Fiona McArthur - Baby for the Midwife

Max rose above her and she stared up at him. His strong throat soared above her and his chiselled features were outlined in the darkened room. His golden eyes stared down at her with all the fierce need for possession she’d stoked in him with her own need.

Their eyes locked and she reached up to savour the bulge of taut muscles in his arms as he lowered himself gently against her. Her eyes widened as he entered her, slowly, intimately questing, deeper and deeper, until his whispered name escaped her.

He stared down and the adoration in his face made the tears slip beneath her lids and then he withdrew until she protested. He smiled and entered her again. Slow and steady and deep until again she moaned his name and only then did he quicken the pace.

Georgia clutched at his back to stay with him and they rose and fell together in a long slow erotic dance that drove everything out of their minds except the feel of each other in union.

When it was over they lay together, her head on his chest and his arm encircling her as if he’d never let her go.

She knew the moment he slept and she turned her head and kissed his chest. ‘I don’t want to hurt you,’ she whispered. ‘Maybe there is hope. We’ll see.’

Through the night they joined again, but this time in a slow dance of discovery that scaled the heights again in a different way until much later they slept, entwined.

This time Max lay awake until the morning when he watched her wake up to see if he had been a fool.

He’d promised he would keep her safe and what had he done at the first temptation but taken her like a caveman bearing his prize? He hadn’t been able to resist and now he scanned her precious face for any sign of regret.

At least he couldn’t make her pregnant. He winced with the pain that reflection brought, but the pain was nothing to the thought of losing Georgia.

She’d been mind-blowing and incredible but even in the midst of their magical storm he’d feared she’d only wanted to escape from her memories and that he’d taken advantage of her when he should have waited for the right time.

Now he was afraid he had created more dilemmas for her, which was the last thing he had intended.

He knew he loved this woman above all things but he also accepted he had to create an out for her if that was what she needed. No matter that it would rip out his heart to put distance between them again—a greater risk was destroying any chance of their future.

Not when he’d found the one woman he’d never known had been out there. He could not taint that again with her regret.

‘Good morning?’ He couldn’t help the question mark at the end of his greeting and inside his head a devil mocked him.

‘Good morning, Max.’ Georgia chewed her lip.

Max’s stomach plummeted and he forced himself to smile. He’d known she would regret it.

‘There is something I need to tell you,’ she said and his gut twisted.

At least she hadn’t said she regretted the night, yet. Max brushed her cheek with his hand and then reached for her fingers to hold in his. ‘So tell me.’

She searched his face and what she saw there encouraged her to go on. ‘When I moved back in with Sol to protect my friend…’She paused and closed her eyes for a second as if compelling the words to come, ‘He overpowered me and forced himself on me in a horrific night I thought would never end… And that is how Elsa was conceived.’She shook her head at her own stupidity. ‘I hadn’t foreseen him doing that.’

Max’s voice was low with shock and how he would have done things differently if he’d known. He didn’t know what to say. ‘Did you go to the police?’

‘Who would believe me when he was my husband? He’s respected and I was supposed to have paranoia. They’d say that I went back to him and cried rape. I was shattered and the whole situation was a nightmare.’

Max felt the words hammer into his brain and unconsciously he squeezed her hand. He could tell there was more. ‘Go on.’

‘I ensured my friend was safe from him and I left. I vowed no man would ever do that to me again. I never wanted to think about sex again. Last night all that changed. I needed you and you answered my need.’ She smiled crookedly. ‘Handsomely. You’ve taught me to trust my instincts again.

‘I’m sorry if you think I used you but suddenly I needed you to wipe the slate clean and show me that making love is just that. And you showed me how it should be and I can never thank you enough for restoring my faith and my self-esteem. But last night was not the beginning for us.’

Max felt as if his heart was breaking for her courage. ‘My poor darling.’

He didn’t know how she’d stayed as sane and strong as she had with such a man. Max ached to come across Sol in some dark alley some time and make amends for Georgia.

He had trouble getting the words out past his regret that he hadn’t known her then. ‘Not all men are like that.’

She shook her head as if to say that wasn’t her concern. ‘I’m scared for you, Max.’

How could she worry about him at a time like this? ‘Don’t be, because I swear to you now, that man will never hurt you again. If he tries, he will have me to deal with.’

He wanted to tell her that he truly loved her with all his heart and soul, but to pressure her now with that would be selfish. He needed to step back and lay more groundwork before he went there.

Instead he said, ‘Let’s still go away for the weekend. Forget all this and just relax together with Elsa.’

‘Could we?’ He saw the way she looked up eagerly.

He nodded. ‘We could pack and be out of here by ten, if you still want to.’

Her eyes met his. ‘I’d like that.’

Down the hallway the baby cried and the chance of more discussion was lost as she slipped from his bed. She pulled on his robe and he knew she would go to her room with Elsa and not return. He knew from the way she didn’t even look back as she left.

He knew what he was fighting for and he was even more determined. He would woo her as she deserved.

THEY drove to the mountains and the spectacular scenery lifted Georgia’s spirits in a way she couldn’t believe, especially now that there was even more to think about.

It seemed Max was going to make it easy for her by not discussing last night. Her body glowed every time she thought of those stolen hours—but that’s what they had been. Stolen and not to be repeated.

Max had no idea what they were up against. Their time together had been an amazing escape from the reality and despair that just hearing Sol’s name had again left her with.

Thankfully, it seemed that Max would bide his time and perhaps, if a miracle occurred, maybe some time in the future they could travel that road.

At least Max had helped her understand that when someone cared for you, making love was just that—making love. Love in a way both parties felt more together—not less!

But though their intimate time had strengthened her acceptance of how much she loved Max, it had also given her more reason to leave.

Max desired her, there was no doubt about that, but this morning’s relaxed dismissal of their night together had made her wonder if he had the capacity to love or just make love.