Guarded from Sabotage (Blade and Arrow Security Bravo Team #2)

Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

DANTE

“Sarah, you’re going to make me drive off the road if you keep doing that.”

I glance away from the road for a second to give her a gently stern look. “I’d like to get you home safely and not end up in a ditch because you distracted me.”

She widens her eyes at me, the picture of innocence, but a mischievous smile pulls at her lips. “What are you talking about? I’m just sitting here.”

“Oh, really ?” Skepticism tinges my voice. “So you just have your hand there because…”

“My hand?” Out of the corner of my eye, I see her smile spread into a wide grin. “I’m just resting it on your leg. Isn’t that okay?”

I can’t keep a straight face as I reply, “Your hand isn’t resting. Far from it.”

Sarah inches her hand up my thigh before lightly cupping my growing arousal. Even through layers of fabric, her touch sends pulses of need shooting through me. The desire I’ve been trying to contain for the last six weeks makes a desperate attempt to escape, straining against her tempting caress.

Need throbs, deep and heavy.

“Don’t you like it?” She adds a bit of pressure and I jerk against her hand, causing my foot to slip off the gas for a second. The car slows and Sarah giggles; a light, happy sound.

Fortunately, she waited until we got on the access road to Blade and Arrow, so there’s no one behind us to complain about my driving. “Sarah.” This time I take her hand and press a soft kiss to her palm. “I love it when you touch me. But maybe wait until we get home?”

Or maybe I’ll just pull over to the side of the road and forget about this whole get back to the apartment thing. If I push the seat all the way back, and Sarah climbs on top of me…

Oh . Have my jeans shrunk since I put them on? Because it feels like I’m about to burst through them.

Sarah turns and beams at me. “I’m just so happy. Six weeks has been way too long.”

“It has been a long time,” I agree. “But it was important you didn’t risk your recovery.”

“I know.” As we stop at the security gate, she waits until I finish entering the complicated code before continuing, “You’re not going to say we have to keep waiting, are you? Because the doctor said my ribs are healed. You heard him. I’m cleared for all regular activities.”

“Well…” I draw it out, my lips twitching as I try not to smile. “Maybe we should wait another week just to be sure…”

“Dante!” Sarah swats my arm and narrows her eyes at me. “You’d better be joking.”

“Of course I am.” This time I reach over to touch her leg, letting my fingers trail up to the apex of her thighs. As she sucks in her breath, I add, “I’ve been thinking about making love to you for weeks. About peeling your clothes off and touching you all over. About sinking deep inside you, feeling you wrapped around me, hearing those sexy sounds you make, seeing you come apart…”

“Oh.” A flush creeps across her cheeks. “That sounds—” Another quick inhale as I work my fingers against her welcoming heat. “Really good.”

“Only good ?” I pull into the garage and shut the car off. Arching my eyebrows at her, I add with a little smirk, “That doesn’t sound very enthusiastic.”

“More than good,” Sarah breathes. Her lips part. Desire heats her gaze as she looks at me. “Incredible. I want you, Dante. Right now.”

Shit.

I’m not sure we’re going to make it to the apartment.

Six weeks of holding Sarah, kissing her, showering with her, spending an inordinate amount of time looking at the sweet curve of her ass and the pert swell of her breasts, sleeping with her wearing just my old ROTC T-shirt and a tempting expanse of bare legs…

While I wouldn’t have done anything to risk Sarah’s recovery, I’ve been waiting for the doctor’s all clear just as eagerly as she has. And the distance from the garage to our apartment seems entirely too far.

But I’m not having sex with Sarah in the garage, where anyone could walk in and see us. It doesn’t matter how badly I want her.

I can make the trip to the apartment faster, though.

Instead of taking Sarah’s hand when she gets out of the car, like I usually do, I scoop her into my arms. She lets out a tiny yip of surprise. “Dante! What are you doing?”

Already striding towards the door, I reply with a grin, “Bringing you back to the apartment.”

“What about walking?”

Once we leave the garage, I break into a jog, loping across the lawn and to the house. “We could. But this is faster.”

She grabs my neck, clinging tightly, though I’d never let her fall. Laughing, she says, “I guess you really couldn’t wait for the doctor’s okay.”

“Nope.” As luck has it, Niall and Jade are leaving just as we’re coming inside, so I don’t have to slow at the door. Niall steps aside to hold the door for us, chuckling. “I guess the appointment went well.”

Already halfway across the living room, I hear Jade tsk at him. “Niall! Don’t say that. You’ll embarrass them!”

“I don’t think they care,” Niall replies with a laugh.

And he’s right. I don’t care who knows. And looking down at Sarah’s glowing face, I can tell she doesn’t either.

“On the plus side of everyone knowing we’re going home to have sex,” Sarah says, “they won’t stop by for a while. Not that I don’t love everyone, but?—”

Finally stopping by our apartment door, I adjust Sarah in my arms so I can unlock the door. “We’re going to need lots of time,” I finish, my voice going rough. “Plenty of time to make up for the six weeks we missed.”

As the door shuts behind us, she nuzzles my neck, feathering light kisses against my skin. “I can’t wait .”

Though my body is in agreement, urging me to hurry, to do the thing I’ve been fantasizing about for weeks, that’s not how I want this to go.

Not this first time. Not after nearly losing her.

This time, I want to cherish every moment. I want to memorize the feel of her skin against my lips and the soft scent of her hair and how she gasps when I kiss that sensitive spot by her belly button.

I want to peel her clothes off slowly, revealing her incredible body inch by inch, kissing her all over.

I want to pay close attention to her rosy nipples, sucking them into my mouth, flicking and laving with my tongue until they’re taut peaks.

And I want to give her pleasure over and over, feeling her thighs tremble around my head, tasting her arousal on my lips.

This first time, after dreaming about the woman I love for so long, I want to make every moment count.

So I do.

I bring her into the bedroom, laying her down on the bed and gazing at the most precious gift I’ve been given.

Then I unwrap her, kissing her just as I wanted, brushing hot kisses all across her golden skin.

I lavish attention to her breasts, her stomach, with that cute little swell she complains about but I think looks unbelievably sexy, her legs, and even her delicate feet with the hot pink polish I put on for her so she wouldn’t hurt her ribs trying to do it herself.

I bring her right to the edge with my mouth and fingers, plunging first one, then two inside her, feeling her slick heat quivering around them, and then I flick her swollen bud with my tongue until her hips are thrusting towards me and she’s making those sexy sounds I love.

And finally, finally , we come together.

Just like always, we’re a perfect fit.

Sarah holds my gaze as we move, and everything she’s feeling is right there—desire, need, pleasure, anticipation, affection, trust… And love.

My eyes burn with emotion; with the heavy reminder I almost lost her.

I almost lost the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.

Intuitive as always, she touches my face and says, “I’m here. I’m okay. We’re okay.”

I never knew love could feel like this.

And as Sarah cries out in ecstasy, convulsing around me, holding me to her, I can’t imagine a better feeling in the world.

Bringing her this pleasure is just as much a gift for me as her.

As I follow her over the edge, pulsing into her, filling her with my heat, I can’t help wondering what it would be like to try for a baby one day.

Hours later, after two more rounds and a quick nap, Sarah snuggles against me, her head pillowed on my shoulder. She traces little hearts on my chest with her finger, sighing contentedly as she does it. “I love you, Dante.”

I press my lips to the top of her head. “I love you, too.”

“You know…” Sarah’s hand stills. “It was all worth it. To end up here.”

“What do you mean?”

She wiggles around so she can meet my gaze. “Everything. Even the bad parts. I would do it all over again if it meant ending up here with you.”

My throat goes thick. “ Sarah .”

“I mean it, Dante. I love you more than…” She pauses. “There isn’t a word big enough to express how much I love you. It feels like… it goes on to infinity. There’s no end. It’s universes upon universes of love.”

It takes a few seconds before I trust myself to speak. “That’s perfect. What you said. I feel the same way.”

Sarah stares at me, her eyes darkening to a forest tipped with gold. Then she glances at the clock on the nightstand and smiles. “Well. Since I think my lady parts are due a little break, how about we take a little trip? And when we get back, maybe we can go again?”

Worry slashes through me. “Are you okay? Was it too much?”

“No.” She sits up. “It was perfect. But I actually have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?”

“Yes.” Sarah grins. “I made the appointment for three, but they said we could come any time.”

“Wait. What?” I look at her in confusion. “A trip? An appointment? What are you up to?”

She hops off the bed and nearly bounces towards the bathroom. Her reply is loaded with mystery. “You’ll see.”

An hour later, with Sarah driving this time—since it’s a surprise, she insisted—we’re ten minutes outside Seguin, making our way down a long, winding driveway with a nondescript brick building at the end of it. I haven’t seen any signs yet, and Sarah’s resolutely refused to give me a clue.

“It’s a surprise,” she tells me again when I ask where we’re going. “Were you this bad at Christmas when you were a kid? I bet you nagged your parents all the time. Did you search for all the presents?”

Busted. “Maybe,” I concede. “But they never told me.”

“Well, you’re going to find out soon enough.” Sarah slows as we take a corner. “It’s just up ahead. You should be able to see the sign in a second.”

But when I do, it doesn’t make sense.

“The animal shelter?” I glance at her with my eyebrows raised. “Why are we here?”

Her cheeks go pink, and she looks nervous for the first time since we got in the car. “I had an idea. But if you don’t like it, that’s okay. There’s no commitment. We’re just… well… I came here the other day and…”

Flustered, she turns off the car and says a little desperately, “Will you just come in to see? Before I completely second guess myself and insist we go home?”

“It’s fine,” I assure her, and reach over to take her hand. “I want to see your surprise.”

As we enter the shelter, the volunteer at the front desk greets Sarah with a smile. “You made it! Rambo’s been waiting for you. I really think he knew you were coming.”

“Rambo?” I glance at Sarah. “Who’s Rambo?”

Her face goes red to the tips of her ears. “Well. You’ll see. I hope… I thought…”

But just a few minutes later, my question is answered.

Rambo is a dog. Which I should have figured when we got here.

But he’s not just an ordinary dog. “He’s part lab, part American terrier,” Sarah explains. “His owner moved and just left him. So he was running loose, and got hit by a car. That’s why he’s missing his leg and his ear. The shelter took him in and used donations to pay the vet.”

Rambo cocks his head and stares at me with big, yearning eyes. His ear perks up. His tail whips back and forth.

“He’s been here for almost a year, and all the volunteers here love him,” Sarah says. “But no one will adopt him. It’s so sad. And he’s so sweet.”

Rambo makes a pitiful whining sound and pushes his wet nose against my hand.

“I just thought,” she continues in a rush, “you said you wanted a dog, and I’ve always wanted one, and I thought maybe we could get one together. And I asked everyone at B and A, and they all liked the idea. The yard is fenced in so he could run around, and we could take him for walks around the property, and…” She takes a deep breath. “I thought we could give him a home. If you want to.”

A dog.

This wasn’t what I was expecting when Sarah said she had a surprise.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t like it.

“Is it a bad idea? I’m sorry, I should have asked before bringing you here. It was?—”

“Sarah.” I frame her face with my hands. “It’s a great idea.”

“It is?” She bites her lip. “I came here just to look, but then I saw Rambo, and he just seemed… like he was meant for us.”

I drop to my knees, allowing Rambo to sniff my face. After a couple of whiffs, he licks my cheek and gives me a happy doggie grin. Sarah kneels beside me, and Rambo gives her a matching dog kiss, albeit a slightly less messy one.

“I think he likes us,” I tell her.

“Do you think so?” Sarah pats Rambo on the head, scratching between his ears. “I think he likes you.”

“I think he likes you, too.”

Leaning forward, I pull Sarah into my arms. She rests her cheek on my shoulder and asks quietly, “So… do you want him? They said we could bring him home on Friday. We could go shopping, buy him a bed and toys and food, and find a good vet, and maybe arrange for some training classes…”

She stops. “Am I going too fast? Is this too much?”

“No. It’s not too much.” I kiss her before continuing, “I think it’s perfect. Rambo is perfect.”

Hearing his name, Rambo nudges between me and Sarah, and she giggles.

Joy explodes inside me.

This . This is what I’ve been waiting for all my life.

“So we’re bringing him home?” Sarah asks. She looks at me with hope in her eyes.

“Yes.” I hug the woman I love more than life and the start of our new little family. “We’re bringing him home.”

Her face lights up. “Dante. This is going to be perfect. You, me, Rambo, everyone at B and A…” She pauses. “I never knew I could be this happy.”

My heart. “I never knew I could be this happy, either.”