Protecting Her Secret Son by Regan Black

Author:Regan Black
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Late that night, Shannon stood at the open doorway, watching her son sleep. In the watery moonlight spilling through the window, she reveled in the miraculous opportunity to enjoy each gentle rise and fall of his chest. With the floppy blue rabbit clutched to his face, he sighed a little and snuggled deeper under the covers.

Oh, how she’d missed the sweet smell of innocence that clung to his skin, the silk of his hair right after a bath. Thanks to Daniel’s support she had believed to the best of her ability, though she’d never quite banished the fear that she’d never have the chance to savor these small, amazing moments again.

“Doing okay?” Daniel whispered at her shoulder.

“Never better,” she whispered back. “I might stand here all night.”

She breathed in the spicy scent of the man as well as the boy. Gratitude filled her, hadn’t stopped since he’d walked out of that combat zone carrying her son in his arms, the last traces of gunfire and smoke an ominous echo behind him.

“Maybe you should save that for tomorrow. You could use some sleep, too.”

They both could. Even with the police watching her house, she was grateful he was willing to spend another night on her couch rather than in a real bed. “Daniel, I can’t ever thank you enough. You walked out with him and saved us both.”

“Team effort.”

He’d said the same thing at the hospital, waiting with her while the doctors examined Aiden and confirmed he hadn’t been seriously injured.

Aiden had been mildly dehydrated, sported a nasty bruise on his shin, a black-and-blue handprint on his upper arm and a scraped knee. All in all, not a bad outcome considering he’d spent nearly a week with two violent men unaccustomed to caring for a four-year-old.

Daniel had survived the rescue remarkably well. The gash on his arm had been cleaned and closed with a line of butterfly bandages glowing white against his tanned skin.

She’d kissed every boo-boo, Daniel’s included, while doctors administered fluids to Aiden and Detective Hertz took statements from the three of them. He showed Daniel and her son pictures and they both identified Aiden’s captors. To her immense relief, her son showed no recognition of Bradley, Gary or the men captured by the coast guard.

“I want to put every mark they put on my boy on Bradley,” she said, through a clenched jaw. “With a little more emphasis.”

“You may have to wait in line,” Daniel said darkly.

She shouldn’t have been amused, definitely shouldn’t have been aroused, by the comment. She dragged her gaze away from her sleeping son and smiled up at Daniel. “And here I thought I’d be first in that line, should the chance present itself.”

“I’ll let you go first,” he allowed, “if you promise to let me bat cleanup.”

“It’s a date.”

“It was supposed to be,” he said under his breath.

She laid a hand on his chest, nudging him back into the hallway, drawing Aiden’s door not quite closed. “Care to explain that?”

He shook his head, shoved his hands into his pockets.

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