“Is that something to celebrate?“
“Yeah,“ he said. “I think it is. With any luck, you learned a few things today.“
She gave him an indignant glare. “I learned a few things? What was I supposed to learn?“
His gaze was brilliant and grimly intent. “That I won’t let you walk out of my life just because of a disagreement.
Remember that, Diana.“
She said nothing, touching his hard jaw with her forefinger in an unconsciously gentle action. Privately she wondered what it would take for him to let her walk out of his life.
Would he let her go if it turned out she was pregnant?
Colby waited until Brandon and Robyn were deeply involved in a board game that night before he took Diana’s hand and led her toward the stairs.
“Good night, you two. See you in the morning,“ he said as he started upstairs with Diana in tow.
Brandon looked up from the board and smiled at Diana. “Goodnight.“
Robyn looked up briefly but said nothing. She had said very little all evening.
At the top of the stairs Diana said softly, “I don’t think that girl likes me.“
“Don’t worry about it. I’m the one who has cause for worry. The thought of having her for a daughter-in-law sends chills down my spine.“
“I think Brandon has definitely postponed thoughts of marriage. But I’m not so sure about Robyn. She really wants to get married, and she doesn’t like being asked to wait.“
“I just hope she doesn’t do something really stupid like get pregnant.“
Beside him, Diana fell silent. Too late he realized the stupidity of his last remark. Diana, of course, would take it personally. If she was pregnant…
Damn, but women were complicated creatures.
Colby opened the door of his bedroom and urged her inside. A surge of possessiveness and satisfaction went through him as he closed the door and watched her standing in the middle of his very personal domain. He leaned back against the door and drank his fill of her as she wandered curiously to the window, over to the dresser and then to the bed.
“Was this your room as a child?“ she asked as she touched a model of a Corvette he had once painstakingly built from a kit.
Colby nodded. “Yeah.“
She examined the model car. “It’s hard to imagine you as a little kid.“
He shrugged. “My big dream, aside from escaping Fulbrook Corners, was to own a Vette.“
“Did you ever get one?“
“Senior year in high school. A used one. Got it for a song because some guy had crashed it. Eddy helped me work on it. By the time we were finished, it was a teenager’s dream. Black as midnight and faster than a bat out of hell. I beat everything I ever went up against out on River Road in that car. It was the pride and joy of my life.“
“What happened to it?“
“I had a great time with it for a while.“ He took the model from her hand and studied it with a reminiscent smile.
Then he shrugged and put the little ‘vette down on a shelf. “Then I got married, and Brandon came along and I needed money for baby food and diapers and all the other things that a baby needs.“
“So you sold your pride and joy?“
Colby laughed softly and walked over to sink down beside her. “Don’t look so sad. It was a long time ago.“
“And now you drive a Jeep?“
“I like to take it off-roading. A man’s taste changes as he gets older.“ Colby leaned over her, easing her back onto the pillows and caging her with his hands. “Take you, for instance. I’m not sure I would have had the brains or the sense to properly appreciate you when I was nineteen. But now…“ He kissed her slowly, deeply, giving her time to respond.
“And now?“ she whispered huskily when he finally freed her mouth.
“Now I’m a lot older and wiser. And boy, do I appreciate you----“
Colby bent his head to kiss her again, and when she opened her mouth for him he slid his knee between her thighs.
Diana’s hand curved around his bu**ocks, urging him more tightly against her softness and she lifted her hips against his.
“I love the way you get so hot, so fast for me, honey. You make me crazy.“
“I’m the one who goes crazy,“ she whispered, guiding his head down to her br**sts. She was already unbuttoning her shirt for him, freeing herself of her peach-colored bra. “You make me ache all over, do you know that, Colby?“
And then she was offering her br**sts to him, demanding and pleading for his intimate attention. Colby felt his already taut body ignite. The knowledge that she needed him, wanted him, would give herself to him whenever he turned to her was almost too much to handle. The growing realization that he had only to touch her to know she was his sent flames roaring through him.
He gently sucked one sweet, tight nipple between his teeth and simultaneously reached down to unfasten his jeans and then hers. Together they slithered out of the restricting clothing and then they were clinging to each other.
When Diana reached down to stroke the hardened length of his manhood, Colby nearly lost his self-control. She had a way of pushing him to the edge, and he loved it.
“Here,“ he muttered, scrabbling about in the night-stand drawer for the little foil packet. “You put it on.“
“Me?“
“Yeah, you. Ill just lie here and go out of my mind.“
She laughed softly and knelt beside him. Colby knew he’d made a serious error the minute he realized what a long production she was going to make out of the simple action. But the delicious sensations she created as she worked carefully and gently over him almost made up for the agony of waiting.
Almost.
The instant she was done, Diana sat back and examined her handiwork with satisfaction. “A perfect fit. Not bad, if I do say so myself.“
Colby grinned, his teeth set as he struggled for self-control. “Come here and finish the job, you little witch.“
She raised her brows mockingly. “I thought the job was finished.“
“It’s just started.“ He pulled her across his thighs, his hands clenching luxuriously into her hips. “Now show me just how perfect the fit really is.“
Her eyes were bold and sensuous as she grasped him gently and began to ease him into her softness. He saw the glittering excitement in her, and it fed the flames of his own fire.
When she hesitated a little, teasing him unmercifully, Colby gave a soft, warning exclamation and then pulled her down abruptly, sinking himself to the hilt.