Page 124 of Rocky Mountain Devil

His eyes widened slightly, and his grip tightened, but he didn’t speak.

“I don’t think abortion is absolutely wrong, but it’s not something to do without thinking it through. Jeff had made it clear he didn’t want to be with me. He was already seeing someone else, and I didn’t want to trap him into marriage, which is what would have happened. I couldn’t have the baby without someone figuring out who the father was. It seemed like my only option. So I made the appointment.”

She closed her eyes, the fear and sorrow and hope and guilt she’d felt in that moment as fresh as it had been yesterday.

“I went to the clinic that morning, and I walked through those doors, and Istilldidn’t know if I was going to go through with it or not. If it was the right thing formeto do. Over an hour I waited, the whole time debating and coming to no decision. I was so nervous I had to stop at the washroom, and that’s when I found out I’d starting bleeding, and…” Laurel forced herself to finish. “I don’t know what I would have done, Rafe. If I’d actually had the abortion I think I’d be less conflicted and guilty, because I would havemadethe choice, but I never got to. It was out of my hands, and I’ve had to live with that ever since.”

They stared at each other in silence.

Rafe stroked his fingers down her cheek, cupping her chin then leaning in and touching their lips together. A brief, tender caress that went all the way down into her soul.

He pulled back and stared at her, his blue eyes like a calm, moonlight sea. “Does it get easier? Does the guilt ever fade? Do the fears ever go away?”

“Not completely,” she said quietly. “Not yet, but there’s joy in the world, Rafe, and we deserve to experience it.”

“It’s hard to believe,” he said.

Laurel might agree with him, but this moment was a fresh start for both of them. “That’s the good part about faith. That even in the middle of doubting, we can believe it will get better.”

“Belief.” Rafe gave a soft laugh. “Your father talked to me once about how important it was to believe in something.”

“Trust me, he talks alotabout believing,” Laurel teased. “Comes with the job description, I suppose.”

She stroked her fingers over his shoulders. A slow confidence building as his body relaxed slightly. The tension easing away.

They were going to make it. If she had anything to say, they would.

“You want to know what I believe?” Laurel caressed his cheek. “I believe everyone deserves another chance. That there really is a plan for our happiness if we’re smart enough to open our eyes and accept it.”

“Even stubborn-ass cowboys?”

“Especiallystubborn-ass cowboys,” she agreed. “But Rafe? Most of all, I believe in you.”

He kissed her then, deeper and harder this time than the last.

Talking time seemed to be over, but he wasn’t letting her go. In fact, his hands were drifting over her body, igniting the flame that constantly burned in his presence.

“I need you,” he whispered. “As desperately as I needed you the other day. The same way I’ve needed you every fucking second since.”

“Then take me,” she answered, rising for a moment so she could wiggle out of her panties.

She settled in his lap, undoing the top buttons of her dress until he could see the lacey edges of her bra. Then she offered him a cheeky smile. “Do your worst, baby. Take me for a ride.”

Rafe lifted her, tracing his tongue along the edge of her bra. He closed his teeth over where her nipple pressed to the silky fabric, nipping sharply and making her gasp.

“You said something about spending a week in bed,” he reminded her. “After we’d talked. We’ve talked…”

“Later,” she promised, reaching between them to undo his button and zipper.

Rafe helped her, shoving the material of his jeans aside so he could pull his cock free. Their fingers tangled as she stroked him, his hand engulfing hers as he moved their hands over his length, her palm touching velvety-smooth skin over steel-hardness.

A groan escaped him, and he took her lips, their arms bumping as they kissed, tension building.

It seemed only a second later he stopped her hand, chest heaving as he sucked for air. “Now,” he ordered.

Begged.Prayed.

Laurel lifted up far enough he could slide his cock to where she was ready and wet. His body trembled as she stared into his eyes and sank onto his hard length until there was nothing between them.