The fund-raiser for the Ornelas family had been a big success, and that made Ash feel good.

Between the money raised tonight and the insurance settlement, Ash knew that Ernie and Teresa would have enough not only to rebuild their house but to add a new wing to use as a bed-and-breakfast during hunting and fishing season.

And then there was the matter of Ash's personal victory tonight. He had gotten Nika to agree to stay for a few more days. Plus, he now knew the real reason why she had left him.

Sure, it had hurt his pride to realize that she was trying to protect him, but at least it meant that she really did love him and care for him.

And kissing her had shown him that the spark of mutual desire was still alive and ready to roar into flame.

Hell, he could smell the delicious perfume of her arousal right now, filling the cab of the pickup truck as they drove back to the ranch. And all he was doing was drawing slow circles on the palm of her hand with his thumb.

The highway was deserted, so he pulled over to the side of the road and parked.

"Is everything okay?" Nika asked.

That tense, worried look that bothered him so much returned as soon as he pulled over.

"Everything's just fine," he replied, raising her hand to his lips.

One by one, he slowly kissed the back of each finger, then worked his way across the delicate bumps of her knuckles, enjoying the hitch in her breathing and the sound of her heartbeat speeding up.

"I just couldn't wait to do…this," he continued, turning to cup her cheek with his free hand. "You're so beautiful, Nika, and I've missed you so much."

Slowly, he leaned in, savoring the hunger in her gaze and the pounding of her pulse.

"I've missed you, too," she whispered, her breath warm against his lips just before his mouth made contact.

His bear suddenly came awake at the kiss, and Ash had to fight from crushing his lips against hers. It wanted to plunder her mouth and crawl over to the passenger side to renew their mate bond by taking her hard and fast.

But Ash's human half was in charge right now, and while it wanted the same thing that the bear did, he knew that tantalizing her was a smarter approach right now.

He could tell that she was torn between her need for him and her terror of her family. He needed to remind her why she had chosen him as her mate in the first place.

And the part of him that had been lonely and aching for her for more than half a year desperately wanted to hear her begging for his body. For him.

Before their breakup, he had loved driving her out of her mind with need using just his mouth and fingers. Having her clutch at him, gasping and squirming helplessly as the air of her bedroom grew thick with the scent of her arousal had been hotter than anything else he'd ever experienced.

That memory, combined with the hot, wet, delicious taste of her mouth, combined to make him so hard now that he ached.

He caught her plump lower lip gently between his teeth and stroked it with his tongue. Ash felt her hands slide into his short hair, pulling him closer.

He responded by cupping one of the gorgeous breasts that he'd been admiring all throughout dinner and using his thumb to stroke the tip through the knitted fabric of her sweater. He was rewarded when he felt her nipple harden through the layers of fabric separating them.

Nika whimpered with need and arched eagerly against him.

Ash couldn't help himself. He had only wanted to kiss her and stoke her appetite in anticipation for what he planned when they got back to his house. But now he craved more.

He slipped his hand under the bottom of her sweater and stroked up the taut bulge of her pregnant belly to the lacy fabric of her bra, enjoying the velvety sensation of her soft, bare skin against his hand. He pushed the cup of her bra up and felt her muffled plea against his mouth as she offered herself to him.

Her breast was warm and deliciously heavy in his hand. He teased her nipple with his fingertips as he continued to kiss her. She moaned, and the sound shot straight to his cock and caressed it.

With an effort, Ash gentled the kiss and pulled away with a lingering nibble along the sweet curve of her lips. He forced himself to pull down her bra and smooth down her sweater.

His bear howled angrily inside him, and Ash's cock joined the protest.

Soon, he promised. Just a few more minutes.

"Why did you stop?" Nika's lips were swollen with his kisses, and her eyes were dilated.

"Let's continue this when we get home," he rasped, reaching for the seatbelt he'd unfastened earlier.

He inhaled her scent. Oh yeah. She wants me as badly as I want her.

"I want to undress you, Nika," he continued, hoarsely. "And I want plenty of room to show you exactly how much I've missed you."

"Well hurry up, then," she said.

When Ash started the pickup, he noticed that they had managed to steam up all the windows. He grinned at his mate and turned the defroster up a couple of notches.

* * *

Ash kicked his front door closed behind him and moved in on his mate. He helped her remove her boots and the warm coat he had bought her, then lifted her ponytail to kiss the silken skin over her nape.

He heard her heartbeat accelerate at his caress. Encouraged, he laid a line of nibbling kisses down from the base of her hairline to the collar of her sweater.

Ash yielded to a primal need and bit down gently, tasting the skin of her nape.

Nika's breath expelled in a gasp, and she swayed against him. Her sweet rounded behind made contact with his raging hard-on, and he pressed himself eagerly against her, letting her know what she was doing to him.

He took the opportunity to lift the bottom of her knitted sweater. She cooperated enthusiastically as he pulled it up and over her head and let it drop to the mudroom floor.

Ash eagerly unhooked her bra next. He took a moment to appreciate the view—a view that pregnancy had definitely improved—lifting and cupping the generous globes as her soft behind pressed against his erection in an almighty tease.

How had he managed to survive without her—without this—for so long?

He entertained a brief, vivid fantasy of bending her over here in the mudroom and fucking her hard and deep. Her small, plump hands would be gripping the edge of the bench, and he could already hear her soft, gasping cry when his cock pushed inside her.

She was ready for him—more than ready for him. He could smell it in her scent and hear it in her breath and her heartbeat. Not to mention that she was currently rubbing herself against his rigid cock, and her movements were threatening to strip away his self-control.

She could be mine again in thirty seconds.

Ash swallowed hard, pushing down the intense impulse. He had a plan for how things were going to go tonight, and that plan involved reducing his mate to a quivering, gasping state of absolute need for him.

He was really looking forward to all the things he was going to do to her, but before any of that could happen, he needed to get hold of himself.

And not come inside his jeans, which was an imminent threat thanks to Nika's grinding against him.

Ash deliberately bit down on the back of her neck again, hard enough to leave a faint mark, though he was careful not to break the skin, and pinched both of her nipples at the same time.

Nika cried out, but not with pain, and the scent of her arousal intensified. "Do that again," she begged.

"Maybe later." Ash drew a shaking breath and forced himself to step away from her.

He reached for the waistband of her maternity jeans and knelt to tug them down to her ankles. Nika put out a hand to steady herself against his shoulder.

She was dressed in only her socks and panties now, and her rounded belly tempted him to kiss it.

They were going to have a kid. He was going to be a father.

Ash's mood had swung between overjoyed and utterly terrified over the course of the day as he contemplated the awesome responsibility of fatherhood, but the needle on the gauge had mostly pointed at "joyful" for the past few hours.

He leaned forward on his knees and pressed his lips against the taut curve as he hooked his thumbs under her panties and pulled them down.

His baby. No, their baby.

Nika giggled as he removed her socks.

Ash rose smoothly to his feet and looked at her, his beautiful naked mate.

She smiled back at him and looked down shyly. "You're still dressed."

"Yep."

She shrieked in delight as he scooped her up and carried her into his living room.

There, he lowered her carefully onto the nearest sofa, and followed her down.

He was so hungry for her. Every part of his body—but most especially his poor deprived cock—screamed for her touch, her scent, and her taste.

Ash kissed her, long and slow and deep, then began to work his way down, caressing every soft, succulent inch of her throat, her shoulders, and the tops of her breasts while she wound her arms around his neck and kissed every part of him that she could reach.

He lingered over her luscious breasts, kissing, licking and nibbling them until her nipples were stiff and she was squirming with need.

Finally, she gave him what he needed to hear.

"Ash, please!" she begged, arching against his mouth.

"I know just what you need," he told her, sitting back on his heels.

Nika whimpered in protest and tried to reach for him.

He draped her legs over his shoulders and turned his head to begin kissing his way up her inner thighs. Her soft skin was even smoother here, velvety and exquisitely sensitive.

Just as he'd fantasized, she squirmed and writhed under his slow progress up to the apex of her thighs.

When he reached her wet pussy, he teased her with a quick flick of his tongue over the swollen bud of her clit. She tasted every bit as delicious as he remembered, and the cry he wrung from her nearly made him come on the spot.

I want to be inside her so bad.

But he couldn't yield to his desire. Not yet.

"That's it," he encouraged. "I want to hear you, Nika. Let me know that you want this as much as I do."

He circled her clit with the tip of his tongue, and she made the most delightful noise in response.

Encouraged by the soft thighs pressing on either side of him, his senses filled with her wonderful taste and scent, Ash set to work in earnest. He used his lips, his tongue and even, delicately, his teeth to drive his mate slowly insane with desire

Ash felt deep satisfaction when her body stiffened and her soft folds pulsed against his lip. Nika cried out in pleasure, and panting, quivered beneath his touch. He redoubled his efforts, and it wasn't long before a second climax shook her.

"Oh God, Ash." She gripped his head, trying to pull him up from his happy place between her legs. "Please. I want you so badly."

He had waited long, lonely months to hear those words. "Your wish is my command," he said, huskily.

"And you're still wearing too many clothes." She looked at him, flushed and more beautiful than ever with the pleasure he'd given her.

In response, he unbuttoned his woolen shirt with fingers that shook with need, exposing the T-shirt beneath.

"The Incredible Hulk? Really?" she asked with a laugh.

"Ask me that again after I've finished with you, young lady," he shot back with mock sternness.

He peeled off the black T-shirt.

"Ooh, promises, promises." Nika sat up with a visible effort and reached for his belt buckle. "Here, let me. This is the fun part."

Yeah, this is definitely fun, he thought as she unzipped his jeans and pulled them down over his hips.

Her knuckles brushed the front of his boxers, skimming over the hard bulge of his erection, and Ash had to fight for control. He was so ready—more than ready—for her.

Then finally, he was as naked as she.

Nika flattened her palms against his thighs. With a long sweeping caress, she closed her hands around his stiff cock.

At her touch, Ash felt like all the air had been driven out of his lungs.

Pure primal hunger consumed him as he took her face between his hands and kissed her hard and possessively. He pushed Nika back into the sofa cushions, and she pulled him down against her, wrapping her legs around him in blatant invitation.

He took the hint and eagerly put his hands under her rounded hips, lifting her as he positioned himself against her. He could feel the kiss of her hot, wet entrance as he pressed the tip of his cock against her, ready to plunge inside and reclaim what was his.

And then the first responder app on his fucking smartphone buzzed with an incoming emergency.

Ash would have ignored a ringing phone or a knock on his door in favor of reminding Nika whose mate she was.

But he couldn't ignore this, no matter how badly he wanted to.

Swearing loudly, Ash pushed himself off her. His cock protested at the interruption as he dug in the back pocket of his discarded jeans for his phone.

"What is it?" Nika asked, leaning down to look.

Her expression told him that whatever had interrupted them, it had better be damned important.

"Car accident, not far from here." He turned his phone to show her the map with the pinpointed location. "Victim is conscious—he made the call. Apparently, he's trapped inside the wreck, though." Ash breathed out, feeling the familiar surge of adrenaline battling with frustrated desire. "Damn it. Everyone else is still in town, helping Justin clean up after the fundraiser, so I'm the only first responder anywhere close to the accident."

"Hey, I understand." She grabbed him by the ear and kissed him, briefly but deeply. "I’ll come with you. Maybe I can help…and I don't want to hang around on my own here, waiting for you to return so that we can finish what we started."

Ash quelled his first impulse to refuse her offer of help. He knew that they'd be the first ones on the scene of the accident, and having a doctor—well, Nika was almost a doctor—with him was probably better than relying on his first aid training.

"That would be great. We're probably going to need you. I'm terrible at first aid," he confessed. "I get dizzy at the sight of blood. My brothers tease me about it whenever we go on hunting trips."

He was rewarded by a genuine smile. "Seriously?

"Seriously," he said, reaching for his discarded underwear. "That's why I work with computers rather than livestock. Calving season is always worst, because it's all hands on deck around here."

The next two or three minutes were a slapstick comedy of fumbling for clothes, all sauced with deep frustration at being interrupted at the worst possible moment.

But it's not all bad, Ash told himself as he stepped into his boots and bunkers. Nika wants to come with me, so it could be worse.

He slid the big soft-sided first aid kit from under the mudroom bench and handed it to his mate, who had dressed herself in record time for a pregnant woman and was just zipping up her winter coat.

Ash grabbed his firefighting coat and helmet from their mudroom hooks on his way out the door and led the way to the garage, where he had parked his pickup.