High Country Christmas Read online

  Tyler stopped moving. “Wait...wait...I need a minute...”

  London recognized that expression on his face all too well; she stopped moving to give him a chance to get his body under control. But it was too late.

  “Damn it!” Tyler cursed as he pulled back one last time, plunged deep inside her and climaxed.

  “I’m sorry...” Tyler dropped his head, closed his eyes and locked his arms so he kept his weight off her. “Damn it...”

  London turned her head away from him, near tears from frustration. This was exactly why it had been easy for her to avoid sex altogether. Most men couldn’t last long enough to get her to orgasm, and more often than not, she was left feeling more sexually frustrated than before she had started.

  “You didn’t have an orgasm, did you?” Tyler was staring down at her face.

  She shook her head. “No.”

  Tyler cursed again, touched his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry. I held back for as long as I could.”

  “It’s okay.” Disappointment and frustration were etched into the features of her pretty face.

  “No, it’s not.” Tyler shook his head. He couldn’t believe that he’d just managed to screw up lovemaking with his dream woman.

  “It’s not your fault, okay?” London looked up at him. “I’ve always had a hard time...getting there...”

  “Then I’ll just have to work a little harder next time, won’t I?”

  “Sure,” she agreed. “Next time.”

  They parted ways. Tyler went into the adjoining bathroom and she started to get dressed.

  “Hey...” Tyler reappeared, still naked, holding a washcloth. “Where are you going?”

  “We both have busy days tomorrow...”

  “Uh-uh. No way.” Tyler took her bra out of her hands and led her back to his bed. “That was just the warm-up...”

  London let him guide her back down on the mattress, and she let him slip her underwear over her hips. The warmth of a washcloth felt good between her legs, but it felt even better when Tyler replaced the washcloth with the warmth of his mouth.

  “Just relax and enjoy,” she heard him say. And it didn’t take long for Tyler to make her forget that she had intended to leave.

  With his hands, Tyler massaged her breast while he kept her aroused with his tongue. She tasted sweet on his lips and Tyler feasted on her delectable pink flower until his body was ready for lovemaking again.

  “Don’t go anywhere...” He pulled open the nightstand drawer and searched for another condom.

  When he didn’t find one, he stood up, turned on the light so he could search more quickly.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me...” After another search, he stared at the few items in the drawer.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked in a tense voice.

  He looked at her with a shake of his head. “I think that was the last condom.”

  London covered her face with her hands to stop herself from screaming at him. She was so off-the-charts frustrated that she almost told him to forget about the condom. But she couldn’t get the words out of her mouth.

  “Wait...” Tyler went over to his dresser, riffled through the top drawer. Beneath the socks and the underwear, he found what he was looking for.

  “Found one,” he quickly reassured London. He ripped the package open and put it on. It was too tight, but he didn’t care at this point.

  “Green?” London was propped on her side, staring at the condom.

  “As long as it works, does the color really matter?”

  London shook her head; she moved over so he could join her in bed again. He pulled the covers up over their bodies, but when he tried to cover her body with his, she pushed him onto his back playfully. There was an excited spark in her bright blue eyes as climbed on top of him, slipped down onto his erect shaft and moaned gratefully. Tyler groaned loudly and grabbed her hips to push deeper inside her. Moving her hips slowly, London opened her eyes and found Tyler watching her take her pleasure.

  She smiled at him in a way she had never smiled at him before. She closed her eyes again, tilted back her head, letting the soft ends of her hair brush across his thighs as she rocked her hips.

  “Come on, baby...” Tyler felt her quicken her pace, felt her thigh muscles tighten around him. She was close, so very close.

  London’s rhythm became frantic; she gripped his tensed biceps, their bodies locked tightly together, until he saw a look of sheer ecstasy wash over her face. She bit her lip hard to stop herself from crying out as her body finally began to shudder. Witnessing the beautiful sight of London’s climax, Tyler couldn’t hold back any longer. He grabbed her hips, started to thrust harder and deeper, harder and deeper, until he finally exploded inside her for a second time that night.

  His heart slamming in his chest from exertion, Tyler opened his eyes to discover that London had been watching him as closely as he had watched her. They started into each other’s eyes, both of them flushed with satisfaction.

  “So...how was that for you?” he asked after he caught his breath.

  London laughed. She leaned down and kissed him lightly. “Incredible!”

  She wasn’t much of a touchy-feely person. She never had been. But after such intense lovemaking, she wanted to be close to Tyler. She snuggled down onto his chest, rested her ear over his strongly beating heart, and let him wrap his arms around her.

  “London?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I think you’re a very special person...”

  She smiled faintly. “Thank you.”

  “...and you know that I think we should be more than just friends...”

  London didn’t want him to finish his sentence. She pushed herself out of his arms and stood up.

  Tyler cursed under his breath. “Why isn’t it okay for me to say that, London?”

  “Because I’ve already told you that I’m moving back to Virginia after I graduate. You’re staying here. I don’t understand why we have to keep on having the same pointless conversation.” With her back to him, London started to get dressed.

  “A woman with a degree in equine science can write her own ticket in Montana.”

  London yanked on her jeans and quickly slipped on her tank top. “Don’t ruin this, Tyler...we had a good time.”

  Irritated, Tyler rolled to the other side of the bed and stood up. He reached for the condom to pull it off and discard it.

  “Oh, crap...”

  “What?” London spun around.

  “The condom broke.”

  Chapter Two

  “What?” She stared disbelievingly at Tyler’s back. “No...”

  Her normally slow and steady heartbeat started to pound like a jackhammer in her chest. She quickly moved to the other side of the bed, where Tyler was examining the broken green condom. They both stood there silently and studied it. The tip of the condom had blown apart and it was obvious that it hadn’t provided any protection at all.

  Tyler shook his head in disgust and tossed the condom in the trash. London felt as if she would start cursing if she let herself speak, so she silently pulled on her socks and her boots.

  Tyler zipped up his jeans, buttoned them and then turned to her. He looked as sick as she felt.

  “That’s never happened to me before...” He’d never come this close to the possibility of a woman being pregnant with his child. He had strong feelings for London, feelings that he doubted she returned. But the last thing he wanted right now was the responsibility of a kid.

  “Me, neither...” London said in a very quiet, controlled voice. “Where did you even get a green condom?”

  Tyler picked up the empty wrapper, crumpled it up in his fist and then threw it in the trash. “Bachelor party.”

  London’s e
yebrows lifted in surprise and then dropped as she frowned. “I’m sorry...did you say that you got it at a bachelor party? You aren’t serious.”

  “What does it matter where it came from? It broke.”

  “Trust me...” London glared at him and pulled the wrapper out of the trash. “It matters to me.” She studied the wrapper. “Made in India? They have a billion people in India.”

  “So?”

  “India has delicious food, beautiful jewelry, incredible hand-beaded saris...but I seriously doubt that condoms are their strongest export!”

  London turned the wrapper over and checked the date. This time she couldn’t stop herself from raising her voice. “It’s expired, Tyler! Three years ago! So even if it did have spermicide, which I doubt, it’s not any good anyway!”

  Tyler looked at the expiration date; she was right. It had expired three years ago, right around the time of the party. “Mystery solved why it broke.”

  “Ya think?” London snatched the wrapper out of his fingers and threw it back into the trash. She sank down onto the edge of the mattress with her shoulders slumped forward in defeat.

  “Really?” She looked up at the ceiling as if she were having a conversation with God. “I have sex with one guy in years?”

  London dropped her head into her hands, face covered. She shook her head. “I can’t be pregnant.”

  Tyler sat down on the bed next to her. “Hey...I doubt that’s going to happen.”

  She didn’t lower her hands from her face. “What makes you say that?”

  “Well...for one thing, it’s actually a pretty rare event, statistically. And the first condom was chock-full of spermicide.”

  “That’s true.” She nodded.

  “And don’t forget...that was my second time, so...there couldn’t be that many swimmers in the stream anyway.” He saw a hint of a smile in her pretty turquoise-blue eyes. “Besides, I’ve always suspected that I have really slow and confused sperm. So...the few tadpoles who managed to escape from the green condom—the ones who didn’t die by spermicide—are probably swimming the wrong way.”

  Tyler’s attempt to lighten the mood worked. They both laughed for a minute at the image he had just put in their heads.

  Tyler put his arm around her shoulders. “Look...I don’t think you are going to get pregnant. But if you do...I promise...we’ll work it out together.”

  London’s shoulders stiffened beneath the touch of his hand on her skin. She stood up, looked him directly in the eyes. “Like you said...it probably won’t happen. So we may as well just go on living our lives like none of this ever happened.”

  She was standing only a foot away from him, but he could tell by the expression on her face that she was removed emotionally. She wanted them to pretend that they had never made love; she wanted them to erase this night as if it never happened.

  “You know...you don’t have to leave,” Tyler said to her when she was about to open the door. “You could sleep here if you want...”

  London looked back at him with a quick shake of her head. “No. I’ve already stayed too long. Good night.”

  After she left, Tyler shut off the light and got back into bed. It was strange. It felt as if the past couple of hours were a dream, a figment of his imagination. But he could still smell the scent of her body on his skin, the scent of their lovemaking on his sheets. They had made love...twice...and if the stupid green novelty condom hadn’t broken, he’d probably still have London in his arms right now. But the condom had broken and she was gone.

  “Jesus...” Tyler stared up at the ceiling, unable to sleep. “Please don’t let her be pregnant.”

  * * *

  For the first week after the infamous broken-condom incident, Tyler stopped by the foaling barn every day to check on London. But she was always too busy or too tired to talk. After getting the brush-off for an entire week, Tyler started actively avoiding her. There was a lot of commotion at the ranch now, between his younger sister Jordan’s upcoming wedding and the large crew of men who were in the process of moving their great-grandfather’s hundred-year-old chapel down the mountain. It was easy for him to stay busy, avoid the foaling barn and try to pretend as if nothing was out of order. But he knew, in his heart, that everything was out of order. He needed to find out, one way or the other, if London was pregnant. So, at the end of the third week after they had made love, instead of heading out to the south pasture after breakfast, he went to find London.

  After two weeks of not seeing him at all, London was actually glad to see Tyler when he showed up that morning. She’d had enough time to think things over, and now she was ready to talk.

  “How’s she doing?” Tyler rested his arms on the top wooden plank of the stall gate and leaned forward to get a good look at the pregnant mare.

  London ran her hand gently over the mare’s side; she stopped occasionally to palpate the mare’s heavy, rounded belly.

  London finished her examination of the stomach and gave the horse a pat on the neck. “She’s doing great. She’s put on the right amount of weight. Her measurements are all good. The foal is in a great position. If everything continues like this, I think we’ll have a safe birth and a healthy foal right on schedule.”

  “Mom’ll be glad to hear it.” Rising Star was his mom’s favorite mare.

  London unhooked the lead line from the mare’s halter and gave her one last affectionate pat. “I’ve learned to give your mom daily updates.”

  “That’s smart.” Tyler slid the latch open and swung the gate toward him for her to walk through.

  London nodded and slung the lead line over her shoulder.

  “Where’re you heading now?” Tyler fell in beside her.

  “To the office. I need to jot some things down in Star’s file and then I’m expecting the vet soon to take a look at Onyx’s leg...it’s just not healing right.”

  Tyler followed her into the barn office. He pulled the door shut behind him to keep their conversation private. “So, you have a few minutes before he gets here?”

  London wrote a note in Rising Star’s chart and then slipped it back into the file. “A few.”

  God, she drove him nuts! As usual, she was acting as though she had everything under control in an out-of-control situation. She had to be just as torn up about what happened as he was. Why did she have to be so damned stoic all the time?

  “I’m sorry I haven’t been by lately...” This seemed as good a place to start as any.

  “I actually appreciated the space.”

  Tyler nodded. London liked her space. “I’m at a loss here, London, so you need to help me out. I don’t even know how to talk to you anymore.”

  London looked at him with her typically direct gaze. “I’m late.”

  He didn’t need any clarification. He knew what she was referring to—she’d missed her period.

  “Are you regular?”

  He’d outgrown his embarrassment with menstruation in his teens due to his two very vocal younger sisters, who had thrived on torturing him with discussions of maxi pads and tampons and cramps. And thanks to them, he also knew that just because a women was late, that didn’t necessarily mean she was pregnant.

  “Not always.” London shook her head.

  But Tyler could read the worry in her eyes. She was trying very hard to be casual, but she was concerned. And that made him concerned. She was the least dramatic female he’d ever met.

  “So...technically, we could still be in the clear.”

  “Hopefully.” London gave a little shrug with her shoulders. “But I’m not just going to sit around and wait. I’m going to go into town later on and pick up a couple of those early-response pregnancy tests.”

  “I’ll drive you.”

  She was glad that he offered. She hadn’t slept well the past co
uple of weeks and she felt weary from worry. If he wanted to drive her into town, she would accept the help.

  “I should be done here by three.”

  “Okay. I’ll plan on being done around then, too.” Tyler checked his watch. “Let’s meet at my truck at three-thirty.”

  * * *

  The ride into Helena was a quiet one. London didn’t have much to say, even about subjects that he knew that she normally liked to talk about. He finally gave up on trying to keep the conversation going and concentrated his attention on the road. Luckily, they both liked listening to country, so he tuned the radio to his favorite station and cranked up the music.

  When he pulled the truck into a parking space at the drugstore, London unbuckled her seat belt and said, “You’ll wait here.”

  He didn’t know if was a statement or a question, really, but either way, he thought it was best that he wasn’t seen shopping for pregnancy tests with London. There were a lot of people in Helena who knew his family, knew him, and a person could never anticipate who might be shopping in the next aisle.

  Tyler watched London walk quickly to the store. She had a no-nonsense walk: confident and determined. Her straight, waist-length hair, wet when she had gotten into the truck, had been dried by the wind on their way to Helena. The blunt-cut blond ends danced enticingly just above her small derriere when she walked. The woman was sexy coming and going, as far as he was concerned. This afternoon, she seemed just a little bit more beautiful than usual to him. Maybe he was imagining it, but she looked as though she was glowing. It didn’t escape him that he could be looking at the mother of his first child. London Davenport might be, at this very moment, pregnant by him. On the night they had made love, he had prayed that she wasn’t pregnant. But today? Right now? His feelings were mixed.

  London soon returned carrying a white plastic bag. She climbed into the truck and pulled the door shut. He turned down the radio so they could hear each other talk. Tyler glanced at the full bag.

  “How many tests did you buy?”

  London opened the bag and pulled out the items one by one. “Two different kinds of pregnancy tests, an economy box of condoms for you...”