The Flint River cut like a gray-green plow through ancient trees that bowed their branches in silent subservience to the water. Bright sunshine dappled light through the lush growth.
Beneath one very tall live oak, a man lay on his stomach on a blanket. His face was pressed against one folded arm, the other encased in the sling beneath him.
“Doesn’t it hurt your shoulder for you to lie on your arm?” Fortune asked as she plied her fingertips down his back.
“Ummm.”
“Is that a yes?”
“No, that’s a ummm. Lower, Fortune.”
Fortune slid her body lower, catching the back of his knee between her legs as she moved down.
“Ummm, that’s nice. I hear the water lapping against my body. I feel the heat on my calf.” He moved his leg from side to side. “Definitely hot, moist heat, I’d say.”
“Hunter, stop that. It’s bad enough that we’re out here without our clothes. Don’t—don’t—”
He continued to move his leg against her, encouraging the moisture, igniting the heat.
“I’m trying to work the kinks out of your back, darling. Stop trying to start something.”
Hunter stopped moving and turned over slowly, protecting both his shoulder and his back. He’d spent the last three weeks under Fortune’s care, camping out in the remains of the fishing camp, cooking on an open fire, sleeping in her arms. There was still pain, but he was getting better.
“I think it’s time we do some serious talking, my wild woman.”
Fortune leaned back on her heels and waited. She’d known that sooner or later Hunter was going to get to his point, and she didn’t know what she was going to say. He’d insisted that she have all the money. On one of his visits before he left, Hale had told her that Hunter had agreed at last to take a job with Kincaid Hotels. So she knew that no matter what plans Hunter had, their time together was limited. She’d accepted that.
She was prepared to let him go. She’d been away from Lucy and the children long enough.
“Fine. Serious talk, cowboy, you start.”
“Not with you up there and me down here. Come down beside me, darling.”
“Ah, Hunter. You know what will happen if I lie down beside you. That will last about thirty seconds and then—”
“Fortune! I need you here.”
And she needed to be there. Quickly, she came to his side, into his arms, into the curves of his chest and waist, where her body fit instinctively.
“Fortune, in a few days there will be crews of construction workers swarming all over this camp, rebuilding, laying out facilities, and constructing new buildings. If it were up to me, there’d never be anybody here but us, but it can’t be that way. You’re a woman of the people, and if I’m going to share my life with you, I’m going to have to be a people person too.”
“I don’t understand.”
Hunter took his hand and placed it gently against Fortune’s cheek. “You opened a door for me, a door back to my family. I’m not certain yet that it will work, but I’m going to give it a try. What I do know is that whatever happens, we’re going to build Fortune’s House right here on the bank of the river.”
“But I didn’t do anything, cowboy, except fall in love. And I never meant to do that. The children are my responsibility, not yours. And I won’t let them ever be a burden to anybody.”
“I know.” He stroked her face, rimming her lips, running his fingers down her neck and capturing her nipples. “You’d be perfectly willing to leave me and never let me know that you’re going to have my child, wouldn’t you?”
Fortune gasped. “Your child? What are you saying?”
With his good arm Hunter turned Fortune over and pulled her forward against him, taking her nipple in his mouth.
Fortune winced. Her breasts were tender. She stared down at herself in disbelief. She’d attributed the changes she’d been feeling to their having loved each other too much in the three weeks they’d been on the river, even though she’d thrown up the last three mornings. Reality came crashing over her. They’d been together for more than a month. And she was late. She hadn’t even realized. And she’d never in her life been late.
Wide-eyed she stared down at Hunter.
“No. That can’t be true. You used something. At least I thought you did.”
“I did. But nothing’s foolproof. Apparently something happened. It’s true, Fortune. We’re going to have a baby.”
“A baby?”
“No, Cinderella, our baby. Don’t you see, darling? We belong together. We’ve made a child together. And I’m going to love it as much as I love you.”
Fortune couldn’t gather her thoughts. A baby. The one thing she’d never expected to happen had. “Thank you, Hunter,” she managed. “But you don’t have to marry me. I never intended to marry. I never intended—holy hell! I don’t believe it.”
“Fortune, since that first night we’ve made love over and over again, and we’ve taken precautions. But you’re carrying my child.”
“We’ve been foolish. We should have thought about what might happen.”
“No, we’re incredibly right together, Fortune. Our bodies knew it. But more than that, so did our hearts. From the first time you tried to massage away my pain, I knew how much you could care.”
And you bought me new clothes and you cared about Joe, she wanted to add. “But how is it possible?”
Hunter swapped nipples, giving the second one the same gentle loving that he had the first. Then he turned Fortune to her back and slid over her, supporting himself with his good arm.
“Because we’re alike, Fortune. We’re two renegades, hell-bent on taking on life alone. Just think what we’ll be together. I’m going to do special assignments, public relations for Kincaid Hotels and its newest goodwill venture, Fortune’s House. Ah, darling, you’ve given me life and a future. Let me give something back.”
“Oh, Hunter, I wish—I wish …”
“I’ll make all your wishes come true, my darling. I’m Fortune’s Hunter, and we have our whole lives ahead of us. We might not have won the scavenger hunt, but our prize was forever after.”
“Forever after,” Fortune whispered, and felt the tight little knot of pain deep inside begin to unfold. She was opening herself up to the man who’d given her so very much.
“There was a young woman whose love, took flight on the wings of a dove. She flew wild and free, but her lover could see, that her heart fit his like a glove.”
“There are other parts that fit even better,” Hunter said with a chuckle.
And he was right.