“Oh, I’ll give it to you.” I wrap an arm behind her hips to pull her right to the edge of the desk and line my cock up with her entrance. In one thrust, I’m inside her, moving in a way that feels life-affirming. Necessary.
I’ve claimed her, but I still can’t ever get enough. She’s so perfect. My forever. My fate. My everything. It still feels like a miracle.
The desk slides over the floor as I pound into her, but I keep her cushioned by my arm, protected, as always. Her head falls back, eyes close. Her lips part for the desperate cries falling from her mouth.
We climax together, my lips on her throat, her legs behind my back.
“I love you, Rafe.”
“I know, baby.” I ease out and grab a few tissues to clean her up.
She smacks my shoulder.
“I love you too,” I add, retrieving her silk panties and helping her back into them. “I need you. And you need me. We need each other.” I straighten her clothes then mine.
She wraps her arms around my waist and places her head on my chest. “You gave up your revenge for me.”
“Not quite,” I draw back.
“Rafe, what is it? Is something wrong?” She gulps. “Is it Dieter?”
“No. He’s in the wind. We don't know where he is, but he sold the mansion, so I don't think he's going to stick around or come after us.”
She blows out a breath. “So he was telling the truth when he said he relinquished all rights to me.”
“Looks like it.” Arrogant fucker. He's still out there. But he made good on his word and let me take back Adele.
And then he sent us a packet of information–the second half of the file that he left at the cartel fire. Names and headshots of the men who took our parents plus a list of dates. Lance and I had Kylie check into it, and it turns out all the men were part of Data X. The dates in Dieter’s file–the dates of their death?
I tell this to Adele.
“What’s Data X?” she asks.
“A now defunct operation that was grabbing shifters. Data X doesn’t exist anymore, but they were behind the attack. The men who came after my family wanted Lance and me. Our parents died for us.”
“I'm so sorry, baby.”
“It's okay.” We've been grieving for years now. Decades. And now I have some closure. Data X has been shut down a long time, destroyed by shifters led by a brave lion–Nash Armstrong.
What’s done is done. It's time for me to start a new life and a new family.
I’m meeting Adele’s family at Mardi Gras, and if all goes well, I’ll put a ring on it by Valentine’s day. And in a few years, who knows? If Adele’s willing, we’ll give Lance’s pup some cousins.
I dip my head and brush Adele’s lips. She surges up to her tiptoes, giving herself to me. Her kisses are balm.
A bright ringing sound makes me throw open the door to see Channing walk by. He's got an elf hat on his head and ridiculous red slippers with bells on the tips. The ladies think he’s cute, but the bells are obnoxious as fuck. Any second now Deke is going to tackle Channing and rip his slippers apart.
“Hey, Sarge, your phone is blowing up. You left it in the office. Figured you’d want to know” He hands it over, and the missed call is on the screen–Colonel Johnson.
“You take that. I need to check on the ham,” Adele says.
I kiss her cheek and watch her curvy backside before heading to my office.
The colonel answers on the first ring. “Hello, son. Happy holidays,” he barks.
“Same to you, sir.”
“I hate to interrupt the festivities, but I got new intel on Dieter.”
I tense and turn away from the open door. “Is he back in Taos?”
“Nope, far from it. He sold his Taos place. He's definitely not in town. But his behavior got me thinking.”
“You mean his twisted fucking games? That behavior?”
“Exactly. I didn't get what he was doing, but it got me looking at what we do know: he’s wealthy. Reclusive. Builds a private army. Collects treasures.”
“Don’t forget, plays games with his enemies,” I add in a bitter tone.
“Exactly. Plus, he has inside knowledge about mates and shifters.”
“What are you saying sir? Dieter’s a shifter?”
“All signs point to him being one. The question is, what type? But then there was that last bit of intel you gave me. It was in Utah, right before you challenged him as a wolf. You told me about his eyes. The golden color. The slitted pupil. He could be a cat shifter, but the rest of it doesn’t add up. There’s only one creature that makes sense.”
“Fuck me,” I breathe, putting it together, just as Colonel Johnson says, “I think I know what Dieter is…”