by Joss Wood
“Felicity.” Kai closed his eyes, possibly to hide the depth of his feeling for her, so she couldn’t see how she made him feel. Well, that would have to change. He would know, every day for as long as she lived, how much he was loved.
Flick rested her head on his chest, content to listen to the wind in the trees, feel his strength enveloping her, his breath on her cheek.
“As perfect as this moment is,” Kai said above her head, “I can’t help feeling that something is missing.”
Flick tipped her head back to look at him. As far as she was concerned, her life was super-shiny and practically perfect. “Like?”
Kai just grinned and let out a shrill whistle. She heard an answering bark and heard Rufus thundering toward them. She turned her head to watch her massive dog, ears flapping and drool swinging, bound toward them, a look of delight on his face. He jumped up and put one paw on Kai’s shoulder and another on Flick’s knee and they were gifted with a steady stream of doggy breath.
Rufus tried to lick Kai’s face and laughed. “Down!” he ordered and Rufus dropped to the ground.
Flick slid off Kai’s lap, stood up, and held out her hand. “Let’s take our dog and go home,” she suggested.
Kai grinned. “Yours or mine? And, on that point, we need an ours, as soon as possible.”
“I agree.” Flick grinned as his fingers interlocked with hers. Kai started to tug her away but Flick planted her feet.
Kai turned to look at her, a small frown between his eyebrows. “Flick? You okay?”
Flick nodded, her eyes brimming. “It’s just that . . . um . . .”
Kai’s thumb swiped a tear away. “Talk to me, sweetheart.”
“It’s just that I was so sad and now I’m so happy. I don’t know if I’ve ever been this happy.”
Kai pulled her head to his chest and her arms went around his waist. She felt his lips in her hair, the emotion skittering through him.
“You chased the monsters that lurked in the pitch-dark corners of my mind.” Kai stood back and pushed her hair off her face, tucking strands behind her ears. His eyes shone with love and truth. “In loving you, being with you, I found myself. Found that I might even like myself.”
Flick sniffed up her tears. “Oh, Kai.”
Kai smiled. “Though you shouldn’t expect me to say that again. This mushy stuff is a onetime deal.”
Oh, she suspected that it might not be, but she wasn’t going to push. “As long as you tell me, at least once a day, that you love me.”
“Deal.” Kai took her hand again and pulled her down the path. “Can we please go home now? I need to take you into my bedroom and not come out for hours. It is, after all, our job to give Mercy something to talk about.”
Epilogue
MayorBob: People, can we please give Knox Callow some breathing room and treat him like any other Mercy resident? He’s renting the Freedman homestead and would, I’m sure, like to be treated like any other resident.
BoredWife: That just means that we can gossip about him as we do about everyone else!
***
Sitting at the bar in the Smirking Fox, Flick took a sip of her mojito and sighed with pleasure. She was surrounded by friends and family, was chatting with her best friend, and she expected her sexy lover to walk through the door any minute. Life was very, very good.
“You look so damn happy it’s just not funny,” Pippa complained, frowning.
Flick smiled at her best friend. “Sorry, but I am. Deliriously, wonderfully happy.”
“I think I’m going to puke,” Pippa muttered, but Flick saw the tilt of her lips. She was happy, so Pippa was happy. They were best friends and it was that simple.
“So what are we going to do about clearing out the house, Pips?” Flick asked, trying to concentrate on something other than her wonderful, loving, sexy man.
“Kai paid for the rifle and the immediate financial problems are solved, so Gina doesn’t want to sell a damn thing.” Pippa frowned.
Oh, Gina. Flick sighed. Still as stubborn as a mule.
Pippa looked up as the front door opened. “Is Sawyer coming tonight?”
Flick nodded. “As are Axl and Reagan.”
Pippa leaned toward her. “Do you think that she and Knox are . . . you know?”
Flick lifted her eyebrows at Pippa. But Pip hadn’t spent much time with Axl or Reagan and didn’t realize that whenever Axl and Reagan were in the same room together, sparks flew. “I don’t think Knox has a chance in hell.”
Flick nodded toward the entrance and they watched as Axl held open the door for Reagan. Kai and Sawyer walked in behind them. “Look at the way she looks at him, all crazy frustration,” Flick said, nodding in Reagan’s direction.
“Hmmm, I see what you mean. And he looks like he wants to grab her and push her up against the nearest wall,” Pippa replied.
“Do you want to grab the fire extinguisher or shall I?” Flick asked as the foursome approached them, three ridiculously good-looking men and one gorgeous blonde. Flick met Kai’s eyes and her body sighed and settled as his fabulous eyes softened. He loved her, absolutely and completely, and she adored his attention. When Kai reached her he held her face in his hands and kissed her as if he hadn’t seen her for weeks and not hours.
Yeah, this was it. He was her happy.
“Do you really think it’s appropriate that you prance around the place wearing just your bikini?”Axl’s muted shout pulled them apart.
“I was teaching Coe, his son, to swim!” Reagan retorted.
“It’s nearly winter!”
“The pool is heated!” Reagan responded, her tone aggravated. “Why should you care what I’m wearing? And how the hell did you know that I was wearing a bikini? Are you spying on me?”
Kai rested his forehead against Flick’s and rolled his eyes. “Here they go again.”
“How did he know that?” Flick whispered.
“He is spying on her,” Kai replied. “This Callow gig is driving him nuts.”
“Why?”
“Sawyer and I think that he’s really worried that she might actually fall for the guy. Knox is a good guy, single, and, apparently, good-looking. Axl is batshit with jealously.”
“Is that why he’s been spending more time than usual in Mercy?”
Kai nodded. “Though the one time I suggested that he nearly ripped my head off.” Kai wrapped his big hand around her shoulder and kissed the side of her mouth. “I really wish that he and Sawyer would find a quarter of the happiness you’ve given me.”
Flick sighed. There was only one response to that, three words that she never tired of saying. “I love you. So much,” she whispered.
Kai lifted his head, looked at his two best friends, and nodded before meeting her eyes again.
“Yeah, that’s my wish,” he said, his voice normal but his eyes telling her how much he adored her.
“My wish is that Reagan would start acting like a professional around Callow,” Axl said.
“My wish is that Axl would stop acting like the perfect ass that he is.” Reagan bared her teeth at him.
“My wish is that the two of you would find a room and settle this the biblical way,” Sawyer interjected.
Reagan blushed but Axl just ignored Sawyer’s provocative statement. He looked at Pippa. “So, Pippa, I hear that you can play pool. Want a game? I think that I’d be a bit more of a challenge than Kai. Or Sawyer.”
Kai exchanged a long look with Sawyer before letting his mouth curve into a wicked smile. “Want to bet on that, Rhodes?” he asked.
“Sure.” Axl looked cocky. “Anytime, anywhere. What’s the bet?”
“I’ll make a bet with you,” Reagan said, her expression fierce.
Oh boy, Flick thought. Here comes trouble.
Axl looked bored but Flick noticed the tensi
on in his jaw, around his eyes. “Okay, hit me.”
Reagan cocked her head. “I’d love to but Jack doesn’t like violence in the bar.” She smirked. “Oh, you were talking about the bet. . . .” Reagan straightened her spine and turned serious. “If you lose, then you allow me to be a part of Morrigans.”
Flick winced, knowing that Reagan’s request would not go down well. Kai had explained Reagan’s desire to be a part of their rescue missions and she understood his reticence. None of them wanted Reagan to get hurt; hell, she didn’t want any of them hurt.
“Over my dead body.” Axl whipped the words back.
Reagan opened her mouth to argue but Kai held up his hand and spoke. “You’re not going to be allowed automatic entry because you’re you, Reags. But if you’re serious about joining Morrigans, then you have to prove to us that you are up to the challenge. That you can cope with the mental and physical demands of the job.”
“And I’m the only one who will determine that,” Axl growled. He pushed his hand into his hair and looked thoroughly pissed off. “Okay, then. If I lose to Pippa—”
“Who still doesn’t know what Morrigans is,” Pippa hinted, looking for an explanation.
Axl ignored her interruption. “If I lose, then you get a chance to prove that you’re up to standard. And I will consider using you.”
“I want Kai and Sawyer to be impartial judges,” Reagan said, looking stubborn.
Flick looked at Kai and fanned herself. Kai grinned, instantly understanding her reference to the heat Axl and Reagan were generating.
“My division, my responsibility, so mine is the only opinion that counts. Take it or leave it,” Axl retorted, rocking on his heels.
Reagan shrugged. “I’ll take it.”
Flick quickly realized that Axl’s smile was anything but amused. “And what if I beat Pippa? What do I get?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Reagan crossed her arms, looking completely unfazed. Good grief, the woman had a set of brass balls, Flick decided, mightily impressed.
“What do you want, Axl?” Reagan drawled.
Axl didn’t hesitate. “For you to move out of Callow’s house and to be reassigned to work with another client.”
“Shit.” Reagan looked up at the ceiling, thinking. Eventually she dropped her head and looked at Pippa. “You’d better whip his ass, girlfriend.”
Pippa sighed. “You’re risking your career on a pool game?”
Reagan held Axl’s challenging look. “Yep.”
Pippa released a long, audible sigh. “So, no pressure, then.”
Kai dropped a kiss on Flick’s temple and muttered in her ear, “Crap. This is not going to end well.”
Flick swiped her mouth across his and rested her hand on his cheek. “Or they might, like us, work out very well indeed.”
Look for the next Men of Mercy novel, UNDAUNTED, available from InterMix November 2016.
Joss Wood wrote her first book at the age of eight and has never really stopped. Her passion for putting black letters on a white screen is only matched by her love of books and travelling (especially to the wild places of Southern Africa) and, possibly, by her hatred of ironing and making school lunches. After many years working for a non-profit organization to promote local economic development and lobbying for collective business interests , she now writes full time. Happily, and chaotically, surrounded by family, friends and books, she lives in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, with her husband, children, and their many pets.
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