The Gate (10 page)

He opened his arms to her and coiled
them around her tightly when she flung herself against his
chest.

“Devlin! I was so scared!” Carly
muttered. “I thought I was never going to see you
again!”

“That makes two of us scared stiff,”
Devlin said, amusement threading his voice. “That has to be the
scariest rescue ever executed in the history of
mankind!”

Carly stiffened. “Rescue?”

Devlin pulled away far enough to
examine her face. “Of course it was a rescue, baby! What did you
think?”

Relief flooded her. “I don’t know. I
couldn’t think at all.”

Devlin cupped the back of her head and
tucked her snuggly against his chest. “To be honest, it’s still
scary,” he muttered. “They think I’m so kind of …. I don’t
know—miracle worker, saint. Religious icon.”

“I didn’t think anybody believed in any
of that anymore,” Carly muttered, feeling uneasiness begin to erode
the relief she’d been feeling.

“They seem to think I’ve been …
resurrected, or at least come back from the dead,” he responded
wryly. “Brenda managed to escape the net and was smuggled back to
Earth along with some of the others. They managed to convince the
religious sects that were still active that I was proof of
afterlife, and that I’d managed to find Heaven. From there it
spread like wildfire. Apparently, everyone’s been waiting for a
miracle and they’ve decided I’m the miracle.”

“What do you think?”

“I think I love you, woman. I think I’m
glad as hell I got another chance at life. I don’t think I’ll ever
figure out exactly what happened.”

“Wait! Say that again!”

Devlin chuckled. “I don’t think I’ll
ever figure out ….”

Carly pulled away and frowned at him.
“Not that part!”

He tried to look innocent. “The part
about getting another chance?”

She glared at him. “Damn it,
Devlin!”

He glared back at her. “I didn’t hear
you say anything.”

Carly gaped at him, but she felt her
face turning red. “I wouldn’t think you could question my
feelings—not after the lengths I went through to get you in my
bed!”

He lifted his dark brows. “Soooo …
you’re in lust with me?”

Carly felt her face heat even more.
“Oh, I am! Definitely.”

He looked a little disconcerted. “Any
chance at love?”

“Every chance of it!” Carly said
promptly. “I’m crazy in love with you, Devlin Bear.”

“Good! Because I’m crazy in love with
you, too,” he said, chuckling. “Now, about the lust part
….”

Heat surged through Carly as Devlin
found her lips and kissed her. She was well on her way to the lust
part when he drew away and looked at her searchingly. “You do
believe that I really am Devlin Bear?”

Carly reached up and cupped his face in
both hands. “I believe. I think I always believed.”

Devlin bent down and lifted her into
his arms, carrying her to the narrow cot where she’d been left to
rest hours earlier after her harrowing rescue from the military. It
was a tight fit, but neither of them minded the necessity to cling
really close. “It’s a Christmas miracle, you know,” Devlin murmured
after a while. “That’s what they’re calling it and, on that point,
at least, I completely agree.”

Startled, Carly drew back and studied
his face searchingly. “It’s Christmas?” she asked in
surprise.

“It is … and coincidentally, it was
Christmas day when I discovered the gate.”

The End.

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