The penthouse is silent when we walk through the foyer into the great room.

“It looks like we have the place to ourselves,” Shane says. “Cooper’s probably still at the shooting range.”

Speaking of Cooper, I’m dying to talk to Shane about what I saw this morning at Jamie’s place and what Sam told me about their... what? Affair? Relationship? I’m not sure what’s going on between Cooper and Sam, and I’m not sure Sam knows either. But there’ll be time for that discussion later. Right now, I just want Shane.

As if he can read my mind, Shane sweeps me up into his arms and carries me down the hallway that leads to our private suite. He nudges the door open with his shoulder and carries me into our space, then sets me down on the bed.

“I should shower,” he says, standing in front of me with his hands on his hips. “It was a long night, and I didn’t get a chance to shower this morning.”

“No!” I grab his jacket and pull him closer. “I want you right now.”

Grinning, he gently pushes me back onto the mattress and looms over me, caging me in with his big body. “God, I missed you,” he says, leaning down to nuzzle my face. His lips drift down to mine, and he gives me a gentle kiss.

I shudder as a single tear leaks out of the corner of my left eye. “I missed you too.”

“Shh,” he croons, catching that single drop of liquid with the tip of his tongue. With his thumb, he brushes away the track of my tear, and then he kisses the corner of my eye. When he draws back, his gaze hardens. “Luciana’s going to pay for what she did.”

I swallow hard. “What are you going to do?”

He shakes his head. “You don’t worry about that right now. This is our time.”

He pushes back off the bed and begins to undress, removing first his suit jacket, and then his badly rumpled white shirt, which he drops unceremoniously on the floor. His movements are slow and methodical as his fingers go to his belt buckle. He pauses, watching me intently. The sight of his hands on his belt does something to my insides, turning them to warm liquid, making me light-headed.

Slowly, he unbuckles his belt and whips it off, then drops it to the floor. I suck in a shaking breath. Oh, my God, he’s teasing me.

Then he removes his socks. Standing there with his slacks hanging low on his hips, exposing lean abdominal muscles and pelvic bones and that glorious line of dark hair leading to his groin, he’s a feast for the eyes. And he knows that seeing him half-dressed and partly disheveled is a huge turn-on for me.

He crawls back onto the bed, hovering over me, caging me in once again. I smile, because he knows me so well. Being surrounded by him, feeling safe within the shelter of his body, and yet not pinned down, is both arousing and comforting to me.

When I think of how I doubted him, even for a single moment, I feel ashamed. “I don’t deserve you,” I say, reaching up to thread my fingers through his hair, grasping his head and tugging him closer.

He groans, dipping his mouth to mine. His lips are hot and hungry, and he cups my jaw, holding me still as his lips coax mine to open. I gasp, and he slips his tongue into my mouth, searching and stroking.

He raises his head and eyes me intently. “One night spent away from you, and I feel like I’ll die if I don’t get inside you in the next two minutes.”

I run my hands over his chest and shoulders, then down his arms. His biceps are as hard as stones, and his strength awes me. “I’m not stopping you,” I say.

He reaches for the top button of my blouse, slowly undoing it, then the next and the next, letting the fabric slide away to reveal my peach-colored bra. With a flick, he unhooks my bra, and the cups fall open, exposing my breasts to his hot gaze. He cradles one breast in his hand, plumping the little mound for his mouth. When he draws my nipple into his mouth, I arch my back, reveling in the feel of his hot mouth on me.

He transfers his mouth to mine, drinking in my keening whimpers. Then he sits me up and removes my blouse and bra, letting them slide to the floor to join his discarded clothing. When I lie back, he unzips my skirt and tugs it off me.

He buries his nose between my legs breathes deeply. The rough sound he makes sends flushed heat directly to my core, making me swell and ache. Feeling increasingly desperate for his touch, I buck my hips. “Shane, please.”

“Shh, be patient,” he says, and then he kisses my mound of hair through my panties. He draws back and snags the waistband of my underwear and slowly eases them down my thighs and legs. Then his face is right back where it was before, only now there’s nothing between us.

He kneels at the side of the bed and pulls me toward the edge, draping my thighs over his broad shoulders. My sandals fall to the floor, carelessly abandoned.

Panting now, I fist the sheets as he opens me wide with his thumbs and looks his fill. My thighs start trembling with anticipation. “Shane...”

“I know,” he says, placing a palm on my belly. “Patience, sweetheart.”

My hips start rocking on their own as I try to press my aching sex to his mouth, needing a firm connection. When his tongue flicks out, brushing my clitoris, I arch my back with a cry. “Shane, please!”

I can hear the deep rumble of his chuckle as he relents, finally giving me what I need. His tongue, his lips, his hot breath consume me as he lavishes attention on my throbbing core. His forearms press my thighs open wider, baring me fully to him, as his thumbs hold me open.

His long finger slips gently inside me, unerringly reaching that sweet spot that makes me come apart. With his finger stroking me on the inside, and his tongue lashing my clit on the outside, I’m helpless as a wave of pleasure washes through me, making me tense and shake and cry until I explode, seeing stars behind my clenched eyelids. I shriek loudly as liquid heat rushes from my core.

Shane lowers my legs, and I lay boneless, reeling from the intense pleasure of a mind-shattering orgasm. He rises to his feet and strips off his slacks, dropping them carelessly. After urging me to scoot higher up the bed, he crawls between my open thighs, fisting his erection as he looms over me.

I reach up to touch him, my fingertips brushing the head of his cock which is already wet with his own arousal. He presses the head of his cock to my wet opening, coating himself as he gently presses inside.

I gasp at the feel of his cock nudging its way inside, sinking slowly but steadily through soft, slick tissues. His groan is loud and rough as the wet heat of my body sucks him in.

“Jesus, Beth,” he growls as he presses inside me.

I arch up to meet him halfway, and he sinks deeper, nearly to the hilt. Bracing himself on his forearms, his chest hovering above mine, he strokes in and out of me in slow, steady thrusts. He grasps my chin and holds me still as he dips his head for a kiss.

His movements grow more powerful as my body softens to accept him. When the head of his cock hits that sensitive spot deep inside me, ratcheting up my pleasure once again with each deliberate pass, I can’t keep quiet. I’m whimpering with each stroke, my hands grasping his muscled arms for dear life.

Pleasure builds inside me once more, swelling like a wave about to hit the shore. When it crashes, I cry out his name, overwhelmed by so much pleasure. Shane swallows my cries with his mouth, drinking in every sound, every breath. He follows right behind me, his body tensing as he seats himself to the hilt. He throws his head back, his neck muscles arching as he shouts out his pleasure loud enough to shake the rafters. His cock bucks as he empties himself deep inside me.

When his climax wanes, he comes down, rolling us to our sides, and we lie like that for a long while, our bodies still fully joined. We’re both loathe to physically separate after being apart last night. I revel in the residual throbbing of his cock, and it matches my racing heartbeat.

I wrap my arms around his broad shoulders and hold him close, just happy to be reunited. Even though I was gone for just one night, it felt like we were separated for much longer. I don’t ever want to be away from him like that again. It left an aching hole in my heart.

Eventually, he pulls out of me carefully and collapses at my side, his breath heavy from exertion. He rolls me onto my side and tucks himself up close behind me. Finally, I can relax now.

“I’ll never sleep in this bed without you,” he says hoarsely, kissing the back of my head. “Just so you know. The next time you go away on a sleepover, you might as well have pity on me and bring me with you.”

I laugh softly. “I will, I promise. I was miserable last night without you. I shouldn’t have stayed away. I should have trusted you. I’m so sorry.”

He kisses my shoulder. “You have nothing to apologize for, sweetheart. It was a difficult situation. I get that. And I’m glad Jamie was there for you. I knew you were in good hands, and that allowed me to concentrate on figuring out how Luciana had pulled off her stunt.”

I release a shaky breath. “I’m still sorry.”

His lips leave a trail of kisses up my neck to the back of my ear, and I shiver.

He whispers in my ear. “You can make it up to me by marrying me as soon as my parents get home. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Good. Cooper got his license to marry us, so we’re all set.”

“Speaking of Cooper.... you’ll never guess what I accidently walked in on this morning in Jamie’s kitchen.”

Shane chuckles. “What?”

“Cooper and Sam, going at it hot and heavy. I don’t know which of us was more shocked.”

“Really?” Shane says, nuzzling the back of my head.

“You don’t sound very surprised.”

He shrugs. “I’ve had my suspicions lately about those two. Cooper goes out of his way to ignore Sam when he’s around, and that’s not like Cooper. It was getting pretty obvious.”

Shane’s hand snakes around to my front, and his warm palm covers my left breast. I lay my hand on his, and our fingers entwine.

“Sam’s not happy, though,” I say. “He says he loves Cooper, but he says Cooper doesn’t love him – at least not in the way Sam needs him to. He referred to himself as Cooper’s dirty little secret. That’s awful. Sam deserves better than that.”

Shane sighs. “Honey, none of this is easy for Cooper. He grew up in a rough environment, where gays were punished severely if they were outed. I’m afraid Cooper is deep in the closet. Sam’s from a different generation – a whole other world. He’s much more comfortable openly expressing his sexuality. Cooper isn’t.”

“But Sam’s really hurting. He was crying this morning.”

Shane’s arms tighten around me. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know you care about Sam, and I’m sorry he’s hurting. But this is something they have to work out on their own. I’ve known Cooper for a long time. He’s always been very private about his sex life, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.” Shane rises up on his elbow and leans over me, dropping a kiss on my lips. “Let’s get cleaned up and go find something to eat. I’m starved, and I doubt you’ve had lunch yet.”