I'm Having Your Baby?!

by Linda Turner

  Intoxicated by the taste of her, he blindly fought at the buttons of her jacket, his fingers fumbling in his haste. He wanted, needed, to touch her—everywhere—to feel the softness of her skin, the delicateness of her bones under his hands, the sighs that rippled through her as he kissed his way down her body. Now. Right here on the side of the mountain.

  Dizzy, delighted, Annie felt the rub of his tongue along hers, the touch of his fingers as he tugged her jacket from her and moved to help him. Reaching for the hem of the oversize sweatshirt she wore, her hands bumped into his. He cursed softly in frustration and she couldn’t help but smile against his mouth. This was what she’d longed for since the last time he’d kissed her, what she’d dreamed of in the night and fantasized about during the day, this heat that jumped from his skin to hers, this fire that burned without a flame, deep inside her. Her heart quickened, and his answered. Seduced, she murmured his name and crowded closer.

  Lost in the taste and feel and heat of each other, neither of them noticed that dark, angry clouds were gathering overhead and the temperature had started to drop until a cold wind danced across the exposed skin of Annie’s chest and stomach as they fought to rid her of her sweatshirt.

  Suddenly cold where only seconds before she’d been burning, she gasped. And only just then noticed the sky. “Oh, God! Look!”

  Abruptly brought back to earth, his breathing ragged, Joe looked up and swore at the sight of the ominous clouds directly over their heads. “Damn, it looks like a norther’s blowing in. We’ve got to get out of here!” The words came out harshly, but he couldn’t help it. Not when his blood was boiling and he was so close to howling like a madman. Jerking her sweatshirt back down, he snatched up her jacket from where it had fallen to the ground and quickly helped her into it, as an icy wind picked up and started to swirl around them. Another glance at the sky had him reaching for her hand. “C’mon, honey,” he shouted over the wind. “Just hang on to my hand.”

  The wind caught her hair, tugging it around her, blinding her. Muttering a curse, she grabbed it with her free hand and anchored it at the back of her neck. “Don’t worry, you couldn’t pry loose of me with a crowbar,” she cried. “What’s the shortest way back?”

  “Straight down that path.” They’d taken a circuitous route up the mountain, but now he nodded toward a rocky trail that didn’t zigzag as most mountain trails did, but headed sharply down the hill in a straight line. “Just stay behind me and step everywhere I do.” The words were hardly out of his mouth when it started to drizzle. Glaring at the sky, he cursed. “Damn, I should have seen this coming. C’mon. Let’s go.”

  Anchoring her close, he plunged down the side of the mountain as fast as he dared, but they’d only gone a hundred yards when the skies just opened up and dropped an icy deluge on them. They were soaked to the skin in the time it took to gasp.

  Annie’s fingers caught tight in his, Joe slid on the wet ground and caught himself just seconds before he could drag them both down into the mud. “Dammit to hell! Hang on!” he yelled at her over the roar of the wind. “Once we get past these rocks, the going’ll get a lot easier.”

  Annie didn’t see anything that looked the least bit easy. In fact, the path he pulled her down looked like something out of her worst nightmare. Her heart in her throat, it took all her concentration just to nod and keep her feet. Then they reached the end of the rocks, the footing improved, and Joe picked up the pace just when she thought they couldn’t possibly go any faster. Her wet hair streaming out behind her in the rain, she held on for dear life as they dodged trees and boulders in their mad rush down the mountain.

  By the time they reached the cabin, the rain had the sting of sleet mixed in with it and an early darkness had fallen. Chilled to the bone, her tired muscles stiff from strain and the cold, Annie stumbled inside behind Joe and couldn’t make herself go any farther. Shivering, she just stood there, hugging herself, right inside the door.

  “Get your clothes off and get in the tub while I light a fire,” Joe told her as he tore off his jacket and strode quickly to the fireplace. “Damn, I’m going to need more kindling. Hang on, while I get some from the porch.”

  Not bothering with his wet jacket, he hurried outside in his shirtsleeves and returned almost immediately with an armload of wood to find Annie standing right where he’d left her. Frowning, he stopped short. “Annie? C’mon, you need to get warm. Do you need some help getting out of your clothes?”

  “N-no,” she stuttered, shaking her head. “I don’t think s-so. I’m just so c-cold.” But as much as she needed to warm up, she couldn’t make her arms unlock from around her body.

  Joe waited, watching her through worried eyes, cursing himself for ever suggesting that damn walk in the first place. He should have checked the weather on the car radio—he knew how quickly fronts blew in out here—but all he’d been able to think about was getting out of the cabin and putting some space between them. If she got sick because of him—

  He dismissed the thought before it could take hold and quickly turned to deposit the wood by the front door. Grabbing some towels from the bathroom, he took time only to light the gas wall heater in there before he returned to where Annie stood by the front door.

  “All right, I’ve got the bathroom warming up. Now let’s see about you.”

  Dropping a towel over her head, he rubbed her sodden hair briskly, then wrapped the towel turban-style around her head. Her teeth were still chattering, however, and his fingers quickly moved to the buttons of her jacket. “Okay, honey, drop your arms. That’s it. No wonder you’re freezing. This damn jacket’s nearly frozen solid.”

  Without bothering to take his eyes from her, he threw the offending garment in the direction of the kitchen sink. “How’s that? Think you can make it into the bathroom now and handle the rest while I start a bath for you? You really need to get in a warm tub and soak for a while.”

  “I may s-stay in there all n-night. Just give m-me a push in the right direction to get m-my legs going.”

  He did more than that. He swept her up in his arms, carried her into the now toasty bathroom, and set her on a stool next to the old-fashioned claw-foot tub so he could remove her shoes for her. Once he was sure she could manage her sweatshirt, he ran the water in the tub for her, adjusting it so that it wouldn’t burn her chilled skin.

  “Okay, it’s all yours,” he said finally. “Don’t come out until you’re good and warm.”

  “But you need to get out of your wet clothes, too,” she protested.

  “I’ll change by the fire,” he assured her, heading for the door. “Holler if you need anything.”

  He left her to her bath, shutting the door behind him as he stepped out into the main living area of the cabin. It was totally dark now and colder than the devil. Stripping off his shirt, he retrieved the firewood from where he’d left it by the front door and set about warming the place up.

  After the fiery kisses they’d exchanged on the side of the mountain, the evening didn’t end anywhere near the way Annie had thought it would. In spite of the chill that permeated her every pore, the desire Joe had stirred in her lingered in her system long after they returned to the cabin, rumbling like a thunderstorm that had moved out to sea and was still making its presence known. But for the first time, her mind was willing, but her body wasn’t.

  As Joe had predicted, their little hike, not to mention their dash through the rain, quickly caught up with her, and by the time she dragged herself out of the tub, she was a whipped puppy. Stiff and sore in spite of her long soak in the tub, she didn’t have the energy to swat a fly, let alone think about making love to her husband.

  Miserable, she tried to hide it and swore she didn’t so much as wince when she joined Joe in front of the roaring fire he’d built in the fireplace. But he had eyes like an eagle and merely gave her an I told you so look that had her lifting her chin and claiming, “I’m fine.”

  “Sure you are,” he snorted when she eased down
onto the couch in slow motion. “I hate to tell you this, sweetheart, but if it came to a race between you and a snail, I’m not sure who’d win.”

  “That goes to show how much you know,” she sniffed. “I could run a marathon if I wanted to.”

  “And maybe finish by the next millennium,” he teased. Walking over to the stove, he dished her up a bowl of stew from the pot he had warming on the stove. “Here. It’s just canned, but it should warm you up some. Tomorrow I’ll make us some chili.”

  Dressed in dry jeans and a red cable-knit sweater he’d changed into while she was bathing, he took the seat next to her on the couch and made sure she ate every bite. As soon as she was finished, he scooped her up in his arms. “Okay, beddy-bye time for you.”

  “Joe! I can walk.”

  Flashing a grin at her, he strode over to the bed. “No kidding? Is that what you call it? It looked to me like you were just shuffling along.” He already had the covers pulled back, and an instant later, he plopped her down right in the middle of the mattress.

  Her heart thumping crazily, she expected him to join her, but he only pulled the comforter up to her neck and started tucking her in tight. Disappointed, she reached for his hand to stop him. “Aren’t you—”

  “No,” he said quietly. A crooked grin tilting one corner of his mouth, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “When I have you moaning in my arms, honey, I want it to be from pleasure, not pain. So go to sleep,” he said gruffly. “You’ll feel better tomorrow.”

  She didn’t want to, but the down comforter and patchwork quilt he’d piled on the bed for her trapped in the heat, warming her all the way to her toes. By the time he doused the lights and stretched out on the couch with the one remaining cover he’d saved for himself, she was softly snoring.

  The sleet stopped sometime before midnight, but the wind howled for hours, rattling the screens on the windows and causing the old cabin to moan and groan. Gradually, the logs in the fireplace burned down, slowly turning to embers that offered only marginal warmth against the cold that crept through every available crack and crevice.

  Still asleep, Annie frowned and tugged the covers higher over her shoulders, unconsciously shifting to avoid the chill air that nipped at the back of her neck. The cold, however, followed her under the blankets that surrounded her like a cocoon, brushing at her exposed skin, refusing to be ignored as it cooled the sheets and persistently pulled her toward wakefulness.

  Moaning softly, she pressed her face into her pillow, but then a log fell in the fireplace, sending a shower of sparks shooting up into the chimney. Startled, she came awake just in time to hear Joe damning the cold. “Joe? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he said in a voice raspy with sleep. “The fire just died down and I’m putting more wood on it. Go back to sleep. It’ll warm up in here in a few minutes.”

  He sounded more than a little put out. Frowning, Annie pulled the covers down just far enough to clear her nose and found him at the hearth, adding logs to the fire. Silhouetted by the flames, he was wearing the same jeans and sweater he’d changed into after their day in the great outdoors. As she watched, he tossed in another log, and in the flare of sparks that followed, she could see that his dark hair was tousled and his jaw was rough with the shadow of his beard. And he was shivering with cold in spite of the fact that he was standing so close to the fire.

  Alarmed, she bolted up. “Why are you shivering? Did you catch a chill in the rain? Here, let me do that while you get under the covers. You look like you’re freezing.”

  She started to throw off her own covers, but he stopped her with a hard look. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay right there. I’ll be fine once the fire catches good.”

  “But you’ve only got one quilt,” she argued, suddenly realizing that he’d given her most of the covers when he’d tucked her into bed. “Dammit, Joe, why didn’t you say something? No wonder you’re cold. Here, take a couple of these—”

  “No. I’m fine. And the couch is closer to the fire than the bed is. Just go back to sleep, will you? I’m fine.”

  “While you stand there shivering?” she retorted indignantly. “I don’t think so. You never should have taken the couch on a night like tonight anyway,” she scolded. “It must be thirty degrees in here. We should be sharing our body heat—”

  The words died on her tongue when he shot her a glare hot enough to melt lead. “We’ll be sharing a lot more than that if I crawl into bed with you, and you’re in no shape for that tonight. So just leave it.”

  She should have. He was right. Her sore muscles had only tightened with sleep, and she had to be crazy to even think about inviting him into her bed. But helplessly caught in the heat of his eyes, she couldn’t look away. He wanted her. She could see the need in the taut lines of his face, hear it in the rasp of his voice, feel it in her own body, in the steam that seeped through her like liquid heat. Making love would only complicate things between them, but logic had nothing to do with the need running rampant through her body. From the moment she’d awakened to find herself naked in his bed, it seemed they’d been circling each other in an elaborate dance of desire that had finally brought them to this moment in time. Yes, he could hurt her. But could anything hurt worse than denying them this one chance to love each other in spite of whatever the future might bring?

  The decision made, she curled her shaking fingers into the covers and lifted them invitingly. “Come to bed and let me warm you,” she whispered huskily. “The fire’s hot enough.”

  Something flashed in his eyes, something dark and dangerous that made her heart trip over itself, and without a word he came to her, his tread slow and measured, his eyes trained unblinkingly on hers. She expected him to crawl right under the covers with her, clothes and all, but he stopped two feet from the bed and stripped his sweater over his head. In the firelight, his powerful shoulders and arms were sculpted and hard.

  Deliberately, his hands dropped to the fastening of his jeans. “If you get scared or want me to stop, all you have to do is tell me,” he said in a voice gritty with need. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”

  Her eyes locked on his fingers, she nodded mutely and suddenly felt as if there wasn’t enough air in the room. Not sure if her reaction was a result of anticipation or fear, she told herself there was no need to be nervous. He was her husband—they’d made love countless times in the past. Just because she didn’t remember a single one of those times didn’t mean she had to tremble like a schoolgirl about to see a naked man for the first time. She was a grown woman, for heaven’s sake!

  Over the clamor of her own frantic thoughts, the rasp of his zipper being lowered was like a growl in the silence. Unable to stop herself, she glanced down…and promptly slammed her eyes shut.

  He laughed, and she wanted to die. But then she heard his jeans hit the floor, and suddenly she ran out of time. A second later, the bed dipped as he slid in beside her. “You can open your eyes now,” he said dryly. “I’m all covered up.”

  Mortified, she peeked through her lashes to find him lying on his side facing her, his head propped in his hand and his brown eyes glinting with amusement as he studied the red-hot tide of color that washed into her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she blurted out. “You must think I’m an idiot. It doesn’t seem to matter that we’ve been married for five years or that I’m pregnant—I can’t remember doing this before. I guess I’m a little nervous.”

  That was an understatement of gargantuan proportions, but he thankfully didn’t tease her about it. “Then I’ll just have to show you there’s nothing to be nervous about,” he said softly, smiling down into her eyes. “Just relax and leave everything to me.”

  She wanted to—God, how she needed to!—but her nerves were wound tight, her heart threatening to beat its way right out of her chest. She felt that she would shatter if he touched her, she desperately needed his hands on her, but she couldn’t ask for that. Not yet. Her eyes swimming, she smiled
tremulously. “Would you kiss me first? I always feel better when you kiss me.”

  With just that one simple admission, she destroyed him. He felt something crack, something near his heart, something that he would have sworn was stone hard. He lifted a hand to her hair and was stunned to find his fingers weren’t quite steady. “So do I, sweetheart,” he said thickly. “So do I.”

  He kissed her then the way he’d longed to, the way he’d dreamed of for longer than he could remember. Like it was the first time, the last time, and he only had one shot at it. With the patience of a man who knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it, he nibbled at her lips, then slowly deepened the kiss, easing her into it, until the only thought in her head was him and the magic he brought to her.

  Seduced, she moaned and clutched at him, her fingers sinking into his shoulders and telling him without words that she wanted more. With a murmur of agreement, he made the kiss hotter, while his hands began a quiet, devastating seduction of their own. He never touched bare skin, but he didn’t have to. With a skill that left her breathless, he rubbed the flannel of her gown over her breasts, her hips, until her sensitive skin all but cried out for the feel of his flesh against hers.

  Gasping, she arched against him, her restless legs tangling with his. “Joe, please…”

  She expected him to reach for the buttons of her gown then, but it was her hands he lifted to the buttons. “Take the gown off for me,” he whispered. His brown eyes, glinting with playful humor, met hers. “I’ll even close my eyes if you want me to.”

  She laughed, the sound hardly more than a gurgle of amusement. “Sure you will.”

  He pretended to look hurt. “Would I lie to you?”

  He was teasing, but her expression was never more serious as she searched the rugged lines of his face in the light from the fire. “No, I don’t think you would.” Without another word, she started unbuttoning her gown.