she ignored it. "because he wasn't around much."

"yeah? how come?"

"my mom was older than my dad by ten years. when she found out she was pregnant, she thought he'd be a lousy parent, so she did the mature thing and took off. i saw him maybe once a year. seems pointless to tell him about this now, especially when he never knew some of the other crazy things my mom did."

"like?"

"she'd keep me out of school so i could experience 'life lessons' not math lessons.

we lived all over the country. the year i turned twelve, dad wanted me to spend summers on the reservation. my mom believed he'd take me on the rodeo circuit; she refused to leave me with him. when i was old enough to contact him on my own, i did.

right after my eighteenth birthday, mom was diagnosed with liver cancer. she died quickly, which was a blessing for her. her death immediately thrust me into the adult world, but truth was, growing up i was more the adult than mom ever was, so it wasn't really that big of a change for me."

talk about spilling your guts, macie. she stiffened, full of self-recrimination for baring all of her pitiful past, and braced herself for his pity or for more questions.

but carter said, "that flat out sucks," and his arms gathered her close as he kissed the top of her head. "get some sleep, sweet darlin'."

and for the first time in hours, she thought sleep was a possibility.

carter wanted to punch something, namely macie's clueless father. as macie curled into him, he thought back to his own childhood. it hadn't been perfect, but it'd been damn near idyllic compared to hers.

he'd never been a pawn between his parents, never worried about waking up scared and alone. a large part of that was because he'd shared a room with cam. and he had three other brothers down the hall.

another bout of fury washed over him and he ground his teeth together. jesus. who was cash big crow to warn him about staying away from macie for her own good? it appeared cash had stayed away from her plenty. it also appeared cash didn't know squat about what was best for his daughter, or what she needed. macie's combination of independence and neediness made perfect sense now.

macie made a sexy, contented sound between a sigh and a moan, snuggling deeply against his chest. carter held his breath and clenched his thighs together, trying-and failing-to fight off an erection.

this was so not the way he'd envisioned the first night with macie in his arms. but he'd take what he could get. after another kiss on the top of her head, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

chapter eleven

a loud snort burst in macie's ear, startling her. a hard male body spooned hers.

strong, male arms snaked around her waist. a steady stream of air drifted over her temple.

where was she?

her father's camper. then she remembered the storm and carter showing up.

she was in bed with carter mckay. oh man. she squirmed. the arms tightened. and something nestled firmly against her ass tightened too.

macie's pulse spiked.

carter groaned, but made no move to release her. instead, his right hand swept her belly to span the area between her hipbones. just the very tips of his work-roughened fingers stroked the skin where the top and bottom of her pjs left a gap.

the continual, sensuous, rhythmic touch heated her blood. tingles raced over her flesh, from her neck to her thighs, sending a rush of moisture between her legs. a man's simple touch on her skin never caused this intense reaction.

she waited, expecting him to stir. her mouth opened. then closed. did she really want to wake him? did she really want him to stop touching her, whether it was conscious or not?

no.

his breathing didn't change even when his hand dipped beneath the stretchy waistband of her pajama bottoms. the tip of his long middle finger breached the curls on her mound, and slid right between her pussy lips.

and stopped.

macie bit her tongue to keep from crying out. before she chickened out, she widened her thighs slightly.

immediately carter's fingers slipped further down. another soft groan rumbled from his throat as he found her wet. he rubbed his fingers through the juices gathering at her entrance and glided them back up.

at the first contact with her clit, she nearly shot straight up in bed.

he drew light circles, drawing out that elusive little nub of pleasure until she whimpered.

then carter's first two fingers slid back across her swollen sex and slipped inside her.

this time she couldn't help it; she gasped.

his husky voice whispered, "that's right, darlin', let me hear you." carter scraped his teeth across the cord straining in the back of her neck. "let me make you feel good."

as his fingers moved in and out of her, the base of his palm pressed her clit, creating the perfect amount of friction. her eyes nearly rolled back in her head from the burst of pleasure. still, she was afraid to speak, fearing if she did, he would stop. or she'd wake up.

"don't be shy. you want this." his fingers plunged deep. "i can't wait until it's my cock pushin' inside you. hearin' my name as i make you come."

his words, coupled with his hot breath and kisses dampening her skin, made her pump her hips harder into his hand.

"let go. let it happen." carter curled his fingers and stroked the magic spot on the inside of her pussy. the heel of his hand ground into her clit and the combination set her off.

macie turned her head and opened her mouth to cry out, only to have carter's lips covering hers in a soul-stealing kiss. the pulses throbbed; inside her sex, outside under his hand, in her blood, in her head, in her mouth. the spasms multiplied in intensity with every searing stroke of his velvety tongue across hers.

then he slowed and sweetened their first kiss as her orgasm ebbed to a faint, but steady throb.

carter removed his hand, allowing a leisurely caress up the trembling center of her body. his damp lips drifted to her ear. "good mornin', darlin'."

she felt so pliant she couldn't find the strength to stretch her arms. she murmured,

"that wasn't a dream this time, was it?"

"no." a soft kiss teased the nape of her neck. "what's 'this time' mean? you been dreamin' about me?"

"will you get cocky if i say yes?"

he chuckled against her shoulder. "i'm already cocky." he shifted his pelvis. the unabashed male hardness caused her belly to clench with want. "in more ways than one."

carter rolled macie flat on her back. leaving his bare leg draped over hers and their dark gazes locked, he brought his fingers-those long, clever fingers that had driven her over the edge-to his mouth and sucked them clean.

this time macie's pussy clenched, not her belly.

"mmm. my favorite breakfast. but one sweet taste of you leaves me cravin' more, macie."

"carter-"

he fastened his mouth to hers and his hot tongue swept inside to thoroughly share her taste.

she clutched his shoulders, yanking his full body weight onto hers. macie jammed her hands through his hair and arched her hips against his erection.

the kiss grew desperate. hungry.

carter rocked his pelvis from side to side, rebuilding her sharp ache of desire. she raked her nails down his naked back, gripping the firm butt cheeks to do a little grinding of her own.

he broke the kiss on a soft, frustrated moan. "macie." he whispered, "touch me.

i'm dyin' to feel your hand around me."

macie said, "yes." just as she reached between them, three thunderous raps sounded on the camper door.

carter went absolutely rigid above her.

"macie?" was shouted outside the window.

"shit. it's my dad." she tried to shove carter aside, but he wouldn't budge. "okay, don't panic. we'll pretend we were sleeping."

the lust cleared from his blue eyes. "why? there was nothin' wrong with what we were doin', when we both wanted to do it. besides, you are an adult and-"

"-and he's still my father. catching us sleeping is a lot better than catching us dry humping, don't you think?"

"good point." carter jerked the covers over both of them and spooned against her.

"macie? it's me. i'm comin' in." a gleaming ray of sun cut through the camper walls and disappeared into shadow as the door shut.

bootsteps thumped as loud as her heart.

"honey-girl? sorry 'bout leavin' you alone last night. i tried callin' you..." then,

"christ almighty, what in the hell are you doin' in my daughter's bed, mckay?"

macie and carter both sat up. "carter came to check on me last night during the storm because the electricity was off. i asked him to stay."

"why?"

"i didn't want to be alone."

cash frowned. "but-"

"that's all you need to know, dad." she watched his braid swing as he automatically retreated a step. "did you and gemma run into any problems on your way back?"

"yeah. lots of trees are down. i think the electricity is still off, but i'll fire up the generator for the camper." he directed his glower to carter. "soon as you're decent i need your help in the barn." with that, he left.

macie slumped back in bed as carter used her toothbrush at the tiny bathroom sink.

he didn't bother to glance in the mirror or comb his hair. she admitted the curls looked cute all mussed up from her fingers.

he faced her. "duty calls."

"i heard."

"if i'm lucky he won't line up all the shitty jobs for me, after findin' me in your bed."

"don't count on it."

he smiled. "so, when i'm done with chores today, will you come to my place?"