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  “Thank God,” Danny whispered. “You hear that, Sarah? You’re gonna be okay. Now, honey, we’re gonna take you to the hospital, and I’m going to be here every second, okay, honey?” He held up her hand enveloped in his. “See? I’ve got you, baby. You’re gonna be okay.”

  Sarah continued to be unable to move, but with difficulty squeaked out a question, “Luci? Is Luci okay?”

  “Yes, honey. Luci’s fine. She and the baby can’t wait for you to return, sweetheart. Everything’s okay. Your mom’s okay too, just roughed up a bit. She’s tough, Sarah, she did real well. She’s part of the reason we got here so quick.”

  “Mama?” she asked with a question in her face.

  “Yes, sweetheart, your mama’s sort of a hero here today. Well, her and Agent Sanders…”

  A booming voice exploded over the room. “I heard my name.” Sanders walked over to Sarah’s bed, leaned over and smiled down on her.

  It took a couple of seconds, but Sarah began to scream at the sight of his face.

  “Sanders, you fuckin’ idiot, you’re scaring her,” Wilson said as he pulled the agent back, away from the girl.

  “Sarah, honey, he’s one of the good guys,” Danny looked up at Sanders, “Even though he doesn’t look like one. Looks more like a zombie to me.” He found it felt good to laugh, especially at Sanders’ expense.

  She was lifted onto a stretcher. She’d accidentally let go of Danny’s hand as she noticed one of the other girls also being led away and gave a greeting to her. Then, as if she’d lost him, she yelled for Danny, who came up and grabbed her hand again. “Right here, sweetheart. Not going anywhere.” He brushed the hair back from her forehead and bent to kiss it, but was stopped.

  “Not until we’ve collected evidence. Sorry, sir,” said one of the attendants. Just hold her hand for right now.”

  “You want to talk to your mother, honey?” Danny asked.

  “Luci. I want Luci,” she whispered as they wheeled her down the hallway to a waiting elevator.

  Danny dialed her number, but the reception had gone. Once out in the lobby, on the way to the ambulance, he was able to get signal and made the connection. Before he heard Luci’s voice he heard chanting, drums, and the chatter of many conversations.

  “Hello?” Luci said over the din.

  “Luci? What the hell’s going on there?” Danny asked.

  “People. The People have shown up. We’ve been singing protection. Did you find her, Danny? Is she okay?”

  Danny heard the background music suddenly stop.

  “Yes, honey, Sarah’s been found. She’s fine. Tell them we found the Knighthorse girl and little Rosebud Carter, too. The police haven’t been able to give me any details yet, but they’re alive, Luci. Tell the People the girls are all safe, and alive.”

  “And Sarah?”

  “I’ll let her tell you herself.” He put the phone to Sarah’s ears as they sped off to the hospital.

  As two of the four most important women in his life shared their moment together, he watched the city of Las Vegas begin to come to life in the morning sunlight, the flash of lights on the strip fading with the lightening sky.

  Another day in paradise, little Ch’al. You did well. When the women are happy, all is well. We don’t amount to anything without them. I think you know that now.

  “Yes, grandfather. I do know that now.”

  Chapter 31

  ‡

  Luci had enlisted the protection of her People, who had started coming over in droves as soon as they’d gotten the word last night the rescue operation was in full swing, bringing food, staying for the singing, handling the baby. They formed a protective barrier around Luci and the child. A full on blessing ceremony was in progress. Cars and pickups were parked at odd angles all over the roadway and down the street. A bonfire had been made in the fire pit in the Tohe’s backyard, where most of the gatherers had congregated. Costumes arrived. Faces were painted. The dancing began, old and young, the whole community came together.

  She immediately felt the strong protection of her ancestors. She held Griffin up so he could watch. The baby’s eyes were not focused on the crowd, but in his dark eyes she saw reflected the faces of his greeters, the bonfire and earlier, the stars in their constellations.

  The singing and chanting would go on until it was learned of Sarah’s rescue. Now that they knew she’d been rescued, they would continue until the warriors returned home.

  Luci knew from the instant she saw Danny grace her doorway again, he was tired and needed sleep. But she knew he understood the importance of being there to participate in the dancing. To add to the celebration and blessing being performed. It was as important as a long hot shower at the end of a long work day. The world could not go on without it, this completion of the cycle of life.

  As the morning bloomed, they got word the other girls were damaged, but would survive. Details of their rape were exchanged in whispers between the women, and then translated to the men, because that’s the way it was for them. The ordeal they’d gone through was a right of passage, not the accepted way, but the whole community shared in their pain, in their sacrifice. There would be no shame, because their spirit had not been robbed.

  Sarah would be flown home perhaps later tonight and a welcoming ceremony was being planned to take place the next evening at the lodge behind the district building.

  Luci had put the baby down and hoped he’d let them sleep, since he’d been up most of the evening and early morning hours, being enveloped in the warmth of his People. He was a child of the People, after all. A child of the stars, a miracle, connecting her and Danny forever. She silently vowed to allow him to grow in the strength of his Dine roots, his ancestry. There was no better way than the old way, blended with the new way. This gave her peace.

  About noon the revelers began to leave. Alone in the house, with more food than could be consumed by any SEAL platoon, the only thing she wanted was a long hot shower and to curl up fall asleep with her man.

  “Come. Off with your clothes. We wash together,” Luci said.

  “Ahh, the sacred washing ceremony,” Danny grinned.

  “Followed by the whatever-she-can-get-from-him sexual ceremony.” She giggled to herself as she removed his black knit shirt, removing her top as well. She knew he was watching her. It was like a dance, this performance of removing clothes layer by layer, and he was letting her do it. Before she began to undo his pants, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed her body against his, finding her neck and kissing her all the way up until he found her hungry lips.

  She hoped they would always feel this way about each other as the years went by. She hoped that no matter how long they lived, they would walk the path together, arm in arm, fingers entwined forever, forging a life together even in sickness and finally death, and then beyond.

  He allowed her to catch her breath. “Oh, Dine man, you make me forget myself.”

  “Then I shall remember you for both of us. I will describe your body, tell the stories of us to anyone who would hear.”

  He assisted with his own pants and boots while she shimmied out of the rest of her clothes. Like removing the memories of the pain and anguish of this night, she picked up the bundle of clothes and tossed them on the other side of the doorway. “These have served their purpose well. Now this room belongs to us,” she said.

  Taking her hand, he guided her down the hallway to the bathroom. Filtered yellow sunlight filled the bathroom as the steam rose. His hands smoothed soap all over her body. She let him explore all her places, fingers massaging and tickling, his mouth on hers, and then, kneeling before her, taking a deep breath before spreading her legs and burying his tongue into her core. She watched the water splash on his enormous shoulders and tapered back as it became his narrow waist, over the long black curls atop his head as he feasted, bringing her body to life once again.

  He turned her around and bent her over at the waist as he rose, angling his hips behind her an
d finally thrusting deep inside her. Her need eclipsed everything else. He lifted her with his strong strokes, balancing her body on his as he took up the rhythm of an old dance. His strong arms held her backside against him. He bit her neck, pushing her long hair away, entangling his fingers in it like he was caught forever in her net of desire.

  Their lovemaking continued to the bed when he picked her up and, without drying off, took her down the hallway to the bedroom. The sheets clung to her flesh as he spread her legs and feasted again. He sucked at her bud while penetrating with his fingers, kissing the inside hollow of her upper thighs, up to her belly button, her breasts, and then finally climbing on top of her.

  She pushed him down next to her. His eyes were wild with excitement as she mounted him, her long wet hair dripping down her back and onto his thighs. Her legs hugged his hips as she lowered herself on him, then rose up and then back down again, deeper still.

  With each of her downward strokes milking him inside her, he arched and tilted his hips up, pressing against her internal walls, creating the dull ache and passion of their deep joining.

  He held her hips, helping her rise and fall onto him, as she gripped his thighs tight, beginning to feel the orgasm taking hold of her, sending her out into the pink desert floor. She held her breath as the spasms racked her body.

  Danny quickly flipped her over, furiously pumping into her, his hot breath pressing into the side of her face, kissing her ear. She became liquid beneath him, unable to tell the separation of their flesh. The groan he gave her spurred her internal muscles as he thrust and came in long hot bursts. He held her close, looking into her eyes as he spilled his seed.

  “Tell me again you’ll marry me, Luci. I want to do this before I have to go back, sweetheart. I’m done with the waiting. I’m totally done.”

  “Yes, Danny. We are already married in the eyes of all the heavens. We were joined that first night, and always will be.”

  She raised her head and accepted his kiss. “I want to build us a house near my grandfather’s house. I want his spirit beside us and our family forever. I want their protection for my family while I’m away,” he said.

  “Yes, my love. I will live with you anywhere. Anywhere. But especially there. Your grandfather will watch our love grow, and we’ll all celebrate together. Here, where you belong.

  The End

  Sharon Hamilton

  NYT and USA Today best-selling author Sharon Hamilton’s award-winning Navy SEAL Brotherhood series have been a fan favorite from the day the first one was released. They’ve earned her the coveted Amazon author ranking of #1 in Romantic Suspense, Military Romance and Contemporary Romance categories, as well as in Gothic Romance for her Vampires of Tuscany and Guardian Angels. Her characters follow a sometimes rocky road to redemption through passion and true love.

  Her Golden Vampires of Tuscany are not like any vamps you’ve read about before, since they don’t go to ground and can walk around in the full light of the sun.

  Her Guardian Angels struggle with the human charges they are sent to save, often escaping their vanilla world of Heaven for the brief human one. You won’t find any of these beings in any Sunday school class.

  She lives in Sonoma County, California with her husband and two Dobermans. A lifelong organic gardener, when she’s not writing, she’s getting verra verra dirty in the mud, or wandering Farmers Markets looking for new Heirloom varieties of vegetables and flowers.

  She loves hearing from her fans:

  [email protected]

  Her website is:

  http://www.authorsharonhamilton.com/

  Find out more about Sharon, her upcoming releases, appearances and news from her newsletter.

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  Life is one fool thing after another.

  Love is two fool things after each other.

  The SEAL Brotherhood Series:

  Accidental SEAL, (Book 1 in the SEAL Brotherhood Series).

  Also available in print and audio.

  Short prequel to Accidental SEAL, SEAL Encounter, (Book .5 in the SEAL Brotherhood Series).

  Fallen SEAL Legacy (Book 2 of the SEAL Brotherhood).

  Also available in print and audio.

  SEAL Under Covers (Book 3 of the SEAL Brotherhood).

  Also available in print and audio.

  SEAL The Deal (Book 4 of the SEAL Brotherhood).

  Also available in print and audio.

  Cruisin’ For A SEAL (Book 5 of the SEAL Brotherhood).

  Also available in print and audio.

  SEAL My Destiny (Book 6 of the SEAL Brotherhood).

  Also available in print and audio.

  Full length version, SEAL Of My Heart (Book 7 of the SEAL Brotherhood).

  Also available in print and audio.

  SEAL’s Promise (Book 8 of the SEAL Brotherhood).

  Also available in print and audio.

  SEAL My Home (Book 9 of the SEAL Brotherhood).

  Also available in print and audio.

  SEAL’s Code (Book 10 of the SEAL Brotherhood).

  Other Books by Sharon Hamilton

  Golden Vampires of Tuscany Series

  Honeymoon Bite (Book 1 of the Golden Vampires of Tuscany).

  Also available in print and audio.

  Mortal Bite (Book 2 of the Golden Vampires of Tuscany).

  Also available in print and audio.

  The Guardians Series

  Heavenly Lover (Book 1 of The Guardians).

  Also available in print and audio.

  Underworld Lover (Book 2 of The Guardians).

  Also available in print and audio.

  Underworld Queen (Book 3 of The Guardians).

  Also available in print and audio.