Crimson Moon - Never Cry Werewolf Part 22

"Yes, sir. Mark is setting up the LLC .. . and you know all of our areas of expertise. Doc Holland and Clarissa McGill are your bio experts, in the event you run into any more green slime. Bradley has the dark arts on lock. Silver Hawk is the number-one shaman and tracker in North America, and also has wolf access, and of course Woods and Fisher are at the ready for training special units," she added with a big grin. "I won't be gone longa"a month tops."

"So, this is it," he said, standing. "I wish we had met under better circ.u.mstances, Captain. Thank you for sitting in on that final meeting with the Joint Chiefs this morning. And I can't blame you, after what I saw, for needing some time off... I'm just glad you're not leaving us altogether."

"Couldn't do that, Colonel."

He smiled and looked out the window, where Hunter had just shown up to casually lean against a jeep. "I admire how you guys can do that." He shook his head. "He's also a d.a.m.ned lucky man."

Sasha tilted her head slightly, surprised that Colonel Madison of all people would have made such a comment.

The colonel smiled. "I might be in uniform, Captain, but I'm not blind."

EPILOGUE.

She held up her left hand and watched the sunlight dazzle in the prisms, catching colors in a gorgeous kaleidoscope display. A beautiful three-carat emerald-cut diamond was set aloft ancient turquoise and amber baguettes all wrapped in unique fusion of silver and platinum. Hunter smiled and gently brought her hand to his lips.

"There was never time to get this made and given to you properly for your birthday . . . and then all h.e.l.l broke loose again." He let go of her hand and looked at her. "Do you really like it? I know it's strangea"the combination of metalsa"but I wanted the old stones from our people, the silver merged with the human tradition of a diamond and thea""

She kissed him and stopped his awkward explanation. "It's perfect and it's beautiful."

"But do you accept it... in the way humans give such a token?" he said, his deep voice a rumble inside his chest and hers.

"With all my heart and soul," she murmured, kissing the naked plane of his chest.

"Good .. . then I'm glad we came here," he said quietly and closed his eyes.

"What made you choose New Hamps.h.i.+re?" she asked sleepily, beginning to doze on Hunter's bare chest as she breathed in his scent.

"I was tired of the Louisiana heat and all the sordid regional politics ...just wanted to be away from the pack, away from the sidhe . .. away from other people's problems for a while." He stroked her hair with his eyes still closed, allowing it to repeatedly flow through his fingers on each pa.s.s. "This reminds me so much of the North Country, without actually being in the Uncompahgre."

It was hard to disagree as she looked out the large bay window at the gla.s.sy surface of the lake and breathed in fresh mountain air. "This is moose country," she murmured, kissing his chest. "Great trout and salmon runs up here, too, they say. Maybe later, wanna take a run ... let our wolves out a bit?"

He smiled with his eyes closed. "Most definitely . . . that's why I wanted to come up here."

"I'm so glad you're feeling better and that you wanted to get away. I needed this, too. Thank you."

"Yeah... both of us did. In the fall, they tell me that the leaves turn fire red and yellow and orangea" only rivaled by j.a.pan's forests."

Sasha chuckled and then moved up his body to take his mouth. "It's early August. Mid-September is more than a month away and we've already been gone a couple of weeks."

"So... I rented the cabin for a bit longer than I mentioned," he said, giving her a peck on the lips and a sly half smile. "If the pack needs us, they know where to find us, and the woods here are loaded with Faea"so no chance of missing an important missive. Besides, your team still has you on an electronic leash, if anything crazy happens."

She bit his bottom lip and tugged it. "You are so not right," she said, when she released it, laughing. "And I'm not on a leas.h.!.+"

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. It is just a tactical observation, Captain. All I'm saying is that I wanted time for just us before we headed to China or wherever the next mission calls for first."

She slid her body up to blanket his. "So, just because it's quiet for now, you've just taken me hostage and are holding me captivea"using great little country fairs, great wild game, fantastic blueberry pancakes at the 1785 Inn off Highway Sixteen-N, huh .. . and have handcuffed me to the region by the dazzling lakes and trails. Not fair."

"Frankly, I thought you might be handcuffed to me, but if it's the blueberry pancakes . . ." He quick-flipped her over onto her back and held her hands above her head against the goose-down mattress, and then took her mouth hard. "Not trying to be fair," he said, breaking their kiss and loving her laughter. His eyes began to glow amber as his smile widened. "Especially not this fall when you go into season. So just work with a brother, all right?"

The End.