Sara Orwig - The Ransomes - Matt, Nick and Katherine - Pregnant with the First Heir

She didn’t doubt that he meant what he said about keeping his heart locked away. Could she really scale the walls of that fortress?

She looked into his blue eyes and all she could see was desire so blatant it made her nipples tingle again. The heat low in her body intensified.

With his gaze locked with hers, he lowered her slowly, holding her closer and letting her slick, wet body slide against his. His hard shaft slipped between her legs and she gasped with desire that swept her with the force of a tidal wave. Closing her eyes and clinging to him, she knew she had to stop him right now and she needed to get out of his arms and get some distance between them.

She wasn’t going to fall into his arms and into his bed and succumb to his seduction on the third night she had known him.

With an effort, as he leaned forward and his lips brushed hers, she splashed away from him and scrambled to pull her suit back into place. She looked over at him and saw him treading water while he watched her with a faint smile.

“Scared of me? Or scared about your own reactions?” He waved his hand. “Come on back. I can show restraint.”

“Sure you can,” she teased lightly. “Catch me,” she said and turned to swim away as swiftly as possible.

He caught her easily and hauled her into his arms, laughing with her, but as their legs tangled and he held her close, their laughter vanished, replaced swiftly by need.

With pounding pulse, Olivia wriggled away. “Not yet, Matt,” she said, wondering how long she could wait.

He swam past her and climbed out, grabbing up a towel and tying it around his middle. He shook water away from his face as he slicked back his hair. “I’ll get out the steaks and pour glasses of iced tea.”

Getting out of the pool, she watched him cross the patio and her mouth went dry as her gaze drifted over his broad, powerful shoulders and muscled back that tapered to his tiny waist and tight bottom. Abruptly, he halted and glanced at her, catching her staring at his body. He turned around to stroll back to her and each step closer he came to her, the more loudly her pulse pounded until she was certain he could hear it.

He placed his hand under her chin. “Go ahead and look. What you see will be yours to play with whenever you want,” he said in a velvety voice. He stroked her cheek and let his fingers lightly slip lower, caressing her throat and pushing open the cover-up to fondle her breasts. “And what I see will be mine to play with and make love to, I hope.”

“I believe that was part of our bargain,” she whispered, unable to get any firmness in her voice. Was she already falling in love with him even before her wedding?

How disastrous would this bargain be to her heart? A bargain with a demon of her own creation. She could have taken the money, lived with him and waited to see if they fell in love instead of this headlong rush into marriage to get a commitment for her baby.

It was done now and she wasn’t backing out, but she should take care and guard her heart more than she had so far. Two days ago she wouldn’t have dreamed she would be at risk of heartbreak.

He looked over at her. “Penny for your thoughts.”

“I was just mulling over what odd turns life takes and a week ago this time, my life and prospects for the future were entirely different.”

“Regrets?”

“Absolutely not. Never! I couldn’t possibly regret the changes. What about you? This morning you were filled with anger.”

“We’ll see what the future brings. Let’s sit down and go over some more stipulations.”

Amused, she smiled. “You’re trying to think of everything. That’s impossible.”

“Maybe, but I want some requests. I’m in no hurry, but I want a DNA test to determine that there is no question that my brother was the father.”

“That’s fine,” she said. “He was, so test away.” She sat at a wrought-iron table on a cushioned iron chair, crossed her legs, catching Matt staring at her bare legs.

He pulled on a T-shirt over his swim trunks and then dropped the towel. The T-shirt hid his swimsuit and it was easy to imagine him without it and she hoped he had no inkling that she was doing so.

“Do I get a say in the baby’s name?” he asked, pulling his chair close and stroking her knee, starting more fiery tingles.

She thought about that one. “I think we should both approve the selected name,” she said breathlessly, only half aware of what she was replying to him.

He moved closer and placed his hands on her shoulders. “We’ve already learned that we can get along and the sex promises to be great. We both have mutual goals about the baby. But make no mistake, Olivia. I’ll never fall in love again,” he reminded her.

Annoyance flashed in her at his stubborn refusal to even give love a chance and then she thought how far she had already come with him. She slanted her head and smiled at him. “At the moment, I’m not after your heart. But when and if I decide I am, you may find that you don’t have such a fortress as you thought.”

“You’ve been warned.”

“So have you,” she said, and interest danced in his eyes. His gaze lowered to her mouth. She started to turn away, but he caught her, kissing her and lifting her onto his lap. Their legs were warm and bare and her pulse thundered while passion possessed her.

Matt leaned down to kiss her possessively. While his tongue stoked a fire in her, his arm banded her waist tightly. His other hand slipped down over her back and across her bottom, heating her desire.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she twisted to press against him while she kissed him in return, pouring all her need into the kiss. She could feel his arousal hard against her and his free hand roamed over her while his hungry kisses demolished her intentions to resist him.

With desperation, she broke free, gasping for breath and satisfied to see his breathing was as ragged as hers as they both gazed at each other.

“Olivia, I don’t think my life will ever be the same again.”

“You can bet the ranch on that one,” she whispered, standing and wanting to stay in his arms, wanting him to love her the rest of the night. She swept past him. “I’ll dress for dinner,” she called over her shoulder without looking back at him.

She hurried to her room for a cold shower, lecturing herself about resistance and caution and self-control and gaining his respect. She dressed in a denim sundress, sandals and caught her hair up in a ponytail. There was no way to stop unruly tendrils from escaping and curling around her face. She leaned forward to glare at her reflection.

“Get some control,” she whispered. “You’re mush when he kisses you.” She didn’t want to even think about his devastating kisses. But if he was leaping over barriers around her heart, she suspected she might be building bridges over his. “Just you try to resist falling in love with me, Matt Ransome,” she declared.

She straightened up. “Yeah, right,” she said, reminding herself that the man had iron willpower, and he could probably keep his heart locked away for a lifetime if he chose to. She thought about Jeff’s story about Matt rescuing their father when all the professional rescuers had pulled out of the area. Jeff said Matt refused to give up, but he wouldn’t let Jeff or Katherine search with him and Nick had a sprained ankle. She was dealing with a man who had a will of iron and would make all kinds of sacrifices to get what he wanted.

Would her heart break over this hard, tough cowboy? And beneath the wealth and sophistication, she suspected there was a cowboy who was a lot of country.

She squared her shoulders and smoothed her skirt. She was willing to take some risks. At this point she had the world to gain—and only a broken heart to lose, she reminded herself.