Page 29 of Bryson

"Have you contacted the police?"

"I did, yes. Routed the poor man from his bed to come over. There's nothing he can do until morning. I'm hoping to God that it's some assholes passing through and are already gone."

"You have a lot on your plate." Her statement had him lifting his brows.

"I do."

She shrugged as he continued to stare at her. "I never realized how much. What I'm saying is that you don't have to keep babysitting me."

"I'm afraid I do." His hand crept up to cradle her neck. "You're not accustomed to lying flat on your back and doing nothing. I'm aware that this is a sacrifice for you. You said yourself, you did not ask for this, and I can't help but feel guilty. I want to apologize, but I'm happy that you're here and carrying my baby, Julianne. If that pisses you off, then." He lifted one broad shoulder in a shrug.

"Then what?" she asked softly.

"Then you'll be pissed off. I was bloody miserable without you and tried to tell myself that I was doing great. I had the ranch and that's all that mattered."

"You're forgetting one more thing."

"What's that?"

"The woman you were involved with."

His eyes never wavered. "You know better than that."

"Do I?"

"Yes." His fingers tightened on her neck. "It was just a diversion, a desperate hope to get you out of my head. Tear you from my heart. You know damn well that it's always you. I used Sara-Lee and she did not deserve that kind of treatment." He eased out a harsh breath. "I should never have gotten involved with you, but I was bloody desperate and pissed off when I thought you had moved on so quickly. That I apparently had not meant that much to you. That it was all a lie."

Lifting a hand, she skimmed a finger over his hair-roughened jaw and his sensual lips. "You know better than that. I was pissed off too," she countered softly, feeling the familiar tingle inside her. "I wanted to forget you and I wanted it to be fast. I was a fool to think that something so powerful, so intense would fade away just like that. I dreamt of you. Every single night I would wake up in a cold sweat and discover that you were not next to me." She drew in a deep breath. "I longed for you. The feel of your mouth, your hands and your body, I longed to feel you inside me." Whileshe was speaking, she was drawing closer, until her breath was touching his lips.

"Baby..."

"I could not bear to feel another man's touch." The tip of her tongue brushed over his bottom lip, just the tip, slight and yet significant, potent.

The need he had been trying to keep at bay poured through his body like a wildly rushing river.

"We can't," he whispered hoarsely, body going rigid.

"I know." She trailed kisses across his cheek and his lobe, nibbling on the flesh until he felt as if he was going to die from longing. His hand fisted at her back and it took a lot out of him to stop from touching her.

"Julianne..." He tried again to stop her but could only watch helplessly as she renewed the path to his lips. Her tongue parted his lips with only a paltry resistance from him. His heart was pounding, his skin already clammy with sweat. His thighs were already rigid. And that was before she decided to take it further. Ending the kiss, she touched her lips to his chin, tongue tracing the indentation, before advancing down to his neck where hisAdam's apple was bobbing in nervous anticipation. She slid further down, fingers toying with the dark hairs covering his chest.

She watched in delight as the muscles quivered beneath her touch.

He was strong. Years of handling horses and working the land had honed his strength.

That this powerful man could be reduced to nothing but a trembling mass under her touch had always managed to humble her.

He had men who ran to do his bidding, but with her, he was vulnerable. When she closed her mouth over a tight nipple, he reared up in shock, his fingers flying to her hair.

He should stop her, he thought dazedly, as desire poured through his body. She was just out of the hospital, and he would be a bloody monster to want to drive himself into her, after she had almost lost their baby. He should be the responsible one and tell her to stop, demand that she did. But oh, good God, he was starving for her. He had been without her for more than a week and even though he was weary to the bone, he felt revived and raring to go. He needed her. Growling fiercely, he flipped her over and covered her body with his.

His hands were all over her. Tugging the nightgown over her head, he devoured her nipples with his mouth like a man who had been starving for days or even weeks and was now presented with a lavish banquet. His control was shot to hell. It was as if a cloud had descended over him, obscuring everything else. There was no common sense, no reasoning, rational or otherwise. He just knew that he needed her with a fierceness that had his blood boiling.

His mouth drifted down her quivering stomach as he nipped at the flesh. She was shielding his child inside her womb, his baby, the seed he had planted... his baby. Suddenly the dark cloud lifted and with it came the reasoning and the awful realization of what he had been about to do.

Lifting his head slowly, he eased off her, his breath backing up in his throat.

"Bryson?"