“You might be surprised.” He gently brushed a strand of hair from her cheek with his index finger. “Let me worry about dealing with the Culbertsons and their lawyers. I’m going to do some checking, but I suspect there’s more to his visit than what he’s saying.”
Anger and frustration filled her. “This is the very reason I detest rich people. They think that because they have money it gives them the right to do anything they please.”
“Not all people of means are like the Culbertsons, Callie,” he said quietly. “My father’s family had money, but there was never a threat of them taking me or my brothers away from our mothers.”
Remembering their conversation on the trip back from El Paso, Callie bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling as a fresh wave of fear coursed through her. “I’d say your father’s family is the exception, not the rule.”
“Maybe, but I’m betting it’s closer to being the other way around.” He lightly ran his palm up and down her arm, sending a wave of tingling warmth to every part of her. “At any rate, I promise you have nothing to fear from the Culbertsons as long as I’m around.”
“I hope you’re right,” she said, hiding a yawn behind her hand.
He kissed the top of her head. “We’ll talk more in the morning. Right now we both need to get some rest.”
Within moments his deep, even breathing signaled that Hunter had fallen asleep. But, as tired as she was, Callie couldn’t stop thinking about the threat that Craig posed or Hunter’s offer of marriage.
Everything he said made perfect sense and could very well solve her problem. But friendship only went so far. She couldn’t believe he was willing to enter into something as serious as marriage simply to help her. What did he expect to get out of it for himself? And what would happen if they were successful in keeping the Culbertsons from taking her baby away from her? How long before Hunter asked for an annulment or a divorce?
Thoroughly exhausted from the tension of Craig’s unexpected visit and the speculation of what would happen if she did go along with Hunter’s insane suggestion, Callie felt herself begin to drift off to sleep. But instead of having nightmares of her baby being taken away from her by Craig and his family, she dreamed of marriage to a tall, dark-haired, handsome man with a sexy-as-sin voice and devastating kisses.
The feel of thin, downy-soft hair against her cheek, the steady beat of a heart beneath her ear and the scent of clean masculine skin assailed Callie’s senses as she floated in the surreal world between sleep and wakefulness. When a pair of strong arms tightened around her, she smiled and snuggled against the hard male body beside her.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.”
The sound of Hunter’s voice caused her eyes to fly open and had her tilting her head to meet his incredible green gaze. She was lying with her head pillowed on his broad chest and her arm thrown over his flat belly. But it was the realization that her leg was draped over his muscular thigh—his bare muscular thigh—that sent a shiver of excitement up her spine and had her wondering if she’d be able to draw her next breath.
“H-how long have you been awake?”
“About an hour.”
Goose bumps shimmered over her skin at the vibration of his rich baritone rumbling up from deep in his chest. But it was the feel of his hard arousal straining at his briefs that had her gingerly moving her leg away from his. They were treading in dangerous territory and it would definitely be best to put some distance between them.
“Where are you going?” His warm breath stirred the fine hair at her temple and caused her heart to skip several beats.
“I, um, should probably get up and cook something for breakfast.”
He held her firmly against him when she tried to pull from his arms. “I’ve got a hunger, but it’s not for food.”
A delightful heat like nothing she’d ever known began to flow through her veins at his candid comment. “I—it wouldn’t be a good idea to complicate things more than they already are.”
His deep chuckle caused the warmth inside of her to pool in the pit of her belly. “Darlin’, kissing isn’t complicated.” He brushed her lips with his, sending a delightful tingling sensation all the way to her toes. “It’s one of the purest forms of pleasure a man and woman can share.”
The sound of his voice, his provocative words and the feel of his calloused palm caressing her side through her thin cotton gown were like a drug and she suddenly had a hard time remembering her own name, let alone why it would make their current situation more difficult. But she ceased thinking at all when his mouth settled over hers and he tenderly traced the outline of her lips with his tongue.
“This is…insane,” she murmured, trying to draw some much-needed air into her lungs.
He nibbled kisses along her jawline to the sensitive hollow below her ear. “Do you want me to stop?”
“I should demand that you stop and get out of my house immediately.”
His lips blazed a trail down her neck to her collarbone. “But you aren’t going to do that?”
With a myriad of delightful sensations coursing through her, she had to concentrate on his question. “N-no.”
“Why not?” he asked as he ran his palm back down her side, then slipped his hand beneath the hem of her gown.
His fingers sliding along her bare skin made breathing all but impossible and caused the heat in her lower belly to intensify. “Wh-what you’re doing…feels too good.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
Unable to think clearly, she shook her head. “Don’t you dare.”
He caressed her hip, then her ribs as he slowly moved his hand up her body. “Are you aware of what’s going to happen if I continue?”
When he covered her breast with his hand, then chafed her puckered nipple with the pad of his thumb, need coursed through her to settle deep in the most feminine part of her. “W-we’ll make love.”
His hand continued to caress her overly sensitized skin. “Is that what you want, Callie?”
Staring into his dark green eyes, her heart pounded hard in her chest. From the moment they’d first met there had been a magnetic pull drawing them together, a chemistry they’d both tried but found impossible to deny. And with each kiss the tension between them had heightened until it had become a force that was impossible for either of them to fight.
Whether it was her pregnancy hormones that caused a desire stronger than anything she’d ever known or something more, she didn’t want him to stop. She wanted to feel the warmth of Hunter’s kisses and the passion of his loving touch.