“I haven’t, uh, had sex...in a while,” she admitted. “So I’m not sure—logistically—how this is going to work.”
“We’ll figure it out,” he promised her.
“Do you have...protection?” She felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment, not so much because she was asking the question but because she’d let things go as far as they had already without any consideration of the issue. Obviously she wasn’t worried about birth control, but she wasn’t going to take any chances with her health—and definitely not with her baby’s.
“Damn.” He scrubbed his hands over his face.
“You don’t?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It’s not as if I thought this was going to happen. Believe me, if I’d had even an inkling that this was possible, I would have made a trip to the pharmacy.”
Which was extremely flattering but not, in the moment, very helpful.
His brow furrowed, as if he thought hard enough he could conjure up a condom. And maybe he had, because he slid off the bed and disappeared into the adjoining bathroom. Less than a minute later he was back with two square packets in his hand and a look of profound relief in his eyes.
“Two?”
“I’ll go to the pharmacy tomorrow.”
She hadn’t let herself think about tomorrow. She hadn’t dared let herself hope for anything beyond this one night. But the casual reference to restocking his prophylactic supply gave her hope that this might be something more than a one-night stand.
“You think we’ll use both of those tonight?” she asked him.
“I know we will.” He nibbled on her earlobe. “Because I want you so desperately I’m not sure the first round is going to be very good for you. But the second, I promise, will make up for the first.”
She knew she wouldn’t be disappointed. How could she be when he’d already given her so much more than she’d expected? But she did want more—she wanted him inside her. So she pushed him back on the bed and straddled his hips with her knees.
Clay’s brows lifted, but he didn’t protest.
“Let’s get started on that first round,” she suggested.
She took one of the packages off of the bedside table, carefully tore the edge of the wrapper. Then she placed the condom on the tip of his erection and slowly—very slowly—rolled it down the length of him.
He groaned. “Are you trying to torture me?”
“Maybe. Just a little.”
Actually, what she was really trying to do was to give him back at least some of the pleasure that he’d given to her. But she was, admittedly, more than a little self-conscious. She didn’t have a lot of experience when it came to seduction or sex, and the last time she’d been intimate with a man, she hadn’t been seven and a half months pregnant.
So instead of experience, she let her instincts guide her. She rose up, slid forward, so that her pelvis brushed over his erection. He groaned again, the sound both encouraging and emboldening her. She shifted again until she felt the tip of his erection at the juncture between her thighs, then took him inside of her, just a little. Then a little bit more.
Clay’s hands were on her hips, his fingertips digging into her flesh. She could feel the tension in the taut muscles of his abdomen, see the strain in his clenched jaw, but he held himself in check, determined to let her set both the pace and the rhythm.
Then his hands began to roam, his palms gently tracing the roundness of her belly, then moving upward to cup her breasts. His thumbs traced circles around her nipples, slowly moving closer to the aching peaks.
She arched, the instinctive movement pulling him deeper inside. She gasped; he groaned. Then she started to move, her hips rocking slowly at first, then fast, faster. Until she pushed them both to the pinnacle of pleasure—and beyond.
* * *
Clay’s body was still shuddering with the aftershocks of his climax when Antonia collapsed on top of him. Her hair spilled across his chest, and he lifted a hand to comb his fingers through the soft, fragrant curls. She sighed contentedly.
“You’re okay?” It wasn’t usually the first thought on his mind after mind-blowing sex, but he’d never had sex with a pregnant woman before.
She sighed again. “I don’t think I’ve ever been better.”
It sounded like a positive endorsement to him, and he couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah?”
She lifted her head so that he could see she was smiling, too. “Yeah,” she confirmed.
His arm tightened around her. “You were pretty darn spectacular.”
“I think we were pretty spectacular.”
“Spectacular enough that you want to try again?”
“Well, there is one more condom,” she reminded him. “If you’re up for it.”
He shifted closer, confirming that he was very definitely up for it.
* * *
Clay didn’t know what time it was when they finally fell asleep, he only knew that when she slipped out from under the covers, he wasn’t nearly ready to let her.
“It’s not even light yet,” he complained.
“It will be soon,” she said. “And I need to get back to the house before my dad wakes up.”
He had no argument against that, but he did wish that she didn’t have to go.
He’d had his share of lovers—some would say more than his share—but he’d never had a lover who was as open and honest about what she wanted as the woman who’d shared his bed last night. He’d admittedly had some reservations about physical intimacy with a woman in the final stages of pregnancy, but being with Antonia had alleviated them all.
She’d been warm and willing, playful and passionate, and when he’d buried himself in the welcoming heat of her body, he’d felt a sense of rightness and completeness that he’d never experienced before. If he’d thought that having sex with her once would take the edge off of his desire, he was mistaken. Because he wanted her again, and it was only the knowledge that he needed to make a trip to the pharmacy that prevented him from reaching for her now.
But damn if he didn’t get hard just watching her wriggle into those sexy bikini panties. It was both painful torture and exquisite pleasure to watch her put on the clothes he’d peeled off of her the night before.
When she’d straightened the skirt of her dress and slipped her shoes onto her feet, she brushed a quick kiss on his lips. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”
“Actually, I’ll probably just grab a coffee and a muffin from the Mountain Bluebell Bakery on my way to get Bennett.”
“Okay.”
“Unless you want me to come to the house,” he offered.
“It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other,” she said.
He eyed her warily. “Really?”
“Really.” She lowered herself onto the edge of the mattress. “I promise you, I don’t have any illusions that last night was about anything more than sex, and I’m not looking for a relationship or any kind of commitment just because we had sex.”
He scowled, not sure if he was more annoyed or relieved by her assurance. Maybe he wasn’t ready for a capital R relationship, but he wanted to think that the intimacy they’d shared was about a little bit more than scratching an itch. “Are you saying that you’re finished with me?”
“I’m saying that I don’t expect anything more than what we shared last night—although I wouldn’t be opposed to a repeat performance.”
That appeased him, at least a little. “I’ll be making a detour to State Street Drugs today.”
“Do that.” She started for the door.
“Antonia?”
She paused with her hand on the knob.
“Now that I’ve seen your lingerie, I’m going to be thinking about it every time I look at you.”
It ama
zed him that, after all of the intimacies they’d shared through the night, a teasing remark could still make her cheeks fill with color. “I already told you, your chances of getting me naked again are pretty good.”
Her tone was deliberately light, so he followed her cue. “One more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Watch out for my landlady.”
She was smiling when she walked out the door.
Chapter Ten
Antonia was still smiling when she walked into the kitchen half an hour later to get breakfast started. Though she was freshly showered, her body still tingled and ached, but it was a good kind of ache. The kind of ache that only came the morning after a night of intense lovemaking
Sex, she hastily corrected herself.
As wonderful as the previous night had been, and it had been wonderful, she wasn’t going to make it into something that it wasn’t. She wasn’t going to delude herself into believing that she had deep feelings for Clay just to justify their physical intimacy. She was a thirty-year-old woman. She didn’t need anyone’s permission to have sex and she wasn’t going to feel guilty because she’d enjoyed it. In fact, she was already planning to enjoy it again at the next possible opportunity.
The smile slipped when she saw Jonah already sitting at the kitchen table.
“You forgot to set up the coffeemaker last night,” he grumbled.
“And yet you somehow managed to fill the pot with water and measure out the grounds all by yourself,” she mused.
He scowled at her. “I have an appointment at the hospital this morning.”
Which was obviously the reason for his uncharacteristically surly mood. It wasn’t just the physical pain that bothered him but the possibility that he might have to have surgery. The doctors had told Jonah it was unlikely, but because the initial fracture was displaced, they had scheduled this follow-up to reassess the injury.
And while she understood the source of his worry and frustration, she wasn’t going to let him take it out on her. “Dock my pay,” she suggested in response to his comment.
His scowl deepened. “What’s for breakfast?”
She was tempted to tell him that he could have whatever he could manage to make with one good arm. Instead she asked, “What do you want?”
“French toast?” he asked hopefully.
She refilled his mug of coffee before pulling a heavy frying pan out of the drawer beneath the oven.
“Thanks,” he said grudgingly.
“You’re welcome,” she said pleasantly, determined not to let his bad attitude dampen her good mood.
“I heard you were at The Hitching Post yesterday,” he said, watching her whisk the eggs.
She nodded.
“How’s it look?”
“Really good.” She dipped a slice of bread into the egg mixture, then dropped it into the hot pan. “Jason Traub knew just what he wanted and Cates Construction did an excellent job fulfilling his vision.”
“Hopefully the reopening will encourage others to invest in the downtown core.”
“I think it will,” she noted. “The Hitching Post has always drawn customers, so the local vendors should note an increase in business now.”
“I also heard you saw Trina there.”
“No problem with your ears these days,” she muttered, wondering when and how her brother had talked to the waitress between last night and this morning.
“She said you left early, but I didn’t hear you come in, so you obviously didn’t come home early.”
Antonia flipped the bread in the pan. “I met a cute cowboy at the bar and went home with him, and we spent the rest of the night having hot, sweaty sex.”
Jonah snorted at the outrageousness of that idea. “Is that your way of telling me to mind my own business?”
“Sometimes I wonder if that’s even possible.”
“It’s a big brother’s job to look out for his baby sister, even if she’s soon going to have a baby of her own.”
“I can take care of myself,” she told him.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “You always were Little Miss Independent.”
“I had to be if I was going to hold my own against the three of you.”
“You never had any trouble holding your own,” he admitted. “You never had any trouble with anything you wanted to do—which is why this whole baby thing doesn’t make any sense.”
“By ‘this whole baby thing,’ you mean my pregnancy?”
“There are any number of good, respectable men in Thunder Canyon who would have been happy to marry you and father your children.”
She wasn’t sure she believed the “any number” part of his statement, but the rest of it suggested that Jonah had accepted the Bozeman clinic story as completely as Bev Haverly had done. He was right in that she’d dated some great guys in Thunder Canyon, but she’d never fallen in love with any of them. She wasn’t sure why she’d fallen in love with Gene—whether it was proximity or timing or a combination of the two factors—but her experience with her former boarder had shown her the dangers of following her heart. When he left, she vowed that she would never fall in love again.
That was one of the reasons she’d been so wary about getting involved with Clay. But she was confident that this situation was completely different, that what she was feeling now was only lust not love. And as long as she kept her heart out of it, there was no reason she couldn’t continue to enjoy an intimate relationship with him.
* * *
Over the next few days, Clay and Antonia developed something of a routine. Sunday night at dinner, Antonia casually mentioned that she would be going down to the stable to check on Daisy Mae and her foal later. So Clay worked it out that his path crossed with hers, and they went back to his room together.
He didn’t expect that the heat between them could continue to burn as fiercely as it had in the beginning. It was inevitable, to his mind, that the passion would fade. Not just inevitable but, in many ways, desirable. Because it was always easier for both parties to accept the end of a relationship when the spark had gone.
Not that they were in a relationship. At least, not according to Antonia. They were simply two consenting adults hooking up for the purpose of shared physical pleasure.
Her description of the situation should have relieved him, but with each night that she spent in his bed, he found that a few stolen hours of darkness weren’t enough. He wanted...well, he wasn’t entirely sure how to complete that thought, except that he knew he wanted more.
And that was why, when he planned to take Bennett out of town on Thursday morning, he decided to invite Antonia to go with them.
“We’re going to run to the mall in Bozeman.” He mentioned his plans casually as he helped her clear the dining room table. “Bennett’s outgrowing almost everything and there isn’t much selection at the few stores in town.”
“Oh, there’s a fabulous store there called Toddlers & Tots. You should check it out.”
Encouraged by her enthusiastic response, he asked, “Did you want to come with us?”
“I’d love to,” she said, and sounded as if she meant it. “Unfortunately, I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon.”
His gaze dropped automatically to her belly. “Why? What’s wrong?”
She touched a hand to his arm. “Nothing’s wrong. It’s just my monthly check-up. Well, actually, it’s now a biweekly check-up, but nothing to worry about.”
“You’re okay? You’re sure?”
“Yes, I’m okay,” she said patiently. “Yes. I’m sure.”
Still, he couldn’t help but wonder...and worry. Their lovemaking was incredibly passionate—maybe too passionate? “And the doctor will let you know if it’s still okay...”
She smiled. �
��Yes, she’ll let me know.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
He wasn’t sure who was more startled by the question—Antonia or himself. Because accompanying a woman to the office of a baby doctor implied all kinds of things about a relationship that didn’t apply to their non-relationship. So he wasn’t at all surprised when Antonia shook her head.
“I appreciate the offer, but I think that would just be awkward for both of us.”
She was right, of course. And he should have left it at that. Instead, he heard himself saying, “I just didn’t want you to have to go on your own.”
“I am on my own,” she reminded him.
Which again was true—and reminded him of his brother’s comment about transference. Maybe he was trying to do for Antonia everything that he’d never had a chance to do for Delia, but toward what end? He and Antonia both knew that he wasn’t planning on staying in Thunder Canyon long-term. In fact, he’d already been away from Rust Creek Falls longer than he’d intended. And yet, he still hadn’t made any plans to return.
“Then I guess we’ll see you when we get back,” he said.
“I hope so,” she told him.
The sparkle in her eyes and the promise in her voice made him forget that, for just a minute, he’d wanted more. Because later that night, he would get to have fabulous sex with an incredible woman, and that was enough.
* * *
After her weight and blood pressure were checked and recorded and Doctor Aberline went through her usual checklist of questions regarding Antonia’s activities and monitoring of fetal movements, the doctor asked a question she’d never asked before.
“Is that glow in your cheeks from the baby or the sexy cowboy staying out at your ranch?”
Antonia rolled her eyes. “Are there no secrets in this town?”
“Not that you should be keeping from your doctor.”
Of course, over the years that Louise Aberline had been Antonia’s doctor, they’d also become friends. And Antonia knew that Louise was also a friend of Catherine’s, who was no doubt the source of her information.
The Maverick's Ready-Made Family Page 13
