Hard to Hold by Karen Foley

gestured toward her bare breast. “Or maybe you’re planning on providing some other means of payment?”
    Eyes flashing, Maddie took a swing at him, intent on slapping his face, but Colton easily caught her wrist in one hand.
    For an instant, they stood staring at each other. The air between them crackled with energy. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes stormy as she glared at him. Her robe still gaped open, her breasts rising and falling swiftly with her agitation. Colton was barely holding his frustration in check, but when her gaze shifted to his mouth, something inside him finally snapped. He recalled again the feel of her on top of him, kissing him, and with a low growl of defeat, he hauled her against his chest and crushed his mouth over hers.
    She stiffened for a fraction of a second, and then was kissing him back with an urgency that shocked him, even as it released the pent-up lust and frustration he’d been feeling since the incident in the cabin. Maddie’s hands were everywhere, smoothing over his shoulders and his back, cupping the nape of his neck as she angled her face for a better fit. The sensation of her tongue against his only ratcheted up his need for her. With the last vestiges of his control, he pulled back long enough to bracket her face in his hands and search her eyes.
    “Madeleine—”
    “Please.” She placed her fingers over his mouth. “Don’t talk. Just kiss me. I know you want this.”
    He did. More than he’d wanted anything in a long time. Even knowing he was taking advantage of the situation—of her—he couldn’t prevent himself from lowering his head and claiming her mouth again. But he was unprepared when she made a soft sound of approval and her fingers moved to the buttons of his shirt, tearing at them in her urgency.
    “Maddie, sweetheart,” he said against her lips, “we don’t need to rush this.”
    “I do,” she said, her breath coming in warm pants as she pressed moist kisses against his face and neck. “You’re so hot. I don’t want to wait.”
    She’d unbuttoned his shirt and dragged the tails from his waistband, pushing the fabric aside to slide her hands over his heated skin.
    Colton groaned and thrust his fingers into her damp hair, deepening the kiss. Her fingers moved to the fastening of his pants, and the brush of her knuckles against his bare stomach made him catch his breath.
    “Darlin’—”
    “Please,” she whispered against his lips, her voice urgent. “I want you now.”
    Colton was a goner. “You can have me,” he promised between kisses. “I just want you to trust me.”
    “I do, I do,” she assured him breathlessly, drawing down his zipper and skimming her hand over the waistband of his boxers.
    Colton dragged his mouth along the side of her neck, lingering on the soft spot at the base of her throat where her pulse beat frantically. “You don’t ever need to run from me,” he said in a low, fierce voice. “I’ll never hurt you.”
    Maddie made an inarticulate sound of agreement and slid her hand inside his pants. She cupped him through the thin fabric of his briefs, and Colton groaned at the sensation. He pushed her robe off one shoulder and pressed fevered kisses against her smooth skin, inhaling her scent. She smelled fragrant and sweet.
    “You’re so beautiful,” he muttered between kisses. “Let me help you.”
    “It’s okay.” She angled her head to give him better access, even as she curled her fingers around his length. Her voice sounded husky in his ear. “I’ll pay my pound of flesh, to you or the blackmailers, if it means getting my brother back.”
    Colton recoiled.
    Her words were like a dousing of frigid water on his rising lust. Slowly, he reached down and wrapped his fingers around her wrist, pulling her hand away from where he was still hard for her. Grasping her by both forearms, he leaned back and searched her eyes. Maddie tossed her hair and glared back at him, defiant. She made no move to cover