Vicki Thompson: The Colorado Kid

He didn’t care that he sounded desperate. He was desperate. “Please get the—”

“Yes,” Matty murmured, taking a condom from the drawer.

“Now, Matty,” he said hoarsely, battling for control as she put the condom on. Then the mattress shifted and she rested her hands on his shoulders. He opened his eyes and looked up into hers. Bracketing her waist with both hands, he held her gaze as he guided her down. Her eyes were luminous. He knew he’d never forget the way they looked at this moment.

Easy. Slow. There. He drew in a sharp breath. So good. He couldn’t imagine it getting any better than this. “Ride me, Matty,” he whispered urgently.

Lips parted, eyes bright, she did just that, giving him the trip of his life. There was no holding back. Stunned by the impact, he couldn’t hear anything beyond the pounding of his heart. Then a high-pitched noise penetrated the haze surrounding him. It sounded like a baby’s cry. His baby.

Dear Reader,

As much as I adore cowboys, I also love torturing the sexy rascals. In my new miniseries, THREE COWBOYS & A BABY, each of them thinks he’s the father of the same darling baby girl, which makes for some very tense moments. Cowboys. They’re so cute when they’re angry.

First up is Sebastian Daniels. Sebastian has a tough time adjusting to the idea that the bundle of joy left on his doorstep might be his bundle of joy. But once he latches on to the concept, he won’t be denied. Unfortunately for him, his good buddy Travis Evans stakes a claim to the baby in Two in the Saddle, available in May. In Boone’s Bounty, a June release, Sebastian’s loyal friend Boone Connor insists the little girl definitely belongs to him. Three men. One baby. Could it get any more complicated?

Yes. Because there’s a fourth cowboy—Nat Grady. For the thrilling conclusion of this miniseries, I’m stepping out of Temptation and into the realm of Single Titles. Don’t miss That’s My Baby! in September.

Warmly,

Vicki Lewis Thompson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To Roz Denny Fox,

for her unselfish support and friendship.

Thanks, Roz.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

“COME ON, SEBASTIAN, HONEY.” Charlotte eased back from his kiss and reached for the zipper of his fly. “Show little ol’ Charlotte what’s inside those Wranglers.”

Sebastian grabbed her hand and moved it aside. Damned if he liked having a woman set the pace. Besides, it’d been a long time, and he couldn’t have her fumbling around when he wasn’t sure how good his control would be. “We’ll get to that,” he muttered.

“How sweet.” She nibbled at his bottom lip as she flicked open a snap on his western shirt. “You’re shy. I never would’ve guessed you’d be shy after being married to Barbara.” She popped another snap open. “Is that why you cooked me that special dinner, served us wine and built a fire in the fireplace, so you’d get over being nervous?”

His jaw clenched. “I’m not nervous. I just like to—”

“Me, too, honey.” She ripped the rest of the buttons open and plunged her tongue halfway down his throat.

Hell, he was getting worked up, and he’d just figured out he didn’t like Charlotte all that much. He believed you should at least like a woman you intended to take to bed. He’d liked her okay every time he’d seen her behind her desk at Colorado Savings and Loan. And spring was coming on, the season of the year he always felt the most like planting…something. In another month he’d be thirty-five years old and he could feel time passing. But maybe inviting Charlotte out to the ranch had been a bad idea.

She moaned and shoved her D-cups against his chest. “Undress me,” she whispered before delving into his mouth again. The woman had a tongue like a backhoe. But those D-cups did tempt him. They were two of the items that had caught his interest in the first place. And as his friends had been telling him, he had to start somewhere if he expected to get back in the hunt.

Still, if it’d been left up to him, he probably wouldn’t have moved the evening along quite this fast. It didn’t seem to be up to him, however, and if he didn’t do something manly soon she’d be insulted. He unfastened the delicate top button of her blouse, pleased that he hadn’t lost the technique.

With the way her chest was heaving, he needed all the technique he could remember to unbutton her blouse and unfasten the front latch on her bra. He’d had easier times taking the bucking strap off a bronc. But at last he had clear access, and he had to admit she filled a man’s hands to overflowing. Too bad her perfume nearly made him choke.

But he could deal with that. Would deal with that. Because now his jeans were uncomfortably tight, and Charlotte seemed only too eager to help him with his problem. Besides, he’d invited her out to join him for dinner with this sort of activity in the back of his mind. He’d even made Fleafarm bed down in the barn so the dog wouldn’t be underfoot.

He’d served dinner by candlelight, and afterward, when she’d suggested they leave the lights off and sit by the fire for a while with their wine, he’d made no objection. She could rightly accuse him of being a tease if he didn’t follow through. Maybe he’d discover he liked her better as they went along. And he had to start somewhere.

JESSICA FELT as if she’d driven over half the state of Colorado trying to make sure nobody had followed her jam-packed Subaru out of Aspen. Or maybe she’d been putting off the moment that had to come.

It was close now. She’d picked up a cup of coffee at a convenience mart in Canon City. Then she’d pushed on to the little town of Huerfano. A few miles beyond Huerfano the pavement ended, signaling that she was nearly there.

Sebastian had asked her to visit the Rocking D a hundred times, but she’d never found the time. Then she’d become pregnant and a visit would have raised questions she’d rather not answer yet. Now the Rocking D and Sebastian were her best hope for protecting Elizabeth, her sweet innocent child sleeping in a padded car seat amidst a jumble of belongings.

Jessica thought briefly of her parents, secure in their walled and gated estate on the Hudson River. Elizabeth would be protected there, as Jessica had been protected for the first twenty-four years of her life, although she wouldn’t truly call it a life. She wouldn’t wish that kind of stifling existence on anyone, let alone her own daughter.

When she left home three years ago, she’d felt confident she could blend into the woodwork and become an ordinary citizen as long as she had minimal contact with her parents and kept a low profile. But apparently someone had found out she was the Franklin heir. She’d had enough kidnapping escape drills as a kid to recognize that somebody had tried to snatch her. Because they’d tried to snatch her after work when Elizabeth was home with a nanny, Jessica figured they must not know about the baby. And she wanted it to stay that way.

For the past few days she’d put blinders on her emotions, focusing on the next steps, trying to turn the nightmare into the sort of interesting science experiment that would have challenged her in college. She’d bought several wigs to cover her red hair then traded her royal blue car in for the nondescript gray Subaru. Mechanically she’d packed, leaving in the middle of the night hoping that no one would see her. And for three days, she’d been gradually switching Elizabeth to formula.