That's My Baby! (18 page)

Now that he thought about it, Elizabeth had crawled around the ranch house quite a bit, but Matty and Sebastian kept the place really clean. And besides, at that point he hadn’t assumed the responsibility for what happened to Elizabeth when she was on the floor, because there were always several people around who were ready and willing to do that.

He’d been so hell-bent on getting out here so he could make love to Jess that he hadn’t fully realized how the responsibility of the baby would settle on him with the weight of an elephant. When he’d contemplated this week, he’d thought his major worry would be whether Jess’s stalker would show up. Now he looked around at the small cabin and saw a million dangers to Elizabeth, none of them having to do with some weirdo on the loose.

Matty had packed sandwiches for their first meal, so once he had the baby furniture up, he took Jess’s suggestion to stop for lunch while Elizabeth was still awake. He hadn’t missed Jess’s meaning when she’d made that suggestion, either. Once that baby went down for her afternoon nap, he and Jess didn’t want to waste time with lunch.

How he needed that woman. He couldn’t remember feeling this raw and vulnerable in his life, and he ached to take
refuge in Jess’s arms. But the ache deep inside wasn’t only about taking. Now that he understood more of what Jess had been through because of him, he desperately wanted to shower her with all the pleasure he was capable of giving.

He barely tasted his lunch. He was too preoccupied with Jess—the moist invitation of her mouth, the gentle movement of her breasts under her shirt, the snug fit of her jeans when she leaned over to pick up the baby. His groin tightened in response to the flash in her brown eyes and the catch in her voice when she caught him looking.

While she used the portable crib as a changing table and got Elizabeth ready for her nap, he washed up the lunch dishes. He could only see the top of her head above the folding wooden screen he’d set up between the crib and the double bed so they’d have some privacy, and he made a mental note to take the screen away when they didn’t actually need it. He hungered for the sight of her.

“I haven’t seen anything that looks like an alarm system,” she said as she continued to dress the baby for her nap. “Where is it?”

“There’s a monitoring screen up in the rafters in each corner of the cabin,” he said.

She glanced around. “Wow. I didn’t even notice them.”

“Seth likes to make his systems unobtrusive,” Nat said. “The cameras are on the roof, camouflaged with all those leaves and pine branches. If someone doesn’t know a security system exists, they won’t try to dismantle it.”

“Did Sebastian give you a gun before we left this morning?”

He paused in the act of wiping a dish. “Yes. It’s in the green metal box I put on the top shelf. Does it bother you to have it there?”

“It bothers me to have to do any of this. I assume you know how to shoot it?”

“If necessary.”

“That’s good, I guess.”

“I guess.”

She murmured something to Elizabeth and began singing to the baby.

He couldn’t see her anymore and decided she must be leaning over the crib, trying to soothe Elizabeth to sleep.

She’d accepted the presence of the gun better than he’d thought she would. He remembered the last time he’d held one. It was this same gun, and the guys had been joking around about who was a better shot one summer day at the Rocking D. Sebastian had set up a few beer cans on a fence and everybody had taken some shots except Nat. He hadn’t wanted to touch the thing.

Finally, the teasing had become so bad he’d given in. He’d told himself he was over the revulsion he felt at holding a gun, but apparently he hadn’t been. He’d nailed the cans—
bing, bing, bing.
It seemed all the hours of practice as a kid had stuck with him. Then he’d put down the gun and walked around to the back of the barn so he could throw up.

His friends had thought he had a case of stomach flu, and he’d let them think that. He had no interest in telling them that when he was thirteen, his father had made him shoot a horse. Sure, the horse had turned mean, but only because his father had regularly beat him the same way he’d beaten Nat. When the animal had kicked Nat and broken his arm, Hank Grady had flown into a rage and forced Nat to shoot that poor horse. Nat hadn’t fired a gun since.

Jess was the first person who had made all those bad memories fade. Until he’d left her seventeen months ago, he hadn’t appreciated the unique brand of magic she’d brought to his life. Loving her healed him. And God, did he need healing now.

She hadn’t reappeared from behind the screen, but he realized that her soft lullaby had ended. Maybe Elizabeth was finally drifting off to sleep. Maybe, at long last, he was going to make love to Jess again.

He stopped working on the dishes and gazed at the screen. The silence was encouraging. Very encouraging. At the thought of what was to come, moisture pooled in his mouth. He swallowed and took a deep breath.

Then her head reappeared above the screen, and she turned toward him with a smile. Oh, such a smile. He’d forgotten how seductive she could be when she put her mind to it.

“She’s asleep?” he murmured.

Jess nodded.

Nat tossed down the dish towel. Holding her dark gaze, he started toward the bed, unbuttoning his shirt as he went. Now. Right now.

Then she mouthed the word
wait.

He stopped and lifted his eyebrows in question.
Wait
wasn’t the word he wanted to hear at the moment.
Yes
was more like it.

But she’d turned around again, and he wondered if Elizabeth still had some settling down to do. Okay, he’d wait, even if he was frustrated enough to chew a handful of Boone’s horseshoeing nails. Once he started on this program, he wouldn’t be able to stop, even if Elizabeth woke up again. So it would be best for all concerned if the baby was fast asleep.

Then Jess turned to look at him again and her cheeks were pink. “Okay,” she whispered, and came around the screen.

He nearly lost it.

Her shirt and jeans were gone. In their place was an outfit that belonged in a skin flick. He struggled for breath as she walked toward him. She had fantastic legs. Just looking at her bare legs almost made him climax. This presentation of hers was overkill, but he wasn’t complaining. He didn’t know where or when she’d come up with the black lace number, but it would live in his fantasies forever.

The sheer, tight material undulated with each step she
took toward him. The top cupped her breasts and pushed them up in a way that made his eyes glaze with lust. A series of ties down the front begged to be undone. He loved it, loved her for going to the trouble of making this an unbelievable moment.

“Gwen and I made a fast trip to Colorado Springs,” she said, a trace of shyness in her tone. “Do you like it?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Very, very much. And after all that effort, I hope you won’t be offended when I strip it right off.”

N
AT REALLY MEANT
to undo each of the ties so as not to rip anything on her new outfit, but once he got the first few open and filled his hands with her breasts, his control deserted him. He laid her across the width of the bed without much fanfare or finesse, his mouth hot and seeking against her plump breasts. The first taste of her nipple drove him out of his head.

Dizzy from the wild-strawberry feel of her tight nipple rolling against his tongue, her soft whimpers and the urgent way she clutched his head, he became frantic to have more of her. Ties ripped from their moorings as he yanked the sheer lace down to her knees so he could touch…there, where her waist nipped in and there, where her belly heaved, and God, yes, bury his fingers there, where she was already soaking wet. Gasping, she arched away from the bed.

So that’s how it was. With savage joy he stroked her quickly to her first climax. She reached blindly for a pillow, and he had the presence of mind to grab it and hand it to her so she could put it over her mouth and scream into it. Now was not the time to be waking babies. Not when he needed to seek the source of her heat with a tongue that thirsted for the gush of her second climax.

Ah, she was so wild for him that she abandoned her inhibitions and spread her thighs as he slid down, kissing a path from her breasts to her belly, tonguing his way over that sweet terrain to her wellspring of precious, life-giving
nectar. He felt energy pour into him as he feasted on her sweetness and she quivered in his arms.

He knew her, knew her secrets, her rhythm, her aching need. He was born for this, to make this woman quake and cry out his name. His name. Nothing he’d ever done in his whole sorry life gave him this sense of rightness. Only loving Jess.

She tensed, her body trembling violently as her hips rose again. As she gulped for breath, she gasped out a plea, wanting more. And he knew that she needed that, too. As much as he had to sink into her to become complete, she couldn’t be complete until he had thrust deep and made that ultimate connection.

He didn’t bother to undress. There wasn’t time. The pressure was too great. He unbuckled his belt, opened his fly and put on the condom. Then he lifted her, moving her higher on the bed so he had room for his knees.

Her head was nearly off the other side, and he cradled it in both hands to steady her. Her silky hair flowed through his fingers. Then, looking into her eyes, he pushed home.

She moaned and wrapped her legs around his. “Tighter,” she whispered.

He moved another notch closer to her center and could feel the pulsing begin. “Don’t shut me out again,” he murmured.

“No.” She rose to meet his thrusts.

His breathing grew ragged. “I have to make love to you.”

“Yes.”

“It’s…everything.” He plunged into her again and again. And it seemed as if each time he went deeper, and deeper still.

“Yes. Oh,
yes.
”

He held her gaze. “Everything,” he gasped, and clenched his jaw against the cry of release that rose from his throat as he exploded within her.

W
HETHER BECAUSE
of the strange surroundings or the activity from the nearby bed, Elizabeth took a very short nap that day. Jessica borrowed Nat’s shirt to have something to put on when she went to get the baby, who sounded as if she might start fussing if nobody paid any attention to her.

Jessica didn’t want any more tears from Elizabeth today if they could be avoided. Tears seemed to make Nat think he’d done something wrong, and Jessica wanted him to build on a feeling of success.

“Put something warm on her,” Nat called from the other side of the screen. “Let’s get out the baby carrier and take a walk.”

“You think that’ll be okay?”

Nat came around the screen zipping up his pants. “We can set the alarm before we leave, and we won’t go far. We’ll keep our eyes open. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be pinned down here to the point that we feel like rats in a cage.”

“Neither do I. As I’m sure you can imagine.” She flashed him a smile and returned to diapering Elizabeth.

“You look good in my shirt.”

“I like wearing it,” she said. “It has your scent.”

“So?”

“It gets me hot. Pheromones, you know.”

“I’ve heard of those little devils. I vote that you just wear my shirt today and keep that pheromone thing going. I’ll go grab another shirt.”

“All right.” She couldn’t ever remember wearing anything of his before. It was one more example of how the barriers were coming down between them. Isolating themselves in this little cabin had been a brilliant idea.

He started to walk away, then turned around and came back. “You know, this pheromone business works both ways. I like breathing in your scent, too.”

“Oh, yeah?” She finished snapping up Elizabeth’s over-
alls and glanced up with a grin. “Does that mean you’d like to wear that black lace number for the rest of the day?”

“Nah. I don’t have the build for it.” He moved in close beside her. “I’ll have to try something else.”

“Such as?”

He put a hand around her waist. “Hold still for a minute. I have an idea.”

“I can’t imagine what you’re up to.” She chuckled as she looked into his eyes. She didn’t anticipate his next move at all. When he slid his free hand under the shirt and down between her legs, she gasped. “Nat!” She tried to pull away. “This isn’t the time for—”

“Hold still,” he whispered. “This’ll only take a second.” And he slipped two fingers inside her.

Secretly thrilled at his audacity, she nevertheless acted shocked. Pretending indignation made the caress even more arousing. “Nat, for heaven’s sake. The baby—”

“Has no idea what’s going on. Mmm. That should do it.” He eased his hand out from between her thighs.

She sighed with disappointment. Not that she really expected him to continue while they were standing here by the crib, but he’d left her throbbing and ready. “Do what?” she asked, her voice unsteady.

He held his damp fingers under her nose. “Pheromones,” he said. “My share. This should hold me until the munchkin goes to sleep tonight.” And he rubbed his fingers across his upper lip.

She groaned as desire pounded through her. “We’d better get dressed and go on that walk.” She was mesmerized by the glow of passion in his eyes. “Now.”

“Yep.” He cupped her face gently in one hand and brushed a kiss over her lips. “Besides,” he murmured, “it seems to me Matty once said that being out in the fresh air helps a kid sleep better. And I want that little girl to sleep like a log tonight.” He brushed her lips one last time. “Because I don’t plan to sleep at all.”

Neither did Jessica. As much as she’d loved the urgency of their lovemaking this afternoon, she wanted a long, lazy session in bed with Nat. She’d like it right now.

But once they’d dressed and stepped out into the crisp afternoon, she decided that if she couldn’t be in bed loving Nat, this was a good second choice. Elizabeth rode happily in the carrier strapped to Nat’s back as they followed a path paved with golden aspen leaves.

“How’s your sixth sense working?” Nat asked.

“I don’t think he’s here,” Jessica said. “Do you suppose that you three men really scared him off when you rode out after him that morning?”

“That would be nice. Sebastian doesn’t think so, but the guy’s so weird that anything’s possible.”

Looking up through the shimmering leaves of the aspens to the cornflower sky as she walked hand in hand with Nat, Jessica believed anything was possible. Anything at all.

The crunch of leaves underfoot and the musty scent of the dry forest floor reminded her of another October day two years earlier. “Remember the time I talked you into raking up a pile of autumn leaves and playing in them with me?”

“I remember everything about you, Jess. I’ve had seventeen months to concentrate on those memories. They’re sorted and cataloged, and there’s not a cobweb on a single one.”

She glanced at him. “What a beautiful thing to say.”

He met her gaze. “What a beautiful person to say it to.” He smiled and squeezed her hand before turning his attention back to the path. “That last picture you gave me for the collection was a doozy, by the way. I’m sorry about tearing those little ties off. Maybe you can fix them.”

“I probably could.” Currents of electricity seemed to be running between their joined hands. “You’d like a repeat performance?”

He laughed. “You even have to ask? Except the next
time, you’d better tie those things looser. Or maybe not tie them at all. A man tends to run out of patience when he has an erection stiffer than a tire iron.”

With a comment like that, she felt almost invited to look at the crotch of his jeans, and sure enough, a telltale bulge was beginning to show. “How’s your patience right now?” she teased.

“Being tested,” he said, not looking at her. “I strongly suggest we talk about something else.”

The sweet certainty of being wanted made her laugh with delight, and the sound of her laughter brought on giggles from Elizabeth. If life could get any more perfect than this, Jessica thought, she couldn’t imagine how.

In consideration for Nat’s comfort, she switched the conversation to her interest in wildcrafting herbs. Since he’d been gone, she’d taken a couple of classes and thought she might even turn the interest into a career. Because Nat was so encouraging, she allowed herself to imagine that he was picturing a future in which he ran a ranch for abandoned children and she roamed the nearby countryside in search of wild herbs.

It wasn’t a difficult fantasy to build, considering the hum of sensual excitement between them, no matter what they were discussing. Throughout the afternoon’s walk, and during the evening as they prepared supper and fed Elizabeth, every accidental touch sizzled and every deliberate one nearly destroyed their control.

And Jessica discovered an amazing thing. Having the baby around definitely limited their freedom to make love at every opportunity. Frustration levels were at an all-time high for both of them. But she hadn’t thought to value that frustration.

During the year she and Nat had been seeing each other, on the weekends they’d spent together, they’d been free to indulge themselves sexually whenever they chose. Looking
back on that time, she realized that they’d begun to take their physical relationship for granted.

With Elizabeth on the scene, for the first time they enjoyed the thrill of anticipation. Jessica hadn’t understood what a powerful aphrodisiac that could be.

She suspected Nat had figured it out, too, because he didn’t put any pressure on her to rush either dinner or Elizabeth’s bedtime preparations. He patiently waited until Elizabeth had finished all the finger food on her tray. When she was ready to be changed, he asked to be taught the diapering process, which meant the job took twice as long. Then they both played peekaboo with the baby while taking off her clothes and getting her into her sleeper.

Throughout the activities, Jessica was constantly aware of Nat—his hand reaching for a dish at the same time she did, his hip brushing hers as they stood side by side at the crib, his eyes on her while she worked. She noticed every glance and exactly where it was focused. Sometimes he’d meet her gaze, but often he’d direct his attention elsewhere on her body, with heated results. A burning look could make her mouth tingle, her nipples tighten, her belly quiver.

Fortunately she had the same power. She could stare at his mouth until his breathing quickened and his blue eyes darkened. If her gaze wandered below his belt, she could watch the imprint of his erection become more distinct the longer she concentrated on that area. Once she even drew a soft groan from him.

Until the moment they finally put Elizabeth in her crib for the night, they engaged in a silent, tension-laced duel that was the most exciting foreplay Jessica had ever experienced.

But by the time she laid the baby down on her tummy and began singing her to sleep, Jessica was ready for the waiting to be over. They’d dimmed the lights in the cabin so the baby would sleep—but they’d left one on beside the
double bed so they could see each other when they made love.

Nat leaned against the wall, arms folded, watching Jessica rub Elizabeth’s back and sing to her. In order to do the various evening chores, he’d rolled the sleeves of his western shirt back over his forearms.

There was something incredibly sexy about a man with his sleeves rolled up, Jessica thought. He looked ready for action. And a little action was exactly what she had in mind.

Of course, in her current frame of mind, every part of Nat, from his ears to his toes, had taken on erotic meaning. Still, she especially liked admiring the strength of his arms. She visually traced the pattern of russet hair and imagined running her tongue along the groove that formed between muscle and bone when he flexed his wrist. Then she stared with lust at the supple length of his fingers as they curved around his biceps. When she finally looked into his eyes, she nearly lost her place in the familiar lullaby. The message in that intense blue gaze was unmistakable.

With a faint smile, he looked over at the sleeping baby. Then his glance returned to Jessica. With blatant intent he allowed it to rove over her body, lingering at all the places he knew how to awaken. She wondered if any part of her would sleep tonight.

Elizabeth gave a little sigh and her body relaxed under Jessica’s hand. Jessica muted the lullaby and lightened her touch. All the while, she listened to Elizabeth’s breathing to gauge when she was truly asleep. At last she was. Slowly Jessica lifted her hand and stepped back. In the silence, she could hear Nat’s indrawn breath.

She looked up and found that he’d pushed himself away from the wall and now stood with his arms at his sides, waiting for her. Heart pounding and body already moistening with need, she held his gaze as she walked toward him.

He took her hand and led her around the screen. As they
stood beside the bed, he was trembling. With great restraint he drew her slowly into his arms and looked deep into her eyes. His erection pressed against her. “I’ve never wanted you like this,” he whispered. “I’m coming apart inside.”