Gone (Sons of Judah MC Book 1) by Kathryn Thomas

the tip of her fingers and the contours of his face. Finally, she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. Something flashed and burned in her heart, as his lips moved over her. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, but it was full of some unknown emotion that she never experienced before.
     
    Love?
     
    Certainly not.
     
    She couldn’t be in love with this guy. After all, she barely knew him. It just wasn’t possible. Stacy wasn’t a naïve girl anymore who mixed desire and lust with love. She made that mistake with Ned once, and from now on, she wasn’t going to ever think like that. And yet her heart told her that this time it was different, special.
     
    She leaned away, and he smiled. Stacy resisted the urge to gasp. Who the hell was she kidding? Of course, she was already half in love with him, and if she wasn’t careful, she would tumble down this slippery slope and have no one to blame for it but herself.
     
    “What’s wrong?” he asked.
     
    “Nothing.” She straightened and lay down on her back. “It’s a little…scary, you know.”
     
    “What?”
     
    “We barely met a few days ago.”
     
    “And these have been the best days of my life,” he admitted easily, casually. “You’ve made my life bloom.”
     
    It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her, but she’d been hurt too much by a man who never meant a word of what he said. Perhaps it was unfair to always compare him with Ned. So far he had not done anything to earn her mistrust. He was honest, transparent, and direct. She was grateful for that. But still a part of her heart that was broken when she found out about Ned’s infidelity refused to accept that he could be this sincere.
     
    “Thank you,” she said after a brief pause. “I…am so confused. Honestly, I’ve never felt like this about another man, and it’s hard for me to believe that it could be real. Surely, this is just lust…you know, it has to be.”
     
    He turned on his elbow and looked at her. The swirl of emotions in his eyes made her nervous. “Lust? I thought so too…but I’m not sure anymore.”
     
    Her skin hummed, as he put his hand on her taut stomach. His fingers rubbed gently, and she felt the breathless anticipation of what was about to come, but more than that, she was anxious to hear what he had to say. “Not sure about what?”
     
    “I think I’m already in love with you.”
     
    His words made her freeze. She felt hot and cold at the same time. It was as if someone dumped her in icy waters and then took her out and made her sit in front of a heater. No. He couldn’t have said it. Was he joking? They barely knew each other. But what reason did he have to lie? They were already sleeping together, so it wasn’t as if he used those words to get her into bed.
     
    “You can’t possibly be.”
     
    “Are you going to tell me how I feel?”
     
    The sharp edge of his temper was unmistakable. He was hurt by her words. “I’m sorry. It’s just…” She took a deep breath. “I’ve promised myself not to compare you to my ex-husband who was really…always lying to me, but I find it hard to believe what you say because it’s been such a short time since we got to know each other.”
     
    “Love has nothing to do with time. It has a direct connection here.” He trailed his fingers up and landed them on her heart. The cool punch of his words was nothing compared to the feelings that stirred inside her when he pushed up her bra and exposed one of her breast. “I want you, more than I have ever wanted another woman. That much is true, but what I feel for you is also more than what I have ever felt for another woman. And it’s not just desire. Maybe I am mistaken and it’s not love, but I highly doubt it. If it’s love, then it’s something new for me, too.”
     
    His finger plucked her nipple ever so gently. The fire was hot in her belly, consuming her. She rubbed her thighs together in a bid to stem the flow of her juices