Bargaining for Baby(28)

When Cait came in, Beau kicked his heels, splashing water over the table   and floor. Chuckling, Cait rustled a towel out from under the table.

"He's certainly got his energy back."

Maddy scooped him out of the baby bath and Cait pat-dried every inch of   him. When Maddy took over with the talc, Cait asked, "Have you heard   from your father?"

Maddy sighed and shook her head.

Cait had become something of a confidante. Maddy had confessed a little   of her feelings for Jack, more about Beau and had also admitted how   disappointed her father would be that she'd stayed when she'd promised   to go home. Cait had been so supportive, like Maddy imagined her mother   would have been. She would never forget this woman's kindness. She  would  be sad to leave it behind.                       
       
           



       

Cait flicked out a new diaper. "Well, we all three thank you for   staying. It was a brave move. One you didn't need to make and yet you   did. Give him time. Your father'll see that, too."

Jack tiptoed in on his socks. When he saw Beau awake and ready for some   fun, he cruised over and pumped his little legs, making him giggle.   Maddy stepped aside while Jack prepared to fold Beau into his PJs. He'd   gotten pretty good at handling those tiny snaps.

Cait put away the talc then laced her fingers over her waist.

"Now everyone's here," she said clearly to get their attention, "I've   been on the phone to Beatrice Claudia. She runs the hotel in town," she   explained for Maddy's benefit. "Her poor canary fell off his perch this   morning and she's beside herself. I offered to come stay the night.   Share some sherry. Maybe talk her into buying another bird. No one wants   to live alone."

Maddy thought she saw something more flash behind Cait's eyes but then the housekeeper straightened and cleared her throat.

"Anyways," Cait went on, "the crisis here is over. Dinner's cooked, so   if you don't mind, Jock, I'll take the truck to town tonight."

"You know where the keys are," he offered. "Give my condolences to Mrs. Claudia."

Cait caught Maddy's eye before she headed off. "Don't expect me home before noon."



Two hours later Beau was asleep.

Maddy enjoyed a long soapy shower then found Jack, equally exhausted and   freshly scrubbed, sprawled out on a sofa in the living room. Maddy  fell  back into the cushions alongside of him.

She sighed. "I could sleep for a week."

Jack groaned. "Starting now."

Maddy was zoned out, eyes closed, remembering the rosy tint in Beau's   healthy cheeks tonight, when Jack's question took her by surprise.

"When will you be heading back?"

She blinked across at him. "You're that eager to get rid of me?"

Jack sat straighter, ready to deny it, but when Maddy only grinned, his shoulders went down and he smiled, too.

These past days the atmosphere had changed between them again. He was   still dynamic and gorgeous-nothing could ever change that. But they'd   worked so closely to make sure Beau was comfortable and on the mend.   There'd been no time or energy to hold grudges over what had gone   before.

She wanted to move on from their awkward discussion in the stables and   had all but convinced herself that Nell would only ever protect the   baby; she certainly seemed tuned in to the humans around her and, rather   than let the past cloud the present, Maddy decided she should take  some  solace in that.

Strange to admit but, after these few days, Maddy felt almost at home   here and felt close to comfortable again with Jack. He'd done everything   he could to help and she appreciated it. Maybe it was time to put her   changed feelings into words. No time like the present.

Sitting an arm's length away, she turned to him. He turned at the same   time. Their eyes connected and Maddy felt drawn to him as she had been   so many times before. It was as if her body knew the danger to Beau was   past and now it was time to get back to other unresolved matters.

But that wasn't happening. To go there again with Jack would only   complicate what had been settled well enough. They'd shared one night.   She wasn't about to make it two, even if she suspected Cait had made   herself scarce for precisely that reason.

When his gaze dropped to her mouth, she felt more than saw him lean   nearer. A violent tug of war kicked off in her mind, in her heart, and,   panicking, she flung up both hands.

"Jack, please … let's not do this."

He stopped, nodded gravely. "You're right." He slid over. "Let's do this."

He dragged her against him and his mouth claimed hers. Astonished as   well as instantly, unspeakably aroused, she pushed against his chest but   Jack didn't budge. In fact, he drew her closer, kissed her deeper, and   soon, rather than pushing, her hands were flexing and rubbing, wanting   to get beneath his shirt.

She was barely aware of being carried from the lounge to his room. When   he set her on her feet, their clothes came off in a flurry while they   twirled and stumbled their way over toward his bed. His mouth on hers,   he blindly threw back the covers and, breathing labored, swept her up   and laid her down, not in a gentle way.

Curled over her in the shadows, his shoulders expanded as he inhaled a hungry breath and apologized. "I'm being too rough."

She hauled him down. "I won't break."

Their mouths crashed together again, and every time his tongue swept   around hers, it stroked and teased the wild surge building inside her, a   delicious quickening of her blood that left her panting and clinging  to  his arms, to his hips. When his erection stabbed her belly, she  threw  him off and swung on top, her thighs spread and clenched over  his. Hair  spilling across her face, she slowly arched above him and,  teasing,  grazed the sensitive tips of her brea**sts over his chest.                       
       
           



       

It was as if she were acting outside of herself. Released from their   cage, her animal instincts had taken over and every part of her could   focus only on satisfying the spiraling aching need he stoked so deep   inside.

She'd never felt like this before. On fire. Everywhere. Incinerating.

His hot hands cupped her hips and shifted her up then ground her back   down. His expression was an uneven mix of darkest lust and burning   appreciation.

He craned up and wrapped his lips around one nipple. He tickled the tip with his tongue and, sighing, she gripped his head.

"Guess it's been building up," he murmured, tugging at her tender tip with his teeth.

She groaned and writhed. "Only to atomic proportions."

They rolled again and he pinned her beneath him. When he entered   her-when she felt him fill her until he hit that throbbing unstable spot   only he knew about-she gasped then bit her lip and focused. How could   that wave reach so high so fast?

He moved again and she gazed up into his eyes with a helpless, keen   fascination. All the fine pieces of the universe were hurtling toward   her core. The sublime pressure was contracting around that single,   bright pulsing light. When he hit that spot again-when he unleashed the   critical power that made her so completely, purely his-she drove her   spine into the mattress and cried out. A heartbeat later, he followed   her over the edge.

When the stars faded, they were both damp with perspiration and out of   breath. Yet, as she brushed the hair from her eyes, still humming all   over, she had the urge to laugh. She'd never been so out of control in   the bedroom. Never so out of control in her life. What a racket they'd   made.

Thank God Beau was fast asleep and Cait wasn't around. Maddy hadn't   known lovemaking could be so raw. So beyond anything she'd ever   experienced.

After kissing her again-long and slow this time-Jack blew out a satiated   breath. "We won't be able to get away with that kind of noise when  he's  older."

She went to agree but then the deeper meaning behind that statement   soaked fully through. Fazed, she glanced across. His expression was easy   yet half speculative.

He'd known what he said. How was she supposed to respond? Especially now   when every fiber that made up her mind and body buzzed with such   bone-deep satisfaction.

Where did they go from here? How did they go from here?

A noise filtered down the hall. They both stilled then sprang up.

"Beau." She flipped back the sheet. "I'll go check."