Search and Rescue by April Wilson
Chapter 33
Hannah
Watching Killian on the hot seat is one of the most entertaining moments of my life. He’s trying to be cool and not let anyone ruffle his feathers even though Aiden’s ready to marry us off. We’re officially dating now, sure. And I’m really stoked about that. But marriage? Surely it’s a little too soon to be talking about that.
But then I realize my parents got married only two months after they met, and after nearly forty years of marriage, seven kids, and five grandkids—with another on the way—they’re just as much in love now as they were back then.
Killian meets my gaze, and I can feel the intensity all the way across the great room. We’re like a pair of magnets being drawn together by an invisible force.
When I wave him over to join us, he weaves his way through the crowd, shaking hands and accepting hugs and pats on the back, until he’s by my side.
Shane claps him on the back. “Welcome back. You sure I can’t talk you into staying?” Of course he’s just teasing Killian. Shane knows better.
I hand Ava to Killian, who fumbles for a split second as he settles the baby against his broad chest. He’s got a death grip on the baby, one hand supporting her head and the other holding her to his body. That baby’s not going anywhere.
“Sorry, man,” Killian says to my brother. “No offense—because I’ve loved every minute I’ve worked for you—but I got a much better offer.” He looks my way. “One I can’t refuse.”
Shane grins. “So I hear.” His gaze travels to Hannah. “My sister told me about the rescue you two performed yesterday.”
I shrug. “It was an easy climb. No big deal. We were in the right place at the right time when we found the kid.”
“Let’s talk later, in my office, when everyone’s gone home.” My brother’s looking at both of us. “Hannah tells me you’ve been kicking around some ideas. I have a proposition for you that I think you’ll like.”
My sisters sneak up behind me and literally pull me away from my brother and Killian. They drag me across the room to the bar, where Cooper and Jake are pouring drinks.
“Drinks are on me,” Lia says.
I laugh and ask for a bottle of my favorite local brew. Cooper pops the top off a bottle of Goose Island and hands it to me. Sophie’s drinking a soft drink—she’s pregnant. And Lia’s drinking a bottle of her favorite beer—Zombie Dust.
“So,” Sophie says, keeping her voice down. “Tell us everything.”
I’m sitting between my sisters, sandwiched between the diva princess and the tomboy, just like I’ve been my whole life. I have far more in common with my youngest sister, but Sophie and I have always been close, too. We were sisters first, long before Mom and Dad had the twins.
“What do you want to know?” I ask them before taking a sip from my bottle.
“Everything!” Sophie says. “For starters, who made the first move?”
“I did,” I say. “I grabbed him and kissed him. I think I shocked the shit out of him.”
“I told you!” Lia says triumphantly, giving Sophie a smug look.
I try to turn the conversation away from me and my love life to Lia’s. She and Jonah just got married only two months ago, at an impromptu ceremony at Shane’s home in Kenilworth. I throw my arm over her shoulders and pull her close. We may be adults now, but I’ve never gotten tired of teasing her. “How’s married life treating you?”
Lia actually blushes. She nods, as if seriously considering my question. “You know, I think the sex is better.”
I practically choke on my drink, while Sophie, who’s not the least bit surprised by anything that comes out of our sister’s mouth, rolls her eyes.
“I’m serious,” Lia says. “He’s like the Energizer bunny all of a sudden. He can go for hours.”
Sophie sighs. “Tell me about it.” Of course she’s thinking of her husband, Dominic.
Lia wags her bottle at us. “If you ask me, I think it’s because he gets off on calling me wife.”
“He probably does it just to get a rise out of you,” Sophie says.
Lia nods. “I imagine you’re right, because it pisses me off, we argue, and then we have make-up sex. I think he does it on purpose.”
Speaking of the devil, Lia’s husband walks up behind her and loops his arms around her neck. “What do I do on purpose?” he asks. Jonah Locke looks the part of a rock star—long hair up in a manbun, his arms covered in tatts. Lia tells us he has tatts in other places, too, but we’ve never seen those.
“You call me wife just to piss me off,” Lia says.
Jonah leans in with a grin and kisses her cheek. “Works every time.”
More siblings come to join us around the bar, and I sit back and listen to their banter with a sense of ease I haven’t felt in years. I love my family, but every time I came back to Chicago to visit, I was fighting an itch to get back on the plane and return to the mountains. This time, it’s different.
As I glance across the room at Killian, who’s deep in conversation with my brother Jake and his wife, Annie, I feel a sense of contentment I haven’t felt in years. Having him here with me somehow changes everything. I feel like the mountains came with me this time, and I’m not so anxious to return.
Killian catches me watching him and gives me a smile that says he’s feeling what I’m feeling. As much as I’m enjoying this impromptu get-together with my family, I’m looking forward to heading down to Killian’s apartment for the night. We’ll get to christen his bed here tonight before we head home tomorrow.
Home.
We have a home together now.
He’s coming back with me.
* * *
After everyone leaves, Shane invites me and Killian to join him in his home office. We follow him in and take seats across from him at his desk.
My brother takes a white business envelope out of his desk drawer and slides it across the table to Killian. Killian picks it up.
“Open it,” Shane says.
Killian does as asked and withdraws a slip of paper.
“Shane, you can’t be serious,” Killian says as he glances at the printed words on the check. He shows it to me—it’s a personal check, written out in my brother’s own handwriting.
I nearly choke. “Two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand dollars? Are you kidding?”
“It’s seed money,” Shane says to Killian. “For you to start your own business. Whatever you want to do.”
“I can’t take this,” Killian says. He returns the check to the envelope, which he slides back across the desk to Shane.
Shane pushes it right back to him. “Yes, you can.” Shane’s expression grows serious. “You saved my sister’s life, Killian. There’s no amount of money in the world that could repay that. If you don’t take this check, I’ll write another one for half-a-million. And if you don’t take that check—”
“I get the picture,” Killian says as he leans back in the black leather chair. He reaches for my hand and laces our fingers together. “You know how I feel about Hannah. It’s not a secret.”
Shane nods. “I know. That’s why you’ll take the money and use it to start your own business. I expect you to become financially secure enough to provide for my sister.”
“Hey,” I say, sitting up straight in my chair. “I don’t need to be provided for. I make do just fine on my own, thank you.”
Shane ignores my outburst and levels his gaze on Killian. “Do we understand each other?”
Killian nods. “Yes, but you’d better listen to your sister. If you don’t, she can make your life miserable.”
That makes me laugh, and I lean over to kiss Killian’s arm. “Good answer, Devereaux.”
Smiling, Shane leans back in his chair. “Then it’s settled. So, any ideas?”
“Yeah,” Killian says. He squeezes my hand. “McIntyre Search and Rescue. It’ll be a nonprofit organization, so we’ll need to do fundraising. But on the side, I’ll teach climbing workshops, and I think Hannah and I are going to organize some overnight backpacking and climbing trips up in the mountains. It’ll be fun. Something we can do together.”
“Sounds good,” Shane says. “But if anything happens to my sister on those climbing and backpacking escapades, you’ll answer to me. Is that clear?”
Killian nods, a hint of a grin on his face. “I can try to keep her out of trouble, but no promises. Your sister has a mind of her own.”
Shane’s lips twist wryly. “So I’ve noticed.”
* * *
After leaving the penthouse, we head down two floors to Killian’s apartment. It came furnished, and it looks like something out of an interior decorating magazine.
“Fancy,” I say as I stand just inside the door and observe the casual elegance of the coordinated living room furniture.
“Yeah, it’s not me,” he admits. “Too rich for my blood.”
“Sophie must have decorated it.” My sister is an interior decorator, and she often works on projects for our brother. “It’s beautiful, but I’d be afraid to put my feet up on the coffee table. I prefer a home that feels lived in—something I’m not afraid to get messy.”
Someone has already provided a stack of cardboard boxes, packing tape, and a big fat permanent marker, so we get to work packing up his personal belongings. He doesn’t have much. Some books, CDs, and DVDs. In his bedroom closet we find several pairs of sneakers and boots, one pair of dressy black shoes, jeans, T-shirts and hoodies, a handful of white and blue button-downs, and two dark suits.
“For weddings and funerals,” he says of the suits. “That’s the only time I wear them.”
He has some toiletries in the bathroom, and in the spare bedroom there’s a set of weights.
We stay up late packing everything up and stacking the boxes by the apartment door. We’ll carry everything down to his Jeep in the morning and head off on our long drive home. I’m looking forward to a road trip with my guy.
It’s two a.m. when we stop and take showers, get ready for bed, and crawl beneath the covers. We’re both exhausted.
Lying with him here, I feel surprisingly content. Usually, when I’m back in Chicago, I feel anxious and out of place, and I’m itching to get back to Colorado. But not this time. Yes, I’m looking forward to getting back home, but it’s more about the excitement of starting our life together, making plans, and starting a new business venture.
I’m so ready to move forward with him. I turn to Killian and run my palm down his bare chest. “When we get home, I’ll inform Ray that I’m quitting.”
“Are you sure?” he asks. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to quit. I don’t want to interfere with your job.”
“I love my job, but I want to work with you. Watching you rescue Scott Adams was a hell of a rush. I want to do that with you. I want to be your climbing partner next time. I want to spend time in the mountains with you. We can train Scout to be a search and rescue dog—together.”
He rolls to face me, his finger gently tracing the curve of my forehead, then down the side of my face. “That sounds perfect.”
He leans closer, and his deliciously male scent teases me, making my belly quiver.
I think about all the times he tried to connect with me since we first met. He’s tried repeatedly, putting himself out there, setting himself up for rejection, and he never gave up. My throat tightens, and my chest constricts painfully. My heart hurts just thinking about it.
I reach up and touch his face, curving my palm to his cheek. I gently brush my thumb over his beard. He’s done so much for me. He came all the way to Colorado to save me. He rappelled down into a ravine to find me in a blizzard, and he carried me to safety.
He’s done nothing but give to me, and risk himself in return. And what have I given him? Not nearly enough. “Killian?”
“Yeah?”
There’s something I can give him. I made the first move—I kissed him first, which opened the door between us. Now there’s something more I can give him. “Killian, I love you.”
There. I said it first. I gave him that.
He stares, looking a bit dumbstruck, as if he doesn’t believe his own ears.
“Hannah.” He cups my face and searches my eyes. “Je t’aime, ma belle fille.”
I smile. I know what that means.
I love you, my beautiful girl.
He leans in and kisses me, his lips warm and coaxing. “I love you, too.” When he pulls back, his eyes are glittering like black diamonds.
* * *
We take our time getting back to Bryce. It’s a long drive—just a little over a thousand miles. We do it in two days, taking turns behind the wheel, not rushing, taking time to stop and smell the flowers. We spend the first night at a roadside motel that looks like something out of the 1950s.
“Your brother is nuts,” Killian says after we shower and climb into bed.
We lie there, both naked and damp from our showers, and brainstorm how we’re going to use the money Shane gave Killian to start a business.
“You won’t get any argument out of me,” I say.
“You’re absolutely sure you want to quit your job? Don’t you want to take some time to think about it? There’s no rush.”
I roll on top of Killian, sitting astride him, and wrap my fingers around his length, which has been blatantly hard since our joint shower in the tiny bathroom. “Yes, I’m sure. Stop asking me.”
He nods, and as I tighten my grip on his erection, he gives me his full attention.
I lick my lips. “I’m going to give you something else to think about.”
His nostrils flare as he sucks in a breath. “Oh, yeah?”
I slip down his body until I’m kneeling between his muscular thighs, my mouth hovering over his cock. His erection lifts eagerly into the air, as if it knows what’s coming. My warm breath washes over the head of him, and then I lick the crown, taking just a tentative taste.
He lets out a rough growl as he fists my hair. “Oh, fuck, baby. Yes! God, yes.”
I work him with my mouth and fingers until he’s shuddering, his limbs trembling.
“Where are the damn condoms?” he mutters.
Honestly, I forgot where I packed them. “We don’t need them.”
I grab his hands and pull him off the bed with me. Then I drop to my knees on a blanket on the floor and pull him to stand in front of me. I gaze up into his dark eyes and open my mouth.
His expression tightens as he reaches down and grabs hold of my hair. “God, you’re beautiful.”
I take his thick length deep and work him with my tongue and fingers until he can’t hold on another minute. He comes in a heated rush, gripping my head hard in his hands as he cries my name.
