Storm Front (Reunited Hearts) (7 page)

In
the hot breathlessness of the aftermath, Michael managed to take care of the
condom before he collapsed back in bed beside her, reaching out to pull her
soft, pliant body into his arms.

He
loved the way her body fit itself against his, and he loved the pleased
satisfaction that relaxed his body and flooded his chest.

He
could feel her smiling as her cheek rested against his chest. It made him smile
too. “Now
you
seem rather proud of yourself,” he murmured.

“I
am,” she said unabashedly, idly stroking one of his arms. “That was great.”

“No
argument here.”

“I
mean, that was really good.”

He
laughed softly. “Once again, I concur.”

His
dry tone seemed to amuse her, although she didn’t lift her head or meet his
eyes. “I even forgot about the storm for a while.”

“Was
there a storm?”

Still
laughing, she finally raised herself up enough to look down into his face. Her
tumbled hair hung down around her shoulders, her cheeks were deeply flushed,
and her eyes sparkled with humor and satisfaction. “Seriously, you know what? I
don’t even hear the wind as much now. I think maybe it has finally past.”

Of
course, this was good news. If they’d made it through the storm relatively
unscathed, they would have a lot to be grateful for, but Michael couldn’t bring
himself to think of much else besides a soft, warm, laughing Allison in his
arms.

He
brought her down into an embrace, kissing her for a minute before he settled
her beside him once more. She appeared pleased with the arrangement and relaxed
comfortably at his side.

After
a few moments, he asked, “Who were you planning to use these condoms with?”

He
supposed it was a sign of his innate egotism, but he didn’t like the idea of
her intending to use them with some other man.

She
slanted him a curious look. “I’m not sure that’s any of your business. We're
just together for the evening, aren't we?”

“Right.”
He didn’t object to her elusiveness, although he still wanted to know. She was
right, though. They both knew this was just a one-night stand. It was exactly
what he wanted. It was only the primal, possessive part of his nature that
resented the thought of her passion and sweetness being claimed by anyone but
him.

Plus,
he didn’t like that she wouldn’t tell him, even though he'd asked directly. He
was used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it and—even in this small
way—it was frustrating not to be able to do so now.

He
wasn’t fool enough to believe his reaction meant anything significant. He
certainly didn’t want a serious relationship—with Allison or anyone else.

But
still, when she offered no further explanation, he couldn't hold back a scowl.

*
* *

It didn’t take Allison
long to fall asleep. Her body was deliciously satisfied, and she felt warm and
cozy next to Michael in bed. So she fell asleep almost immediately and didn’t
wake up until morning.

When
she did awaken, her cheek was uncomfortably hot, and one of her hands was
asleep. As she oriented herself, she realized why. Her cheek was still pressed
up against Michael’s chest, and her hand had somehow ended up under his weight,
where it had lost circulation.

She
shifted uncomfortably, lifting her head to look down at him. He appeared to be
just waking up himself because his eyelids were heavy and his features
unusually relaxed.

She
couldn’t help but smile, absurdly pleased at catching him looking so groggy and
human—instead of as unnaturally controlled and observant as he normally was.

“Hi,”
she said, trying to retrieve her hand from underneath Michael’s lower back.

He
rolled over slightly to relieve her hand of his weight. Then he smiled back at
her, desperately in need of a shave. “Good morning.”

“It
sounds like the storm is over.”

“Good.
The weather forecast said it should be over this morning.” He reached up and
pushed some of her tangled hair back from her face.

Allison
tried not to imagine what her hair must look like, after having sex and
sleeping on it damp. She shook out her prickling hand. “Is your arm asleep
too?”

“A
little,” he admitted, moving his arm from where he’d been holding her body
against his.

“Thanks
for last night.” She blushed a little, thinking her comment had sounded kind of
silly. “I mean, I had a good time.”

The
corner of his mouth turned up. “Me too.”

She
wondered if he’d had as good a time as she had. It might have been the best sex
of her life.

All
she said was, “Hopefully, we can get out of here today.”

Michael
didn’t respond. At least, not with words. His smile turned hot all of a sudden,
and his hand lowered from her hair to her shoulder. He trailed his fingers
tantalizingly across her skin, his eyes lingering on her breasts, which she
belatedly realized were naked and exposed in her position.

“Michael?”
she asked, already a little breathless as her body responded to the smolder in
his eyes.

His
fingers slid down to twirl around her tightening nipples. “Do you have any idea
how gorgeous you are?”

Her
skin flushed with pleasure as her breathing quickened from his touch. “I
thought this was just for the one night.”

Michael
nodded and met her eyes. “It is. But who’s to say the night has to end this
early?”

*
* *

Later, as Allison was
getting dressed, she was torn between delighted thoughts about the erotic
interlude she and Michael had just enjoyed and memories of seven years ago.

They'd
had sex again before they’d gotten up, and once again Allison had been swept
away in passion and pleasure. This time, he’d turned her over and taken her
from behind, making her come so hard she’d had to smother her cries of release
in the pillow.

Michael
was a skillful, experienced lover, but it was more than just that. He seemed
swept away too, like he lost himself in the experience, like he wanted to drown
in her.

Like
having sex with her mattered to him. A lot.

She’d
felt the same way before, after that first night they spent together. When
they’d gotten ready to leave the office, very late, she’d been shy and a little
awkward—since everything was so new to her—but she’d never felt so special, so
beautiful, as she had in Michael’s arms.

He’d
smiled at her and told her she was incredible. Then he’d asked if she’d wanted
a late dinner or early breakfast.

And
that had been it.

Even
at eighteen, Allison had slept with him with her eyes wide open. She knew the
sex had been a spontaneous thing for him, and he’d never given her any hint
that he wanted more than the one night.

But
it had felt special, meaningful, absolutely wonderful. She didn’t know how to
read the look in his eyes—that deep, instinctive hunger—in any other way.

She’d
seen that same look in Michael’s eyes last night, and it awoke exactly the same
kind of feelings in her now as it had back then.

Despite
her pleased gratification over a night and morning’s worth of really great sex,
flickers of anxiety flared up in her chest.

She
would have to be very careful about how she handled things from here, since she
was experiencing those familiar pangs of attachment.

Allison
was older now. She was smarter.

And
she wasn’t going to fall for Michael again.

Allison stood in front
of the kitchen window of their borrowed house and stared out at the wet,
branch-littered lawn. The morning sun streamed from in between thick clouds,
and patches of blue sky were visible—a refreshing sight after the dark turmoil
of the weather the day before.

When
the kettle screamed on the burner, she removed it and poured out two mugs of
tea. She was sick of tea, but the electricity still wasn’t working and she
hadn't been able to find any coffee anyway. The only thing she’d been able to
scavenge from the pantry that would do for breakfast was some canned fruit.

Not
the most appetizing of breakfasts, but it was better than soup or green beans.
She’d found one other pack of chocolate cookies that hadn’t gone past the
expiration date, but she figured she better save them in case they weren’t able
to get out today after all.

Michael
had gone out to take a look at the road.

Allison
was drinking her tea and spooning mixed fruit into bowls when he came into the
kitchen. His clothes had dried, so he was once more wearing his expensive dark
trousers and blue dress shirt. They were slightly wrinkled but made him look
more himself than the jeans and t-shirt he’d worn last night.

“The
road here looks all right. Some branches have blown off but nothing too
dramatic.”

“Good,”
she said, handing him a cup of tea. “Maybe we’ll be able to get out today.”

He
nodded and reached for the portable radio, turning it on and tuning in the
station more clearly. “Let’s hope.”

As
they had breakfast, they listened to the news and found out that a lot of roads
in the area were still flooded. They didn’t hear any specifics on the back
roads they would need to take, so they’d have to just chance it and see whether
or not they were clear.

Eventually,
when there was nothing more to hear on the radio, Michael switched it off, and
they sat in silence for a minute.

Allison
felt a little awkward. The sex the night before had been intense and deeply
pleasurable, but she wasn’t sure what to do about it now. In a lot of ways, Michael
was still mostly a stranger to her.

He’d
been engaged to Gina Lane for several months—the girl who’d always been most
popular in her class all through school—something she still had trouble wrapping
her mind around.

“How’s
Gina?” she asked out of the blue, surprising even herself with the question.

Michael
arched his eyebrows in a skeptical look.

“I
knew her pretty well,” Allison explained. “We lost touch pretty quickly when we
graduated high school, but we were sort of friends. I was just interested in
how she’s doing. It wasn't a snide commentary or anything.”

Michael
was silent for a long time before he answered. “She’s changed a lot since high
school.”

That
told her absolutely nothing. Her natural inquisitiveness prodded her into
continuing the questioning. “So she’s no longer the most popular girl in every
room she walks into?” There was a faint edge of cynicism in her voice, but it
wasn’t palpably bitter.

Allison
had been insecure as a teenager—particularly when she compared herself to Gina,
but she’d grown up a lot, and she couldn’t work up a lot of angst about not
being as pretty and desired as Gina had always been.

“I
suppose.”

Allison
studied Michael’s guarded face and, for the first time, felt a twinge of
jealousy. While she didn’t mind the fact that she would never be one of the Ginas
of the world, she didn’t like the idea of him being hung up on her old
classmate—even after they’d broken up. “What did you do to make her fling your
ring back in your face?”

Michael
eyed her evenly and didn’t respond.

“Assuming
that actually happened. Did the papers make it up?”

“I
wouldn’t put it past them,” he murmured, rather bitterly. “But it happened.
Yes.”

Allison
tried to think what would have provoked Gina into something like that. She must
have felt betrayed or insulted to be pushed to the point of throwing her
notoriously expensive ring back at him.

Allison
didn’t think he would have cheated on Gina. She had no idea what Michael’s
feelings had been, but she just couldn’t believe him to be a cheater. Unless he
wasn’t anything like the guy she used to know.

“Figure
it out?” he asked wryly, cocking an eyebrow at her with a half-smile.

She
made a face at him, vaguely annoyed that he’d read her so easily. “So you’re
really not going to tell me what happened?”

Michael
gave a casual shrug. “She was angry with me—for the way I’d ended the
engagement.”

“So
you ended it?”

“I
did.”

Allison
was secretly relieved. She didn’t like the idea of Gina’s stomping on Michael’s
heart. Something about his broken relationship with Gina had caused him to
raise his guard, though. If it wasn’t important to him, he probably wouldn’t
have eluded her questions as obviously as he had. The situation must have hurt Michael
in some way.

But
it didn’t matter. Allison pushed it out of her mind. She wasn’t going to work
herself up about figuring it out or caring about the outcome.

After
today, Michael would no longer be a part of her life.