Mountain Man's Accidental Surprise - K.C. Crowne Page 0,25

for a few moments. I got lost in the fantasy, thinking I could tell him about the baby and we could be a family. I pictured us having a property, a home of our own beside his brothers. His mom would be delighted to have a grandbaby, that I was sure about. I could see her visiting often. All of us around a giant family table, laughing and smiling. My child deserved that kind of life, with a family that cared for him or her.

I hadn’t realized I was leaning into Graham, and he was lowering himself closer to me. Our lips were so close. My phone buzzed in my purse, taking me by surprise and pulling me back to the here and now.

“Let me check on that,” I muttered, pulling away.

I dug around in my bag until I found my phone. The message that popped up on the screen filled my veins with ice water.

You can’t run from me, Emilia. You’re mine, and I will find you and make you my wife. Nothing and no one will stop us from being together.

“Is everything alright?” Graham asked.

My knees went weak, and I had to sit down on the bed. “Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine,” I lied.

“You don’t look fine,” he said, taking a seat next to me.

I turned off my ringer and hurried to put it back in my purse while trying to keep my composure. “It’s just family stuff,” I said. Which wasn’t a complete lie.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” I said. “I’d prefer to talk about anything but that, to be honest.”

I wanted to go back to my fantasy world - the one where Graham and I could raise our child together. But Antonio’s message completely ruined any chance for that. It would hurt too much to fall into such delusions again, knowing that Antonio would never allow it. He’d find me in Liberty, so I had to leave. I had to get out of there. But how? I would need a car, some way to travel that couldn’t be traced back to me easily. Without a car, I had very few options.

For the time being, I was stuck. I couldn’t do anything about that. And at least I was stuck in a house with a bunch of big, strong men.

Of course, having Graham at my side did make me feel a lot better. At least temporarily. Even if Antonio could trace me to Liberty, it was unlikely he’d find me here. I needed to relax and recharge for the night. Tomorrow, I would need to run like hell, but for the time being, I needed to rest.

I tried to get my mind off Antonio anyway I knew how.

“I’ll leave you alone to get some rest if you’d like,” Graham said, as he started to get up.

“No! Please, don’t go yet,” I said, biting my lip as I stared up at him. “In fact, you don’t have to sleep on the couch if you don’t want to.”

His lips curled into a grin. “Are you asking me to spend the night with you?”

“I am, actually.” The very idea of being with Graham one more time caused a heat to rise in my body. I had one night with him, and I told myself I should enjoy it.

He leaned down and kissed me, but I pulled back.

“Just one thing before we go any further,” I said.

“Anything,” he said, cupping my face in his hands.

“I will be leaving tomorrow, and I’m not sure we’ll see each other again.” I could see no way that we could safely be together.

His face fell, but he nodded. “I understand. If this is all I get of you, I’ll gladly take it.”

“Good,” I said, pressing my lips to his. “Because tonight, I really just want to feel good again.”

“I think I can manage that.” He spoke against my lips, laying me down onto the bed.

Graham climbed on top of me, hovering above me as he kissed me - his tongue probing my mouth as I pulled at his shirt, nearly ripping it off him. With his help, he pulled it over his head, and I could lay my hands on that chiseled chest. I traced the tattoos with my fingertips as I kissed him.

“I need you, Graham,” I whimpered. “I need all of you.”

“Your wish is my command, darlin’,” he growled.

I moved my hands lower, working at his zipper. With his help again, we were able to remove those pesky pants along with his