"Protection," he said, and shot her a wink, then quickly ripped open the package. After fitting the condom over his erection, he caught her hand and guided her into the shower. He stepped in after her and closed the door behind him.
Steam filled the space, fogging the glass door and high window, while multiple showerheads sent hot, stinging streams of water to beat against their skin. With his gaze on hers, Ace took a bar of soap, rubbed it into a lather between his hands, then passed it to her. Maggie did the same, then moved in close, lifting her face to his, as she opened her hands over his chest.
Water streamed down their faces, as their lips met. Soap-slickened hands, combined with the needle-like sting of the water, added another level of sensuality to an already erotic act. Ace slid a hand between her legs, and she broke the kiss to suck in a breath, swamped by sensations she couldn't begin to name.
Murmuring softly to her, he cupped her buttocks and drew her to him, while stroking his finger along the seam of her feminine fold. Trembling, she dropped her head back and closed her eyes, giving herself up to the sensations. To him. She felt his mouth on her throat, the stroke of his tongue along her skin, both pleasure and torture. She gripped her hands at his shoulders to brace herself, as need swept through her in wave after drowning wave. He found her center, swirled his finger around the moist opening, then pushed inside. She arched, gasping, her body clamping down around him and pulsing wildly.
Desperate for him, she curled her fingers around his neck and brought his face down to hers. She drank deeply, thirstily, sweeping her tongue inside his mouth, seeking a satisfaction that she knew only he could give.
"I want you," she breathed against his lips. "I want to feel you inside me."
With a low growl, he lifted her, wrapping her legs around his waist, as he pressed her back against the tiled shower wall. With his mouth on hers, muffling her impatient whimpers, he thrust inside. He held himself there a moment, his body a rigid wall of restraint, giving her the time she needed to adjust to his size and length. He withdrew slowly, only to plunge again and again, setting a pace that Maggie was only too willing to follow. The sound of the water pounding against the tiles blended with the frantic rhythm of their bodies meeting, creating a symphony of sound that roared in their ears. The steam continued to billow around them, its heat pressing against their flesh, beading it with droplets of moisture that gleamed like diamonds in the mist.
Maggie felt the pressure building inside her, an impatient beast that paced and clawed, demanding release. Sure she would die if she didn't find relief soon, she locked her arms around Ace's neck and pushed her hips down against his. She felt the powerful lance of his manhood spear through her, the glorious explosion of her release, the pulsing throb of his … and melted weakly against his chest, her heart thundering against his.
Reaching up, she pushed her fingers through his hair and turned her cheek to rub against his. "That was wonderful," she murmured.
He drew back to stare at her in disbelief. "Only wonderful?"
Laughing, she licked at the droplets of water that dripped from his chin. "Okay. Stupendous. Mind-blowing. The best sex I've ever had."
"Shoot," he scoffed. "That was nothin' but foreplay." Bracing her back against the tiles again, he dipped his head to capture a nipple between his teeth. He rolled his tongue around the stiffened orb, then released it to grin up at her. "I feel it's only fair to warn you. Tanners are known for their endurance."
She arched a brow. "Oh, really?" She slid her hand between their bodies, circling her fingers around him at the point where they joined. "Well, we'll see who outlasts who."
* * *
By Monday morning, Maggie was exhausted—if sated—and willing to call it a draw. After stepping from the shower Saturday night, she and Ace had dived into his bed and made love for what seemed like hours. Afterwards, they'd slept—not much longer than a nap, really—then made love again. And again. And again. And again. Sunday was a repeat performance, with breaks taken only when Laura was awake and needing Maggie's attention.
Shaking her head at the memory, Maggie scooped golden pancakes from the griddle and shoveled them onto waiting plates. She jumped, startled, when Ace slipped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Sighing, she sank back against him, as he nuzzled her neck.
"Good morning," he murmured sleepily.
Setting aside the spatula, she turned, looping her arms around his neck, as she smiled up at him. "Good morning to you, too."
He gave her a bone-melting kiss, then drew back and smacked his lips. "Mmm-mmm. You taste almost as good as those pancakes smell."
Laughing, she turned to switch off the burner beneath the griddle, then picked up the plates and led the way to the table. "Since I'm rather proud of my pancakes, I'll take that as a compliment."
He pulled out a chair and sat down opposite her, dragging a napkin over his lap. "Good. 'Cause I meant it as one." Picking up the syrup pitcher, he turned it up.
Maggie watched, her eyes rounding in amazement, as he drowned his pancakes in the thick sauce. "Would you like some pancakes with that syrup?"
Ace glanced up, then grinned and set the pitcher aside. "What can I say? I like sweets. I guess that's why I like you so much."
"Me? Sweet?" She choked a laugh. "That'll be the day."
He cut a triangle from his stack of pancakes and popped it into his mouth. "You are sweet," he said, then swallowed and added, "most of the time."
Jutting her chin, she poured syrup over her own pancakes. "Well, at least you're honest."
He leaned across the table and laid a hand over hers. "But you taste sweet all the time."
She narrowed an eye at him. "Are you trying to seduce me back into bed?"
"Is it working?"
Laughing, she waved her napkin in his face, shooing him back. "No. I've got too much to do to spend another day lazing around in bed with you."
Sulking, he sank back in his chair. "What do you have to do that's so all-fired important?"
"Well, for one, I have to take Laura to the doctor."
The color drained slowly from his face. "Is she sick?"
Maggie shook her head. "No. But it's time for her one-month check-up."
He blew out a breath and picked up his fork again, obviously relieved. "Tell 'em to send me the bill."
Maggie watched him sink his fork into another triangle of pancakes. "Ace?"
He glanced over at her. "Yeah?"
"Would you mind going with me?"
He dropped his fork to his plate and pushed out his hands. "Uh-uh. No way. You're not getting me anywhere near a doctor's office."
"But, Ace," she begged. "You're her guardian. Without you there to sign the necessary forms, they might refuse to see her."
Knowing she was probably right, Ace dropped his face into his hands, with a groan. "All right," he muttered and lifted his head to scowl at her. "But I'm not hanging around. Once I give whatever permission they need, I'm getting the hell out of there. Understand?"
* * *
Ace sat slumped in a chair in the clinic's waiting room, holding a fly fishing magazine in front of his face and trying his damnedest not to breathe any more than necessary. The antiseptic smell was already getting to him, making his stomach greasy.
Seemingly unaware of the sickening odor, Maggie sat beside him, cuddling the kid and whispering to her that there was nothing to be afraid of, that the doctor and nurses were her friends.
"Yeah, right," he muttered under his breath. "Try convincing the kid of that after they've poked and prodded her a few times."
The door beside the reception desk opened and the doctor stepped out, a manila file folder in his hand. "Laura Cantrell," he read from the folder's bright red tab.
Rising, Maggie called, "Over here," then stooped to gather the diaper bag. "Come on, Ace," she whispered. "It's our turn."
"Ace Tanner?"
At the sound of his name, Ace lowered the magazine to find the doctor look
ing at him curiously.
Frowning, Ace tossed the magazine onto the coffee table and stood. "Yeah. I'm Ace."
A smile slowly spreading across his face, the doctor started toward him. "Well, I'll be damned. Ace, I haven't seen you in a coon's age."
His frown deepening, Ace tried to place the guy. Slowly recognition dawned. "Tubby Clark?" he said in disbelief.
Wincing at the nickname, 'Tubby' glanced quickly around to make sure that no one had overheard. "Please," he begged. "It's taken me years to outlive that god-awful nickname. I prefer Ed or Doc."
"Doc, huh?" Grinning, Ace clasped Ed's hand, giving him a slow look up and down, as he shook. "Well, I reckon the name 'Tubby' doesn't fit anymore, anyway."
Chuckling, Ed smoothed a hand over a wash-board-flat stomach. "Medical school tends to do that to a man." Sobering, he slung an arm over Ace's shoulder and drew him toward the door. "I was sure sorry to hear about Buck, Ace. What a shock."
"Yeah. It was a shock, all right."
Ed opened the door, holding it for Ace and Maggie to pass through, then followed them. Indicating an examining room on his right, he led the way inside. "So what can I do for y'all?" he asked, obviously ready to get down to business.
Ace tipped his head toward Maggie and the baby. "The kid needs a check-up."
Ed blinked. "Damn, Ace. I didn't know you had any kids."
Scowling, Ace shook his head. "I don't. She's Buck's."
Ed stared a moment, then chuckled. "Looks like age didn't slow old Buck down any."
"No," Ace agreed, then gestured toward Maggie. "This is Maggie Dean, the kid's nanny. Whatever bill she runs up, you send to me."
Smiling at Maggie, Ed took the baby from her. "A nanny, huh?"
Maggie lifted a shoulder. "For the time being."
Figuring he'd done his duty, Ace headed for the door. "I'll wait out in the truck."
"Ace?"
His hand on the door, Ace glanced back to find Ed studying him critically. "Yeah?"
"Are you wearing a girdle or is that the outline of a bandage that I see beneath your shirt?"
Ace touched a hand to his ribs. "I ran into a little trouble with a horse."
Ed passed the baby back to Maggie. "Did the horse give you that cut on your face, too?"
Ace touched a self-conscious hand to his cheek. Though the wound no longer required a bandage, it hadn't healed completely. "Yeah. Must've landed on a rock or something when I fell. It's a lot better now, though."
Ed closed the distance between them. "Let me have a look at that." He poked at the skin surrounding the wound. "Who tended this?"
"Maggie. She's a nursing student."
Ed glanced over his shoulder at Maggie. "Really? We could use another good nurse around here. Are you interested in a job?"
"She has a job," Ace reminded him sourly.
Ed shrugged. "Doesn't hurt to ask." He motioned for Maggie to bring him the baby. "Here," he said to Ace, and passed the infant on to him. "You keep an eye on the baby, while I show Maggie around the office."
"Wait! I—"
The door closed behind the two, cutting Ace off. Muttering a curse, he strode to the examining table and laid the baby down. Bracing a hand on her stomach to keep her from falling off the table, he glared at the door.
Seconds later, it opened, and a nurse breezed in.
"Hi," she said cheerfully, as she placed a tray of supplies on the counter beside the examining table. "I'm Betty, Dr. Clark's nurse."
Ace eyed the tray warily. "Ace Tanner."
Giggling, she shifted his hand from the baby and began to unfasten the snaps on the baby's romper. "I know who you are, Mr. Tanner. Everybody does."
"Hey!" Ace cried, as she pulled the romper over the baby's head. "What do you think you're doin'?"
She gave him an absent pat. "Now, now. There's nothing for you to worry about. I'm just removing her clothes so that we can get an accurate weight measurement."
Lifting the baby, she laid the infant on the paper-lined tray above the scale and noted the weight. "Nine pounds," she told Ace, as she returned the baby to the examining table. "I'll take a quick blood sample, then we'll have her all ready for the doctor."
Ace paled. "Blood sample? Why do you need a blood sample?"
Betty plucked a lancet from the tray, then caught the baby's heel and swiped it with an alcohol-soaked gauze pad. "The doctor requires one for all new babies."
Wedging himself between the nurse and the table, Ace bodily shoved her out of the way. "You're not sticking this kid with any needles," he told her, then lifted his head and yelled, "Maggie!" at the top of his lungs.
She made a tsking sound. "Now, Mr. Tanner," she scolded, "there's no need to cause a scene. It's just a little prick."
"Little prick my ass," Ace muttered, then yelled again, "Maggie! Get in here!"
In spite of her diminutive size, Ace discovered that Betty was surprisingly strong … and quick. In the blink of an eye, she'd shouldered Ace aside, caught the baby's ankle and pricked the heel with the lancet. While Ace watched, too paralyzed to do anything more than stare, she squeezed, catching on a specimen slide the droplets of blood that bubbled from the small cut.
Laura let out an indignant wail.
With a growl, Ace snatched the baby up. Cupping a wide hand behind the infant's head, he turned his back on the nurse and hugged the baby to his chest. "It's okay, precious," he soothed. "Ace isn't going to let that mean old nurse hurt you again."
Fisting her fingers in the hair on his chest, Laura buried her face in the curve of his neck and sobbed pitifully. Ace gulped, mortally afraid that he might cry, too.
The door flew open and Maggie rushed in. "What's wrong?" she cried in alarm.
Ace spun to look at her accusingly, the baby held protectively against his chest. He jerked his chin toward Betty who cowered in the corner. "That crazy woman stabbed the kid and made her bleed."
Maggie couldn't decide which shocked her more: seeing Ace standing with the baby clasped against his chest, or the fact that he was standing at all, and not lying on the floor in a dead faint. Drawing in a careful breath, she moved to ease the baby from his arms.
"The nurse was only doing her job," she said quietly, in an effort to calm him.
"Since when is bloodletting a job?"
Ed stuck his head in the door. "Are y'all ready for me yet?"
Setting his jaw, Ace marched to the door. "Do you know what that damn-fool nurse of yours just did?"
Oblivious to what had transpired during his absence, Ed looked from his nurse to Maggie, then back at Ace. "No. What?"
"She stabbed the kid's foot with a needle the size of a first-grader's pencil."
Biting down hard on his lip to keep from laughing, Ed took Ace by the arm. "A first-grader's pencil, huh?" he said, as he pulled Ace out into the hall.
"You think this is funny?" Maggie heard Ace cry before the door closed behind the two men.
Still shaken, Betty looked over at Maggie. "Does he always act this crazy?" she whispered.
"Unfortunately, no."
At Betty's confused look, Maggie shifted the baby to her shoulder to give the nurse a reassuring pat. "Believe me. For Ace, this kind of crazy is a good thing."
* * *
Later that evening, Maggie set up the infant tub on the vanity in the bathroom off the nursery and proceeded to give Laura her nightly bath.
"So what do you think of your new tub?" she asked the baby, as she drizzled water over the infant's tummy. "Beats the heck out of that old kitchen sink at my house, huh?"
Squealing, Laura kicked her feet, splashing water on Maggie's face.
Laughing, Maggie tickled the infant under her chin. "You little scamp," she scolded playfully. "You're the one who's supposed to be getting a bath, not me."
She reached for a towel to blot the water from her face, but froze when she caught a glimpse of Ace's reflection in the bathroom mirror. He was standing in the doorway behind her, watching.
"Is she okay?"
Realizing that she was staring—and what she was staring at—Maggie gulped, then gave him a reassuring smile. "She's fine."
He dropped his arms and moved to look down at the baby.
"No sign of any infection?"
Chuckling, she caught Laura's foot and lifted it up for him to see for himself. "You can't even tell where Betty pricked her with the needle."
He placed a hand over his stomach, blanching at the word "needle."
"Please," he begged.
Laughing, she drew Laura from the tub and quickly wrapped her in a towel. "You should be proud of yourself," she told him, as she led the way back into the nursery.
"Proud? Of what?"
She laid Laura down on the changing table and began to dry her off. "You didn't faint today at the doctor's office."
Scowling, he passed her a diaper. "I wish to hell Rory had never told you that story."
"I'm glad he did," she said, as she slipped the diaper beneath Laura's bottom. "I thought it was kind of sweet."
"Sweet?" He snorted a breath. "More like humiliating."
"Look at it this way," she told him, as she pressed the plastic tabs into place, securing the diaper. "A few more trips with Laura to the doctor, and you'll probably lose your fear of needles altogether."
"Yeah, right."
"It's true," Maggie said, as she guided the infant's arms through the sleeves of a gown. "It's a proven fact that the more often a person experiences something, the less frightening it becomes." She picked up the baby and pressed her against Ace's chest. "Here. Hold her a minute while I rinse out her tub."
Ace looked down at the baby, wondering how he'd ended up with the kid. Frowning, he trailed Maggie into the bathroom. "Do you think she's running a fever? She feels awfully warm to me."
Five Brothers and a Baby Page 11
