Something Sinful This Way Comes [McQueen Was My Valley 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (22 page)

Xandra’s jaw dropped. “What?” It had never occurred to her that Nathan would require this. “I just
started
jumping! You say you love it when we jump together!”

Nathan raked a hand through his hair. “I know. I was wrong. Once you discovered you were pregnant, everything changed. I’m sorry, Xandra. I just couldn’t live with myself if anything happened because of a jump. Because
I
urged you to embrace and love jumping, flying.”

Xandra felt like a fish, opening and closing her jaw. She had just discovered a new joy in life, and Nathan was taking it away! “You can’t force me to do anything,” she tried to say. It was a feeble attempt and she knew it. “Jumping isn’t going to hurt any baby.”

When he put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes, she knew she was incapable of holding out against his manly will. His virility simply steamrolled over her every damned time. It had nothing to do with Nathan being too willful or domineering. It had everything to do with her being helplessly in love with his beautiful, savage spirit. “What if you lose control of your landing? We wear those helmets for a reason. No, I won’t allow it.”

“Even crash landing wouldn’t hurt the baby,” she uttered feebly. “This isn’t the Victorian era. We don’t need total bed rest to…” She trailed off, fluttering her eyelashes at him weakly. He was right. She would have to subsist on standing with Julian, watching Nathan fly. Or maybe now Julian could be Nathan’s jump buddy.

Nathan must’ve known she had given it her best lame effort, for he heartily changed the subject. “When I was inside the Bird in Hand mercantile, buying that water earlier today,” he said conversationally, “I was talking to the owner, Dolores. You know her. So she started asking about Julian. She wanted to know if ‘that nice game warden you share a house with’ was doing all right.”

Xandra’s jaw dropped for a fresh reason now. “What? And she didn’t seem…appalled?”

“Not at all. Quite the opposite. Of course she’s madly in love with Julian, as is everyone in southeastern Utah. The point is…” Nathan sipped. “She
knows
Julian lives with us, and she doesn’t care.”

“Maybe she just thinks we’re roommates. That’s what I’m hoping most people think, anyway.”

“Not at all. Her exact words were, ‘If your newfangled lifestyle works for you, go for it.’ I was so taken aback I said, ‘Why, thank you, Dolores.’”

Xandra remembered to close her jaw. “Well. It
is
called Bird in Hand, after all. Maybe she’s accustomed to all of the jokes.”

Nathan said with a twinkle in his eye, “And it
is
called the Triple Play Lodge.”

Xandra frowned. “I thought that was because Wanda Burns liked baseball.”

“That’s how it started out. Not anymore.”

Xandra couldn’t suppress a giggle as she turned to look out over the snowy landscape. It was no longer the vague home of Robert Redford—it was
her
home. Her. Xandra McQueen Horowitz of McQueen Valley, Utah.

THE END

WWW.KARENMERCURY.COM

Karen’s first three novels were historical fiction involving pre-colonial African explorers. Since she was always either accused or praised (depending on how you look at it) for writing overly steamy sex scenes, erotic romance was the natural next step. She lives in Northern California with her Newfoundland dog, the best darn darn dog in the west.

For all titles by Karen Mercury, please visit

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