face asking, "Aren't you forgettin' something?"
"Ummm, I don't…Ohhhhhhh," he laughed when Ellie looked surprised, and he knew he fooled her into thinking he'd forgotten to propose.
“Well, I don’t want to get up, I like havin’ you in my lap. Will ya’ be awful disappointed if I don’t get on one knee?”
“Never!” She squealed, shaking her head.
"Then, Miss Ellie Gwendolyn MacLeish, will you do me the unprecedented honor of being my Mate, my wife, and the love of my life forever and always?"
“Oh, hell, yeah,” Ellie yelled with so much joy and love Ranger could feel her words in his heart and soul.
Pulling his Mate close, the Guardsman laid his lips to hers and, while kissing her with all the love in his heart, whispered right into her mind, “I love you, Ellie MacLeish-Evans. I love you so much it hurts. I always heard that Dragons fall hard. Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened. So, all I can say is, watch out below, Dragon falling."
Deepening their kiss, his beautiful Mate added, "Never fear, I’ll always be here to catch you when you fall, Dragon Man. Now and forever, you and me."
THE END
Epilogue
“What do you mean you just found a body like the Chimera cases?”
Ranger knew he was growling. Knew he should be nice to his partner, the man who’d saved his job, the Guardsman and DIA Agent he hadn’t called in almost two months. But he’d been asleep, with Ellie in his arms, and the last thing Ranger Evans had ever expected to hear six days after finally being legally married and ceremonially mated to his Mate was that the Chimera were back.
"Just what I said," Donovan growled right back. "Would you like me to draw you a mental picture, send an email, fucking sky write this shit?"
“No,” Ranger sighed loudly. “I’m sorry. It’s just that Ellie and I are supposed to be heading up to Crimson Moon tomorrow, and…”
“Aww, shit. I forgot it was your honeymoon.”
Waiting while his longtime friend and partner shuffled some papers and clicked on the keyboard Ranger was sure was sitting on a stack of files, the Guardsman assured, “Don’t worry about it. There’s no way I’m letting Ellie anywhere off this ranch if those fuckers have reorganized.”
“No, I hear ya’,” Van quickly answered. “I was just trying to find the Coroner’s report. I thought maybe if I read it to you… Well, just the less shitty parts… You could find something I missed. Tell me that this isn’t the Chimera.”
“Yeah, right,” Ranger grumbled. “We both know you’re better at the paperwork and the details than I am. I tend to…”
“Set things on fire, and ask questions later?” Van laughed out loud. “Damn, Son, I have missed you.”
"What about Chase?" Ranger asked, inquiring about another experienced DIA Agent who was older than both of them with a Dragon who'd literally fought alongside King Arthur. "Can you call him up? Have him head down from Dallas?"
“Already done.”
"Alright." Ranger's mind was running a hundred miles a minute, trying to come up with the best thing to do. How to keep his Mate safe. How to not let the same thing happen to his partner that happened to him. How to be Super Dragon – like Ellie always called him – without tripping over his scales. "Let me…"
“Let you what?” Ellie asked, her head popping up, that telltale eyebrow cocked and ready. “Let you tell Donovan to get his butt over here and tell us what’s going on?”
“Well, I…”
Taking the phone from his hand, Ellie winked before greeting, "Hey, Van. Why don't you just pack a bag and get on over here? Four heads are definitely better than one or two, and if we're lucky, we'll have a lot more than that."
Handing the phone back to him, his Mate got out of bed and headed to the bathroom – completely naked. Barely able to string two words together, Ranger could finally speak when Ellie shut the door behind her.
Running his hand through his hair, he raised the phone to his ear and snickered, “Well, you heard the boss. As soon as Chase gets there, ya’ head this way.”
“Sure enough, Partner,” Donovan answered just a little too quickly with way too much cheer in his voice.
“What are you up to?”
“Well, take this as loving advice from one Dragon to another…”
“Yeah…”
“Dude, you need to learn to shield your thoughts.”
“Son of a bitch…”
Laughing out loud, Van added, "Now, go take care of your bride, and I'll see ya’ soon.”
“Yeah,