Honor Bound(48)

"I had been in prison—"

"I know."

"And without a woman."

"I understand."

"I was rough."

"Not too—"

"And later I got to worrying about it. That maybe I had hurt you … your breasts … or your…"

"No, you didn't."

"You were so damn small—"

"It had been a while."

"And … and tight … and I—"

"It wasn't rape, Lucas."

His head snapped around. "You could have claimed that it was."

"But it wasn't."

The messages their eyes telegraphed to each other were laden with things better left unsaid. Aislinn bowed her head and closed her eyes as waves of heat, having nothing to do with the still, summer day, surged through her. Even now she could feel the driving thrusts of his body into hers.

And Lucas shut his ears to the delicious sound of his son nursing at her breast. He remembered his own lips tugging at her nipples, hard and peaked with arousal. His tongue had circled them, nudged them, stroked…

God, don't think about it or you'll get hard.

"When did you first know you were pregnant?" he asked gruffly after a long moment.

"About two months later."

"Were you sick?"

"A little. Tired more than anything. I didn't have any energy. And I had stopped having…"

"Oh. Yeah."

From the corner of his eye, he saw her gently lift Tony from one breast and transfer him to the other. She was modest. He knew what this enforced intimacy must be costing her. Yet, he wanted to reach across the seat, spread her blouse open and gaze at this marvel of nature. He wanted to look at her breasts. He yearned to touch them. To taste. Her femininity filled him—his nose, his throat, his loins. He was inundated with the scent and sight and sound of woman and he wanted to stay immersed in it for a long time.

"Was it an easy pregnancy?"

"As far as pregnancies go," she said with a smile.

"Did he kick a lot?"

"Like a soccer player."

"I prefer to think of him as a marathon runner."

Their eyes met across the narrow distance. The look they exchanged was mellow. What passed between them was the shared dream of parents for their child. "Yes. Like a marathoner," she agreed softly. "Like you."

His heart swelled with pride. Emotion welled so high inside his chest that for several seconds he could barely breathe. "Thank you." She looked at him inquiringly. "For carrying my son."

Then it was Aislinn's turn to become embarrassingly emotional. Thanks didn't come easily to a man with Greywolf's pride. To have made an issue of it would ruin the moment, so she merely nodded her head.

She gave Tony her attention until he was finished, then she passed the baby to Lucas. He held him while Aislinn readjusted her clothing. He even assisted as she changed Tony's diaper.

They said nothing more. Enough had been said.

* * *

"Gene's here," Lucas remarked as he pulled the pickup to a stop in front of a tiny, neat, white stucco house. Its fenced front yard was well manicured. A porch light burned in welcome. Zinnias bloomed in flower beds on either side of the front sidewalk.

It was well after dark. They had been driving on the reservation for hours, though this time they hadn't had to use back roads as they had when Lucas was a fugitive. Still, their trip had been long and tiring. Aislinn was exhausted. "Are we staying here tonight?" she asked hopefully.

"No, we'll stop and say hello. But I'm anxious to get to my own land."

His own land? She didn't know he had any land. Until then, she hadn't even thought to ask how he intended to support Tony and her since he couldn't practice law anymore. Somehow she wasn't worried about it. Greywolf had proven to be resourceful, intuitive, and capable. She had no doubts that he would make life as comfortable for his son as possible.

Lucas came around and helped her out of the truck. For the first time, she felt a twinge of apprehension. What if Alice Greywolf and Dr. Dexter reacted to the baby the same way her parents had? She was more an outsider here than Lucas was in her world. How would she be received?

Lucas seemed to have no such qualms. He jogged up the sidewalk and jumped onto the porch. He rapped on the front door twice before Gene Dexter pulled it open.

"Well, it's about time. Alice has been—"

When the doctor saw Aislinn coming up the sidewalk, his welcoming speech was cut short.

"Gene, is it Lucas?" Alice called from inside the house. "Lucas?" She stepped around Gene, her face wreathed in smiles. "Oh, you're here! We've been worried. Why didn't you come straight home? Did you decide to stay a few days in Phoenix?"

Lucas stepped aside. When Alice's eyes fell on Aislinn, they widened as prettily as a doe's. When she saw the baby nestled in Aislinn's arms, her mouth formed a small O. "I think you'd better come in out of the night air."

Aislinn knew then that she would come to love Alice Greywolf. No questions. No recriminations. No censure. Just gracious, unqualified acceptance.

Lucas held the screen door open for Aislinn and Tony. She stepped into a living room that was simply but tastefully furnished.