Free The Baby Bargain by Jennifer Apodaca

her thigh and eased her
     leg up a bit, then he increased the strength of his thrusts, creating a hot streak
     of wicked sensations building to unbearable tension.
    “Look at me,” he said.
    She opened her eyes and saw true masculine beauty. His face was pulled tight, stark,
     his eyes blazing.
    “Now, Meg. Come now.” He shoved into her, filling her with everything he had.
    She came apart as spirals of pleasure detonated and he kept it going, angling his
     thrusts, giving her bliss that bordered on sweet agony. And just as she began to come
     down, he let himself go.
    Burying her face in his hair, she felt the spasms of his orgasm take over. She held
     him tight, milking his pleasure just as he’d done for her.
    Hours later, she woke up covered in nothing but warm male. Adam was at her back, his
     arms around her, one thigh thrown over her hips. It was dark and quiet except for
     his soft breathing. In front of her, the glowing dials of the bedside clock read two
     a.m.
    Adam had been both fierce and tender, making love to her over and over.
    Always with a condom.
    She remembered his words about using a condom even though she was on birth control.
     Always careful.
    Except that one time after his parents’ funeral.
    That was on both of them.
    But making love with Adam and not telling him about Cole?
    That was on her.

Chapter Eight
    Adam woke as Meg tried to move away from him. He tightened his arms around her. “Cold?”
    “I have to leave.”
    “Stay.” Rising on an elbow he looked over her to the clock. “It’s just after two.”
    She rolled to her back. “I need to get home.”
    He looked down at her in the soft glow of the alarm clock. “Tomorrow’s Sunday.” He
     splayed his hand on her stomach. He liked touching her, needed it even more as he
     felt her emotionally withdrawing from him. “Tell me why you didn’t want me at the
     country club tonight.”
    “We agreed—”
    “Cut the shit, Meg. You had a deer in the headlights expression when you saw me. And
     later when I asked you to dance, you nearly panicked at something Lawrence was saying
     to you.” He hadn’t missed that; he just needed Meg too much to focus on it then. “What
     are you hiding from me?” He didn’t think it was her mentor. Yeah, the guy wanted Megan,
     but Adam believed her when she said she wasn’t interested.
    She pulled her mouth tight. “Tell me why you hate Raven’s Cove.”
    That…what? He snatched his hand off her. “Don’t change the subject.”
    “This is how it always was. I was good enough for a movie, going dancing, playing
     a game of tennis, and of course, sex. But you never talked to me. I guess in college I was too romantic to get it.”
    “I talked to you. I told you I wanted to be a Marine.”
    She glanced at his right biceps. “But not why. You even tattooed the emblem on your
     arm, your only tattoo. That’s a serious commitment.”
    “My dad was a Marine. I told you that.” That was enough for everyone else. Should
     be for her, too.
    “The parents whose house you want to sell, to sever ties with their memories? That’s
     not what drove you to be a Marine.”
    Adam’s guts churned. She’d seen a hell of a lot more than he’d realized. Too much,
     including her observation about that tattoo. It made his skin itch with the need to
     get away. “I’m not talking about this.” His voice was too sharp. Like orders given
     on the battlefield.
    She jerked away, sitting up on the edge of the bed. With her hands gripping the mattress,
     she said, “You never really wanted me around your house or parents. And the few times
     I was there, you were tense, withdrawn.”
    “Let it go.” He stared at her rigid back, willing her to just leave it alone.
    Her shoulders slumped for a second, then she found her panties and pulled them on,
     stepped into her dress and zipped it. Finally she faced him. “I’m not letting it go.
     I can’t. This,” she waved at the bed, “it’s over. You’re