Page 25 of The Last Bachelor Dragon

“I shouldn’t keep it all, but I’m going to,” she said, looking up at him with a smile. “But no more gifts; this was more than enough.”

“Too late,” he said. “I have a couple more things for you.”

This time when she opened the boxes, a blush slowly spread up her cheeks when she saw the lacy lingerie under the tissue paper. “I want you to be well dressed both in public and in bed,” he said, grinning at her. “Not that any of those will last long once you put it on.”

Nora studied him for a second. “Max St. Clair, this wasn’t a gift for me,” she said, trying to look angry. “You bought all this for yourself.”

He laughed, then swept her back into his arms. “Guilty,” he said, then lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her until they were both breathless. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, we should get ready. We’re supposed to meet everyone in the village for dinner in an hour.”

“It’s going to take me that long to figure out what to wear,” she said. “And I need a shower if I’m going out in public.”

An hour later, they were headed to the village. Nora looked radiant in a new outfit, her feet clad in a dainty pairof sandals. “You look beautiful,” he said, taking her hand. “I’m the luckiest man in the world, and you didn’t even keep me waiting.”

She laughed. “Well, it’s early in the relationship yet,” she said. “I don’t want to scare you off.”

“Sweetheart, nothing you could do would scare me off,” he said. “You’re perfect in my eyes and always will be.”

“If you keep talking like that, we’ll never make it to dinner,” Nora said, her eyes filling with desire. “So, you’d better behave yourself.”

“As tempting as that offer is, we have work to do tonight after dinner,” he said with a groan. “But I’m looking forward to having you naked in my bed as soon as we’re done.”

***Nora***

Dinner was full of fun and laughter, but all too soon their plates were empty, the babies were sound asleep in their mother’s laps, and little Theo had completely run out of steam. “We should get the kids to bed,” Kira said, shifting Kiley in her arms. “It’s been a big day for them.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind taking Jordan all night?” Keith asked. “We could pick him up when I get back.”

“It’s no trouble, the kids love each other, and we had a second crib delivered today,” Kira said, handing the baby over to Simon. “No sense in waking him up in the middle of the night.”

“Their first sleepover,” Stella said, with a sigh. “They grow up so fast.”

“I’ll take Jordan,” Kira said, taking the sleeping baby out of Stella’s arms. “Don’t worry, we’ll be just fine. You all just keep yourselves safe and don’t worry about us.”

Wren got to her feet. “I think it’s time Theo got to bed aswell,” she said, ruffling her son’s hair. “What do you say, little man? Off to bed with you too.”

“Ahh, Mom, it’s just getting good,” Theo whined. “I don’t want to miss all the cool stuff.”

“It’s not going to be that exciting, just a bunch of waiting,” Kennedy said. “But if you’re a good boy and go to bed, I’ll show you everything tomorrow, I promise.”

“Really?” Theo asked, brightening instantly. “That would be so cool.”

“You’d better get to bed so you’re fresh and full of energy in the morning,” Felicity said. “It’s going to be fun having you stay with us, and Eden is going to come keep us company too.”

When the children were gone, the mood shifted instantly. “Okay, everyone, you all know your roles, but let’s go over them one more time,” Harrison said. “Blake and Wren, you’re in the first boat. You’ll be our eyes and ears on the outside. Keith and I will be in the second boat. We’ll leave it anchored offshore and swim to the island, hopefully undetected, but if not, that's where the rest of you come in. If anything goes sideways, it’s going to be up to Archie, Theo, Cameron, and Max to give us the opening we need to escape.”

There were nods of agreement all around, “Kennedy, you’ve got the computer on this end of things, you’ll know when we’ve planted the bugs and the tracking devices,” Harrison continued. “Start recording right away, we might get something useful tonight. The rest of you, well, think good thoughts.”

They all laughed. “Okay, let’s do this,” Keith said. “I’m in the mood for a good long swim.”

After kissing their wives goodbye, the other men headed for the marina, but Max held back and pulled Nora into the shadows. “This is going to take a couple of hours, but when I get back I was thinking you could put on that little redoutfit,” he said, grinning at her. “I’ve been thinking about it since I saw you pull it out of the box.”

“Max, I thought you needed to tell me something important,” she said, nudging him in the ribs. “This is serious, something could go wrong…”

His mouth silenced the rest of her protests and when he finally walked away, she was wobbly-legged and thinking about what was going to happen later that night. When she joined Kennedy, Stella, and Juliet a few minutes later, they all started laughing, and she knew that her cheeks were bright pink.

“Don’t worry, Harrison can still make me blush with just one look,” Juliet said. “We’ll try not to tease you too much.”

As they were walking toward the community center, they passed the little café, and the smell of coffee and something sweet came wafting to them in the breeze. “Oh, I would give anything for a cup of real coffee,” Stella said. “It’s the only thing I really miss.”

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