CHAPTER 43
The sound of steps comes up quickly behind me. It’s nothing that I haven’t been expecting. Drawing a deep breath, I turn to face them. Sink to my knees, open my arms wide, and accept my fate. Brace myself for the impact that comes a second later.
Stephano is practically frantic as he climbs up me, his tiny hooves digging into my thighs and gouging at my chest until I swoop him up into a cuddle. He nuzzles my neck, then drags his sandpaper tongue across my cheek as I whisper to him, holding him tight.
Rocky struts up to us and studies me with an orange eye, but it holds none of the fiery contempt that it used to. He even gives my knee an experimental peck, which feels like the bird equivalent of a pat on the back. I can’t help but smile.
The pygmy goat and rooster aren’t the only ones to show me extra love since my return.
Daisy hasn’t missed an opportunity to nuzzle her zebra head against me and Charlie, her foal, has taken to mouthing me so much that she gave my leg a hickey.
Even Sam Mule has been less cranky, his oversized ears perked in my direction instead of pinned back away from me.
Hal, Jake’s head of security at Myers and Kleinman, did a good job taking care of all the animals while we were away.
Their bellies were full, waters were filled, and stalls were spotless.
But over the last week that we’ve been back, based on how attention starved they’ve all acted, it’s clear that the man was a bit short on affection.
Or maybe they just missed me that much. Either way, it’s almost enough to make me feel bad about those extra few days that Jake and I spent down in the Keys. Almost, but not quite, because the only way to describe those days is magical.
Long walks on the beach, amazingly delicious meals, swimming in the warm, crystal-clear aqua waters…
and falling asleep every night in front of our honeymoon suite’s wall of glass, wrapped in each other’s arms. There’s no denying that after everything we’ve been through lately, we needed the time to relax.
And to reconnect. Which we did, seizing the opportunity to lose ourselves in each other for a while before returning to the reality of our normal lives. Now, we’re back to the daily grind. Everything feels the same, yet at the same time, so very different.
Something’s shifted between us. The little niggling doubts that once festered in the dark corners of my mind have been silenced. What we have between us somehow feels more permanent, and it’s not just because of the ring I still wear on my finger.
As if summoned by my thoughts, Jake’s voice breaks through my reverie.
“Cheating on me again, I see,” he says, lips pursed in a mock pout.
“Oh please. Like you’re one to talk.”
I gesture to the raccoon draped around his neck like a fur stole.
“I’ll have you know that Ricki is a lady. She keeps her touches appropriate. Unlike that little horned deviant.”
I glance down at the muddy hoofprints smeared across the front of my shirt and smirk. “You’re just jealous.”
“Darn right I am.”
I give Stephano a gentle squeeze before setting him down.
As I stand, brushing myself off, I watch him frolic over to where Rocky’s scratching at the dirt.
He prances a tight circle around the rooster until the bird raises his head, bobbing it, the two engaging in their own very bizarre version of dancing.
“You’ll get your turn,” I promise.
“Yeah?” Jake asks.
He lifts the raccoon from around his neck and sets her on top of Chip and Bagel’s stall door.
The kit scampers down into the stall, where one of the pigs gives a squeal of glee at the arrival of their new friend.
It’s odd, the matches that are made in the animal kingdom.
But are those made between humans any less strange?
“Yeah.”
“How about now?” he suggests, his voice low and husky.
“Here?”
He gives me that grin I can’t resist.
“Have you done all your chores?” I ask, taking a step closer to him.
“No.”
I put my hand on his chest. “Neither have I.”
“I guess that means it’s going to be a late night.”
Gathering a fistful of his shirt, I pull him toward me. Hold his gaze as I start walking backward, tugging him with me toward the tack room.
“Or an early morning,” I counter.
“Sleep’s overrated, anyway.”
He loops his arms around me, pulling me close. Gives me a kiss that’s electric. I feel safe, and happy, and loved. I feel home. I’ve never had my life flash before my eyes, but if it ever does? These are the moments that I want to remember.
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Want more of Cassie, Jake, and the sanctuary animals? Read on for a sneak peek at book five in the series, SINISTER SECRETS…