Page 73 of Wayward

“I was just going to get you some water.”

Big grin then through her tears. “Okay. I want that.”

Normally, Lauren wouldn’t have been able to shower before a forensic team came and collected what they needed from her, but this was not a case of them trying to find evidence so they could find the perpetrator. The Rune police knew, without question, that Colby Landau had kidnapped Lauren Snyder. He’d taken her, stripped her, and it was only because Gunther had been so quick to pick up the trail that nothing horrible had occurred.

But now, freshly showered, in her parents’ bed, she was reading me a book about a magical tiger and a girl trying to save her grandmother. I was impressed. I didn’t remember reading that well when I was six.

“Sweetie,” Mrs. Snyder said softly. “We should let Maks go home now, don’t you think?”

“As soon as I’m done with this part,” she said, smiling at me and petting Gunther, who was on the bed beside her.

I was thinking that her father, downstairs still talking to Gale, Chief Ramirez, and Sergeant Dix from the state police, would afterward be sleeping in the recliner I was presently in with Misha. Lauren did not want to be separated from Gunther. Or me. She had reluctantly told her mother it was okay to give me back my jacket, but she kind of liked it too. It smelled like me, and that was a good thing. When Lauren was in the shower, singing a song about a turtle and bubbles, her mother had broken down in my arms.

“Thank you for finding my baby,” she told me and then jolted. “Oh my God, I don’t even know your name.”

“It’s Maks. But Gunther’s the real hero.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Mostly Gunther, with a bit of me.”

She nodded.

Twenty minutes later, Lauren was sleeping under her book, her mother was passed out beside her, and Gunther was snoring. When Gale came in, Gunther came instantly awake, lifting his head.

“Hey, buddy, I’m a friend,” he told the dog, who must have thought Gale was okay because he plopped his head back down and closed his eyes.

“You are Gunther approved,” I whispered as Gale walked to the chair I was in and crouched down beside it.

“Yeah, well, I wanna be Maks approved,” he said, hand on my thigh. “You were amazing. How did you know where Lauren was?”

“Just being observant.”

“Well, that was awesome, and if I didn’t think you were a good man before—I mean, geez, Maks, have you saved kids before?”

I had. Many. But this was not the moment to tell him, not with him looking at me like he was utterly spellbound.

Leaning sideways, I kissed him, hard, and he lifted and kissed me back, and I felt all the longing and desire there. It was a long, slow kiss, the kind I’d never had before him, where we both took our time and there was give and take on both sides. I never wanted it to end.

Before everything combusted and we woke up the room, he eased back and stared at me. The flush on his face and throat, his blown pupils and swollen lips, had me mesmerized.

“You wanna come home with me?” he asked, his voice soft and husky.

“Yes, please.”

He scooped Misha off my lap and put him on the floor before helping me with my jacket. Once it was on, he held on to the collar and eased me forward for another kiss. It was quicker the second time, and then he passed me Misha’s leash and walked toward the door.

“Will you come back and see me?” Lauren whispered.

“Yes, I will,” I promised her. “And you can come see me, and see the sheep.”

“Yay!” she said, a bit too loudly, but her mother settled back as soon as she put her hand over her mouth. If Gunther’s face was any indication, he just wanted us out.

On the drive home, Gale told me he’d reported everything, and since there would be no trial, no one would be looking at the official report.

“And people love hero animals anyway.”

“Yes, they do,” I agreed, smiling when he reached over and put his hand on my thigh.