Conall, page 21
With him driving, they headed back to her apartment, quickly double-checked their bags again, then loaded up and drove to the airport. It was a bit of a drive, but they got there in plenty of time.
Arriving in Hawaii many hours later, they made their way to the hotel. She stretched out on the bed and muttered, “You know something? For the first time in what seems like many years, I feel like maybe I can grab some sleep. Like, a lot of sleep.”
“Then sleep,” he said, as he tucked their bags off to the side. “We can unpack later, and we can also go for a swim whenever you want.”
But she was already shifting onto her side. “I just need to crash.”
He smiled. “I won’t say no to napping with you.” He dropped on the bed beside her, pulled her into his arms, and the two of them napped. He woke a little later to see that she had shifted and was staring up at him.
“You know something,” she began, “there’s being a gentleman, then there’s being a gentleman.”
His eyebrows rose. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means, you’re being too much of a gentleman.”
“And more specifically that means?”
She smiled, then kissed him. “It means that we could move this along a little faster. Like a lot faster.”
“Ah, so being a gentleman in that way.”
“Yes,” she muttered.
“Okay then.” He tilted her slowly to her back. “I am totally okay with moving this forward.”
“Good.” She studied him closely. “When I said I wanted a holiday in Hawaii, … I meant a holiday in a whole bigger way.”
“Interesting.” He chuckled. “Exactly what do you have in mind?”
She wrapped her arms around him and opened her thighs wide, settling him right where she wanted him. Now wrapping her legs around his hips, she pulled him close, then whispered, “A whole lot of this.”
He chuckled, as he shifted his hips against her. “If I’d realized …”
“Oh, you realized,” she said. “You were just giving me time.”
He nodded. “I was giving you time, but if you don’t need time …”
“I’ve had time,” she said, with a smile, “and I’m totally good to be here. As a matter of fact, I’m absolutely delighted.”
“Me too.”
“My mom wishes us both the best, and, as usual she’s jumping the gun, wanting to know if we were serious.”
“You mean, as in marriage and all that good stuff?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what she was hinting at.”
“And this is from the same woman who was secretly living with Joe but maintaining two residences, trying not to let anybody know?”
“Yeah, and that’s why she wants to know if we’re serious,” Bethany explained. “She spent a lot of time trying to hide her relationship and eventually not giving a damn, knowing Joe would never move in with her until she married him.”
“Maybe they’ll get married now.”
“I hope so. They’ve been together a very long time.”
“We know that they love each other,” Conall said, “so let them live their lives fully now.”
“That’s the plan,” she whispered, as she shifted her hips up and down against him. Grabbing his ears, she tugged him closer. “You are wearing way-too-many clothes.”
He laughed. “I’m wearing the same amount as you are, but I’m happy to wear less, if you prefer.”
Hopping off the bed, he quickly stripped down to nothing. He stood in front of her and then hesitated a bit. “You want the leg on or off?”
Her eyes opened wide, as she stared at him. “You know something? That’s damn sexy.” She hopped to her knees, staring at the way the prosthetic met his leg. “Does it hurt?”
“No, not at all, but I also don’t want you to hide from it or to think I’ll hide it.”
“God no.” She ran her fingers up and down the steel. “I really like it.” She grinned at him. “It’s definitely sexy.”
He stared at her in surprise and started to laugh. “Somehow I don’t think very many women in the world would agree with you.”
“Oh, I think you’re misjudging women,” she said, with a grin, as she tore off her clothes just as quickly as he had. “I think you’re completely underestimating women and what we like,” she added, “and what we like is confident and capable men.” With a big smile, she moved closer. “Men who we know will protect us, even though we want to protect ourselves. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all about looking after myself, but definitely something is special about knowing that a man will be there to back me up, if ever I need to fall.”
“And if you ever need to fall,” he added, “if nothing else, I can fall first and make for a softer landing.”
She looked at him, and tears came to her eyes. “I really want to giggle at your words, but that image is so important. I also know that you mean it, and that is so important too. I am so looking forward to this holiday and the time we’ll have together.”
“Me too,” he admitted. “It feels like forever since I had time to myself, time for anyone else,” he muttered, as he took her in his arms, while she still kneeled on the bed. “Now it’s time for the two of us, and we deserve it.”
“We sure do,” she whispered. She kissed him, but that kiss quickly turned to a kiss of power and passion, as both of them became overwhelmed with the joy of the freedom to be themselves, of the freedom they had to be here together, just the two of them with time to explore and to get to know each other.
By the time the kiss had to stop so they could breathe again, they collapsed back down on the bed. She was trembling, a complete wreck. She whispered, “God, if we’d realized …”
“I know,” he whispered back. “I would have taken you to bed a long time ago.”
She chuckled. “You did know already, didn’t you?”
“I was hoping,” he whispered, “but I didn’t want to rush you. I wanted you coming to me, knowing full well who and what I was and what I had to offer.”
She opened her arms, as he settled between her thighs and whispered, “It’s all about who you really are, under that big scary facade, and you are 100 percent heart.”
Quickly passion overwhelmed the two of them, as they raced to a goal of mutual satisfaction and joy. When he withdrew a little later and pulled her into his arms, he held her close and whispered, “The thought of getting dressed and going down to the pool or getting even more dressed and going out for dinner really doesn’t appeal to me at all right now.”
She rolled over, half on his chest, and gave him a lazy smile. “Do you know what does appeal?” When he raised an eyebrow, she nodded and added, “Room service and as much time alone together as we want.” She lowered her head and kissed him. “Personally, I would be okay to spend the next fourteen days right here. Although there will be statements to give and questions to answer somewhere in there.”
He laughed with delight, then flipped her to her back and nodded. “I’m not against that, as long as we come up for air once in a while.”
“Later,” she whispered, as she pulled his head down and kissed him with a deep, searing kiss. “Much later.”
Epilogue
Badger looked over at Kat. “Aren’t you tricky?”
She shrugged. “Not necessarily,” she said, with a smile, “but it worked out for Bacchus and Michael and Danny and Mariam, plus Conall and Bethany, even her mom and Old Joe. So three happy families, and, for that, I’m very happy.”
“Now what?” he asked, as he looked at the two files on her desk. “Who are you thinking for the next miracle?”
“I’m not so sure. … This one’s a bit trickier.”
“Why is that?”
“A hurricane in Florida,” she murmured. “The War Dog was on the road with other dogs being transported out of the area. The truck ended up in the river. Details are sketchy, and I might not have this completely right, but it sounds like the driver, who may have been the transport truck owner, died. Several of the dogs managed to get free and were captured again, but the War Dog is missing.”
He stared at her. “A hurricane? Were they in the back of the truck in cages or what?”
“Most were in cages, and some of them were still fine when the truck was found in the river. The cage the War Dog had been in was open, and he is still missing. Several other cages were also open, and those dogs were picked up again, but not the War Dog.”
“Where were they taken to?”
“I don’t know. As I said, the details are unclear. One guy was airlifted out. I assume he was in the passenger seat of the transport truck. He died too? Although I’m not certain. The animals were gathered up by a rescue team and were moved to a safe location,” she shared. “And, of the missing animals, … we don’t know any more.”
Badger shook his head. “A hurricane.”
She nodded. “Yeah, and it happened recently, so there’s a good chance the War Dog is okay, and they have a lot of survival skills. Thus we have a good chance of recovering this one. I do have somebody in mind but—”
“What’s with the but?”
She winced. “His brother died in the vehicle.”
Badger let out a long whistle. “You’re talking about Baron, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “I don’t know if it’s fair to ask him to go after the dog that his brother was trying to rescue.”
“On the other hand,” Badger pointed out, “better that it wasn’t in vain.”
She smiled, then nodded. “I was thinking of that as well. I texted him earlier, but I haven’t heard back yet.”
Her phone rang just then. She looked down and raised one eyebrow. “Speaking of …”
He nodded, anxious to hear how Baron was doing. Kat punched the button to answer.
Baron’s tired voice came through on the other end. “Kat, what’s up?”
“Hey, I’m so sorry to hear about your brother.”
“Yeah, me too. It’s just too awful to imagine.”
“Look. I don’t know if you heard anything about some of the work we’ve been doing—”
“Yeah, War Dogs,” he interrupted. “My brother was rescuing one.”
“Right, and that’s one of the reasons I called. I was wondering if you would want to give us a hand.”
“What’s up?”
“One War Dog is still missing.”
“I know. It was in my brother’s truck, but I haven’t seen or heard anything else about it.”
“I guess what I’m asking is, could you track it down?”
“Right. That’s what you do, isn’t it?”
“Yes, we track down War Dogs, but it sounds as if maybe your brother had this dog for a while.”
“Actually he didn’t. He was away for surgery and subsequent rehab. So somebody else was looking after the dog. When he got back home again, the War Dog didn’t get returned.”
“How did this one end up in your brother’s truck then?”
“I don’t think we have any paperwork, since everything happened in such a panic with the hurricane,” he explained, his voice tired. “Everybody is saying that dog was in the back of the transport, but I don’t know if that’s really true. Are you sure you want me to track down this War Dog?”
“That’s what we do,” she said. “We find volunteers to get boots on the ground. I realize it’s an odd request, since you’ve just lost your brother, and the area is in such turmoil, and everybody is trying to recover.”
“We’ve got all the people accounted for, but we’ve got so much clean-up and rebuilding to do to get families housed and businesses restored. On a personal note, I just buried my brother,” he added. “Yet you’re right. A couple other dogs are still missing, and thankfully they didn’t die with my brother. By the way, his death wasn’t because of the hurricane itself. Not directly anyway. He’d always had a weak heart valve, and we knew it could fail at any time. He ended up having a heart attack in the process, and that’s why he drowned. It wasn’t really the hurricane or even the rescuing of the animals.” He took a moment and collected his thoughts. “Any dog that needs a hand, well, I’m just as bad as my brother.”
“How’s your new foot?”
He laughed. “As always, you were right on target. It’s doing better, and I’m becoming more capable with it.”
“Good,” she replied warmly.
“Okay, fine. I’m game,” he said. “Give me a few days to see what I can come up with.”
“That sounds good, and again, my condolences to you and your family.”
“Thank you,” he murmured. “Nothing quite like that kind of a loss, but I don’t want it to be in vain. He was out helping animals, so I can go help the same animals and make sure the work he was doing gets completed.” Baron sighed. “I’ll see what I can come up with.” And, with that, he rang off.
Badger looked over at her, one eyebrow raised. “At least he’s right there in the area.”
“He is, but what happened to the War Dog in the first place sounds a little sketchy to me.”
“That seems to be why these cases end up on our desks,” he noted, with a tilt of his head. “I don’t suppose a ladylove or anything is in Baron’s background, is there?”
Kat shrugged and gave him a knowing smile.
Badger narrowed his gaze.
“He did tell me one time that his brother’s former wife was first Baron’s girlfriend for the longest time. Apparently they broke up at some point, and she hooked up with his brother and married him very quickly afterward. It created a lot of trouble in the family for a long time, including separating the brothers.”
“Something like that would surely do it,” Badger noted.
“She contacted Baron a while back, and he wouldn’t have anything to do with her.”
Badger chuckled. “That doesn’t mean Baron wants to have anything to do with her now either.”
“No, but he might, considering that she tossed off Baron’s child as his brother’s.”
“Oh, ouch.”
She nodded.
“And you really think he’ll want anything to do with her after all that?”
“It depends on what her reasoning was,” Kat suggested. “Who are we to judge? We’ve all done stupid things in our lives.”
He nodded. “Isn’t that the truth,” he muttered. He walked over, pulled her to her feet, and gave her a big hug. “I do love you. You know that, right?”
“I know you do,” she murmured, “and that’s a really smart answer right now.”
He chuckled, held her close. “You are also incredibly amazing, and I’m so very proud to have you as my partner in this life.”
“Ditto,” she said, as she pulled him down, gave him a tongue-lashing kiss that had his head swimming. “Now we need to take a break and go for a swim, spend time together.”
And, with that, she turned and walked out back to the pool, leaving him watching in awe, as this woman of his joined the other men who made up the Titanium Corp and their partners, making Badger’s world complete.
This concludes Book 24 of The K9 Files: Conall.
Read about Baron: The K9 Files, Book 25
The K9 Files: Baron (Book #25)
Welcome to the all new K9 Files series reconnecting readers with the unforgettable men from SEALs of Steel in a new series of action packed, page turning romantic suspense that fans have come to expect from USA TODAY Bestselling author Dale Mayer. Pssst… you’ll meet other favorite characters from SEALs of Honor and Heroes for Hire too!
The hurricane devastated more than just Baron’s world. It hurt so many other people too, including Baron’s brother, who died trying to rescue dogs caught up in the storm. One of the missing dogs is a War Dog, Kingston. Now Baron is put on the spot to see if he could find the War Dog again …
Brittany’s grandmother’s house was destroyed in the hurricane, so Brittany has been searching for her grandmother’s little dog, Pocket. When Baron comes to her aid, Brittany remembers her grandmother’s warnings about those who take advantage during disasters …
During the aftermath of the hurricane, these two people are looking for missing animals, yet are about to get caught up in the middle of something no one saw coming …
Find Book 25 here!
To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Conall: The K9 Files, Book 24! If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment and leave a short review here.
Dear reader,
I love to hear from readers, and you can contact me at my website: www.dalemayer.com or at my Facebook author page. To be informed of new releases and special offers, sign up for my newsletter or follow me on BookBub. And if you are interested in joining Dale Mayer’s Reader Group, here is the Facebook sign up page.
Cheers,
Dale Mayer
About the Author
Dale Mayer is a USA Today best-selling author, best known for her SEALs military romances, her Psychic Visions series, and her Lovely Lethal Garden cozy series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Broken But … Mending, Hathaway House series). Her thrillers will keep you guessing (Kate Morgan, By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life, a stand-alone novella; and the Broken Protocols series, starring Charming Marvin, the cat).
Dale honors the stories that come to her—and some of them are crazy, break all the rules and cross multiple genres!
To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields, with books available on résumé writing, companion gardening, and the US mortgage system. All her books are available in print and ebook format.
Connect with Dale Mayer Online
Dale’s Website – www.dalemayer.com
