Fortune's Heart. Leanne Banks

      She was at a pure loss. He’d given her no chance to respond. How could she tell him how she really felt? How could she let him think their kiss was totally his fault? She raced to the back of the house and found her mother in between phone calls.

      “Piper’s asleep. Do you mind watching her for a while?” she asked.

      “Not at all,” her mother said. “Is there a problem?”

      “I just need to go somewhere,” she said, and didn’t want to hang around long enough for her mother to question her further. Her mother was extremely intuitive. Stacey grabbed her purse, pulled on her coat and headed for her car. As she drove toward the Foster house, she tried to find the words to explain her feelings for Colton. She kept rehearsing several verbal scenarios, but none seemed adequate.

      With no great plan in mind, she stomped up the steps to the Foster house and rapped on the door. A few seconds passed, and she knocked again.

      The door whipped open and Colton looked at her. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Listen, we don’t have to talk about what happened again. I know you don’t think of me that way,” he said. “In a romantic way.”

      “Stop telling me what I think,” Stacey said. She didn’t know any other way to express her feelings for Colton except for kissing him, so that’s what she did. She pulled him against her and kissed him as if her life depended on it.

      Colton couldn’t help but respond. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her to him. He clearly couldn’t resist her. “You feel so good,” he muttered. “Taste so good,” he said, sliding his tongue past her lips.

      Stacey felt herself heating up way too quickly. She wriggled against him, wanting to feel every bit of him. She wanted his skin against hers. She slid her hands up to the top of his head and continued to exchange open mouth kisses with him.

      “I want you so much,” she whispered.

      “What do you want, Stacey?” he muttered.

      “All of you. I want all of you,” she said, her need escalating with each passing moment.

      Colton’s hands traveled to forbidden places. Her breasts and her read end. Beneath his touch, she felt herself swell like a sensual flower.

      “Are you sure about this?” Colton asked, teasing her nipples to taut expectation.

      “Yes, yes,” she said, clawing at his chest. “I want you so much.”

      “Then you’re gonna get me,” he muttered and pulled her up into his arms and carried her down the hallway. He took her into his bedroom and set her down on his bed.

      “You’re sure?” he asked a second time.

      “More than sure,” she said, and whipped off her shirt and bra. “Are you?” she asked, daring him.

      One, two, three heartbeats vibrated through her, and Colton began to devour her with his hands and mouth. She had never felt such passion in her life. He made every inch of her body burn with desire and need for him. Stacey hadn’t felt this alive in months...or ever.

      She kissed his chest and belly...and lower. He groaned and took her with the same hunger.

      “You taste so good,” he said.

      “So do you,” she said, and pressed her mouth against his in a fully sexual kiss.

      “I want to be inside you,” he said, his tone desperate.

      “I want you the same way,” she said.

      He pulled some protection from his bedside table, and finally, he pushed her legs apart and thrust inside her.

      Stacey gasped.

      “What?” he asked.

      “You’re just—” she said and broke off.

      “I’m just what?” he asked, poised over her.

      She took a deep breath and laughed breathlessly. “Big. You’re big.”

      He shot her a sexy smile. “I’ll try to make that work for you,” he said, and began to move inside her.

      They moved in a primitive rhythm that sent her twisting and climbing toward some new high she’d never experienced. She continued to slide against him, staring into his dark, sexy eyes.

      When had Colton become so desirable to her? What did it matter? she asked herself and threw herself into making love to him. Stacey clung to his strong shoulders, and with every thrust, he took her higher and higher.

      “You feel so good,” he muttered. “So good.”

      Stacey felt herself clench and tremble. A climax wracked through her. She could hardly breathe from the strength of it.

      Seconds later, she felt him follow after her, thrusting and stretching in a peak that clearly took him over the edge. He clutched her to him and gasped for breath.

      Stacey clung to him with all her might. “Two words,” she whispered. “Oh, wow.”

      He rolled over and pulled her on top of him. “When did you turn into the sexiest woman alive?”

      Stacey laughed. “Me?”

      “Yeah, you,” he said, and kissed her again.

      She sifted her fingers through his hair, enjoying every sensation that rippled through her. She loved the feeling of his skin against hers, his hard muscles. She slid her legs between his and savored his hard thighs. His lips were unbelievably sensual.

      “I’m not sure how this happened,” she said.

      “Neither am I,” he said. “But I’m glad it did.”

      They made love again until they were breathless. She wrapped her arms around him, shocked by how he’d made her feel. Stacey was in perfect bliss.

      * * *

      After that second time, Colton looked down at Stacey, all warm, sexy and satisfied in his bed, and felt a triple shot of terror. What the hell had he done? He hadn’t just kissed his sister’s best friend. He’d made love to her. Twice.

      He held her tightly against him but was horrified by what he had done. “You’re an amazing woman.”

      “You’re a flatterer, but I’ll take it,” she said, cuddling against him.

      “This is great, but I don’t want us to have to make excuses to my family,” he said.

      A sliver of self-consciousness slid through her eyes. “Oh, good point,” she said and bit her lip. She moved off of him, and he immediately regretted the absence of her body and sweetness.

      Stacey quickly pulled on her clothes. “I should leave.”

      “Let me walk you to your car,” he said, still full of questions and regrets. He pulled on his jeans and shirt.

      Stacey grabbed her coat that had been left on the foyer floor. “I’m glad your mother didn’t discover that,” she said.

      “We’re talking about building a separate house, soon,” he said.

      “I understand the need for privacy,” she said. “I don’t have it. But I’m lucky to be able to live with my parents.”

      “I feel as if I should drive you home,” he said, still upset with himself and overwhelmed by his feelings.

      “I’m okay,” she said, but she looked uncertain. The mood between them suddenly seemed awkward.

      “Are you sure?” he asked.

      She pressed her lips together in a closed-mouth smile. “Yes, I am,” she said and shrugged. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

      “Right.” He nodded, thinking they had moved way too fast. Stacey had big responsibilities, and he might