muttered, not even bothering to open her eyes. “The
mountain’s not going anywhere.”
“You know, ye could have simply asked me to stop last
night.”
That opened her eyes. “I just had to say stop?” she said
in a strangled whisper.
He nodded. “But the truth is ye never asked, and you
seemed to be having so much fun, I didn’t darestop for fear
of disappointing ye.”
He saw a blush creep into her beautiful face even as he
noticed her hands braced on the rocks bal ing into fists.
Granted, he’d pushed her beyond what Peg may have
thought shewas capable of last night, but even if it had
kil ed him, he would have stopped at the first sign she was
in distress. But he hadn’t wanted to stop because he’d
wanted to make damn sure lovemaking wasn’t something
she’d even think about doing all by herselfever again.
“One minute.”
“Fine,” she snapped, standing up and wading out of the
water. “Oh, here, let me give you your shirt,” she said far too
sweetly, pul ing it off over her head and slapping it against
his bare chest.
She then turned on her heel and, apparently over her
shyness, walked toward the sleeping bag where he’d left
her clothes. Duncan decided she looked damn fine for a
mother of four children. He took another bite of his granola
bar and watched her dress right there in plain sight beside
the sleeping bag, noticing she started to put on her bra only
to immediately pul it down off her breasts and toss it on the
bag.
He’d have to remember those two lovely ladies were
obviously a little tender and find himself a new favorite spot
on her body to explore tonight. He took another bite and
slowly chewed, remembering that her backside had fit his
hands quite nicely.
She pul ed her sweatshirt down over her head, then
glanced toward the pool—specifical y the lower end—
before looking at him. “I … um, I lost my panties in the
current of the fal s last night when I slid out of my jeans. Is
the pair you shoved in your pocket the only pair you
brought?”
He took another bite of his bar and nodded.
“Did youbring a change of underwear?”
He nodded again, chewing to hide his smile when her
face darkened, then used what was left of his bar to point at
the backpack—even as he felt himself growing hard at the
idea of her wearing his boxers. “They’re in the bottom
pouch.” Only he jumped up and strode over to her when he
remembered what else was in that pouch, realizing she
was going to get that apology after al . “I’l get them.”
“Too late,” she said, pul ing out the box of condoms.
Except instead of throwing them at him like he expected,
she tossed the box on the ground with a snort and stood up
holding his boxers. “You in the habit of making love to a
woman without a condom?” she asked as she slipped first
one leg and then the other into the shorts and pul ed them
up under her sweatshirt.
He took hold of her shoulders when she started to bend
down to get the jeans. “I swear to God, Peg, I had every
intention of protecting you last night.” He ran a hand through
his hair, then rubbed the heat creeping up the back of his
neck. “My only excuse is that I went … I was a little …” He
blew out a sigh. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
She must have read his sincerity, because her face
softened and she patted his chest. “Don’t worry; I’m not
going to get pregnant. I had my tubes tied after the twins.”
He saw her cheeks flush with heat. “So I can’t ever have any
more babies,” she whispered, her gaze dropping to his
chest. “If I ever wanted to … remarry, the man would never
be able to have children of … his own.”
Duncan pul ed her into his arms. “Ah, lass; any man
would be privileged to share the four ye have now. But
there’s something ye need to know, Peg. Providence
decides when a soul’s needing to be born, and if it decides
youshould be its mother, you wil get pregnant.” He lifted
her chin to smile down at her. “The only foolproof way to
prevent a baby is abstinence.”
“Then why did you even bother to bring condoms?” she
asked softly. “They’re less reliable than what I had done.”
“We can’t stop the inevitable, but we can postpone it
sometimes. Ye remember my tel ing you about Laird
Greylen MacKeage? Wel , he had seven daughters,” he
continued when she nodded. “And although I’m fairly certain
some of them had lovers before they married, I do happen
to know that each of Grey’s girls got pregnant the very first
time they made love to the men they were destined to marry
despite using contraceptives.” He gave her astonished lips
a quick kiss, then bobbed his eyebrows. “You’re not the
only one living under a family curse—although I do believe
al seven girls eventual y saw it as a blessing.”
Her cheeks flamed red and she went back to looking at
his chest. “Um, what if Providence decides I should get
pregnant?” she asked in a barely audible whisper.
He lifted her chin and brushed a thumb over her hot
cheek. “We pray it’s not triplets.” She gasped so hard, he
had to catch her when she nearly tripped over the sleeping
bag, and Duncan hugged her to him again. “Together we
can handle anything life throws at us, Peg, including three
or four or five more little heathens.”
He grunted when she poked him in the bel y. “You’re not
the one carrying them inside you for nine months.”
“Nay, but I’l carry them the rest of their lives.” He gave her
a squeeze. “As wel as you.” He set her away, bent down
and picked up her jeans, then tossed them at her. “Now, if
ye don’t want to go meet my mountain up close and
personal barefoot and half naked, I suggest you speed
things up a bit.”
He turned and dug a dry shirt out of his pack and slipped
it on, then settled his sword over his shoulders while she sat
down and pul ed on her boots. “You’re not wearing your
jacket?” she asked as she laced them up.
“The cave gets warmer the farther down we go. We’l sit
outside it for a bit to make sure ye haven’t worked up a
sweat on the hike before we go inside.”
“Do you have a second headlamp and extra batteries?”
she asked, standing up and taking a deep breath as she
glanced at the top half of the mountain.
He grabbed her hand and led her toward the fal s to
fol ow the stream up. “Trust me,” he drawled, “we’l have
plenty of light to see where we’re going.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Duncan wiped the sweat from his forehead with his shirt
that he’d had to take off before he died of heatstroke—
which had nothing to do with the temperature in the cave.
He’d broken into a sweat the moment Peg had crawled into
the narrow passage, and now that she was out of sight his
heart was pounding so hard that he was in danger of being
passed out cold if she needed him.
She’d cal ed back that the tunnel actual y opened
up slightly after the curve, the proof being that she’d turned
around and crawled back out just enough to blind him with
her headlamp before disappearing back around the curve.
He wiped his forehead again. “Wel ?” he quietly cal ed
into the tunnel when he noticed the beam of her light had
gone steady thirty seconds ago. “What did ye find?”
“The cave just stops. Al that’s here is a hole the size of
my fist about three feet up from the ground.”