"Yes." Ian stepped out of the cover of the last shelf, and then he could see Daniela at last. He kept his breathing controlled. Kept his fury cold. No mistakes.

The man had her tied to an old furnace. He had a knife at her throat. A line of blood stretched from her ear to her collarbone, nearly black in the dark. A thin line. Not a deep cut. The Goat Man was playing. For now.

"Drop your knife," he said.

Ian did.

"Go over there." Morais nodded toward radiator pipes against the wall about twenty feet from him.

Ian followed his instruction.

A handful of plastic ties waited for him on the ground. Looked like the b.a.s.t.a.r.d had come prepared.

"Tie yourself to the pipes."

"You cut her loose, I tie myself up. That's the deal."

The man pressed his knife against Daniela's throat. "You tie yourself first."

She didn't whimper. Her eyes showed no fear, only resolution. She was ready. And Ian trusted her. So he tied one hand to the pipe.

"You let her go, I'll tie the other hand." Not that he could, one-handed.

But the guy didn't seem to be thinking that far ahead-maybe he'd always had others to do his dirty business for him before. He cut Daniela loose. Or almost loose. He grabbed her by the wrist, shooting a triumphant look at Ian.

Ian just shook his head.

Even as he did, Daniela lunged into action.

With a kick to the chest, she knocked Morais back. He tried to grab for her again. She twisted like an eel. He caught nothing but air.

Rage reddened his face as he wielded the sharp blade. "Puta!"

He'd vastly underestimated her. Ian almost felt sorry for the b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

Daniela kicked up toward the guy's neck, hooking her foot around his nape and yanking down, putting the man on his knees. She mixed the military techniques Ian had taught her with capoeira. She certainly was a pleasure to watch in action.

The guy struggled up, but only barely. Only because Daniela was playing with him.

Ian pulled the lighter from his pocket with his free hand and melted the plastic tie that still restrained the other one. Four seconds, and he was free. But he wasn't needed.

Daniela kicked the guy's a.s.s with beautiful efficiency, her moves as ch.o.r.eographed as a dance. If this was an action movie, the shot would have been slowed down so the audience could fully enjoy it.

Goat Man moaned as his nose broke with a crunch. But he didn't give up fighting. He still had the knife. And Daniela faltered, as if her knee went out. Goat Man charged her.

Ian stepped between them. Four years ago, he would have let himself get nicked just to feel something. Now he shifted to the side and, elbow to the back of the guy's neck, sent Morais sprawling.

The man was on his stomach on the ground, his nose bleeding. Then he rolled and came up again, spitting blood as he did.

Ian had to give him credit, he did know how to fight. But Ian had no patience for this. He wanted to make sure Daniela was okay. He stepped in, deflected the knife, and his uppercut sent Goat Man flying across the room, sending up a cloud of dust when he landed.

Daniela headed over, flipped him on his stomach, twisted his right arm behind his back, and took control of the knife at last. "He only got me tied up," she told Ian with an apologetic look over her shoulder, "because I was out of it. He tasered me."

"I figured something like that." Probably her knee had buckled for the same reason. Muscles got twitchy after a shot of that kind of electricity. "I didn't step in because I thought you couldn't handle him. I just didn't want to waste any time here. We have better things to do."

He pulled his phone and called the police. The sooner they got here, the better. Before he gave in to the temptation to do something regrettable. Not that he'd regret stepping on the guy's neck, but he didn't want his time with Daniela to be restricted to prison visits.

Thank G.o.d she was safe.

He burned to get in a few more punches, but Daniela had already broken the guy's nose. Too much more damage, and they'd spend the rest of the day at the police precinct answering questions.

Ian tied the man's hands behind his back with a plastic tie while the guy swore steadily in Portuguese.

"Thank G.o.d we're not partners anymore at CPRU," Ian grumbled at Daniela. "I'd never see any action. When you kick a.s.s like that, I feel superfluous."

"Next time I get kidnapped, when you arrive to rescue me, I'll fall into a dead faint."

"I'd appreciate it." Ian glanced at Morais, who was shooting them looks that burned with hate, breathing noisily through his mouth. Ian gave the man a speculative look. "He could escape his restraints, and then we'd have to catch him again."

Morais folded to the ground with a groan and stayed there. Police sirens wailed in the distance.

Ian grunted. "And there goes the universe, conspiring to suck every drop of fun out of my day."

Daniela Daniela was looking at the cut on her neck in the bathroom mirror when Ian walked in.

"Naked. In the shower."

She cast him a quick glance over her shoulder but began stripping.

They were back in Ian's apartment after having spent the last two hours at the police station.

Eduardo had been so incensed by his capture, he was screaming threats, admitting to the kidnapping, even bragging about killing Finch. The police had it all on tape. Eduardo wasn't going to see the outside of a prison again.

Daniela shed the last piece of her clothing and stepped into the shower. Ian was right behind her. She barely had time to turn on the water before she was pushed against the wall, her back to the tile, and Ian was lifting her legs, wrapping them around his waist.

Her body immediately flooded with desire, her voice breathless as she said, "What happened to going slow and barely daring to touch me? What happened to me being a fragile flower?"

"You're not fragile."

"Thanks for noticing."

He covered himself with protection and pressed against her. His eyes filled with raw emotion. "I need you now."

"I need you too." She tilted her hips, and then he pushed inside. She was ready for him, wanting him so much, her eyes were rolling back in her head.

"Marry me."

Now he asked her? She couldn't speak. He awoke her body like no other man could. And he did it by touching her heart before he touched anything else.

Their bodies melded together, every move needed and perfect.

She hadn't known that making love would be like this, could be like this. The way he worshipped her body erased the dark memories of her past. And when she saw herself reflected in his loving eyes, she could see herself as someone good, as good as everyone else.

He held her effortlessly. Took her higher and higher.

The deep, primal connection stole her breath. She kissed him with all her heart, all her soul, and wanted the moment to never end.

They marked each other, claimed each other. And her heart soared.

More. She wanted more. Closer.

She moved against him.

He groaned, the sound rumbling up from deep inside his chest. And he gave her everything she needed, drove into her until she couldn't breathe.

Then they were spiraling into bliss.

Much later, when they lay on the bed in each other's arms, the phone rang in the living room, the landline. No way could she walk. She was spent. And Ian didn't look like he was getting up either.

The answering machine picked up.

"Hi, Ian," a familiar voice said. "This is Carmen Heyerdahl. Phil and I wanted to invite you and Daniela to Lila's christening. It'll be at my parents' church in Philadelphia on Easter Sunday. I don't have your address, just your phone, so I couldn't send an invite. I'm calling because we're hoping you could save the date for us. We'd love for you to be here." She left a number for them to call back, then the message ended.

Ian grinned. "Let's go up to Philly and see Lila. I bet she's grown like you wouldn't believe."

Daniela grinned back. "I bet she's talking." She held Ian's gaze. "Let's go, and while we're up there, we can invite Carmen and Phil to the wedding."

He turned serious. "Are you saying yes?"

"I'm saying, let's be partners forever."

He made a contented jaguar sound-a deep rumbling purr-and was rolling her under him before she had a chance to tease him about it.

"Let's celebrate." Ian kissed her, the kiss deep and searching. Cherishing. Mind melting. Then he whispered against her lips, "We're going to be together forever, and there's not one thing wrong with that. Everything about this is right."

Oh, finally! Daniela kissed him back, floating on the great river of happy. Maybe there were rapids up ahead, maybe they'd get battered and bruised yet, but they were in the water together, and they were never going to let go of each other.

"Tell me how much you love me," she whispered against his lips.

He nibbled his way down to her collarbone. Then lower. "I love you more than piranhas love chicken wings."

THE END.

A quick note from the author...

Thank you so much for going on this adventure with me into Daniela and Ian's world! I cannot tell you how much I love these characters. I hope you enjoyed getting to know them.

CUT SCENE: Originally, I had one more scene at the end of the book, but I cut it because after dealing with some difficult issues, I wanted to leave the story on a funny, light-hearted note and I loved Ian's piranha line. However, if you'd like to read the cut scene, I'd be happy to send it to you completely FREE. Just let me know: here.

If you haven't read the other two books in the series, FORCED DISAPPEARANCE and FLASH FIRE, please check them out. And if you're curious how the Civilian Personnel Recovery Unit (where Ian works) was formed, you can read about it in AGENTS UNDER FIRE.

Thank you so much for reading my stories!!! Thank you for being friends online and for all the wonderful emails you send. And thank you for the reviews! Online reviews make a HUGE difference for authors.

Some advertising venues won't accept a book now until it has a certain number of reviews. So if you have a moment, could I ask for a review on this book on Amazon? Even if you have time only for a sentence or two, it'd make such a big difference to me. Pretty please? THANK YOU!!!

Wishing you all the best, Dana.

end.