He ran a thumb along his jaw. A bead of water rolled down the side of his neck. “I guess I just wonder what it would be like to get out from under the pressure and expectations.”
“You’re a lot of things, but I never guessed you’d be naïve.”
“Ouch.” He chuckled and sipped his drink. I loved watching his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. “You should know, I like it when women are mean to me.”
I splashed water at him. “I’m not trying to be mean. I just didn’t expect you to believe that pressure and expectations only existed for the wealthy. Normal people have pressure, too. Pressure to pay bills, to hold down a job with benefits, to feed their families, to help their communities and support their friends, to succeed, to build a foundation for the children that come after them, to make themselves proud. To break old patterns of abuse and neglect. To be better. To impress their parents. To piss off their parents,” I added with a laugh. “It’s the human experience.”
He studied me with calculations in his eyes.
“What?” I asked.
Storm set his drink down.
My pulse thundered in my ears. “What?”
He pushed out of the corner of the jacuzzi and glided toward me through the water. His eyes never left mine and I didn’t dare break eye contact first. I struggled to catch my breath as he pushed my knees apart and settled between them, he himself kneeling on the bottom of the jacuzzi.
“Right when I think I have you figured out, you go and say something like that.” Storm took my drink from my hands and set it down. His fingers trailed over the back of my hand, up my forearm, and further still, grazing my shoulder and coming to rest on the side of my neck. “I’ve never met anyone like you, Laila.”
My voice hitched, but I managed to speak. “I’ve never met anyone like you, either.”
“An arrogant, cocky jerk, you mean?”
“No.” I shook my head and reached under the water, catching the waistband of his boxers and pulling him to me. “A good man who wants people to think he’s nothing but a cocky jerk.”
Storm’s smirk faltered.
I broke.
With a sharp tug I pulled him the rest of the way to me. Water sloshed over the edge of the jacuzzi at the exact moment our lips met. He engulfed me in his arms, pulling me away from the corner and into his lap. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he sank his fingers into my hair and then ran his hands down my spine until he grabbed handfuls of my ass.
I moaned against his lips.
My breasts, weightless in the water, crushed against his chest.
Storm pulled me more firmly to him. I rocked my hips, feeling him getting hard in his boxers. There was nothing between us but the thin fabric. I ached for more—longed to feel him inside of me. There was no doubt in my mind that he was a good lover. He touched me like he owned me, and held me like he might lose me at any second. I reveled in how safe and cared for I felt in his arms and pleaded with the universe to let this moment stretch and bend so I could savor every little second of it.
Storm’s hands inched closer and closer to my pussy as he pulled at the soft skin of my inner thighs.
Touch me.
Fingers grazed my vulva.
I whimpered.
Yes.
He broke our kiss and rested his forehead against mine. His breathing was labored, and water clung to his eyelashes. I counted the shimmering beads of moisture when he closed his eyes.
“I told you I wouldn’t stay.” His voice was hoarse.
Please don’t go. Not yet.
Storm eased back, letting me slip out of his lap, and clasped both of my hands in his. Neither of us said a word until he kissed me one last time and cracked a smile.
“If you wanted to steal a peek,” he mumbled through kiss-swollen lips, “now would be the time. I haven’t been this fucking hard in ages.”
Water sloshed as he got out of the jacuzzi, and I looked shamelessly, catching the curve of his cock as he turned to collect his clothes from the concrete. My pussy ached with disappointment. I rested my forearms on the edge of the jacuzzi and my chin upon my wrist. His ass was pretty nice, too.
He caught me looking and gave me a cocky smirk. “See you at the show tomorrow night.”
“I have front-row seats to a show right here.”
Storm left me alone in the jacuzzi, holding true to his word that he wouldn’t spend the night in the room with me. Naked, alone, and more turned on than I ever had been in my life, I closed my eyes and imagined how the night would have gone had he stayed.
My body hummed with lust, and I couldn’t resist touching myself as I thought of Storm’s body and the way he held me. The biggest turn-on of all? That he actually possessed the self-restraint to leave and hold true to his word. Maybe Jennika was wrong.
Maybe Storm had gone through a lot of growth since they were together.
CHAPTER 19
STORM
Saturday morning arrived with the first break of sunlight we’d seen in weeks. It streamed through my bedroom windows and painted everything in a blinding glow that forced me to shield my eyes when I first tried to open them. Grumbling about the brightness and my aching balls from so much arousal last night and no happy ending, I threw off the covers, swung my legs over the side of the bed, and leaned forward to bury my face in my hands and rub at my eyes.
While I sat there, I contemplated how long it had been since I’d spent time with a woman like I had with Laila last night and not gotten laid. No memories came to me.
Last night had been the first.
No part of me had wanted to leave last night. However, I’d given her my word that I wouldn’t stay, and going back on that felt more wrong than leaving with the biggest hard-on I’d ever had.
I hoped that at the very least, Laila was up and enjoying the sunny morning as well as all the hotel amenities. We didn’t have to be at tonight’s event until close to eight o’clock, so she had ample time to spend enjoying the hotel spa and pools.
What I’d have given to be there enjoying those amenities with her. Hell, who was I kidding? If I’d stayed the night, we’d still be in bed, tangled up in each other. I’d have my fingers inside her, my tongue in her mouth, my cock at the ready. Just the thought gave me another erection. “Fuck off.”
My boner ignored me.
Desperate to relieve the pain, I had to take myself into the shower. Under the rain shower of hot water, I closed my eyes and pictured Laila’s naked body pressed firmly against mine. For a moment, I was able to pretend I was back there under the stars, breathing her in, feeling how soft and supple she was all over, aching to fill her up.
My cock strained.
I let out a low growl.
When the climax came, it brought with it a wave of relief. It wasn’t the sort of payoff last night would have been, but it was enough to get me through the day. How I would endure sitting beside Laila at the fashion show tonight, however, I had no idea. The thought of being close to her stirred excitement inside of me that I hadn’t felt in ages.
Or ever.
It was only nine in the morning. I had almost twelve hours to go until tonight’s event and I knew the day would be nothing short of sheer torture if I didn’t find a distraction from my thoughts about Laila. So, knowing the best thing for my body, mind, and hormones was a workout, I changed into my gear, hopped in my car, and raced off to meet Luke at his gym.