by Amy Star
The wood connected with a hollow thwack, then disintegrated in her hands and crumbled to the ground. She opened her mouth to scream, but strong arms grabbed her, locking her against a warm, bare chest that felt all too familiar and not a bit like a wild animal.
“Ava, it’s me. It’s alright, you’re okay,” Eli said, holding her tight, his hand over her mouth to quiet her screams. “You’re going to have the neighbors out here with their shotguns screaming like that.”
She nodded, and he let her mouth go. She sobbed with relief, burying herself against his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist. “I saw a bear,” she said when she could breathe again. “I saw it in the yard, and you weren’t in your bed, and I thought it was going to go to the barn and kill you and I was trying to save you and-”
“You were trying to save me?” he asked, incredulous. “With a rotted tree limb?”
“I didn’t know it was rotten. I grabbed it quickly.” She gasped. “Are you okay? I thought I was hitting the bear.” She stopped and looked around him, then pitched her voice low. “Is it gone?”
“It’s gone,” he assured her. “I ran it off.”
“I thought you said that predators won’t go down the driveway.”
“Bears are a natural part of this area, Ava. We’ve managed to live in harmony for generations. It’s okay. You’re okay. Just take a deep breath and relax.”
“Relax? Eli, I thought you were going to die. I risked my own life to save you without a second thought.”
“I know. I’m not sure whether to be mad that you put yourself in danger like that or flattered that you would do something so dangerous for me.”
She stepped back and looked up at him, reaching out to touch his head where she’d struck him. “Are you injured?”
“No. That limb exploded into a cloud of dust. I’m not even sure it would’ve killed a fly.”
“Very funny,” she said, putting her hands on her lips. When her eyes trailed down his chest, her mouth dropped open. “Why are you naked?”
He laughed. “Now you notice?”
“My eyes are adjusted to the darkness. I mean, I can’t really see you, but I can see that you aren’t wearing clothes.” She reached out to touch his chest to confirm, her hand connecting with his hot skin. “See? You’re naked.”
“I didn’t have time to get dressed when I heard you screaming my name from outside the house.”
“But why were you naked? I went to your room first. If you’d been in there, I wouldn’t be out here running around in the dark. I thought you might be in the barn, and I was afraid the bear was going to catch you by surprise-” A fresh sob startled her when it tore from her throat. She held up her hand, then shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m fine. I don’t know where that came from.”
“Adrenaline crash. It happens to the best of us. You’ll start shaking soon. If you don’t let it freak you out, it will pass more quickly.”
“Fine, so let’s focus on the fact that I wouldn’t even be having an adrenaline crash if you’d been in your bed where you belong.”
“Duly noted,” he laughed.
“And you still haven’t explained why you’re naked.”
He sighed. “I couldn’t sleep so I went for a walk. I got a little dirty, so I came back in through the mudroom, and dumped my clothes into the washing machine. I planned on taking the back staircase up to my room so I didn’t run into you, but before I could get to my room, you were running around the house like a madwoman, screaming about a bear.” He caressed her cheek and gazed down at her, his expression serious. “Your heart was in the right place, but you have to promise me that you won’t do that again.”
“I’m fine.”
“It’s not just about you. You have a child to think about. Our child. If I hadn’t found you when I did, you could’ve been seriously hurt.”
His words hit her like a punch to the gut, but before she could respond, her sharp words faded on her tongue and she nodded. “You’re right,” she conceded. I wasn’t thinking.”
“I understand. It’s normal to react on instinct in an emergency.” He smiled, brushing his thumb across her skin and shaking his head. “I can’t believe you reacted so fiercely. It’s good to know that our child will have a mama bear to protect them if they ever need it.” He took her hand and tugged gently. “Come inside with me. There’s a few more hours until daylight, and we both could use some rest.”
She let him lead her into the house. Eli closed the front door she’d left wide open, then they walked through the dark house and Eli followed her up the stairs. When they were in front of her door she stopped, hand frozen on the knob.
“What is it?” he asked. “The bear is gone.”
“I know,” she said. “I mean, rationally, I know that. But I can’t shake the terror I felt when I saw it. And when you weren’t in your bed and I thought something might happen to you,” she let her voice trail off.
“You don’t have to say it.”
“I know you understand what I’m saying, but it’s not just that I realize that I still have feelings for you. I don’t know how to explain these thoughts whirling through my mind right now, but I know that I don’t want to be alone right now. I can’t be.”
“Okay,” he said. “I get it.”
She nodded, continuing down the hall until she got to his room, then walking through the door. She kicked off her shoes and got into bed, pulling the covers back on the other side to make room for him.
“Should I get dressed?”
“Not if you know what’s good for you.”
The look on his face said all she needed to know. He was in her arms in the next instant, pulling her against him and inhaling the scent of her. “I’ve spent the past few months remembering how it feels to hold you. My memories are nothing compared to this.”
He kissed her, lowering her down onto the bed beneath him and brushing the hair away from her face.
“I’d nearly forgotten how good you felt, too,” Ava admitted
“Then let’s refresh both our memories.”
CHAPTER NINE
Her lips parted when he said the words, the soft intake of breath as the fire grew in her eyes just as sweet as he remembered. She was more sugar than spice, in stark contrast to the bold, independent force of nature she was in all other aspects of her life. She was different than any other woman he’d ever met, and he’d been drawn to her by a deep, visceral need since the day she’d come over to his house in Omaha to welcome him to the neighborhood. Everything about that first encounter had told him that she was nothing like the rest, so he’d spent months courting her until he’d run out of time and had been forced to make a bold move the weekend before he left. Ever since that day, he’d been kicking himself for not finding a way to bring her to New Mexico with him. He’d returned home crushed, filling his time with physical labor in hopes of forgetting her. It hadn’t worked, and he’d waited for her call until he’d finally conceded that she might not feel the same about him.
But fate had found a way, and as he ran his hand over the soft slope of her belly he vowed to do whatever it took to keep her this time.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, drinking in the sight of her naked body awash in the moonlight that streamed through his bedroom windows. “I remembered every moment you spent in my arms, but my memory doesn’t come close to doing the reality justice.” His voice caught, and he leaned down to kiss her already swollen lips, carefully holding his weight on his arms.
Her hands were on his back, nails sliding over his skin and setting his nerves on fire. She moved beneath him, the heat of her own need radiating from between her legs.
“Easy there, tiger,” he teased when she pressed her hips into him.
She responded by wrapping her legs around his hips, pulling him down on top of her as she kissed him hungrily. He chuckled, kissing her back and sliding into her heat. She arched her back and deepened the kiss, arms pulling at his shoulders to bring him impo
ssibly close.
His thrusts were slow and deliberate, teasing her already aroused flesh to the brink of release then backing off. She moaned, falling into rhythm with him, too far gone to speak. Her skin was hot against him, the scent of her bodywash and shampoo mixing with everything else that made her uniquely Ava, driving him mad with need. He was losing his control- had already lost control earlier in the night when he’d given himself over to his primal urges and took off for a run in the forest. Finding her running through the night, looking for him with a useless twig in her hands had pushed him over the edge. She was nothing like any woman he’d ever known, and she was everything he’d ever needed in a soulmate. His love for her was only eclipsed by the love he felt for their child and holding those feelings back until she was ready for the next step had been killing him.
He fought the animal within, forcing himself to take his time even as every fiber of her being begged him to hurry. He’d waited months to touch her again, and he was savoring it all. He buried himself to the hilt and held her down by her wrists, making her slow down with him. “There’s no rush,” he whispered, kissing her neck, then her shoulder and working his way down her chest.
When his mouth closed over one taut nipple, she sucked in a quivering breath and tried to move against him, but he held her still. She whimpered, her need overwhelming her and leaving her at her most basic, unable to put words to the need that engulfed her. He tugged on her nipple, then let it go, watching the way it hardened when the cool air blew across it.
“You’re so beautiful naked,” he said, running his tongue in circles around her other nipple. “I wish we could stay like this forever.”
“We have to get on a plane today,” she told him, the words coming out in gasps as if she were running.
“I own the plane,” he said. “Clothing is optional.”
When he felt her shudder beneath her at his words, he made a mental note to make good on that promise. Not today, but soon. He was in the market for a larger jet, and having a bedroom where he could keep her naked for the duration of the flight was all the motivation he needed.
He took the second nipple in his mouth, then slowly began moving his hips, his fingers teasing the other nipple until she was writhing out of control beneath him.
When she started moaning, he bore down, his need suddenly too much for him to bear a minute longer. He kissed her, then lowered himself onto her, wrapping his arms around her back and pulling her close as he drove into her. With each thrust, she cried out, her body trembling around his rigid manhood as her orgasm loomed.
When she came she screamed out his name, then she clung to him, desperately trying to draw a full breath, her breath quickening in time with his rhythm. He moved at a frantic pace when his own orgasm ripped through him, then he collapsed onto the bed, rolling so that she was on top of him.
She was limp, her body still tight around his shaft, her heart racing in her chest. He rubbed her back, cradling her in his arms and closing his eyes. He knew the instant she fell asleep, but he lay there for a long time afterwards, everything that had led them to this moment going through his mind, and all the plans he had jostling their way to the front of his conscience and demanding attention.
He looked down at Ava, sleeping so peacefully in his arms, her trust in him so profound that it left him humbled. There was a lot he had to tell her before she brought this child into the world, and time was running out quickly. She deserved the truth; he owed her that much. But knowing that and telling her everything he’d kept hidden from the world for so many years were two different things. He dozed off deep in thought, wishing that things were simpler than they were, and hoping that his truth wouldn’t be the thing that sent her running back to Nebraska.
The sun was just starting to rise when he rolled out of bed, gingerly tucking the blankets around her so he didn’t wake her. Her jaw was slack, her face completely relaxed. He smiled to himself and brushed a strand of auburn hair away from her face. She was exhausted from a long night, and he wasn’t the least bit sorry that he’d kept her up.
He wrote her a quick note letting her know that he was taking care of the animals and all she needed to do was pack her things and they would head to the airport later that morning. He was in no hurry to leave his home and get to Dallas despite the exciting job ahead of him.
He got dressed and closed the door behind him. The smell of breakfast being cooked greeted him when he entered the kitchen. “Good morning, Bonnie,” he said, then ruffled the small boy’s hair and snagged a grape off his plate.
“Hey!” Martin said, giggling.
“You want to help me with the cows today?” Eli asked.
“Mom, can I?”
“Finish your breakfast, and go get your boots on,” Bonnie said. Before the words were out of her mouth, Martin’s tiny feet were on the floor, heading straight for the mudroom. “I guess he only heard the last part,” Bonnie muttered.
“Four is a fun age.”
Bonnie laughed. “Five is a fun age, because he’ll start school then. Right now, he’s running me ragged.”
“And when you put him on that bus, you’ll say that he’s too young.”
Bonnie smile. “You’re probably right. But for now, I think I’d like a couple hours a day to miss him. He’s learning to control himself a little better, so that helps.”
“We’ve all been there.”
“It’s so different when you’re the parent. You’ll find out soon enough.” She handed him a plate piled high with food, then sat down across from him. “Speaking of Ava, have you told her yet?”
“No,” he said.
“Why not?”
“I want to give it a little more time before I just lay it all out there. She just found out she is pregnant a week ago, and she moved here a couple days later.” Bonnie glared at him as he took another bite and he shook his head. “I will tell her. I just want to wait for the right time.”
“There is no right time. And what about the pregnancy? How long does she think she has left?”
“Six months.”
Bonnie’s mouth dropped open. “Eli, you have to tell her.”
“I know that, but what am I going to tell her? That I don’t know exactly how much quicker it will be?”
“What did Clara say when she saw her the other day?”
“Three to four months tops.”
“You’re running out of time to prepare her.”
“I know, Bonnie. I promise I’ll tell her.”
“And what about Dallas? You’re leaving today. Is she going back to Omaha?”
“No. I convinced her to come with me.”
“Won’t that be dangerous?”
Eli bristled. “I’ll protect her.”
“Of course, you will, but you can’t control everything, and McBride is the biggest fish you’ve ever fried.”
“The rules still apply,” he said, shrugging. “I’ll tell when the time is right. You can bet on that.”
“I’m sure you will. Just make sure that she finds out from you and not some other way.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but Martin burst into the room before he could, chunks of dried mud falling off his boots in his wake.
“I’m ready!” he yelled.
Bonnie looked down at the floor and sighed. “I need an hour. Please,” she said.
“I’ll give you two,” he laughed, swinging the little boy onto his shoulders and winking at Bonnie. “His boots are clean now.”
Bonnie groaned. “I’m sure they are.”
Eli was still laughing when he put Martin on the front of the four-wheeler, steering with his arms lowered to keep Martin contained and driving as slow as the ATV would go. Martin whooped with delight, laughing into the wind and chattering nonstop. At this rate, driving to the barn and back would take nearly an hour. And with Martin’s “help,” he was sure to need the promised two-hour window to finish what needed doing at the barn.
Ava rolled over in the bed, the
sound of a child’s screams of delight rousing her from a deep sleep. She was sure she was dreaming until the ATV appeared on the path leading to the barn, a young child on the front of it while Eli steered from behind, creeping down the trail so slowly that a snail could’ve easily bested them. She laid there in his bed, hand on a belly that seemed even more swollen than the day before, smiling as she watched the father of her child with the little boy. They parked at the barn and walked in, the little boy skipping merrily to catch up with Eli’s long strides, then taking Eli’s hand and tugging her heartstrings in the process.
There was a soft knock at the door, and a woman came in, a tray of food balanced in one hand, a pitcher of water filled with slices of citrus fruits in the other. “I see I didn’t wake you,” she said softly. “I’m Bonnie.”
“Ava,” she said.
She went to sit up, but Bonnie held up her hand. “No need to get up. I’m going to be cleaning the kitchen after Hurricane Martin left his tracks everywhere, and I didn’t want you going hungry while you waited for the floor to dry. Leave the dishes when you’re done. I’ll be cleaning the whole house once you’ve left for Dallas.”
“Thank you,” Ava said.
“He’s great with kids, you know,” Bonnie said when she stopped in the doorway on her way out. “You couldn’t pick a better father.”
“I see that,” she said.
“Are you nervous?”
“A little.”
“There is a lot of change when a new baby comes; even more when they’re a surprise. Don’t be afraid to let him spoil you.”
Ava smiled. “I won’t.”
“Good. You’re a fine woman. If he’s smart, he’ll do everything in his power to keep you.”
The woman left before Ava could ask her what she meant.
CHAPTER TEN
Ava sat in the passenger seat of their rented Audi Q3, eyes wide as she took in the Dallas skyline. The Sphere and the Omni Hotel loomed among countless other buildings she recognized from television shows over the years. “This is amazing,” she said breathlessly. “I didn’t realize it was really this big.”