by Ash Harlow
Oliver appeared behind me. “You can probably do your face painting when we get there.”
I grabbed him, and kissed him as a little flutter of joy beat in my stomach.
“Stop trying to make me have sex with you,” he said. “Everything is packed. We need to go.”
“I’m ready. Do you have the gifts for the twins?” I asked, following him to the door.
“Yes, and the gifts for Aurora and Orion so they don’t feel left out. You realize, Stella will have a fit. She doesn’t like the children being spoiled.”
“Pfft.” I waved my hand at him. “Technically, we’re godparents, so we can do what we like. Anyway, they’re educational toys, so Stellar won’t mind.”
“We’re not Aurora and Orion’s godparents.”
“Don’t be pedantic. Come on, Oliver, we’re going to miss the ceremony.”
Thankfully, it was a calm day for our boat trip over to Ahunui. The journey took only twenty minutes at the speed Oliver drove. Other boats were tied to the island’s small jetty, but we had the boat with wheels, so Oliver was able to motor up the sand.
I tapped him on the shoulder as we left the water. “Watch out for Stella’s birds. They nest around here.”
“Not at this time of the year, sweetheart.”
“Oh, right.” I seemed to have nesting and babies on the brain. It was autumn, of course the dotterels wouldn’t be nesting.
Today Stella and Reuben were having their naming ceremony for the twins, and Oliver and I had been chosen as their guardians. Carrying on their tradition of celestial names for their children, the twins were named after the twin stars in the Gemini constellation — Castor and Pollux, who would be known as Polly.
Reuben and Orion met us on the beach and walked us over to the recently finished guesthouse.
“It’s a day for christenings,” he joked. “You’re the first to stay here.”
“Reuben, it’s amazing.” Nestled into a huge rock, it was small, but with an open-plan design that made it spacious. The rock face made up one wall, and the outer cladding of local rocks made it cave-like on two sides. The other side wall could open completely in fine weather making you feel as though the foreshore was part of the living room.
We left our bags and Orion led us up to the main house. “We can go this way, but if Mommy sees, she’ll tell us off,” he said, pointing to a steep cliff face. “I think it’s faster that way, and even Aurora can climb it.”
“Surely not,” I said, my stomach flipping at the thought. I had no idea how parents watched their children doing dangerous things.
The group at the house was small. Some visiting musicians and Stella’s grandfather, Arthur, who also lived on the island. The babies were asleep together in a hammock and I sneaked over to peer at them while the others talked.
A lump rose in my throat. They were cuddled into one another, totally peaceful. Words like angelic and cherubic sprung to mind. Oliver came and stood beside me just as the babies stirred.
“I’ve looked at them too hard and woken them,” I whispered to Oliver.
His arm slipped around my shoulder. “They’re kind of amazing, aren’t they?”
One of them—I couldn’t tell them apart—reached out an arm, waved it around and when that batting hand touched its sibling, the fingers wrapped tight around the other’s thumb. The stirring stopped, and they slept quietly again.
I don’t think I’d ever seen anything so beautiful. Tears rushed to my eyes and I turned my head and wiped them on Oliver’s arm.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine. They’re just overwhelmingly cute.”
The naming ceremony was held outside, officiated by a large, bearded American musician named Mac, who sidelined as a celebrant, but looked more like a biker.
The twins woke on cue, giving Stella time to feed and change them, then came the moment when Oliver and I were handed the babies to carry outside.
Castor was handed to Oliver first who held him without the awkwardness you see in so many men when they’re first handed something so precious and small.
I stole a moment to watch Oliver gaze into the baby’s face. My heart squeezed, more tears threatening as I imagined what it would be like the day he held our own child for the first time.
Stella came to me with Polly. “This is Darcy, little Pollux. She’ll take care of you, and let you do things when Mommy and Daddy say no. She’s good, and wise, and she’s married to Oliver. Oliver will slay dragons for you and teach you to waterski.”
She placed the baby in my arms and I lifted her to my face, to smell her, before kissing her forehead.
“My god, Stella, she’s divine,” I said.
“Not at 2:00 a.m.,” she replied. “This one’s going to be a party girl. She likes being up at night. Castor is the placid one.”
We carried them outside, and the ceremony began.
“Hello, babies,” Mac rumbled.
Polly blinked at me as if surprised by his voice.
He then addressed the gathering. “We gather today to name these babies. To call a thing by name is to give it power, and so today we shall give these babies a gift. We will welcome them into our hearts and lives and bless them with names of their own.”
The babies’ names were spoken as he anointed their heads with scented oil, then we moved over to a spot where two large holes had been dug.
A kauri tree was planted in honor of each baby.
“Mine is the biggest,” Orion declared, pointing to the tree that had been planted in his honor a few years earlier.
The trees were settled into the prepared holes, along with the babies’ placentas, followed by each guest adding a shovel of dirt. Oliver and I got to cuddle the babies the entire time.
After the ceremony we ate a dinner of lobster and fish, all of which had been caught by the family. Arthur’s garden provided the vegetables. We ate outside around the fire pit. In the northern sky, the cloud broke apart and Castor and Pollux shone bright in the Gemini constellation.
“That’s a good omen,” Arthur said.
“For the babies?” I asked.
“No, for getting out fishing again tomorrow. Looks as though it will be a fine day.”
“Are you sure you won’t have a glass of wine?” Stella asked me.
“No, I’ll stick to water tonight.”
She bent down by my ear. “You don’t know how happy that makes me,” she whispered.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You haven’t told him yet?”
I shook my head.
She winked, pressing a finger to her lips, telling me my secret was safe.
I was tired, and when Oliver caught me yawning, he came over.
“Do you want to go to bed?” he asked.
I nodded. I was tired, and excited, and I wanted him alone.
OLIVER
We turned the soft lighting on in the guesthouse and I pulled Darcy down to lie on the bed with me. “You have no idea what that did to me today, watching you with a baby in your arms.”
“I think I had the same feeling watching you. Did it scare you, or make you happy?” she asked, stroking my cheek.
I caught her hand and kissed it. “Something different. Not happy, more like, hopeful.”
“I see. Do you think you’re ready to be a father.”
“I kept imagining those babies were ours today.”
Darcy rolled off the bed and went to her handbag. She climbed back onto the bed and sat cross-legged, facing me. “There’s this thing, you see. Um, no, that’s not how I meant to say it.” She laughed and covered her face with her hands. She was holding a small paper bag.
“Is that a gift for me?” I asked.
“No, it’s a gift for both of us.” She pulled a plastic stick out of the bag.
“Is that what I think it is?”
She nodded, her eyes glistening.
“You’re…we’re having a baby?”
“According to the line on that sti
ck, yes, we are. Is that okay?”
“It’s better, way better. It’s magnificent. I pulled her back down onto the bed with me, pushed up her shirt and kissed her stomach. “Hello, baby,” I said.
Darcy giggled.
I crawled up her body and put my hands on her cheeks. “To be honest, I’m so fucking—oops, sorry, baby—I’m so over the moon, I’m lost for words. When did you find out?”
“This morning, when you were calling for me to hurry.”
“Why didn’t you tell me then?”
“Because today was special for Castor and Polly, and I didn’t want anything to overshadow that.”
“That was thoughtful.” I kissed the corner of her mouth. “Are you sick?”
“No, Oliver, I’m pregnant.”
I kissed the other corner. “Is the house big enough? Do you want to move—”
She covered my mouth with her hand. “Stop. We don’t have to do a thing. The house is big enough for ten babies.”
I pulled her hand away. “Good. Ten babies would be great, wouldn’t it?”
“Let’s just have one, and see how we manage.”
“When do you think the baby’s coming?”
“Not before I do,” she said, tugging my shirt over my head.
“Are you sure this is okay?” I asked, peeling off her shirt and unhooking her bra.
“I’m sure.”
“I love you, Darcy, thank you.”
“I love you more,” she whispered.
I crawled off the bed, taking her skirt and panties with me, then I took my time, kissing her from her ankles to her soft belly where our baby grew. We made love, gently, and slowly, with the sea crashing just outside the house, and a lightning storm on the horizon.
I’m so thankful for Darcy. Thankful for the baby we’re growing and the life we have together.
“I still crave you every day, Darcy,” I said, pushing into her wet, welcoming heat.
Her hips rose to meet me. “And, I’m still addicted to you, Oliver. Forever.”
Rueben & Stella’s story can be found in Stellar Love.
To follow are two full-length novels from the Dog Haven Sanctuary Romance series. Please enjoy
Saving Justice
Dog Haven Sanctuary Romance Book 1
Copyright © (2013) 2017 by Tasman Gibb & Ash Harlow
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
About the book
I'm not here to be saved. Especially not by him.
Marlo Croft's life is exactly how she wants it. Organized and independent, she focuses all of her energy on rehabilitating the rescued dogs that so desperately need her help. Her past is her own business, and she isn't going to share her dark secrets with anyone.
Especially not a police officer.
Adam Guildford is here for one job only: to research dogfighting crime rings and eradicate them. But when he ends up on Marlo's doorstep, holding the leash of the last surviving dog at the center of an ongoing investigation, he's drawn into her world. Her tenderness and love for the broken animal makes him want to reach out to her to find his own healing.
The attraction between them kindles into something deeper and more intense than either of them expected. But Adam and Marlo have both built walls around their hearts, and their looming pasts threaten to destroy any chance of a future together.
They were brought together to rescue a dog. But could they ever rescue each other?
Chapter One
Marlo Croft had never failed to connect with a rescued dog that arrived in her care, no matter how damaged it was.
Until tonight.
The sight of the battle-scarred red-and-white pit bull male, huddling at the back of the kennel, tied a knot of dismay in her stomach. The new arrival was attempting to be as small and inconspicuous as possible, and damn, she knew what that felt like. Don’t make a fuss; don’t get yourself noticed. Duck the blows. It’s much easier to survive by remaining in the shadows.
Her thigh muscles burned, but Marlo forced herself to remain in a crouch, side on to him, unthreatening. Not that it mattered. If he had at least shown he sensed a threat, she would have something to work with. This little guy felt nothing. His body language said he simply wanted to be left in his own private world.
Not a good sign from a pack animal.
“Your luck has changed, little pup.” She kept her voice gentle. “We’re going to make it all better for you.”
She stood and edged from the enclosure before stretching to release the bunched-up muscles in her back and shoulders. As she moved away, her focus remained on the rescue until she could no longer see him.
This was Dog Haven Sanctuary’s isolation area for strict quarantine. It was also the ideal housing situation for hiding the seized dogs who—because of a criminal investigation—were under a federal gag order. In high-profile cases, theft was always a risk, so the dogs existed as myths until that order was lifted.
“Are you getting any response?”
Marlo jumped, her heart firing a techno-beat in her chest. She'd lost herself inside the small world of the rescued pup in the cage, trying to make that connection, but now she realized the transport people were waiting outside the enclosure. She took a better look at the guy who had spoken and, oh, hell, who have they hired this time? “No, no response at all. He’s a bit shut down. It’s probably the stress of the trip along with everything else he’s been through in the past few weeks.”
The stranger took a step closer. “It seems ‘shut down’ is his permanent state since he was rescued from the dog fighting syndicate.”
His unfamiliar accent was puzzling and she couldn’t catch the origin. Men with foreign accents—okay, handsome men with foreign accents—were a distraction. The only distractions she allowed into her life were ones like the unresponsive little pup in the quarantine area.
“He is breathing. That gives me something to work with.” She forced a smile to suppress the twinge of self-doubt that had arisen over the past half hour. Walking away from the new pup without making a connection went against her every instinct, but she had to reassess. Her usual processes clearly weren’t going to work in this case.
The smile he returned was empathetic, as if he recognized her feeling of failure and wanted her to know that he cared. Perhaps that was why she found herself braced by his strength as he took another step towards her. One more step would bring him into her space. That’s far enough, big guy.
He introduced himself as Adam—except the way he pronounced his name, it sounded like Eh-dum. She reached for his extended hand, and hers was enveloped in a handshake that was confident, modified for a woman without being patronizing.
He appeared road-weary and his strong hands had clearly pushed through that dark, slightly too-long hair a few times recently. His rumpled state indicated hours spent cramped in a vehicle. But those eyes, such a deep gunmetal-blue, were alert, and he watched her the same way she had watched the dog a few minutes earlier. Questioning, as though looking for clues.
“I was told people call you the Gladiator because of your willingness to step into a cage with any dog,” Adam said, his voice less of a question than a bold statement, raw and husky.
His height, his physical strength that suggested not an ounce of flesh or muscle were wasted on his tall frame, made him look like the gladiator, ready to take his sword and face any opponent.
Despite his obvious fatigue his looks made him hard to turn away from. Somehow he was fresh, like a new season arriving right at the moment you’d had enough of the old. He
was alien in the sense that no man had held her interest, made her curious enough to take a moment to study him.
When he smiled his open mouth revealed perfect teeth, his eyes deepening in colour, little lines at the corners suggesting he smiled often.
Marlo wondered for a moment what it would be like to have someone like Adam on your side, to protect you, to fight your battles and slay your demons. It was fanciful, and she shook her head.
The way he described her made her sound brave when it had nothing to do with courage on her part and more to do with her being good at reading dogs. It was simply a language skill. Other people could speak French. Gladiator…what a laugh.
“Calling me that suggests all the dogs we get through here are dangerous. Mostly they’re filled with fear and trying to survive.” It was important to her that he understood, which was odd because usually all that mattered were the dogs. “I don’t put myself in danger.” She gestured to the kennel. “That little guy has no intention of hurting anyone.”
“Which is odd, don’t you think, for a dog classified as extremely dangerous?”
Before she could answer, the sound of an engine turning over distracted her. She waited for the Canine Rescue and Rehabilitation driver to maneuver the CRAR transport van out of the transfer area. The driver lowered his window and called out, “Good luck with the new boarder, Marlo.”
“Thanks, Mike,” she replied and then turned to Adam. “That’s your ride.”
Adam lifted his hand and dismissed the driver with a quick wave. “I’ve got a rental car. I met Mike at the Richmond shelter, and we drove up in convoy. He’s going on to Seattle tonight, so I came under my own steam.”
“So you’re—”
“I’ll wait while you finish up here. Then maybe we can go indoors, and I’ll explain what’s going on. Do you have an office?”
They locked eyes; his gaze was flawless and held her in place until heat rippled between them like the hungry lick of a flame. It swirled, then flared up to her chest, coloring the skin across her neck and over her face. “An office, yes.” She broke eye contact and looked at the ground, unnerved by her desire to engage with this handsome man.