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of his tongue, every slide of his lips. Their movements in perfect sync. When
Kaleb released him, Ash s smile widened at the gleam of moisture in his
lover s eyes.
I never dreamed& never hoped you. Ash gathered Kaleb in his arms as the
normally stoic cowboy buried his face in Ash s neck. God, Ash. I& I love
you, too, Kaleb whispered, his voice cracking on the words, raw emotion in
every syllable. I
A plaintive cry lit up the monitor on the nightstand and Ash grinned, knowing
whatever Kaleb had been about to say would have to wait, for patience was not
one of the youngest Watts virtues. Rolling Kaleb beneath him, Ash kissed his
lover hard and fast and then clambered out of bed, grabbing his T-shirt and
cleaning himself up before pulling on his sweatpants. He paused at the door,
unable to resist one more look at Kaleb sprawled in the middle of the bed, his
sweat-dampened skin glistening in the play of the sunlight through the chink in
the curtains. Long, red-tinted hair curling around his face in disarray, the
victim of Ash s searching fingers, blue eyes sparkling in the afterglow of their
lovemaking.
Ash padded down the hall, his bare feet slapping on the varnished floorboards
and pushed open Hope s door. He plucked her out of the crib and rained kisses
down on her soft cheeks, trying to resist the urge to bite down on her succulent
baby skin. Good morning, pretty girl, he crooned, nuzzling her chin. Did
you sleep well? He chuckled as she tried to grab his hair and turned her
mouth so that she was biting on his face. I know you re hungry, but eating
Uncle Ash isn t a good idea.
Ash settled Hope on his hip and carried her down the stairs and into the
kitchen. He opened and took out one of the bottles Kaleb had made up last
night and put it in the microwave to warm. As he waited for the ding to
indicate the machine was finished, he took the drops Neal had prescribed,
drew some of the milky colored solution into the syringe and placed four drops
on her tongue. Thank God for those drops. They d turned out to be nothing
short of a miracle. Not that the colic had disappeared, she was still plagued
with the stomach cramps, her little legs curling into her chest as the pain
gripped her; but the bouts were fewer and seemed less violent in the three days
they d been giving the medication to her. And last night had been the first time
in weeks she d slept right through.
Removing the bottle from the microwave, he settled on one of the kitchen
chairs and cradled her in the crook of his leg elbow and offered her the bottle.
He chuckled softly when her tiny hands made a grabby motion and one of
them curled around the bottle itself, the other gripping onto his pinkie. Ash had
burped her and she was happily drinking the remainder when there was a loud
rapping at the front door.
I ve got it!
Ash turned his attention back to Hope s beautiful green eyes as they stared up
at him, only half-listening to the sound of voices drifting down the hall and
into the kitchen. Until he heard the front door close and Kaleb walked into the
kitchen followed by a tall, austere looking woman he d never seen before. His
gaze flitted from her to Kaleb and something cold unfurled in his belly as he
noted the darkening of his lover s blue eyes for the second time that morning.
This time, however, the heat was anger, not desire. Kaleb?
The woman didn t give Kaleb time to reply to the question in Ash s voice, she
merely sat down on one of the other chairs and stared him down. I m Ms
Jayne Harner from Child Protective Services. We ve received a call regarding
Hope s safety and wellbeing.
Ash s mouth dropped open as Ms Harner opened her bag and pulled out a file,
placing it on the table. I m sorry? You re from where, about what? His
stunned gaze found Kaleb s. From who? What? What? Ash was grateful for
the warmth of Kaleb s hand on his as the other man sat down on the chair
beside him, grounding him. He studied the woman at the other end of their
table as she opened the file in front of her and then searched in her bag for a
pen. She was in her mid-thirties, with dirty-blond hair scraped back into a
severe bun and cold gray eyes that glared out from behind black-rimmed
glasses, as she gathered her notes. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest
he was surprised Hope didn t object. Child Protective Services? A phone call?
From who? What the hell was going on?
I ll get straight to the point, Ms Harner said in a crisp tone. The department
received a call from a concerned citizen of Freedom regarding Hope s welfare.
I understand that the child s mother passed away and named you gentlemen as
her legal guardians. Had Ash imagined the inflection in her voice, or the
sneer on her lips?
You wanna tell us something we don t know, Kaleb said, his tone even,
although Ash knew he was holding onto his temper by the skin of his teeth.
There is no need for hostility Mr& she studied her file, Gibson. After all,
I m sure we are all only interested in what is best for Hope.
Well right now, the best thing for Hope is if you start talking.
Kal, calm down. Ash turned his hand over and clasped Kaleb s fingers. They
still didn t know what the hell was going on, but the last thing they needed was
Kaleb going all cowboy. You can appreciate that we re somewhat confused,
Ms Harner, as to why anyone would think Hope is in danger. He would ve
had to be blind to miss the narrowing of her gaze on their entwined fingers, or
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