Surrender the Dark (22 page)

“No fieldwork?”

“None. Nine to five. The occasional weekend.”

“A weekend warrior? You?” The tiniest of smiles tugged at her lips and a sob and a laugh rose simultaneously in her throat.

“You can always come along if you want.” He smiled. “Those poor recruits won’t know what hit ’em.” The uncertainty faded from his eyes, but not the vulnerability. And that, mixed with the determination and the confidence that crept back in, captured her wholly and completely.

Shocking both Jarrett and herself, she said, “Maybe I will. I can’t go back to JMI, but I know now I can’t cut myself off from life. I love my mountain, but I want my life back too.” Her smile finally broke free as the last
wall fell and hope sprang full-blown from her heart and filled her soul. “You never know, I might teach you a thing or two.”

“You already have.” He reached into his pants pocket. “I guess I can give this back to you now.” He pulled her hand into his lap and pressed something warm and metallic into her palm.

Rae looked down to discover the heart pendant she’d made, the one she’d shown him what seemed like a lifetime ago. She shot him a questioning look.

He shrugged. “I couldn’t leave without a piece of you.”

“And now?”

“And now I don’t need this heart anymore. I have yours. And you have mine. Rae Gannon, will you marry me?”

She answered by pulling his head to hers and kissing him until they were both breathless.

“Is that a yes?” he asked when he could.

“Most men don’t propose with a piece of jewelry they’ve stolen from their bride-to-be.”

“I’m not most men.”

“Thank God for that.” Her grin faded to a gentle smile. “Jarrett McCullough, I’d be honored to be your wife.”

His eyes were bright with a fierce light when he brushed her lips with his. “And I’m going to spend the rest of my life making damn sure you never regret it.” He deepened the kiss, then cradled her tightly between his thighs. “I can’t wait to get home.”

Rae smiled and snuggled into his embrace. “I already am home.”

They were married at Rae’s mountain cabin six weeks later. Rae wore a beautifully tailored white silk suit. The two best men, Zach and Dane, were more than impressive in matching tuxes. But Rae only had eyes for Jarrett. His dark good looks were made even more dashing and sexy by his black tux. She’d been caught up in the possessive light in his gray eyes when he’d taken her hand as she’d stood beside him, and she barely remembered the simple civil ceremony. She would, however, remember the kiss that had sealed their vows for the rest of her life.

Zach hooted, Dane applauded, and the remaining member of the wedding party, Zach’s assistant Beaudine, egged them on with totally outrageous comments.

After making sure the caterer had the small buffet under control, Rae and Jarrett strolled out to the front deck alone with their plates.

Spring had come to the mountain with an explosion of life. Rae felt the same swell of life deep inside her and couldn’t help the secret smile she gave to her husband.

“What?” he asked, leaning down to press a kiss on her neck. He hadn’t been able to go more than ten minutes at any given time since they’d left the desert without touching her. She hoped he didn’t plan on stopping that habit anytime soon.

She smiled. “I guess I’m in complete awe of just how much happiness there can be.” She lifted up on her toes
and kissed him soundly. “Thank you for giving me that.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”

He kissed her again, then lifted a small canape from her plate and tucked it into her mouth. “Eat,” he said, then, with a totally wicked grin, added, “You’ll need your strength for later.”

“Well, if that’s the case, you might want to consider seconds for yourself.”

Jarrett laughed.

Zach came out on the deck just then, a wild twinkle in his eyes. “Am I ever going to get to kiss the bride?”

“Not on your life,” Jarrett responded. “You always get the girl. And you can have them, but this one’s mine.”

Dane joined them. Rae had only met him the day before, but she’d liked him immediately. While Jarrett was certainly intense, even now, she didn’t think she’d ever met anyone as … contained as Dane Colbourne.

“So,” Dane said. “The three musketeers are together again.” He grabbed Jarrett’s hand and gave it a shake. “Congratulations, man, I’m happy for you.” Then he bent and kissed Rae’s cheek.

“Hey!” Zach exclaimed when Jarrett made no move to stop him.

Dane shot Zach a confused look, then turned back to Jarrett and Rae and said, “I’ll admit, the very last place I figured we’d be together again was at your wedding.”

Rae was busy trying not to laugh, when the screen door slapped shut behind them and the dulcet tones of
Beaudine’s Cajun accented voice assaulted them with all the finesse of a Sherman tank.

“Should have let me cook, but
mais non
, you hire strangers. All bland, no spice.” She walked right up to Jarrett, lifted up on tiptoe, but still barely managed to reach his shoulder. So she grabbed his head, pulled it down, and bussed him soundly on the mouth. Releasing him, she sighed with deep satisfaction. “Well, at least I finally got to do that.”

There was a collective choking noise, then Zach and Rae began to laugh. Jarrett just smiled and dabbed at the hot fuchsia lipstick left on his mouth. Dane calmly handed him a clean linen.

Beaudine then turned to Rae and took her hand. The older woman, in hot-pink satin pumps was maybe five-five. Her hands were wiry and strong despite the age spots scattered across the skin. Her face had earned its share of wrinkles, but the small dark eyes were sharp and held a depth of wisdom Rae didn’t even guess at. As Jarrett had said, she could have been fifty or eighty.

Her expression totally serious, Beaudine motioned Rae to lean closer, then spoke loudly enough to be heard by all. “I bought you a trashy nightie,
chère.
That boy”—she jerked her head toward Jarrett—“he’s something to look at all right, but I wasn’t too sure if he’d loosen up enough to show you a good time.”

This time they all choked. Rae fought valiantly to keep a straight face as Zach took Beaudine’s arm, but she shook him off and continued. “Well,
chère
, anyone with eyes can see you won’t be needing a nightie or
anything else for that matter. So if you don’t mind, I think I’ll keep it for myself.”

Zach took her arm more firmly this time. “Beaudine,
ma petite chérie
, now what kind of wedding present is that?”

She turned on him. “Oh shush. You just pouting because you didn’t get a kiss. Well, I’ll tell you what,
cher
, I’m not getting any younger and just because you struck out doesn’t mean I have to settle for going home alone too.” She gestured to a distinguished silver-haired gentlemen on the other side of the front window currently filling a plate at the buffet. “Now there’s a man who needs a little help with his diet.”

Rae just stood there, speechless, as the small woman bustled off after the justice of the peace, saying, “I wonder what he thinks of emerald-green satin and black lace?”

“Poor guy,” Zach said. “He won’t know what hit him.” He grinned at the rest of them. “Maybe I’ll just mosey over there and casually mention the stack of unpaid parking tickets she has stuffed in her desk drawer.”

When it was just the three of them, Jarrett turned to Dane, still smiling and shaking his head. He handed back the handkerchief and said, “I’m sorry Dara couldn’t make it.”

“Yeah, she’s sorry she couldn’t be here. She doesn’t really consider the reunion complete without D’Artagnan.”

“She never seems to have trouble saying no when we get together for one of Zach’s suicide missions.”

“Well, we all know there’s no love lost there. Anyway,
she sends her best. She’s on one of her trips with her kids.”

Jarrett had told Rae all about Dara, that she was a director at the Dream A Little Dream Foundation, which granted wishes to seriously ill children.

“How’s she doing over there?” he asked.

“Great. It’s a never-ending struggle to come up with private funding, but she’s the best they’ve got.”

“Why don’t you send me her current wish list and I’ll see what I can do.”

“She won’t turn you down. I’ll pass it along.”

“And now,” Jarrett said, setting his plate and Rae’s on a nearby table, “if you’ll excuse us, I have a little gift for my wife that won’t wait another minute.”

Dane swept his arm in front of him. “Far be it from me to obstruct marital bliss.”

Jarrett slid his fingers down her arm to twine with hers as he guided her to the outdoor entrance to the garage.

“You have wonderful friends, Jarrett. Truly wonderful.”

“Even Beaudine?” he asked, smiling.

Rae grinned. “Especially Beaudine. I imagine it takes every bit of her bayou savvy to keep Zach in line. But I can also see she loves him like a son.”

They reached the door.

“Close your eyes,” Jarrett commanded.

Grinning broadly, totally intrigued by this unexpected gift, she complied. “Okay, what is it?”

“Well, I know you’ve been making the trip out to the zoo compound to see Wolf every chance you get.”

She was stunned. “How did you know that?”

“Hey, I have my sources. Anyway, I talked to the folks over there, and after much discussion, they made it very clear that Wolf shouldn’t—couldn’t—be domesticated.”

Rae gasped. “You … you wanted to … give him to me?” Her eyes flew open, and she took his face in her hands. “Oh, Jarrett, that was so sweet. But I knew he could never leave the compound. I wish he could be back in the wild, but I’m happy getting to visit him.”

Jarrett cleared his throat and looked a little uncomfortable.

“What? What did you—” She clapped her hand over her mouth, then dropped it. “You didn’t steal him, did you?”

That shocked die frown right off his face. “Of course not!”

“Well then …? What’s behind that door?”

He pulled her into his arms. “I want a whole life with you, Rae. And maybe someday, when you’re ready, a family. But I saw how you were with Wolf and, well, I thought it might be nice to have some companionship up here while you’re working in the shop and I’m not here. So …” He swung open the door and they were both immediately assaulted by a small whining, yipping bundle of fur.

Rae bent down and scooped up the wriggling creature, not caring a bit about her suit. She nuzzled the pup’s gray-and-white fur and held his head still long enough to look into his bright blue eyes. “Except for the eyes, he looks just like Wolf.”

“As close as you can get anyway,” Jarrett agreed. “He’s a purebred Siberian husky. I haven’t named him. I figured I’d leave that up to you.”

“Oh no, you don’t.” She set the lively bundle of fur down and grabbed Jarrett’s hand, dragging him toward the shop, the puppy bounding along behind them.

She opened the door and stepped inside, pulling Jarrett in behind her. “I have a little gift for you too. Only I wasn’t sure how to tell—um, how to give it to you.” She reached up on a shelf, moved aside a coffee can she kept scrap metal in, and lifted down two books.

Holding her breath, she handed them to Jarrett.

He read the first title:
“1001 Baby Names.”
He looked at Rae, confused. “Can’t you just go with Fido or Champ?” Then he said, “And how did you know—”

“Read the other one,” she managed to say, suddenly not at all certain of what would happen when he figured it out.

He slid the second, heavier book out.
“The First Nine Months.”
His gaze dropped to the small photo Rae knew was on the cover.

Gulping past the knot in her throat, she pointed to the tiny fetus and said, “Ours is a bit smaller than that.”

Both books hit the dusty shop floor, sending the puppy squealing out of the shop.

Neither of them noticed.

Jarrett cupped her face in his hands. His expression was a mixture of wonder, shock, and yes, hope. “Rae?”

She took his hand and placed it on her belly. “I guess the timing wasn’t wrong after all.”

“You mean, this is from the first time?”

“Or the second,” she said with a smile. “But yes.”

His gaze dropped to his hand. He rubbed it back and forth before spreading his fingers wide and cupping her belly protectively. Then he slowly lifted his gaze to hers.

“When did you know?”

“This morning. I suspected a week ago, but I thought it might just be because of all the stress. I did a home test. I still have to go to the doctor.”

“Are you okay with this?”

Tears filled her eyes, and she couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face. “Very okay. What about you?”

He pulled her into his arms and held her so tightly, she could barely breathe. Which was exactly how she wanted to be held. “I’m very okay about it too,” he said. “I love you, Mrs. Rae McCullough. So very much.”

“I love you too.” She kissed him hard and long, then, still a bit short of breath, she forced herself to turn and slide her arm around him as they stepped out of the shop. “So, what do you think of Jarrett Junior?” she asked. “We could call him J.J.”

“The dog or the baby?” he asked dryly.

She smacked him on the stomach. “Don’t be silly.” They were almost at the house when she added, “You know we have to name the dog first.”

Jarrett waited patiently until all the guests were gone to pay her back. And Rae loved every minute of it.

Welcome to Loveswept!

Next month, Loveswept is offering our first ever historical e-original title: Samantha Kane’s
THE DEVIL’S THIEF
. We’re incredibly excited about this sexy tale of wicked passion, where the clever wit and engaging banter shine through in the most captivating way. We believe Samantha Kane is an author to watch - and after reading
THE DEVIL’S THIEF
, I think you’ll agree. Look for the next book in her Saint’s Devil’s series,
TEMPTING A DEVIL
in 2013.