Thank god I can get by on damned little sleep, because I knew I wasn't getting any that night.

The water had run in the shower for a long time, while I'd stripped down and climbed into bed, wide awake. No one, not even Elaine had ever lived with me at the lake house. It had always been a private place for me. Where I could run or swim. A place where I could relax and be myself. It would have been distracting to have anyone staying in the next room. But knowing Libby was here… stripped bare in my shower, eventually climbing into bed… Did she sleep in the nude?

It was so fucking wrong to think of her in those terms, I chided myself. I pulled the blankets up over my goddamn hard on. My balls were high and tight, damn near blue. I'd been told by Dr. Tiller to hold off on orgasms for a few days before the procedure. To maximize my fertility. But I wasn't sure I had much of a choice in the matter anymore, considering the size of the raging erection I'd been sporting since I'd held Libby in my arms and kissed her…

So many years, with my ex-wife's thin and unresponsive body in my arms, I had almost forgotten how it felt to hold a woman who was round and soft, warm and luscious… I rolled over onto my side, aching from the torture I was putting myself through. But I couldn't forget the feel of her mouth on mine, the way her body shaped itself to mine like they were made to fit together. Goddamn it, they were made to fit together. My rock-hard cock would slide into her tight little pussy like a hand into a glove.

I was oozing now, making a wet spot on the sheets. I rolled onto my back and tried to force her image out of my head. I thought about the baby I'd planned for. The son or daughter I wanted more than anything in the world. For a few short moments, it was a good distraction. Until the image of Libby's swollen belly surfaced. Her already large breasts made larger and softer, as only a pregnant woman's breasts can be. Her belly growing rounder and riper with every passing day… until one day I'd put my hand on her and feel my son's first tiny kick… My cock throbbed hard, standing off my flat belly with single-minded intent.

I was a man driven with need to impregnate my woman. And that woman was only a few feet away, her body ready and willing to be filled with my seed. In a goddamn perfect world, I'd be in there now, buried inside her, making her mine. Creating the future the way humans have for millennia. It was a primal need, and so help me, in spite of my conservative, highbrow upbringing, I was still a very primal male.

But I wasn't going to put the future at risk. And there was no way in hell I'd risk losing Libby's trust by overstepping again. We'd settled things tonight, and were on the same page. Things were too good for me to fuck them up now, regardless of my body's demands. I truly liked Libby, and I respected her commitment to her art career. I'd already been renewing some old connections our family had in the art world. I wanted to see her succeed, not just because of what she was doing for me, but because her talent needed to be seen, to be recognized.

I rolled over, throwing a restless arm over my forehead. Yeah, I had to be the good guy here. I didn't honestly have any other choice. My future and Libby's both depended on it. So did my future child's.

But as the hours crept by and the night seemed to last forever, I can't say my resolve never wavered.

And I'd have given damn near anything for the satisfaction of jerking the hell off.

I must have slept, at least for an hour or so. Because I woke with the sky just beginning to lighten and my cock still as demanding as ever. I showered as quickly as I could in ice cold water, and left for the office without waking Libby. Maybe by the time I picked her up to go to dinner, I'd have my baser needs better controlled…

Ninety minutes later, I had coffee in my hand and Spencer Pierson-Ellis waiting in my office. All thanks to Veronica, the best assistant I'd ever had. Although she and my ex-wife were good friends from way back, Ronni had been willing to stay on at Mason after the divorce.

"Start talking, Spence. I haven't gotten a comprehensive report in the last two fucking days. If I trusted you less, I'd think you were holding out on me."

Spencer laughed, and a wisp of comb-over fell into his eyes. Only three years older than I was, he was already starting to thin on top.

"Shit, Jack. It's not like you've been all that easy to track down lately. And India and I had a nice evening last night, thanks for asking…"

I motioned for him to sit and drained my cup as he spread out the contents of his briefcase.

"Even though a proxy fight can take longer than an outright takeover, I still think the numbers are showing it was the right path…" He shuffled through and tapped a stack of papers before handing them to me. "We knew it'd take a little more patience, Jack. And you agreed along with the other board members, that acquiring Warner Aluminum would transition more smoothly if we could win over the majority of their shareholders. Once that's done, and we've kissed all their wealthy asses, it will have been a fucking hell of a lot easier in the end."

I scanned the sheets. The names were starting to add up. In a few more weeks, Mason could indeed have the majority of Warner's people in our pockets. It was the approach my whole family had agreed on. Effective, albeit slow. But more amiable than a forced acquisition. Every one of us had endured meeting after meeting with members of Warner's board.

I nodded, unsure what had alerted India last night. I'd ask her at dinner tonight, but everything I saw on paper looked as it should. "I don't see Wyler or Jackson…," I said, scanning for their names. They were leaders on Warner's board, and we needed them for the rest to follow. "I want them, Spence. I did six goddamn months ago and I'm not waiting any longer." I wanted this merger done and over long before my duties as a father began.

"We're close to schedule, Jack. If I can have just a few more months…"

"You've got two weeks," I said determinedly, cutting him off.

"I don't give a fuck what you have to do, Spencer. Or what you have to offer them. Just get those fucking signatures, and get them now. I want this deal done, and I'm not waiting any longer."