Free That's My Baby! by Vicki Lewis Thompson Page A

hand between her legs and caressed her inner thigh, but that had been a part of her dreams, too. Even when he slipped his fingers into her moist channel and stroked her until she whimpered, she couldn’t be sure he wasn’t a figment of her imagination.
    But in all the nights she’d fantasized about loving him again, she’d never dreamed of the soft whisper of his beard against her skin. As if that alone could convince her that he wouldn’t disappear in a puff of smoke, she combed her fingers through it.
    He lifted his mouth from hers. “I should have shaved,” he murmured.
    “No.” Oh, his fingers could work magic, winding her tighter and tighter. “I…like it.”
    “It must be like making love to a furry animal.” As if to make his point, he nibbled his way down her throat, his beard tickling her all the way.
    “Uh-huh.”
    He stroked his beard deliberately over the tip of her breast. “Or some caveman.”
    She closed her eyes in ecstasy. “Uh-huh.”
    “And you like this?” he asked in a husky voice as he swept his beard back and forth across her tingling nipples.
    She struggled for breath. “Uh-huh.”
    His low chuckle was laced with excitement. “You’re kinky, woman.”
    “And you love it.”
    His voice roughened. “Damned if I don’t.” He moistened each nipple with his tongue and then brushed them dry with his beard. He repeated the process, all the while coaxing her higher with the persistent rhythm of his fingers.
    The effect was incredible. She climaxed with a wild cry, arching away from the mattress as he buried his bearded face between her breasts. And he’d only begun. As she lay helplessly gasping from his first assault, he kissed a path down her quivering body until he’d nestled himself between her thighs.
    “Oh, Nat.” This was no dream. In a million nights of fantasizing she couldn’t have imagined the delicious sensation of his mustache right there, while his beard feathered her inner thighs, and his tongue…there were no words for it, only sounds. And she filled the room with her moans of delight.
    He gifted her with another shattering climax before making his way back to her mouth, revisiting his sites of conquest along the way. By the time he kissed her again, she would have done anything for him, if only she had a smidgen of strength left with which to do it.
    “And I thought this beard was only good for keeping my face warm in a cold wind,” he whispered.
    She could barely move, let alone talk. But she wanted him to feel this euphoria, too. It was only fair. She liked her dry lips. “What about…you?”
    He lifted his head and gazed down at her, his eyes alight. “I’m getting to that.” He kissed the tip of her nose and his voice was gruff with emotion. “But you know how guys are when they’ve been frustrated for this long. It’ll be fast and furious the first time. You needed a head start.”
    “Mmm.” She figured she’d already finished the race. Twice.
    “Don’t go away.” He leaned over and opened the bedside-table drawer.
    She turned her head and watched him put on the condom. Observing him rolling the latex over his stiff penis turned out to be an arousing activity. After the way he’d thoroughly loved her, she was amazed she was still capable of being aroused.
    He hadn’t worn a condom any of the other times they’d made love, and she wondered if she’d feel the difference. They’d both trusted in her birth control pills, which had ultimately failed them. But she couldn’t be sorry about getting pregnant. Even if Elizabeth ended up tearing them apart, she couldn’t be sorry.
    He slid back into bed beside her and turned on his side. His gaze locked with hers. She grew restless, wanting him again, but the ache was deeper this time. She no longer had that frantic craving for release. This time she wanted connection.
    Still looking into her eyes, he took her chin in his hand. Then slowly he stroked down the curve of her throat, andhis gaze