Page 136 of Dream Weaver

“You mean, kind of like being castrated, but with magic?” Abby asked.

Captain Edwards winced and shifted in his seat. “That’s one way to put it.”

So, whew. Lisa was dead, and Harlon no longer posed any danger. That left Jay as the only loose end, but the way he’d fled the metal shop said he would never mess with Abby again.

And if he does, we’ll be here,my bear growled.

So, whew. As soon as we were finished with Captain Edwards, we headed back to the ranch and straight to bed. Claire was at school, with Mike on guard in the parking lot — even with Jay gone, he’d insisted — so we had the house to ourselves.

And boy, did we make good use of it.

We took our time, though, teasing through every discarded layer of clothing and relishing every kiss. Even when we were skin-to-skin, I went slowly, exploring every inch of Abby’s body and working her up to the first of many orgasms.

Very, very many,I vowed to myself as she lay panting afterward.

Abby being Abby, recovery didn’t take long. In no time, she had her legs wrapped around me and her arms braced against the headboard, ready to push back when I pushed in.

With a groan, I slid home to heaven. No condom this time, and no hesitation, because this was forever.

Forever…My bear hummed.

I pushed deeper, then remained anchored, sucking in a long, sharp breath. I withdrew slowly, aching the whole way, then thrust back in, faster and harder.

And wow, did that bring us to the razor’s edge of ecstasy. We wobbled there, on the brink of exploding, before backing away, catching a breath, and zooming right back again. Because something that good oughtn’t be rushed. It ought to be treasured.

But at some point, even the most well-intentioned bear lost self-control, and the whole operation peaked in a flurry of cries, groans, and throaty exclamations.

“Oh!” Abby cried, clenching down around me.

I flew off the edge, and she flew right after me.

A whole, happy future danced through my mind, blurry but so real, I knew it would someday be our reality. My jaw ached, and my bear couldn’t stop chanting like a husky cheerleader.Mating bite. Mating bite!

Someday, I promised. Today was just day one on our journey toforever. No need to rush things.

We lay panting for a long time afterward. Even when we caught our breath, we lay close for a long time, gazing into each other’s eyes.

Abby’s expression became one of intense focus, and she tapped her fingers thoughtfully.

“What?” I whispered.

“Just wondering if there’s a way to count luck.”

I grinned, holding her flush against my body. “Not in numbers.”

“Definitely not,” she murmured, running her hand over my arm. “I guess my conclusion is, I have a lot.”

I pressed her hand against my heart, and we slowly drifted off to sleep, making up for the all-too-short previous night.

I’d only slept one brief night on that mattress and under those covers, but they already felt like home. Well, the mattress and covers were pretty interchangeable. Thehomepart was Abby.

Abby took three days off work, and each passed with the same basic schedule. We woke, ate breakfast, drove Claire to school, then returned to the ranch for a couple of blissful hours in bed. We would rouse ourselves in time for Mike to bring Claire home, eventually have dinner, and the cycle would slowly tick over again.

But then the inevitable happened — a forest fire, in Oregon. The first real blaze of what turned out to be a very busy season. I struggled to focus at first, but it wasn’t long before tunnel vision kicked in, and days one and two turned into twenty, thirty, and forty. We wildland firefighters worked in cycles of two weeks on, forty-eight hours off, withonoften hundreds of miles from home.

My first two weeks away were a killer. The second fortnight, after a blissful weekend at home on the ranch, was even harder. But old habits kicked in, and I learned to flip a switch, speeding time up at work and slowing it down for days off.

And days off had never been so good, with lazy mornings and delicious pancake breakfasts. Long, ambling walks, horseback rides, or bear rambles. We ate out on my first evening back each time — pizza, in the very same place as our first dinner together — followed by dinner with the entire family the next day, and an early dinner with just the three of us on my last day home.

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