Storm grabbed my wrist. “Go!”
We ran.
We ran like the hounds of hell were nipping at our heels. In reality, the only thing nipping at our heels were our abandoned responsibilities.
And it felt so good to break a rule.
Storm and I dashed wildly across three empty parking spots before jumping into his car.
Out on the sidewalk near the entrance to the parking lot, a cluster of paparazzi next to their blacked-out cars lingered, waiting for my exit. When they saw Storm and me charging toward his car, they all piled into theirs.
Storm told me to buckle up.
He pushed the ignition, cranked the wheel, and put his foot down hard on the gas. The back tires spun, biting at the asphalt with a scream of betrayal that brought Erin charging out the back door of the store. She yelled something we couldn’t hear and raised her fist in the air as the car spun around and peeled out of the lot, blowing past the paparazzi, some of which were still struggling to unload all their camera gear onto their front seats. Storm handled the beast with ease, palming the wheel to take a gentle curve in the road before cutting across three lanes and shooting up a less congested street.
I gripped the seat beneath me as we took another sharp turn.
“Hold on to your panties!” Storm gritted his teeth in a devilish smile as he opened the throttle and sent us speeding through a green light and out of the Times Square area, trading busy sidewalks and flashing billboards for the less obnoxious parts of New York.
Three paparazzi cars were in pursuit.
Laughter spilled out of me.
Storm shot me a look that might have been pride or lust, I couldn’t be sure, before announcing that we’d give the paparazzi more than they could chew and lose them once and for all. Storm meant every word. He drove like a madman, taking every route he could that led to less populated areas and finally ending our race to freedom when he pulled into a narrow alley and turned the car off. All the lights went dark and we held our breath, watching his mirrors until about twenty seconds later the three paparazzi cars blew past the mouth of the alley.
Storm leaned back against his seat, breathless. “Holy shit.”
I unclipped my seatbelt and plunged my fingers into my hair. I felt frazzled and pulled tight, like I was about to jump off the high dive as a young girl. My hands shook from the adrenaline rush and my pulse fluttered at my throat as my heartbeat attempted to steady itself.
Storm let his hand fall from the steering wheel. “Are you good?”
Good? I’d never been better.
His chest rose and fell with quick breaths as I turned to face him.
Giggling, I tried to hide my fiery red cheeks behind my hands. “We didn’t think about our clothes.”
He looked down at himself. “Right. Clothes.”
Storm was practically naked, wearing nothing but his boxers. He didn’t even have shoes on. Or socks.
I had my matching lingerie set on and a pair of heels. The leather seat stuck to my bare ass and I found myself wishing the panties were bikini cuts, not a proper G-string.
Storm abandoned his concerns about his clothes and flashed me a cheeky grin. “It was fun though, right?”
I nodded. Storm kept smiling at me. The world around us—a dank alley full of trash bags, abandoned shopping carts, take-out containers, and graffiti-covered garbage bins—faded away. All that existed in this moment was me and Storm and the way his abs became more defined with every exhale. Not to mention the way his green eyes danced with rebellion and how the muscles in his shoulders flexed as he reached up and pressed the heels of his hands to his temples.
He let out a long, contented sigh. “I haven’t felt like this in, well… shit, I couldn’t tell you. I’ve been cooped up in my office way too much.” His eyes slid down the length of me, lingering briefly at my cleavage, practically pushed up to my chin, and my thighs, spread out and soft over the leather. He let his hands fall into his lap and twisted toward me, resting one elbow on the console. “Do you regret coming with me, Laila? Am I a bad influence?”
Yes.
“I don’t regret anything,” I whispered. I couldn’t find the full strength of my voice. I’d lost it somewhere on the road, probably when Storm hit the gas pedal and the thrill of it all took my breath away. “I… I…”
His brows knitted together and he reached over, setting a gentle hand on my shoulder. It didn’t help me make sense of my own thoughts. In fact, I found it nothing short of distracting. Looking down at his hand, I wished he’d put it somewhere else. Somewhere lower, softer, warmer, wetter.
I swallowed.
“Laila?”
Lifting my gaze to his, I got lost in the sea of green staring back at me. His fingers danced along my shoulder, across my collarbone, and settled on the side of my neck. His thumb grazed my cheek. He never broke eye contact. The sounds of the city hummed and grew distant until everything sounded like I was underwater. Then, around the same moment I realized I’d forgotten to breathe since he put his hand on my shoulder, he leaned across the console and filled my senses.
Everything became Storm.
His lips crashed against mine. I breathed him in, filling my lungs until I was dizzy. He grabbed my bare hip with his free hand. I leaned into him, desperate for more, desperate for him, and as we tried to climb each other, the car grunted and wobbled. Neither of us were small people. We both had long limbs and the car was simply too small for us to move comfortably. However, neither of us could be bothered by the tight confines.
Storm’s fingers plunged into my hair and tightened in a fist. I whimpered in his grasp and reached for the waistband of his boxers.
My phone rang.
Ignore it.
Storm’s tongue pressed between my lips.
The phone stopped ringing.
He tasted like mint and honey somehow.
The phone rang again.
Please not now.
The kiss deepened. Could he even hear the phone? Did he care? Or was he too wrapped up in me that he hadn’t even noticed?
The phone kept ringing, and every time the call ended, the person on the other end just called all over again.
I put my hands flat on Storm’s chest and offered mumbled apologies through thick, tingling lips. He fell back into his seat with messy hair and watched as I searched for my phone in my purse. Lexi’s name flashed on my lock screen.
“I have to take this. She’s probably worried about me.” I answered the phone while Storm adjusted himself in his Cupid’s Arrows boxers. I did my best not to peek. “Lexi? Calm down, I’m okay.”
“Where the fuck did you go? You can’t go running off like that, Laila! The paparazzi were right on you! And that bastard behind the wheel could have gotten you killed!”
I hung my head back and closed my eyes. “Lexi, we’re fine. We needed to get out of that store. We were being smothered. I’m so sorry that I made you worry. I should have called you straight away to let you know what was up.”
“Yes, you should have.” Lexi’s voice sounded stiff and strained. Guilt rippled through me. Lexi was the first and last person in my corner, always. I should have been better to her. She let out a tired sigh. “Come back. The event is still underway but I can meet you down the block and take you home. What do you say?”
I chewed the inside of my cheek and looked over at Storm, who was pretending to give me privacy by gazing out his driver’s side window at the brick wall of the alley. “I think… I think I’m going to stay out a bit longer, Lexi.”