Page 56 of No Bones About It

He nodded. “Like this guy is going to be. And maybe some others from tonight.”

“I’m so glad they’re going to have good lives from now on.”

They would follow up on the dogs and make sure of just that. “We’ve got lots of space.”

She tilted her face to his, eyes shining. “We do indeed. And we’ll keep filling it up.”

Now that Olaf was calmer, Garrett stood and helped Kimi to her feet. They walked through the night back to the cottage. Olaf led the way to the bedroom, where he immediately curled up on his bed with his favorite stuffed dragon.

Kimi led Garrett to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. “I need to wash away Marlena.”

He cupped her face. “Marlena did a kickass job tonight, but I’d love to have my Kimi back.”

They shed their clothes, and Kimi dumped hers directly into the garbage. He washed her hair while she scrubbed at her face until every bit of makeup was gone.

When they were clean, she turned to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Thank you again. You didn’t want me to do it, but you didn’t try to talk me out of it.”

“I know you needed to do it.”

She kissed his chest, then smiled up at him. “And that’s one of the many reasons I love you.”

“Right back at you. You’re so brave and so determined to help. You amaze me, Kimi. I’m going to spend my life making sure you’ve always got someone by your side and at your back.”

Their mouths crashed together, and the heat from the shower was nothing compared to the heat that spun between them.

He ran his hands over her body and felt her trembles of need. He gently pressed her against the tile wall and dropped to his knees.

His first lick had her head thumping back against the tile and her fingers gripping his hair. “Hang on, Kimi. I’ve got a lot of pent-up emotion going here.”

Her strangled laugh changed to a gasp, and then she cried out his name.

Watching her come apart had his body revving, but he wanted to watch her do that again and again. After her second orgasm, the watercooled. He turned it off, scooped up her shaking body and set her on the vanity. He toweled them off and carried her to the bed, where her eyes finally fluttered open.

Her grin was full of everything he’d ever wanted.

“My turn.” Her husky voice nearly sent him over the edge. She reversed their positions and straddled him. Her lips grazed his. “I love you. Let me show you.”

It was a hell of a show.

The next day, Kimi snuck in a few calls to help her implement her plan. Fiona and Ginny were happy to help. This town was full of fabulous people.

Snoops brayed loudly and had Kimi moving. The donkey was often annoyed but this sounded different from his usual cranky call. Was the bear back?

She raced to his paddock and found the donkey backed into the corner, staring at one of the new pygmy goats. In place of his usual annoyance, the donkey’s face was dialed to confusion.

The goat didn’t reach Kimi’s hip and was completely unconcerned with the reaction she’d caused in the donkey. Instead, she munched on the grass near one of the fence posts.

Kimi slipped into the paddock. “You’ve seen plenty of goats before, Snoops. What’s different about this one?”

Snoops looked at Kimi as if she’d asked if he wanted to waltz. She laughed and approached the tiny goat, who had somehow escaped the very secure fenced paddock. “What happened, sweetie? Did you scare the donkey somehow?”

The goat didn’t answer. Kimi walked over to the donkey. Showing his concern about the tiny goat, he didn’t even attempt to nip at her shirt.

She stroked the donkey and looked around in case something else had spooked Snoops. Popcorn and her troop stood in the next paddock, watching the proceedings.

Kimi grinned at the goat, who needed a name. Nina wasn’t here forher shift yet but she’d bet the girl had ideas. “Are you Popcorn’s newest recruit?”

As if her thoughts had conjured her, the teen hopped the far fence and approached with Animosh, stopping to talk with all the animals on her way.

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