“You could go make some coffee. This could take a while.”

“I can handle this, Laura. I’ve done it before. You don’t have to stay.”

“I’m staying,” she said simply. “And I’d like some coffee.”

“Okay.”

When he rose, she noted that he’d taken the time to zip his jeans, but not to button them. With twelve hundred pounds of horse in labor between them, it was no time to have her mouth watering. She looked back, a little blindly, at the mare.

“I take mine black. Please.”

“I’ll be right back.” He paused at the stall door. “Thanks. I can use the help, and the company. She’s . . . special.”

“I know.” Her lips softened into a smile as she looked up at him. “I can see that. Don’t worry, papa, you’ll be handing out cigars by morning. Oh, Michael, what’s her name?”

“Darling.” Embarrassment didn’t suit him, but he shrugged. “She’s Darling.”

“Yes, she is.” Laura continued to smile as his boot heels clicked on the bricks. “And so,” she murmured, “much to my surprise, are you.”

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

It wasn’t precisely the way he’d imagined spending the night with her. When he allowed himself to think of it, and he allowed himself often, the circumstances were quite different.

Yet here they were, sweaty, exhausted, and united.

She had more stamina than he’d given her credit for. They’d been at it nearly four hours, the mare rising to pace, lying down again, sweating as she moved from the first to the second stage of her labor.

Laura hadn’t wilted. And while the coffee was beginning to jangle his nerves, Laura was calm as a lake.

“Why don’t you take a walk?” she suggested. She sat comfortably on the hay, her arms circling her knees, her gaze on the mother-to-be.

“I’m fine.” His brow creased as he wiped down the mare. Since he’d tied his hair back, Laura could see his eyes perfectly.

“You’re a wreck, Fury.”

Okay, okay, he knew it. He didn’t care to have it pointed out to him though. His eyes darkened moodily when they shifted to Laura. “I’ve done this dozens of times.”

“Not with her you haven’t. She’s holding up better than you are.”

Hell with it, he decided, and eased back a moment to stretch his back. “I’ll never understand why something this basic takes so damn long. How do you stand it?”

“A woman in this position doesn’t have much choice,” Laura said dryly. “And you just focus everything on what’s happening to your body. Inside your body. Nothing else exists. Wars, famines, earthquakes. Hell, they’re nothing compared to this.”