Fortune’s Forbidden Woman
Heidi Betts

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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For Mom—because it’s been a while. I love you!

Special thanks and acknowledgment are given

to Heidi Betts for her contribution

to the DAKOTA FORTUNES miniseries.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

One

“Thank you for dinner,” Maya Blackstone said as she fitted her key into the lock of her downtown Sioux Falls town house. She twisted the key and then the knob, opening the door a crack before turning back to Brad McKenzie.

It was dark outside, but the yellow glow of the porch light reflected his tall frame, chestnut hair and handsome face.

“You’re welcome,” he said, offering a small smile as his hand stroked down her arm, left bare by the sleeveless knit top she was wearing. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

Gooseflesh broke out along her skin, making her shiver. She shouldn’t have been surprised by his suggestion. They’d been dating for almost a year now, and Brad was one of the nicest guys she’d ever met. It was only natural that their relationship would begin to move in a more physical, intimate direction. Lord knew he’d been pushing for it for months now.

Not aggressively, and not in any way that would make her feel pressured, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew what all the little touches and caresses meant. She also knew that most couples who’d been seeing each other as long as she and Brad had would already be sleeping together.

And there was no reason she shouldn’t go to bed with him. He was kind, good-looking, successful and treated her like a princess. She was even attracted to him.

So what was her problem? What was she waiting for?

Taking a deep breath, she steeled her nerves and made her decision.

“Of course.” Pushing open the front door, she stepped inside and flipped on the light that illuminated the small entryway. She set her purse on the decorative bench she kept against the wall and headed for the kitchen, leaving Brad to close the door and follow along. He’d been inside her house often enough to know his way around and make himself at home.

“Would you like something to drink?” she asked, going to the refrigerator to see what she had to offer. “Iced tea or a glass of wine. I could make some coffee.”

He came up behind her, standing so close she could feel the heat of his body at her back.

“Wine would be good,” he murmured in a low voice, taking the opportunity to rub her shoulders.

Fighting the urge to shrug away from his hold, she grabbed the open bottle of chardonnay from the top shelf of the refrigerator, then opened a nearby cupboard to retrieve two glasses. She walked around the corner into the living room, breaking Brad’s hold on her but knowing he was close on her heels.

They lowered themselves onto the overstuffed, floral-patterned sofa. Maya sat forward, setting the glasses on the coffee table while she popped the cork and poured a generous amount of the fragrant liquid for each of them.

She turned to hand one of the glasses to Brad, taking a deep breath to keep from shifting farther away. He was sitting close, his thigh pressing along hers, his shoulder brushing her own as he took the wine.

This was ridiculous, she chastised herself. What was she afraid of? What was she waiting for?

Brad sipped his wine while she drank hers a bit more forcefully, then set her empty glass on the table in front of them. Turning, she smiled and settled against his side, both of them leaning into the soft back of the sofa.

His brows lifted, and it took a second for his arm to tighten around her.

She didn’t blame him for being surprised, since she wasn’t usually the one to make the first move.

Usually? Try never. She had never made the first move with Brad. A part of her couldn’t believe she was doing it now.

But a year was long enough. She wanted to be with Brad. She wanted to be normal, have a normal relationship. And if things were ever going to move forward with them, become more serious, she needed to get over these intimacy issues she seemed to have.

Tipping her head back, she silently invited him to kiss her. An invitation he wasted no time accepting.

Despite her reservations, she had to admit he was a good kisser. Even she had no trouble recognizing that aspect of his personality.

His mouth moved over hers smoothly, his lips warm and firm. He caressed her shoulders, then her arms, his hands sliding around to her back.

It felt good, enjoyable, and she thought they really might make it this time.

With a moan he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss and pressing their bodies together so that she could feel the clear sign of his arousal.

Her stomach clenched, but not with desire. Nerves flared to life in her bloodstream, her muscles growing tense, her breathing growing labored as panic set in.

Dammit. She stiffened, whimpering partly in fear and partly in aggravation as she put out her arms and shoved away.

Brad blinked, his chest heaving, stunned by her sudden retreat.

“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head and shifting back as far as she could against the arm of the couch.

Why, why did she keep doing this? Why couldn’t she act like a regular twenty-five-year-old woman and sleep with her boyfriend without being plagued by so many doubts? Without seeing his face when she closed her eyes, and hearing his voice thundering in her ears.

Damn, damn, damn.

Brad blew out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair, frustration rolling off of him in waves. “I know. You’re sorry, but you can’t.”

The words held no accusation or anger whatsoever, which only made her feel worse.

When he got to his feet, she jumped up and followed him across the room toward the front door.

“I really am sorry,” she told him, feeling guilty and miserable, but not knowing what else to say.

What else could she say? She was sorry, even though she couldn’t offer him any more of an explanation than that.

At the door he paused with his hand on the knob and turned to meet her gaze. She thought he must surely be entertaining thoughts of chewing her out at this point, but his hazel eyes remained soft and gentle.

“I know you are. So am I.” He lifted a hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I told you I wouldn’t push you, Maya, and I meant it. I’m becoming a pro at cold showers,” he added with a tiny lift to his lips, “but no pressure.”

Stepping onto the front stoop, he turned back to kiss her cheek before walking slowly back to his car.

She watched him drive away, then closed the door and banged her head lightly on the cool wood a few times. Even she was getting tired of this, so she could just imagine how poor Brad was feeling. She only wished there was something she could do about the anxieties that were turning memories from the past into a full-blown phobia.

It was all his fault. She hadn’t seen her step-brother in months, but still Creed Fortune somehow managed to be the plague of her existence.

Ever since she was a little girl, when she and her mother had moved into the Fortune Estate so Patricia could act as nanny to Nash Fortune’s four young children, Creed had been nothing but cold to her. Even after Nash and her mother had fallen in love and married, making Nash’s kids Maya’s new stepsiblings, she had still gotten along with the others better than she had with Creed.

It was easy to be friends with Skylar, who was only a year older than Maya. They’d had a lot in common and had played together from the time they were little.

Eliza had been six years older and not much interested in playing role model to another girl other than her own half sister, though she’d always been nice to Maya. And Blake—Skylar’s brother and Nash’s son from his second marriage to Trina Watters—had thankfully been kind to her.

But Case and Creed Fortune—sons from Nash’s first marriage to his now deceased college sweetheart, Elizabeth—were several years older than Maya and had always treated her like an outsider. They’d ignored her and made her feel unwelcome in what was supposed to be her own home.

She’d never really been comfortable living in that big house with so many people who were technically her family but felt more like strangers.

In addition, Maya had always been the ugly stepsister. She was plain and quiet, and not a true Fortune. She was simply the shy, unremarkable girl who’d shown up one day with the new, live-in nanny and ended up a sister when their parents fell in love. But that didn’t mean any of the real Fortune children had to like her.

Pushing away from the door, she dragged herself back to the living room to collect the wineglasses and nearly empty bottle. When she reached the kitchen, she put Brad’s glass upside down over one of the spokes of the dishwasher basket, then poured the end of the wine into her own glass, watching the last few drops drip, drip, drip as her head began to pound.

And after all of the insecurities and loneliness, she’d still been crazy enough to develop a childhood crush on Creed almost from the moment she met him. He’d been handsome, older…and so sophisticated.

He was still handsome, older and sophisticated…but she’d long ago given up on winning his heart.

Honestly, she’d have had better luck attracting the attention of a fence post. No matter how often she followed him around or how many cow-eyed glances she’d sent him, he’d never given her the time of day. If anything, he’d only grown colder and more distant the longer her crush had lingered on.

It was highly humiliating. And what made matters even worse was the fact that she apparently still wasn’t over him.

Was she in love with him?

She didn’t think so. She certainly didn’t want to be.

But she also couldn’t seem to get him out of her brain. He swirled in there, making her neurotic and half-insane.

She was mature enough to realize that the case of puppy love she’d entertained as a kid had been nothing more than a sick case of hero worship. Unfortunately, that hero worship had since worked itself into a maddening and unhealthy obsession with Creed Fortune.

Which was hopeless and futile, considering he’d never shown the least bit of interest in her as a woman. He’d never shown the least bit of interest in her, period.

Yet he still managed to intrude on her self-confidence, her sexuality and her relationship with Brad.

With a growl Maya threw back the last of the wine, added her own glass to the dishwasher basket, then slammed the appliance door closed. She swore, if Creed were standing in front of her right this minute, she’d be sorely tempted to slap him.

Taking a deep breath, she turned on her heel and headed for the stairs. What she needed was a hot shower and a solid eight hours of sleep.

What she didn’t need was this flood of doubts and frustrations. For God’s sake, her life was already complicated enough without adding a lukewarm romance and painful memories to the mix.

Instead of worrying about her love life, she ought to be concerned about her mother.

Patricia had been missing for six weeks now. No one had a clue where she was or what had caused her to leave. All they knew was that one day she was there and the next she wasn’t.

Poor Nash was beside himself, frantic and confused, not knowing what had driven Patricia away, but desperate to find her.

Maya was equally upset, and couldn’t imagine why her mother would have taken off the way she did. True, Patricia had seemed somewhat distracted over the past few months, but Maya had never expected it to lead to anything like this.

Her mother’s disappearance was the main reason she’d been out with Brad tonight. Nash had immediately hired private detectives to try to track down Patricia, so there was very little Maya could do except wait and worry. Thoughts of her mother had her completely preoccupied, even during work days, when she should be concentrating on educating the young minds of her grade-school students.

And because Brad was kind and considerate and thoughtful, he understood what she was going through and wanted to help however he could—mainly by keeping her busy with dinners out, long drives, even the occasional cultural events.

It was one more reason she cared for Brad and was so angry with herself for not being able to take their relationship to the next level.

She was halfway up the stairs and still steaming when the phone rang. With a grumble she turned around and moved to answer the kitchen extension rather than race the rest of the way up the steps to her bedroom.

“Hello?” she all but snapped.

“Maya?” a deep male voice replied, as though the caller wasn’t sure she was the one who’d answered the phone. “It’s Creed.”

She knew who it was. If there was one voice she could identify over all others on the planet, it was Creed Fortune’s.

“What do you want, Creed?” she asked none too politely.

Of course she already knew. He’d been calling on a regular basis to check on her ever since her mother went missing.

Why he bothered, Maya couldn’t fathom. He certainly hadn’t given a fig about her the past thirteen years he’d known her.

“I just wanted to see how you’re holding up. The detectives Nash hired haven’t turned up anything on your mom yet, but I’m sure they will soon.”

“How am I holding up?” she repeated, her annoyance with both him and herself flaring to life again and coming out in the razor sharpness of her tone. “How am I holding up? Oh, I’m fine. Just peachy. Damn you, Creed.”

Her fingers tightened on the handset and she began to pace back and forth across the kitchen, as far as the spiral cord would allow.

“This is all your fault. You’ve ruined my chances of ever having a normal relationship with a man, ever sleeping with a man. You blamed a seventeen-year-old girl for being attacked by her boyfriend and called me a slut. You’re the reason I can’t have a normal relationship, and I hate you for that!”

Her tirade ended with her voice at least one octave higher than usual. Without giving him a chance to respond, she slammed the phone down, muttered a low curse, and marched off to bed.

It was almost midnight and the windows were dark, but Creed Fortune couldn’t have cared less. He stomped up the steps to Maya’s town house and pounded on the door with the side of his fist.

To hell with the doorbell. To hell with the fact that she was probably sound asleep. He wanted to talk to her, and he wanted to do it now.

Where did she get off telling him he’d ruined her for ever going to bed with a man?

She sure hadn’t had any trouble attracting the opposite sex in high school, not once she’d begun to fill out with those soft, feminine curves and grown into her striking half-Yankton-Sioux features. The long, black hair, chocolate-brown doe eyes and ripe little body had had boys panting after her like a mare in heat.

He pounded again, louder and longer this time. Across the street a dog barked, and inside he thought he heard movement. A second later a light flicked on and the door swung open.

He took a moment to hope she’d checked the peephole first, then rational thought spun away as he took in her tousled hair, drowsy eyes and the short, faded nightshirt that seemed to cling in all the right places.

With a tired sigh, she leaned against the edge of the door and let her lashes flutter to half-mast. “Now what do you want, Creed? In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s the middle of the night and some people are trying to sleep.”

“At least we know you’re sleeping alone, don’t we?”

A spark flashed in her narrowed eyes. “Go to hell,” she said, and made a move to slam the door in his face.

He stuck out his booted foot, blocking the motion. It didn’t keep her from pressing forward and throwing her body against the heavy wood.

“Get your foot out of the door, Creed. Go bother someone else and let me go back to bed.”

He added his knee and upper body to the battle, causing her to grunt as he pushed her back and forced his way into the house. Kicking the door closed behind him, he leaned against it and crossed his arms over his chest. Maya did the same, retreating several steps until she’d put what he was sure she felt was a safe distance between them.

“Adding forced entry to your résumé these days?” she asked belligerently.

He shrugged, keeping his face blank even as heat started to pump through his blood and pool near the region of his groin. Dammit, why did she have to be so beautiful?

She was his stepsister, for God’s sake. Not related by blood in any way, but related through the marriage of his father to her mother.

No matter how you cut it, she was forbidden fruit, and he had no business lusting after her. No business at all.

Never mind that he’d secretly been doing just that since she’d hit puberty. He was ten years too old for her, and supposed to play the part of big brother, but still he’d wanted her.

Why did she have to grow up in so many interesting places? Why couldn’t she have remained a plain and gawky child forever?

Tamping down his errant thoughts, he kicked away from the door and headed toward her. “If I have to,” he said in answer to her question.

“What are you doing, Creed?” She continued her backward shuffle, occasionally bumping into the wall or glancing behind her to make sure the path was clear. “Why are you here?”

“Do I need a reason?” he asked, never breaking eye contact.

“Yes. You do. Have you found out something about my mother? If so, tell me and then get out. Otherwise, just get out.”

They both stopped moving. One corner of his mouth lifted in a humorless half grin. Since when had she become so good at telling him off and ordering him around? It certainly was a change from the quiet, meek girl she’d been when they were kids.

“No, nothing about your mother. The private investigators are still working on it. I’m here because of what you said on the phone.”

Her expression flickered, the hard, angry glint in her eyes being replaced by wary uncertainty. He even thought he saw a touch of pink color her high cheekbones.

“I ruined you for other men?” he pressed. “Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

She flinched. A small, almost imperceptible motion, and the only sign that she was uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. But he caught it, and some part of him reveled in his ability to shake her.

“Nothing.” Her voice was low and she gave one quick, jerky shake of her head. “It doesn’t mean anything. I was tired and worried about my mom. I didn’t know what I was saying.”

Valiant effort, but he didn’t buy it.

He took another step forward. “Guess that means Brad isn’t getting any, huh? Nearly a year of sniffing around your skirts, and he gets nothing for his trouble. Poor, pathetic loser.”

Her chin went up at that, her shoulders squaring as she straightened her spine. “Look who’s talking. I may not be sleeping with Brad, he may not be ‘getting any,’ but at least he’s a gentleman. He would never barge into my house and corner me like this. He would never accuse me of being a tramp, or make me feel like one the way you did just because a boy sweet-talked me into his car when I was seventeen and then attacked me.”

It was his turn to flinch, but only on the inside. He remembered that night as though it were yesterday. Stumbling upon Maya and her current boyfriend—or at least one of the boys she’d been hanging out with quite a bit that summer, ever since the opposite sex had begun to take notice of her fine feminine form…Taking notice of the tell-tale rocking of the shiny Trans Am and the noises that were emanating from inside…and then realizing Maya’s cries weren’t of the pleasurable variety.

He remembered the fury he’d felt as he’d opened the driver’s side door and yanked the boy out by the scruff of his neck. The kid—some varsity football jock with a letterman jacket—had been lucky to get away with only a few scrapes and bruises, because Creed had sincerely considered killing the little bastard.

As it was, he’d given the jerk a beating he wouldn’t soon forget. Then he’d dragged Maya home, filling her ears with lectures and invectives the whole way.

“That’s why you won’t sleep with Brad McKenzie?” He made a scoffing sound, his mouth twisting into a wry smirk. “He must not be very persuasive. I could have you begging for it in two seconds flat.”

Any intimidation or discomfort Maya might have been feeling flew out the window at his cocky remark. Her brown eyes glittered dangerously and every muscle in her body went rigid. She’d been backed up until her calves hit the edge of the sofa, but now she took a single, confident step forward.

“Oh, really. And just how would you manage that? Twist my arm until I told you what you wanted to hear, whether it was true or not?”

Her words were like gasoline thrown on an already raging brush fire. The low-level desire humming through his system suddenly ratcheted up several notches to full, mind-numbing throttle.

He reached out, taking her by the wrist and tugging her against his chest.

“No,” he breathed. “Like this.”

And then he took her mouth with his.

Two

For a moment Maya froze, so stunned her mind went blank and her body refused to move. But Creed’s lips were firm, his body hot, his arms like steel bands where he held her tight against him.

Her eyes slid closed and her fingers curled into his shoulders, kneading like a kitten. She moaned.

How long had she dreamed of this? Of having him kiss her, hold her, want her.

Forever, that’s how long. Since she and her mother had moved into the Fortune Estate and she’d first been introduced to the brooding, much older young man who towered over and intimidated her. Even as a shy, somewhat awkward girl, she’d known her own heart, and her heart had wanted Creed Fortune.

But she’d never truly believed she could have him. Not when he took every opportunity to make it clear she was nothing but a thorn in his side. An uninvited sibling, forced upon him by an unexpected romance between his father and her mother.

Now, though…now she knew she’d been wrong. He’d done a good job of hiding it, but apparently he shared her feelings and wanted her as much as she’d always wanted him.

His kiss was sweltering, raising her temperature and causing her to break out in beads of perspiration. He worked her mouth as if she was a decadent dessert and he couldn’t get enough.

Tongues tangled, teeth nipped and clashed. She pressed herself close to his tall frame, letting her breasts brush the solid wall of his chest, the insistent bulge of his arousal nudge the space between her legs.

This was better than anything she’d ever experienced. Better than any other kiss she’d shared with any other man. Better even than all the times over the past year that she’d tried to relax enough to make love with Brad, but ended up pulling back at the last minute.

It was better, she knew, because it was Creed. And with him she wasn’t afraid, she wasn’t shy, she wasn’t self-conscious.

With him she didn’t recall his long-ago accusation that she acted like a slut, but instead remembered all the times she’d wanted him, lusted after him, dreamed about him.

And now, finally, she could have him.

Her arms tightened around his neck, her fingers playing in the ends of his short, dark brown hair. She whimpered and wiggled in his hold, striving desperately for something she couldn’t name.

He pulled away, chest heaving, breathing ragged. His blue eyes glittered as he held her gaze.

Muttering a heartfelt curse, he shook his head, then swooped in to take her mouth again.

This time he didn’t settle for just kissing. His hands clasped her waist and swung her around, manipulating her as easily as a tailor’s mannequin. Without breaking the contact of their lips and tongues, he walked her backward through the living room and hall, up the staircase and into her bedroom.

She didn’t stop to wonder how he knew his way through her house or which bedroom was hers; she was simply relieved by his focus and excellent navigational skills. And she clung to him, wrapping her legs around his waist halfway up the stairs to aid his progress.

He carried her into the room and straight to the bed, laying her on top of the covers, rumpled from where she’d thrown them off when he’d woken her with his pounding.

Her nightshirt bunched to her waist, the rough denim of his jeans rubbing against the soft skin of her inner thighs. His hands sneaked over her hips and waist, beneath the hem of the shirt, pushing it higher as his fingers moved toward the swells of her breasts.

His lips caressed her chin and jawline, brushing the lobe of her ear before trailing down her throat in a series of nips and licks. When she felt a gentle pressure beneath her arms, she lifted them willingly above her head and let him pull the nightshirt off entirely.

The cool evening air blew across her naked breasts and torso, and she quickly lowered her hands to cover herself.

“Don’t.”

Creed’s fingers circled her wrists like manacles, slowly tugging her hands away to reveal her nudity to his hungry gaze.

“Don’t hide,” he said again, his voice low and strained. “I want to see you, all of you.”

He ran the side of his thumb over the tip of one breast, grinning when it puckered and swelled beneath his ministrations.

She sucked in a breath of air, her back arching into his touch. Her face felt flushed, her entire body a wriggling mass of fever-hot nerve endings, even as she fought not to let her natural tendency toward embarrassment take over.

He had her hands pinned above her head, the rest of her pinned by his weight and bulk. And the look in his eyes was that of a hungry wolf—fierce, predatory, determined.

“Lovely,” he murmured, then swooped in to lick a tight, budded nipple.

She gasped, her fingers clenching into fists above where he held her arms down. He licked the other nipple, just a quick, light swipe, before settling in with more thorough, undivided attention.

His tongue rasped like sandpaper along her sensitive nerve endings. He turned her flesh hot with his mouth, then cool with the soft hush of his breath. After creating a world of sensual devastation at one breast, he moved to the other and did it all over again.

When he lifted his head, he was grinning. “Like I said, lovely.”

His fingers loosened from her wrists, but she didn’t bother attempting to lower her arms. She didn’t have the strength, even if she’d wanted to. She simply lay there like a rag doll, depleted of energy or the will to move.

Still smiling, he skimmed the underside of her arms, the sides of her breasts, her waist, until he reached the top of her high-cut bikini panties. They were nothing special, just plain lavender cotton. But then, she hadn’t known anyone would be seeing them when she’d dressed for bed a few hours ago.

Her choice of undergarments didn’t seem to bother Creed, though. He brushed his lips around her navel and along the waistband of the panties, then slowly began to drag them off.

A flutter of self-consciousness rippled in her belly, and she had to curl her fingers into the sheets to keep from covering herself again or trying to wiggle away.

If Creed noticed her sudden bout of discomfort, he didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, he kept his gaze locked on the dark triangle at the apex of her thighs that he was revealing inch by agonizing inch. He pushed the panties down her legs, slipping them over her feet and letting them fall to the floor beside the bed.

A moment later he pushed to his feet and straightened, all six feet, two inches looming above her.

For a second Maya thought he meant to leave…leave her there, naked and flushed, and walk away. But then his arms lifted and his fingers began to deftly release the line of buttons at the front of his shirt.

One by one, he slipped them through their holes, and little by little his chest became exposed. The bronzed skin. The firm muscles. The light sprinkling of dark hair.

Maya’s mouth went dry and she had trouble breathing. He was so beautiful. Tall, athletic, sculpted like some sort of Greek god, or the epitome of the perfect man every woman fantasized about.

He was certainly her idea of the perfect man.

Tugging the tails of his shirt out of the waistband of his jeans, he released the last couple buttons before shrugging out of the shirt and letting it drop to the floor. He started to kick off his boots, at the same time unzipping his trousers.

He pushed everything, jeans and underwear, down his legs and off. But instead of leaving them in a pile on the floor, he withdrew a rear pocket, pulled out his wallet, then dug out a small plastic square. Dropping the clothes, he stepped intently back to the bed in all his naked glory.

He was the first man she’d ever seen completely nude, but for once, she wasn’t flushed with embarrassment. She was…awed.

Amazing didn’t quite cover it. Neither did fabulous, marvelous, or any of the other two hundred adjectives that flitted through her mind. A few of her more precocious students might say hubba-hubba, and that came close.

His shoulders were broad, his waist flat and tapering down to narrow hips, his legs long and well-muscled. But it was what hung between those legs that held her rapt attention.

Admittedly, her experience of such things was limited. Limited, ha! Verging on nonexistent, was more like it. But even so, she was familiar with the basics of the male anatomy, and in her somewhat biased opinion, Creed was a most impressive specimen.

Before she had a chance to look her fill, he was stretching out above her, covering her from head to toe. The hair on his legs and chest tickled, but she didn’t laugh. She was too distracted by the rigid length of his erection rubbing her in all the right places.

His fingers drifted over her temples, threading through her hair to hold her steady while he planted light, butterfly kisses on either side of her mouth. First one corner, then the other before he took her mouth for a slow, luxurious exploration. He made her feel like a particularly decadent sweet he wanted to take his time with and really enjoy.

While he continued to kiss her deeply, his hands traveled down her body, one pausing to toy with the tip of her breast, the other sliding lower. Past her waist, over the curve of her buttock, and down her thigh until he reached the bend of her knee.

He lifted her leg, bringing it up to hook around his hip so he could settle more fully against her. His arousal, already sheathed in the condom he’d retrieved from his wallet, prodded her feminine opening.

Cocking her hips, she opened herself even wider, doing everything she could to ease his entry. He slipped inside, just the tip, but she was already wet and ready for him. She’d been waiting for this moment all her life, and her body was primed and more than eager for him to finally claim her.

A low groan rolled up from his diaphragm as he pressed deeper. Inch by inch, he filled her, stretching her slick inner folds until she thought she could die from the sheer pleasure of it all.

Just when she figured he couldn’t go any farther, he pushed forward again. This time, instead of pleasure, a sharp, lightning flash of pain made her stiffen and bite her bottom lip to keep from crying out.

Thankfully, the discomfort passed quickly, and she was once again able to breathe. Above her, Creed held himself perfectly still, staring down at her. His brows knit in consternation.

“Are you all right?”

The words were strained, his chest heaving as he struggled to get enough air into his lungs. The muscles in his biceps quivered with the effort to hold his weight off her.

She nodded, offering a small smile to let him know she was telling the truth. A beat passed while he considered her answer, then seemed to take her at her word.

He returned his mouth to hers, kissing her softly but thoroughly while lower, he began a slow in and out motion that washed away any lingering tenderness. Instead, there was only pleasure.

It started as just a trickle, the temporary replacement of something not-so-nice with something not-so-bad. But soon enough the sensation grew, building in ever-increasing waves.

She lifted her legs to lock more tightly around his waist, urging him closer. Her hands smoothed up and down his back, the nails alternately digging in and clawing long lines across the sweat-slickened flesh.

His own fingers clasped her bottom, kneading and stroking as his thrusts picked up speed. He moved deeper, harder, faster, until she was gasping against his mouth and reaching for…she didn’t know what. She only knew she wanted it, needed it, might die without it.

Still holding her hip and buttock, Creed’s other hand slipped between them and stole into her damp folds, finding the tiny bud of desire hidden within. He rubbed the spot, first lightly, then with more pressure, making her cry out and writhe beneath him.

“Come with me,” he whispered raggedly. The rough line of his cheek abraded hers, his lips mere inches from her ear. “Come with me now.”

He pounded into her again, at the same time his fingers worked their magic, sending her off like a rocket. Her mouth opened on a soundless scream, her back arched and her vision went hazy.

From somewhere outside her body, she felt him thrust once, twice more and then stiffen above her. Oxygen left his lungs in a loud sigh as he collapsed, his weight pressing her down into the mattress.

She lay there, her legs still wrapped around his waist, her arms still linked about his shoulders and a smile as wide as the Big Sioux River curving her lips.

Making love with Creed Fortune was everything she’d ever imagined and more. It had fulfilled every one of her adolescent fantasies, not to mention more than a few of the hopes and dreams she’d envisioned since becoming an adult.

For the first time, she was glad she hadn’t slept with another man, even Brad. She hadn’t realized what she was really doing all those years, but she’d inadvertently been saving herself for Creed, and for that she could never be sorry.

She knew better than to think everything would be perfect from this moment on. Creed wasn’t going to ask her to marry him in the next five minutes, or declare his undying love.

This was a start, though. They may have put the cart before the horse in their personal relationship by sleeping together before they’d ever even been out on a date, but there was time for all of that.

Time to get to know each other better—really get to know each other. Time to go out, have fun and get the family used to the idea that they were going to be together.

It would come as quite a surprise to the Fortunes, she imagined, including her mother. But they all loved her and Creed, and as long as they were happy, she knew they would offer their support wholeheartedly. She hoped so, anyway.

The important thing was that this was the beginning. The beginning of everything she’d ever wanted, and for the first time, she realized she could have it.

Delight coursed through her veins and her grin widened. It was all she could do to keep from giggling aloud.

She couldn’t remember ever being so happy. And she would make Creed happy, too, she swore she would.

Above her, he shifted slightly, slipping out of her and rolling to his side. Cool air brushed the perspiration dotting her skin, and she immediately missed his weight, his warmth.

With a groan, he sat up, rubbed his fingers through his hair, then stood and headed for the adjoining bathroom. She heard the water running for a second, then he was back, in all his naked glory. He stalked across the room, and she took the opportunity to admire him every step of the way.

Expecting him to rejoin her, she shimmied toward the head of the bed, rearranging the pillows and crawling under the covers, leaving plenty of room for him to crawl in beside her. They would probably cuddle a bit first, maybe take a nap, then hopefully make love all over again. She couldn’t wait.

Instead he bypassed the bed altogether, bending to retrieve his jeans from the floor. Without a word he stepped into them, adding his shirt and boots in short order.

Her brows met in a frown. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t bother to meet her gaze as he finished buttoning the pine-green shirt, tucking it into the waistband of his pants.

“I’m leaving.”

“Leaving?” Clutching the sheet to her breasts, she scrambled forward, climbing to her knees. “What do you mean you’re leaving? I thought…” She’d thought so many things, but she settled for, “I thought you’d at least stay the night.”

“Why would I stay? Now that I’ve gotten you out of my system, I can leave you alone. Get on with my life.”

He finished rolling the sleeves of his shirt to just below the elbows, finally glancing in her direction. “Good night, Maya.”

Then he turned and walked out of the bedroom.

She could hear his footsteps in the hall, pounding down the steps and through the rest of the house. A second later the front door slammed, sending a shiver down her spine.

She sat frozen, unable to believe what had just happened. He’d made love to her, made her believe he cared, that they had a future together, and then walked out. He’d gotten dressed and walked out as if she meant nothing to him.

She felt stunned, her heart squeezing painfully inside her chest.

Drawing her knees up, she buried her face in the wrinkled sheet and wept.

Chase stood on Maya’s front porch, leaning against the closed door with his eyes tightly closed.

He hoped she didn’t chase after him. He didn’t want to see her again, not right now.

For one thing, there was nothing left to say. It might have sounded harsh, but what he’d told her back in her bedroom was the absolute truth: succumbing to his baser instincts meant he could move past the almost obsessive longing he’d always felt when he was near her.

Now that he’d been with her, the mystery was solved. Any questions he might have been harboring about what she would look like naked, how her skin would feel beneath his hands and mouth, what sounds she would make when he was inside her, had been answered.

For another, he wasn’t entirely sure he could look at her right now and not be sorely tempted to make love to her again. He was a man, after all, and the last he’d seen Maya, she hadn’t been wearing anything more than a thin white sheet, which would be easy enough to dispense with.

Shaking off erotic images that were beginning to reheat his blood, he pushed away from the door and headed for his car.

What the hell had gotten into him, to touch her at all? How could he have let things get so out of control?

He’d wanted her for a decade, lusted after her in a way no stepbrother had any business lusting. But he’d never, ever intended to act on those desires, and he thought he’d done a pretty good job of hiding them from Maya and everyone else.

Starting the engine, he flipped on the headlights and pulled away from the curb, heading home. He needed a good night’s sleep, and maybe a nice, stiff drink to clear his head and make sense of what he’d done not twenty minutes before.

She was off-limits. Forbidden. She always had been. If they’d ever crossed the lines of impropriety, the scandal would have been huge.

He took a hand off the wheel, scrubbing it roughly over his face. Dammit, it would be huge, if anyone ever found out what had taken place tonight.

Which meant it couldn’t happen. No one could find out.

He would never intentionally do anything to bring shame or undue attention to his family, so he certainly wasn’t going to tell anyone. And he doubted Maya would, either.

So all he had to do now was keep his hands to himself.

Using his pass key, he opened the electronic gate of the underground garage at the Dakota Fortune office building and pulled his dark-blue Mercedes S-class into his personal parking spot near the elevators. His brother Case had a reserved space right beside his own, but except during business hours, it mostly stood empty these days.

The same could be said of Case’s apartment, across the hall from Creed’s. The top floor of Dakota Fortune had been split into two separate living areas, which the brothers had occupied after moving out of the Fortune Estate and taking over as copresidents for the family company.

Of course, Case was now happily set up in a house just outside Sioux Falls with his wife, Gina. She’d inherited her childhood home when her father died, and after living in an apartment in town for a while, they’d moved onto the larger estate and begun a few renovations. They were also expecting their first child at the end of the year.

Creed was happy for them, truly he was, but he had to admit he missed running into his brother in the hall between their two front doors. Or only having to cross that small space in order to talk to him.

His brother’s willing ear and sage advice would certainly come in handy at the moment, though he imagined Case’s response to Creed’s dilemma would be much the same as he’d already concluded on his own.

Stay away from Maya. Chalk up tonight’s activities to scratching a long-standing itch, then put it behind him and move on.

Not a problem. He’d pretty much made that decision even before he’d rolled off the bed at Maya’s house and made his hasty exit.

And a few shots of scotch could only bolster his determination, he thought, as he let himself into his apartment and headed straight for the liquor cabinet.

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