Page 40 of The Storm

He’s under my skin, and right now my priority isn’t getting rid of him. It’s getting even. It’s getting under his.

He’s spent years toying with me. Years. Tormenting me with looks and words.

But… never actually doing anything.

It’s a slow realization that somehow also slots into place quickly.

He’s all words.

I move. In a flash I’m behind the counter and in front of him, the fabric of his shirt in my grip.

He quirks his brow at me.

“What’s the plan, Blue?” he taunts. “Gonna punch me? Go ahead. You’ve wanted to for a while, so get to it.”

Ihavewanted to punch him for a while.

Instead, my grip in his shirt tightens, and I yank him forward.

I have just enough time to see the flash of surprise in his eyes.

And then my mouth is on his.

I don’t know if it’s a conscious decision or just an inevitable culmination of years of tension. For a moment, we both just stand there. I’m not sure which one of us is more startled, me or him. The kiss feels awkward now. Dry lips, a tentative press of my mouth against his.Awkward.

I should move. I should back away. I should run for my life. At least for my sanity.

But then he makes a sound, low and thick and somehow helpless in his throat, and my breath catches. He tips his head back and squeezes his eyes shut. My lips slide over his cheek. My forehead is against his temple. We’re suspended in the moment. My heartbeat is so loud it drowns out every other sound, my body trembling with a strange current. Fear. Need.

I move.

The smallest bit.

It’s more a twitch than anything else.

Nick lets out a curse and lunges at me, pushing me against the counter, the edge of it digging into my lower back, and his mouth comes down on mine.

He sighs into my mouth like the kiss is a relief. One of his hands goes to my head, fingers sliding into my hair, holding me still. I could tell him it’s not necessary. I’m sure as hell not going anywhere.

My hands go to his waist, and I pull him closer and steady myself in one go. Our bodies arch against each other. He pushes his tongue into my mouth. Every nerve in my body is on fire as our tongues rub and lick over each other.

He bites down on my lower lip, more gently than I would have expected, and my body jolts, fingers spasming against his hips.

He’s kissing me again, and I’m moving. Rocking against him. Nick lets out a low moan and shifts his body, his hand going tomy lower back, guiding me, pulling me against him so our bodies line up and I can feel his hardness against mine.

His tongue ventures into my mouth again, and I’m leaning into him, a tight knot of want building in my stomach, and I don’t know what’s happening to me because nothing—nothing—has ever felt quite like this.

This isn’t a kiss. At least, not the kind of kiss I’m used to. This is something else; somethingmore. More potent. Far more dangerous. Something that sweeps through me like a tidal wave, and Nick is the only point of contact I still have to stable ground.

My ears ring.

Nick shoves his hand between our bodies, and it takes me a moment to compute that the desperate whimper that faintly lingers in the air came from me, but that’s not possible, is it? I don’t sound like that. Never have. There’s an edge of panic at the realization that this is Nick putting some distance between the two of us.

Only that’s not what he’s doing. Instead, he wrestles the button of my jeans open, and that’s… My throat goes very dry and a rush of blood roars in my ear as he slides his hand inside.

The ringing is still somewhere in the back of my head, and I don’t think it’s in my ears anymore, but I don’t have time to think about that because now Nick’s fingers are circling my cock. His big, strong hand wraps around me and grips me with the perfect amount of everything.

I squeeze my eyes shut and then pry them open again because I don’t want to miss any of it.