Two Weeks Later

Mountain turned off the SUV, opened up the back passenger door, and let out all the dogs. Since Amelia's injury, the four dogs were even more protective of her. Thankfully he'd had no issue becoming part of the pack. They milled around excitedly, waiting for Amelia to come out. Then he walked over to the passenger side and opened the door, as he held out his hand.

"When you told me that you were bringing me someplace to recover," she said, looking out the windshield, "I really wasn't thinking here."

"Yet why not?" he asked, with a smile. "Don't knock it until you've had a chance to try it."

She stared out at the ocean in the distance and sighed happily. Before exiting the vehicle, she reached out to cuddle the dogs, who were jumping up anxiously for her to get out. Maybe the smell of the sea added to their exuberance. "I won't knock it. I've always loved open waters."

"Water, whether it's frozen or not," Mountain teased.

She laughed. "Absolutely." She looped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Pretty damn special place you've got here."

"This…" He pointed to the cabin behind them. "I bought it years ago, as a way to find peace from all the torment and the nastiness that happens in life, particularly with the work that I sometimes do," he shared, with an eye roll. "Don't think this is the stuff I do all the time, but sometimes I do get caught up in these scenarios, and this is where I come to, where I call home afterward, at least for a while."

"What about the rest of the team?" she asked.

"Seems we'll be seeing all of them over the next few days, except Sydney and Magnus. They're staying up there to see this through to the bitter end, and then they'll come home in a couple weeks."

"Will we still be here?" Amelia asked.

He shrugged. "You tell me." He looked at her closely. "I'm up for staying the summer. Personally I think I need it, and so do you."

She smiled, as he picked her up and carried her into the cabin. However, as cabins usually went, this one hardly qualified. She stared, absolutely stunned. "This is freaking amazing," she cried out.

"It's huge, and I wanted the space," he said. "I always figured I would retire here someday."

She nodded. "Well, it's certainly big enough."

"Yeah, it's got four bedrooms and an annex off to the side, if I ever wanted to expand," he noted, with a chuckle. "When it's time to find that place that you can call your own"—he shrugged—"you have to listen to your soul, and my soul told me that this was it."

"Your soul has great taste. I absolutely love it."

He put her gently on her feet, and she looked at him intently. "I am fine, you know?"

He shrugged and nodded. "You might be fine, but you've been badly injured, and I don't want you to get hurt again."

She tapped him gently on the cheek. "Got it, but you also need to realize that I'm fine, that I will be fine, and that I won't get hurt again."

He laughed and said, "Amen to that. Well, come on then, and I'll show you around." Then he gave her a quick tour of the place, ending with the bedrooms. "So your bedroom is here, and mine is right over there."

She shook her head and asked, "Two bedrooms?"

"I didn't want to push you."

She rolled her eyes at that. "Of course you didn't, always the gentleman."

"Come on. Let me show you the yard." They ended up back in the kitchen, where she stepped outside and squealed in delight. "Oh my God, you've got a pool."

"Yeah, I have someone who keeps everything prepped and ready, so it's good to go. Do you want to go for a swim?"

"Oh, hell yes, I do," she declared in delight. "You know the dogs do too."

"Good, I'll meet you there."

And, with that, he headed into his room to get changed. She stared around in shock and joy at the place, then rummaged through her bag, thankful she'd packed a bathing suit for this southern destination holiday, then quickly got changed and stepped outside, heading directly for the water. It would take a while to adjust to being in this location; it was so utterly stunning.

When he joined her in the pool, she was already doing laps– or trying to amongst the dogs' exuberance. He dove in beside her, and, when she finally stopped, he swam alongside her, keeping the same pace.

She splashed him gently. "Always the protector, making sure I don't overdo it."

He shrugged and gave her a big grin. "Hey, when you find something special, you protect it."

She stopped, looked at him, then swiped at the sudden tears in her eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, none of that," he cried out in alarm. He wrapped her up in his arms and held her, still standing in the pool, even while it was well over her head.

But here in his arms, she had absolutely nothing to worry about. She smiled up at him. "You do say the nicest things."

"I mean them too," he stated, with a glance at her. "I'm not one for much flowery speech, but, when you find something that's special"—he gazed into her eyes, holding her tight—"you want to look after it. You want to protect it, and that's what I plan to do."

"I'm fine, you know?" she repeated.

"Good, that's great. Now we can have even more fun."

She laughed. "That sounds good to me too," she murmured, as she nuzzled his chest. "And you can damn-well move me out of that second bedroom." When he looked at her in surprise, she shook her head. "I do not plan on sleeping alone."

His grin flashed, bright and hot. "That's fine with me. I wanted to give you the opportunity to choose."

She shook her head. "Hell no, you were testing me to see if I was ready."

He shrugged. "Hey, I don't want to push you."

She grabbed him by the ears and pulled his head to her, laughing. They kissed, hot and heavy, until he sank under the water, taking her with him. When she came up for air, she was laughing. "You're not pushing, and I am more than ready."

"As in more than ready now?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"Absolutely more than ready now," she replied. "Besides, I've never made love in a pool."

"We might have to try it," he suggested, as he looked around, assessing their options.

She chuckled. "We don't really have to test it right this minute."

"No, but it's not a bad idea," he declared, giving her a wink. He moved her over to the shallow end, then lifted her up, so she sat on the side of the pool, and, when his arms came away, her bikini top came with them.

She gasped and then burst out laughing. "Okay, for somebody who says he's never made love in a pool, that was a pretty smooth move."

He flashed that audacious grin at her. "Hey, smooth moves are always good." He then lifted her up, and now she was completely nude, sitting there in front of him. He took a step closer, him on the bottom step in the shallow end of the pool and her sitting on the pool's edge. Their heads were now perfectly aligned.

She laughed. "Now that's smart too," she murmured, as she reached out, both arms wrapped around his neck, and kissed him deeply. But his hands were damn busy, caressing, stroking, sliding up and down her body, until she was panting. "Oh, that's deadly. You are freaking deadly."

He nuzzled her gently and whispered, "No, not really. I'm just in love, probably for the first time in my life."

She stared at him in shock, and tears immediately came to her eyes again. When he looked worried, she shook her head. "You say the nicest things."

He lowered his head and kissed her with a tenderness she didn't think she'd ever felt before. When he finally raised his head again, she had her arms looped about his neck, her thighs wrapped around him, prodding against the erection between them. She smiled and whispered, "A little less talk might be a good idea."

He gave a happy shout, quickly stripped off his suit and, with her still wrapped around his hips, he slipped her off the pool edge, repositioned her ever-so-slightly in the water, and, with her help, he slid right home. She gasped in the pool, the water all around them, the sun shining down, and she realized how absolutely perfect this day was.

With him moving gently, and then not-so-gently, faster and faster, water splashing up around them, she looped her arms tighter around his neck and took over the motions, increasing the waves but also the pace, and by the time her body trembled in response, he had her up against a towel and a floaty, pinned against the wall of the pool, and drove deeper, harder, faster. She came apart in his arms, only to recognize his own climax, and held him as he drove through it.

When he finally groaned and settled up against the pool beside her, she whispered, "See? Even then, instead of my getting hurt by the concrete, you protected me."

He looked at her and smiled gently. "As I said, when you find something special…"

She wrapped her arms around him. "Oh, I agree, damn special," she murmured, "I sure hope we can stay here for a while, and the dogs appear to be totally okay with it." Matter of fact, they were still in the pool, splashing on the far side, playing and generally having a grand old time. She loved it, absolutely loved it.

"I figured we could use this as a base," Mountain explained, "and come and go as we need to, maybe make it our permanent home. We'll see how many times you decide to spend some time up north, and we can sort it all out."

She nodded. "I do want to go back to the village again."

"We did say goodbye."

"But briefly," she pointed out.

"Yes, briefly." He grinned. "Honestly, I think they're all relieved that we're gone at this point."

She laughed. "You could be right. It was not the easiest training session for them to witness."

"No, it sure wasn't," he murmured, as he nuzzled her neck, and then whispered against her, "You ready to go again?"

He sat her on a lawn chair and drifted downward, his tongue, his hands, his mouth, all driving her wild with the sensations, the sun above them, and the joy that flowed through her. By the time they'd made love several more times, her body sang with joy and fatigue. "I don't think I ever want to leave."

"And you don't have to," he said. "We'll make this a home base for both of us. I meant that."

She looked over at him. "There's a strong sound of permanence to that."

"I sure hope so." He tilted her chin up and whispered, with excitement on his face, "Amelia, will you marry me?" She looked at him with a stunned expression. "Will you be my wife in all things, my comfort, my joy, my partner,… in good times and bad?"

She was dumbfounded.

"Will you stay by my side because I can't think of anything more precious than spending every last moment of every last day together with you."

With tears in her eyes, she threw her arms around his neck and cried out, "Absolutely yes."