail out there. If it weren’t for her shifting into battle-corn mode, I’d be in a cage somewhere right now.”
His words made Tabi blush with embarrassment and pride.
“Battle-corn? That’s good.” Janice nodded. “Way better than Stab… well, you know.”
“I think so, too.” She flashed the coyote shifter a grateful smile. “How are Joshua and Guy?”
Janice’s lips thinned. “Fully recovered, and no longer attending the academy. I think Josh is actually happy about it. He never really wanted to be an agent. That was his father’s idea. Guy…” Janice shrugged. “He’s happy to follow Josh wherever.”
“But you’re staying?”
The girl beamed. “I’m staying.”
Director Cooper cleared her throat. “Anything else?”
Tabi shook her head, but Sergei had more to say.
“Just one thing.” He raised his voice even louder. “This is a public service announcement. Tabi is my mate. Anyone who has an issue with her, has an issue with me. If she doesn’t kick your ass, I will.”
Joy and embarrassement went to war inside her head, and after a messy battle, joy won…and was immediately joined by a jolt of outrage as she realized he’d skipped a key step. She poked him in the chest, nearly bruising her finger in the process. “Hey! You haven’t asked me yet, you pushy, arrogant feline!”
“Would that change the answer?” he retorted.
“Well, no. But dammit, you should have asked.”
Alyce’s brows rose almost to her hairline. “So, you’ll be leaving us, then, Ms. Willows?”
Once again, Sergei answered before she could. “That’s up to Tabi, but I don’t think it will be necessary. Director Cooper, would you still be interested in having a survival trainer on staff?”
“I… well… certainly.”
“Great. Then we can talk about my contract tomorrow. I’ve got a few ideas I want to run by you.”
It made her feel marginally better to note that he didn’t wait for the director to answer. He swept past everyone like a king dismissing his court.
“You’re staying? Here?”
“Looks that way.”
“When did you decide all this?”
“I’ve been thinking about it since last night, but honestly, it all sort of came to me just now.” As he looked at her, his expression showed a hint of doubt. “If it’s okay with you, I mean. And if we have to go into protection for a while, I’m good with that.”
“But your show! And I thought you didn’t run from things?”
“My show is on hiatus until I figure out how to deal with MUFF, and we still need to figure out who's after you and how to stop it. That might take a while. So, for now, I thought I’d stay here and protect my mate.” He grinned. “You know, try a new kind of adventure.”
“Won’t you get bored?”
“Of this place, maybe. Of you? Never.” He stopped walking and kissed her, his mouth hard and demanding as he made love to her mouth with near indecent thoroughness. After a soul searing eternity, he moved his lips a scant distance from hers and whispered. “I love you.”
“Oh.” She mulled that over for a minute, almost afraid to say yes. He was offering her everything she’d always wanted, including a life with a man she’d dreamed about for years. It would be an adve
nture all right.
He was at the door to her room before she spoke again, and she could see he was agitated about her continued silence, but dammit, he’d sprung all of this on her, he could just wait a few minutes for her to think it over. “I… I love you too, Sergei. But what if I’m the one who gets bored and wants to do something new with my life? I mean, careerwise, not you.” She grinned a little. “You, I think I’ll keep.”
He carried her inside and kicked the door shut behind them. “Well I’m definitely keeping you, so that’s settled. As for what happens if you get bored? Then we’ll find something new for us both. I’ve had plenty of adventures already. I’d like to share some of yours.”
He lowered her to the ground, sliding her over every hard inch of his body on the way down, making her brain short circuit for a moment.
“Can you put that in the form of a question, please?” She asked when her mouth reconnected to her brain.
He took her hand and dropped to one knee in front of her, his ice-blue eyes gleaming. “Tabitha Willows, will you join me in a lifetime of adventure?”
Manes and tails, this was really happening. She squeezed his hand and nodded like a bobble-head doll in an earthquake. Her throat was too tight to speak for a few seconds, but eventually, she managed to squeak out a “Yes!”
He was on his feet in a flash, wrapping her in his arms and spinning her around until they were both laughing and breathless.
She had no idea what their future looked like, but that didn’t worry her. They were on the first page of a new adventure, the future unwritten except for five little words. They lived happily ever after.
Thank you for reading!
T
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About the Author
Susan lives out on the Canadian west coast surrounded by open water, dear family and good friends. She has jumped out of perfectly good airplanes on purpose and accidentally swum with sharks on the Great Barrier Reef. If the world ends, she plans to survive as the spunky, comedic sidekick to the heroes of the new world, because she’s too damned short and out of shape to make it on her own for long.
* * *
Writing is her joy, her escape from reality and the only way she knows of to quiet the nagging harridan of a muse the universe assigned to her.
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