Storm Front (Reunited Hearts) (6 page)

“I
will.” She stared up at his face, her green eyes huge and melting. “I was going
to. I just…”

“You
just what?” His voice was thicker than it should have been, but his whole body
was pulsing now with erotic compulsion. He was uncomfortably hard in his wet
jeans, but the discomfort was meaningless compared to the flood of desire that
momentarily blurred his vision.

Allison
swallowed visibly. Then she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Michael
tangled the fingers of one hand in her wet hair. “Allison?”

Her
face softened, her eyes blazing with warmth and desire. Her body became
deliciously pliant as she leaned into him, tilting her head back in an obvious
invitation.

Michael
accepted it, bending down to claim her lips with his. Excitement spiraled up
inside him as she opened immediately to the advance of his tongue. Her arms
twined around his neck as the kiss deepened. He groaned in pleasure, deep in
his throat, as he felt her eagerly rub her soft body against his.

They'd
just spent almost an hour struggling with a broken window. Both of them were
hampered by wet clothes, and the room was chilly and musty—lit only by a couple
of candles. A storm roared outside, and tonight had already proved that their
shelter was not an unbreachable one.

But
none of that mattered as Michael lost himself in the embrace—heat, desire and
urgency surging in his blood.

He
couldn’t remember ever wanting anyone as much as he wanted Allison at the
moment.

And
dawn was still hours away.

Allison had known what
would happen when she knocked on the door to the bedroom where Michael was
changing clothes.

She
wanted it to happen.

While
her mind still told her that she needed to be careful about Michael, her
feelings and her body were both screaming at her to take what she wanted, to
give into the flood of desire, to get lost in Michael's arms for the night.

Two
adults could enjoy each other for one evening without becoming embroiled in an
emotional mess. She wanted this. Michael wanted this. They were trapped
together until morning. Allison would just need to be careful about forming
irrational expectations about this continuing once the storm had passed.

Michael
was hard and hot and intense, and his kiss overwhelmed her senses. She clawed
at his bare skin, trying to get him closer, whimpering eagerly against his
mouth.

She
was so swept away that she started to urge him toward the bed in the room,
wanting nothing more than to rid them both of their wet clothes so she could
feel him as much as possible, feel him in every way.

But
Michael resisted, tearing his mouth from hers with obvious reluctance. “At the
risk of breaking the mood,” he said, slightly breathless as his hands palmed
her bottom possessively, “We should think about protection before we go any
further.”

Allison
gasped, startled by how close she’d come to neglecting something so essential.
“I’ve got some…In my bag…” She panted as she tried to fight the lingering urge
to sink once more into Michael’s embrace and forget everything else in the
world.

“Prepared
for anything?” His eyebrows arched, but she thought she saw a glimmer of
something that looked like possessive jealousy in his eyes.

It
gave her a little thrill, despite how unreasonable a reaction it was. For all he
knew, she was involved with another man. She wasn’t, but Michael didn't know
that. And he had no reason to resent the possibility of her having sex with
someone other than him.

Something
instinctive inside her flared up with excitement at the brief blaze of primal
heat in Michael’s gaze, however.

“Of
course,” she replied, as coolly as she could when she was still tempted to yank
his damp trousers down over his lean hips.

“I
guess we could just move this to your bedroom,” he said, picking up one of the
candles, “unless you think the moment is gone.”

Although
they’d lost the initial momentum of lust that had swept them both away, Allison
wasn’t having second thoughts. If anything, she wanted him more now than she
had a few minutes ago. “Let’s go.”

They
took their candles to the bedroom on the ground floor that Allison had claimed
as hers. After they set down the candles, she dug through her overnight bag
until she found the strip of condom packets in a side pocket. Feeling briefly
self-conscious, she handed them to Michael.

She
opened her mouth to say something, wanting to break the silence, when a loud
crack of noise from outside made her gasp. Instead of making the ironic comment
she’d intended, she shrank toward him, clutching his arm without thinking.

Michael
frowned and walked toward the window, drawing aside the curtains and peering
out into the storm.

“What
was it?” Allison asked, her heart hammering as anxiety distracted her from both
lust and self-consciousness.

“I
can’t tell. It’s too dark—” When a flash of lightning illuminated the sky, he
broke off his initial comment to say, “Looks like another tree blew over.”

Her
irrepressible curiosity drawing her despite the lingering anxiety, she stepped
over next to him to look out as well. In the darkness, the whipping rain
appeared alien and fierce, and it wasn’t until another flash of lightning lit
the night that she could see any real details about the large yard outside the
house.

“I
see it,” she said. “At least this one didn’t hit the house. I thought the worst
of the storm was supposed to be passed by now.”

“Let’s
hope this is the outer edge. It looks like it’s mostly wind now.”

They
both stared out of the window for a minute, watching the tumultuous weather
with a strange fascination.

It
all seemed so surreal. Just a couple of days ago, Allison had been in D.C.,
hanging out in trendy bars and scoping out guys with her friends. Now she was
in a strange house in the middle of a storm with a wet, half-dressed Michael Martin.

She
was suddenly conscious that he was looking at her, rather than looking out the
window. As soon as she shifted her gaze up at him, she forgot about the oddness
of her situation.

All
she could see were his hot, hungry eyes as they held hers. Then all she could
feel were his hands cupping her face, his lips claiming hers once again.

Pleasure
spiraled up inside her as she opened to his kiss. She wrapped her arms around
him and pressed her body against his, newly overwhelmed by the warm, masculine
scent and feel of him.

With
a guttural sound against her mouth, Michael slid his hands down to her hips. He
pressed her pelvis against his, and a jolt of desire pulsed through her as she
felt his hard arousal against her middle.

They
rocked into each other with a slow, sensual rhythm as his mouth devoured hers.
Then he cupped her bottom and started to lift her up. Without breaking the
kiss, she clung to his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, moaning with
pleasure as her groin came into intimate contact with his belly.

Holding
her securely against him, he walked her over to the bed and gently laid her
down. Then he moved onto the bed with her, breathing heavily as he gazed down
at her beneath him.

Allison
shuddered with need and excitement, her flushed skin stimulated by the cool of
the room. “Michael, hurry,” she mumbled, when he didn’t do anything but stare.
She reached up to pulled him down into another kiss, wrapping her legs around
him once more so she could rub her hot arousal against the hard bulge in his
wet jeans.

Michael
kissed her hungrily before he pulled his mouth away to trail it along her jaw
and then down the line of her throat. “God, Allison,” he said huskily, “You’re
beautiful. Beautiful.”

She
arched up on the bed, overwhelmed by both his touch and his words. He peeled
her wet top from her skin and maneuvered it over her head. She moaned softly as
his lips lowered to her breasts. His attentions were both skillful and
passionate, and soon she writhed with growing desire as the stimulation
intensified.

Together,
they managed to pull off her wet pajama pants and panties, and Allison wasn’t
even self-conscious as she rubbed her bare skin against him.

Then
she felt Michael’s hand between her legs, his fingers stroking her intimately.
She sucked in a sharp breath, her body starting to shake from the combined
sensations of his massage and his skillful suckling at her breast. Her own fingers
dug into his shoulders as the pleasure coalesced into a climax.

She
cried out as the pressure shattered inside her, her hips moving with eager
abandon as he continued to caress her, although he’d raised his head from her
breast so he could watch her.

As
Allison tried to catch her breath, she noticed a look in his eyes that was
deeply disturbing and deeply intoxicating at once. She wasn’t quite sure how to
identify it, but the closest she could come was possessive.

“What?”
she demanded, flushed and relaxed from her climax but not even close to
satisfied.

His
mouth tightened in a half-smile. “Is that question supposed to mean something?”

She
couldn’t help but laugh at his wry tone, realizing she hadn't been entirely
coherent. “I wanted to know why you were looking at me that way.”

“You’re
by far the best thing to look at in my present range of vision.” His eyes
shifted to linger on her naked breasts and belly and then even lower to her
groin.

“Hmm,”
he murmured, determined to match his ironic intelligence no matter how much she
felt like melting into goo. “I guess that smug tone means you’re pretty proud
of yourself.”

Michael
gave her a breathtaking smile that was just a shade from wicked, and his voice
was an erotic caress. “We’re just getting started.”

*
* *

In truth, Michael
was
rather proud of himself.

Allison
was so passionate, so genuine in her responses to him, that he was washed with
a purely masculine gratification. He’d been suffering from an overload of
arousal as he caressed her to climax, but she’d come for him so quickly, so
beautifully, that his desire mingled with both pride and tenderness.

Only
the last remnants of irony allowed him to keep his voice wry and controlled.

At
the sight of her flushed, tousled sprawl beneath him, Michael felt his body
clench even more tightly. He adjusted so he could kiss her again, and he
groaned low in his throat as her hands clutched at him eagerly and then fumbled
to take off his damp jeans.

Deciding
hers was a very good idea, Michael raised himself so he could help her get them
off. Once he’d shed the last of his clothes, he reached to tear open a condom
packet.

As
he rolled it on, he couldn’t help but notice the way Allison’s eyes lingered on
his naked body. The hunger and admiration in her eyes made the primal part of
his nature want to howl, and it further intensified the urgency of his arousal.

This
one, erotic night with Allison was exactly what he wanted. She'd always been
passionate and responsive, and she'd only grown more so in the intervening
years.

The
condom in place, he took her face in his hands and kissed her again, easing her
back so he could settle himself between her legs.

Then
he lined himself up at her entrance and sank inside her slowly, her flesh
around his tight, hot, and sweet.

She
gasped and pressed up into his weight as Michael held himself very still and
tried to rein in his driving need. “Allison, you feel incredible,” he muttered,
his voice raspy from his efforts at control.

She
shifted beneath him, her green eyes wide and deep in the flickering light of
the room. “You too. Now, Michael. Please, now.”

He
choked on a guttural sound and began to thrust, beginning a slow, deep motion
that quickly spiraled out of control into hot, fast, panting thrusts. Allison
was with him all the way, her hips rocking in sync to his, her fingers digging
into his skin, her little gasps and moans transforming to breathless cries of
pleasure as their frantic rhythm built up toward release.

Michael’s
vision blurred over as he felt completely surrounded by Allison—her warmth, her
scent, her flesh, her passion. He was flooded by sensation and by memory as his
mind flashed back to seven years ago. Allison wasn’t as nervous and
inexperienced now, but she was just as real, just as eager, just as
intoxicating.

She
started to gasp out his name as her body shook helplessly beneath his. She
arched up and clawed at his back as she climaxed hard, her body tightening
deliciously around his.

Michael
choked on a muffled groan as she shuddered beneath him, and the wild abandon of
her release pulled him over the edge as well.

With
hard, jerky thrusts, he came too, a rush of intense pleasure overtaking him as
he let himself go.