Smooth talking stranger

by Lorraine Heath

  “I’ve missed this,” he rasped.

  “Me, too.”

  She kissed him and rocked against him, rocked against him, and kissed him. All the while his hands fondled. He may have been wounded, but he wasn’t weak. She could sense the power building within him, could feel the climax building within her.

  When it arrived, it was stronger, more powerful than any that had come before it. And as she soared, she carried him with her, his name mingling with hers as they cried out in unison.

  Hunter held her close, nestled against his side. In the far off distance, he could hear the surf and the breeze. A foghorn sounded. He thought he would be content to remain as he was for the remainder of his life.

  But tomorrow Morgan was going to bring Riker out there. And in a few months, they’d have another child. And he decided he’d find contentment in being with them as well.

  Serena was lazily trailing her finger over his chest. If he didn’t need to keep his shoulder still to lessen its ache and help it heal, he’d be trailing his free hand over her as well.

  “When will you be leaving?” she asked quietly, and he heard the hesitancy in her voice.

  “I’m not.”

  She rose up on an elbow, her eyes meeting his. “What?”

  “I sent in my resignation.” Recovering from the bullet he’d taken had prevented him from going on the mission he’d been preparing for. If there was ever a time to resign, it was now, before he got caught up in the middle of another assignment.

  A lovely smile of pleasure spread across her face. “Why?”

  “I’ve never had a reason not to go, and now you’ve given me three reasons to stay. Besides, I’m thirty-four. The thrill of dodging bullets is waning. I followed the path I did because I always wanted to be Rambo. Now I just want to be your husband and a dad to your kids.”

  “Our kids.”

  “I thought only goats had kids.”

  “It’s a hang-up I got over. I love you.”

  His heart swelled so much that he thought it might bruise his wound. “Same goes.”

  Shaking her head, she kissed him. “No, no, no, my smooth talker.” She held his gaze. “When you mean the words, you have to say them.”

  He didn’t think anything in his life had ever been as difficult or as important. Swallowing hard, he held her gaze. “I love you, Serena.”

  Tears pooled in her eyes and she buried her face against his neck.

  “Don’t cry, babe.”

  “I almost lost you.”

  “Yeah, but now you’re stuck with me.”

  She raised her head. “What will you do for a living?”

  “I’ve never had much to spend my money on. I invested some. Lost some on tech stocks, but I think it’ll come back around. I can get into some sort of security business. But I was also thinking of opening up a small gym with a self-defense school. What do you think?”

  “In Hopeful?”

  “You bet.”

  “What about your cabin?”

  “We can use it on the weekends. Maybe we’ll retire there.”

  “That won’t be for years.”

  “I like the sound of that. Years and years with you.”

  She lowered her sweet mouth to his, and he knew that he’d soon be hearing other sounds that he liked—her moans, cries, and whimpers.

  Epilogue

  They named her Mary Fiona Fletcher in honor of Serena’s mother. Hunter was in the delivery room when she was born. It was the first time in his life that he’d ever felt tears sting his eyes. He had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be the last.

  She was currently nestled on his shoulder, asleep, while he stood near the beach house waiting for the fireworks to start. They’d invited their family and friends to join them there to celebrate the Fourth of July.

  “I don’t know if Riker should be around the fireworks that Jack is setting up,” Serena said.

  All right, he thought. Some things were never going to change. Her protectiveness being one of them—constant. With his free arm, Hunter drew her up against his side. “He’ll be fine.”

  “It’s just that you see these reports—”

  “Jack will keep an eye out. He won’t let the boys do anything dangerous.”

  “What do you think of this woman that Dad brought?”

  Eloise Miller. From what Hunter had been able to determine, she and Serena’s mother had been friends.

  “I like her, but I can run a background check on her if you’d like.” He’d set up a security business that involved running background checks. He knew how to get information out of places that most people didn’t even know existed.

  Serena glowered at him. “You don’t have to do that. I just…well, I think they might be sleeping together.”

  “Good for him.”

  “You men, you always stick together.”

  He saw a shadow running away from the water’s edge, and then Riker was at his side.

  “We’ve got everything set up, but Uncle Jack doesn’t want us near when he starts lighting them.”

  Hunter gave Serena an I-told-you-so look, to which she only rolled her eyes. The baby started to fuss.

  “Here, I’ll take her,” Serena said.

  Once in her mother’s arms, Fiona immediately quieted. It always amazed Hunter to watch the two of them, the ease with which Serena took care of their children.

  A whistling sound filled the air, and red, white, and blue stars burst out over the water.

  “That’s awesome!” Riker yelled.

  Another whistle. Another burst of color.

  “This is great, isn’t it, Dad?” Riker asked. “I think it’s the best Fourth of July ever.”

  Hunter drew his wife and daughter against his side and wrapped his other arm around Riker’s shoulders. “Yes, son, it is. Tonight is all about celebrating dreams coming true.”

  Serena smiled up at him. “You never struck me as someone who believed in dreams.”

  “I wasn’t,” he said quietly. “And then I met you.”