He pulled out and lifted her up by her shoulders. His voice rumbled in her ear. “I wanna suck on you as I’m f**kin’ this hot pu**y of mine.”

She loved the way he treated her with such care, while at the same time turning her inside out with his insistent touches, raunchy words and blatant desire.

Carson sat in the middle of the bed with his legs stretched out in front of him. “Straddle me on your knees.” As he helped her into position he latched onto her nipple; the rough scrape of his five o’clock shadow was a harsh contrast to how softly he suckled. He poised his c**k at her entrance and held her hips, helping her lower down.

Feeling his fingers at her wrists untying the rope, she sent him a quizzical look.

“Enough kinky. I need your hands on me,” he said gruffly.

Carolyn wrapped her legs around his waist. He couldn’t move inside her much, but that was his intent, teasing her and prolonging this connection. While he sucked on her ni**les and her neck, his hips rocked forward and she ran her fingers through his silky black hair.

She loved that he’d honed every muscle the hard way from ranch work. So strong in body, so strong in heart. Tough enough to go head to head with ornery bulls and mean mama cows, but gentle with their babies. She scraped her nails down his muscular back and squeezed his hard butt cheeks, then dragged her fingers up, curling her hands around his powerful arms.

His kisses grew fevered, his movements hurried. He said, “Hang on,” and rolled down to the mattress so he was on top.

Carson plowed into her with the force of a battering ram. His solid body crushed her, filled her, moved her, owned her, destroyed her. As many times and as many ways as they’d made love, this was her favorite: face to face, mouth to mouth, eye to eye, heart to heart.

Hitting that detonation point happened simultaneously. She arched her neck; he panted against her as the stormed surged through them both. When that rush abated, he smiled against her throat.

“What?”

“Who needs kink when we’ve got this?”

He kissed her and eased out of her, rolling to his back and tucking her against his side.

Sated and sleepy, she rested her chin on his chest and played with his chest hair. “You always know.”

“Always know what, sugar?”

“Always know when I need a reminder that I’m more than just a harried ranch wife with five rambunctious and messy boys. You remind me that I’m…yours.”

“Damn straight you’re mine, Carolyn McKay. You’ve been mine since the moment I saw you and you’ll be mine until my last breath.”

It overwhelmed her sometimes, how much she loved this man. She tried not to sniffle when the tears fell. But Carson’s chest getting slick gave her away.

He tugged her head back and murmured, “Beautiful woman with the beautiful heart,” and planted his mouth on hers, kissing her with the tenderness and possession he did so well.

She sighed when he finally ended the kiss. “Sorry for leaking all over you.”

“I don’t mind. It’s part of the deal with a pregnant wife.” He paused. “When’s the baby due?”

“How’d you know?” Not fair that the man always figured it out before she had a chance to tell him.

“You’ve been testy. And horny as hell.”

“That means I’m pregnant?”

“Two signs I’ve seen five times before. And Caro, you were cryin’ during a baby food commercial last night. That’s sort of a giveaway.” He stroked her arm. “You okay with it?”

“I don’t know. I’m not…not okay with it. I just never thought I’d have six kids. Especially not after seeing how it affected my mother’s health. Then again, she didn’t have her first baby until she was thirty-three.”

“It’s ironic that’s how old you’ll be when you have your last baby.”

Carolyn lifted her head and looked at him. “We’re done after this?”

“Ain’t your life’s work to pop out kids until you hit menopause, no matter what the pope says. I won’t take the risk that you’ll end up like your mother because I’m selfish; I want lots of years with you after the last kid leaves the nest. You’ve been lucky with every pregnancy, but that ain’t always how it goes, especially the older you get. After this one, we’re done. Don’t care which one of us gets snipped or clipped, but it’s gonna happen.”

“Okay.”

“So I want you takin’ it easy this go around. It’ll be over four years since you had Carter. You don’t take any chances; the boys are old enough to help you out a lot.”

“I agree. As long as we’re on that subject, I want the boys to start having household chores in addition to ranch chores.”

“I got no problem with that. Was that the issue earlier?”

She hedged. “Teaching them life skills is my responsibility too.” She rubbed her face in his chest hair and breathed him in. “Speaking of, I need to check on them before I conk out.” She pressed a lingering kiss on his lips. “I love you. Even the days when I look around and see messes everywhere in this house, and boys who’d rather roll in manure than bathe in water, and endless chores for both of us…then I see you and I know I’m exactly where I want to be and I can’t imagine my life any other way.”

His eyes softened. “Same goes, sugar. Now go check on them boys before I decide I need another helping of you before we hit the hay.”