Authors: Fabulous Beast
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What would she do if Dev walked out with his old boss this morning? The heart which was pounding so
nervously would break this time. She could not bear to lose him now.
“Dev,” she whispered starkly. “I love you.”
He looked at her. “Do you, Tabby?”
“With all my heart.”
The sudden flare of warmth in his silver eyes seemed to light the whole room. “I won’t be going
anywhere, tabby cat. I think I’ve been in love with you since you dragged me out of that damn St. Regis
alley. All I want is a home here with you.”
“Oh, Dev!” Tabitha managed to unstick her feet from the floor and hurl herself into Dev’s arms. He
caught her, staggering a bit under the impact, but his braced feet supported them both while she buried
her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around his bare waist.
Over the top of her head Dev smiled crookedly at his former boss. “You need a new, young dragon,
Delaney. I’m afraid I’ve lost my taste for your kind of work. I wasn’t altogether sure of that when I
agreed to take the Caribbean job for you, but now I’m quite positive.”
“I see,” Delaney said with unexpected softness in his voice. “You do seem to have made up your mind.
Strange, I never saw you as the home-and-hearth type.”
“Home and hearth complete with my own tabby cat,” Dev said, chuckling, his hand lightly stroking
Tabitha’s hair as she continued to cling to him. “You ought to try it sometime, Delaney. You don’t know
what you’ve missed.”
Delaney watched the way Tabitha was holding his former agent. “How much of your past is she aware
of?”
Tabitha turned her head to glare at Delaney. “It’s not his past I’m concerned with, it’s his present and his
future.”
“Dev?” Delaney made one last appeal.
“My present and my future are here in Washington, state of, Delaney,” Dev said with quiet conviction.
“You’re sure, aren’t you?”
“Very.”
Delaney sighed. “I was afraid of that. But it was worth a try. I don’t suppose,” he went on
matter-of-factly, “that anyone would like to fix me a cup of coffee before you throw me out of the
house?”
Tabitha slowly freed herself from Dev’s grasp, eyeing her foe with deep suspicion. But John Delaney
merely smiled pleasantly.
“It’s okay, Tabitha. I know when I’ve lost. He’s all yours. Wouldn’t do me much good, anyway, if he
kept thinking of you every time I sent him into the field. Being in love blunts a man’s instincts.”
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“Not all of them,” Dev retorted dryly, but he was suddenly grinning. “Come on, Delaney, I’ll fix you a
cup of coffee.”
“Thank you. I need something warm. It certainly rains a lot here in Washington, state of, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Dev agreed easily, “but somehow it never seems as cold here as it does in Washington, D.C.”
That evening Tabitha curled happily against Dev as they sat on one of the black sofas in front of the fire.
She hadn’t really relaxed until John Delaney was on a plane heading back to Washington, D.C., but now
her world seemed warm and right. Dreamily she ran her fingers through Dev’s dark hair. His arm
tightened around her in response.
“Thank you for rescuing me again, tabby cat,” he drawled, nuzzling her earlobe with lazy anticipation.
“That’s twice now. I’m going to be in your debt for the rest of my life.”
“Exactly where I want you,” she teased, her eyes alive with love.
“I love you,” he murmured simply.
“When did you first realize it?” she demanded.
“When I walked out of the bedroom this morning and found you trying to kick Delaney out of the house.
I suppose I’d been in love all along, but the sight of you tangling with John Delaney for my sake made me
put a name to it. Up until then I’d been thinking in terms of wanting and needing. But it all came together
for me this morning. What about you, honey?”
“I knew I loved you that night I seduced you on the boat,” she admitted with a ready smile.
“I kept telling myself you must love me, but when you skipped the island after that scene with Waverly I
was afraid I was going to have a hell of a time getting you to admit you felt something for me. Then when
I arrived here and found that young cub asleep on your living room couch and discovered you were bent
on trying to forget me, I wanted to tear Port Townsend apart. Tabby, I may not have understood right
away that what I felt for you was love, but I did know right away that I needed you desperately. Your
love was what had been missing from my life. I could never let you go, sweetheart.”
“I’ll never want to leave you, dragon. You are my very own, very fabulous beast.” She raised her face
invitingly, winding her arms around his neck.
“Are you about to seduce me again?” he demanded, silver eyes turning smoky with stirring desire.
“I’m engaged in a bit of research.”
“Research on what?”
“On the mating habits of dragons.”
“I can tell you one thing for sure about this particular dragon,” Dev vowed as he lowered his mouth to
hers. “This beast has just mated for life.”
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