"You have one brother who was Special Forces, another who is a CIA operative, and a sister-in-law who is an ex-FBI agent. If none of us could get to your laptop, it would have been pretty damn sad," Lara told Zane in a gently joking tone.
Zane scowled without opening his eyes, which made Ellie smile. She knew it probably annoyed him that his security wasn't completely foolproof.
A moment later, he opened his eyes, squinting at everyone kneeling beside him. "Ellie loves me. Doesn't that make me a lucky bastard?"
"He's getting goofy," Tate observed.
"In this case, I rather think he knows exactly what he's saying, and I'd have to agree," Marcus said calmly as he looked at Ellie. "Thanks for what you did. We couldn't have pulled this off without you, and you certainly didn't need to do it."
She smiled at Marcus, knowing there was much more to this brother of Zane's who liked to think he was detached and only cared about superficial things like fast cars and nice possessions. "Yes, I did have to do it. I love him, too."
Lara and Tate smiled, and Marcus gave Ellie a satisfied look. "I know."
Zane moved his hand, and Ellie caught it, twining his fingers with hers. "Hold on. The ambulance is here."
"I'll be fine," Zane argued, moving like he wanted to get up.
In unison, Tate and Marcus pushed Zane back down as the paramedics came to take a look at him.
Ellie stepped back to make room for the medical personnel and Lara wrapped her arm around her shoulders supportively. "He'll be okay. I've discovered all of the Colter brothers have hard heads. He took some pretty hard blows, but he'll recover."
Ellie looked at the shattered window and then back at Zane. "It could have been worse, I suppose."
"That was quick thinking to get yourself and Zane clear of any misfire," Lara told her quietly.
"Instinct," Ellie said, brushing Lara's compliment off.
"Love," Lara countered with a smile.
Ellie grinned back at her. "He loves me. Zane really loves me." Still giddy with relief and Zane's declaration, she felt a little bit silly herself.
"I know," Lara repeated Marcus's words. "Another single Colter guy off the market."
"There's still Blake and Marcus," Ellie reminded her as she and Lara followed the paramedics once they'd secured Zane on a gurney and were in motion.
"Blake is married to his position as a senator, and Marcus … " Lara's voice trailed off for a few seconds before she concluded, "What woman would ever put up with him? She'd have to be able to kick his ass."
Ellie chuckled as they went down the elevator. She grasped Zane's hand and felt him squeeze her fingers weakly.
Right now, there was only one Colter man she'd gladly take off the bachelor market for good. Never again would she hide the way she felt about him. Life was too short. If she hadn't learned that from her own experience, she definitely had from this incident.
Ellie felt like she'd waited a lifetime for Zane, and she wasn't about to wait any longer.
Ellie was glad that Zane only had an overnight stay in the hospital, because he was a terrible patient. She found it slightly amusing that he'd been so adamant about her waiting when she'd wanted to leave the hospital following her ordeal. But he obviously didn't think the same caution was necessary when it came to him. He was complaining about needing to stay the night from the moment the doctor had deemed it necessary to watch him for the first twenty-four hours because of his concussion.
He'd gone home with staples in his head, and a whole lot of family around constantly, every one of them worried about him.
Three days after he was released from the hospital, Chloe and Gabe stopped by. Gabe and Zane were watching a ball game on TV while Chloe and Ellie tried to work through everything that had happened to them.
"Sometimes it seems like it happened so long ago," Ellie mused as she sat at the kitchen table, talking to Chloe. "I know I still have issues from what happened, but my memories are slowly fading away. Maybe because I've had so many good memories with your brother to replace the bad ones."
Chloe sighed. "Sometimes I feel that way, too. Having you back is still fresh, but the damage that was done by James is being obliterated by my life with Gabe."
"You're really happy?" Ellie was hesitant to ask because it was pretty evident that Gabe and Chloe adored each other.
"Very. He saved my life. Not in the way that Zane saved yours, but without his support and love, I'm not sure where I'd be right now." Chloe hesitated before asking, "So when is the wedding?"
Ellie shook her head. "Not anytime soon. We haven't discussed it."
Chloe laughed. "It will be soon. Zane never has waited around for something he wanted. Now that he knows you love him, he's going to want to see his ring on your finger."
"I'm not in any hurry," Ellie said quickly.
"I am," Chloe argued. "I want to be a matron of honor before I end up pregnant."
Ellie gaped at her best friend. "Are you trying?"
"Not yet. But we're planning on it. Gabe wants me to wait until I'm ready. But I think I'm pretty much getting there. I want to have our first child soon. Hopefully we'll have more than one."
Ellie could easily see Chloe as a mother. She'd be amazing. "I'd better be one of the first to know when you get pregnant."
"You know you will be. I won't be able to wait to tell you. But in the meantime, I'm looking forward to your wedding."
"Don't hold your breath," Ellie warned. Although she and Zane professed their love every day, she wasn't sure he was ready to make that leap just yet.
Chloe rose as Gabe and Zane came into the room. "Ready to go?"
"Whenever you are," Gabe answered agreeably. "We couldn't watch the game anymore. We were getting an ass whooping."
"I have to go anyway. I need to check on a couple of the horses," Chloe reminded her spouse.
Ellie watched her best friend talk to her husband. The two of them so obviously belonged together. She could see the unspoken understanding between the two of them, the love that seemed to radiate from both of their souls.
They all said their good-byes as Gabe and Chloe departed, leaving the house quiet again.
"Thank God," Zane pronounced as he closed and locked the door. "It seems like we haven't had a minute alone since I got back from the hospital."
They had received a lot of visitors, mostly his concerned family. "You're supposed to be recovering."
Zane still had stitches and staples in his head, but he was healing quickly, most of the bruises on his face already gone.
"I am recovered," he argued, heading back toward the family room.
Ellie followed him. "No, you're not. Sit down and I'll make you something for dinner."
"I'd rather have you," Zane rasped, catching her before she could go back to the kitchen. "I need you, Ellie. I need you so damn much that I can't wait any longer. I want to tell you I love you while I'm deep inside you."
Ellie fell into his pleading gaze, her body aching for his possession. She'd wanted the same thing, but hadn't wanted to delay his recovery. "I don't just love the sex, Zane. I. Love. You."
"I don't just want the sex either. I want you, Ellie."
His expression was pleading, and she wasn't certain she could deny him. Taking his hand, she led him toward the couch. Flipping the button on his jeans, she made short work of his clothing, finally pushing him down on the sofa completely, spectacularly naked.
She tried not to get distracted by his perfectly sculpted body, determined not to let him impede his recovery. But it wasn't easy when a man looked as hot as Zane Colter, and he was sitting within touching distance without a stitch of clothing on his muscular, perfect body.
Strangely, the fact that he was fantastically hot didn't intimidate her at all. Maybe it was because she knew that even if he wasn't so irresistibly gorgeous, she'd still want him just as much as she did right now.
"You behave. I'm doing all the work," she told him sternly.
His hungry eyes watched her, his cock fully erect as he blatantly stared at her as she divested herself of her clothing one piece at a time.
Ellie still couldn't believe that Zane looked at her like she was one of the highest paid models in the world, attractive to him in every way. He never seemed to see any of her body flaws, or that she was only passably attractive. When he looked at her, Zane saw her through the eyes of a man who was in love with her. That was a miracle to her, and her eyes grew moist with tears because he loved her exactly as she was: something she'd always hoped for, but never thought to find.
"You're killing me," Zane groaned, watching as she shimmied out of the last item of her clothing: her skimpy thong panties.
She moved toward him, her fingers itching to touch him, to reassure herself that even though he had some lingering injuries, he was going to be okay.