Storm took care of me. He saw me. He also made me realize that the people in my life loved me in their own way and took care of me in their own way, like Casey threatening Jennika—I still worried about what she and Lexi had done—or her warning Storm not to hurt me. She couldn’t take care of me in the mothering way I tried to take care of her, but she could show up in her own way. I just had to pay attention.
“What are you thinking about?”
I blinked and shook my head to clear my thoughts. Storm still stood in the entranceway beneath the chandelier, gazing up at me with his hands in his pockets. I’d only climbed five or so steps.
“Everything.”
“Everything?” Storm moved forward and stopped at the bottom step with one hand on the railing. He cocked his head to the side, and his eyes moved up and down the length of my body. “That’s a lot of things for one mind to contend with. I knew you were brilliant, but thinking about everything? That’s just cocky.”
“Not cocky, confident. There’s a difference.”
“Is there?” He climbed a few steps, and I retreated up several more, keeping space between us, desperate to let the moment stretch on. Storm paused. “Are you playing hard to get?”
“Maybe.”
How could I play hard to get with a man who already had me wrapped around his finger?
Storm climbed more stairs. So did I. We continued our little dance until we hit the second floor, where I made off down the hallway ahead of him, mildly confident I’d chosen the right direction. The second floor stretched on and on, breaking off into different hallways that led to different bedrooms.
I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to grow up here as a little boy with no siblings and a cold father. He must have been so lonesome and so bored.
It was a shame because a house like this had the bones to make such a perfect family home. It could hold a big family with lots of happy children. I pictured big family Christmases and all kinds of holidays. I pictured Superbowl Sundays and Easter egg hunts with good food and better company and a half dozen littles ones running around. Perhaps some would be mine, and some would be Casey’s.
Storm nodded down the hall as if sensing I was losing my way. “The last room on your left.”
I moved into the room he indicated and found myself in his bright, airy, fresh-smelling bedroom. Storm came in behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me from behind.
This house didn’t feel like Storm Thornton in any capacity. He’d been living in his father’s shadow at work and at home. If he’d let me, I wanted to help him change that. He deserved a home that was his.
Storm ran his fingers across the nape of my neck, drawing my hair off my back and shoulder so he could pepper my skin with soft kisses.
His lips moved up to my ear. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Laila.”
Storm’s hushed voice and his hot breath on my skin distracted me from my thoughts. I turned in his arms and undid his suit jacket. Gently, I helped him out of it. He draped it on the back of a chair at the foot of his bed while I began slowly undoing the buttons of his navy shirt. Once I reached the bottom, I slid my hands up his stomach and over his chest until I reached his shoulders, where I nudged the shirt off and pulled it free. It joined his jacket on the chair. He watched with hooded eyes while I began undoing his pants.
Once I got the top button open, he leaned in, cupped the side of my face, and kissed me.
I yielded to him, letting his tongue explore my mouth while I pulled his fly down. When I reached one hand into his pants over his boxers and rubbed him, he made a delicious sound against my lips that made me smile.
I wanted to tease him and make him wait. I had every intention of staying coy and seeing how far I could push him, but as soon as I felt him in my hand, I knew I was done for. I needed him. Desperation rolled through me as I pulled his pants and boxers down. They fell around his knees. Storm pulled my dress off. Half naked, I broke our kiss and gazed into his eyes.
Storm’s chest rose and fell with labored breaths, and I’d hardly touched him. “What are you doing?”
I went down to my knees.
He watched me with a fire burning in his eyes as I took him in my mouth.
So much for playing coy.
Storm’s head fell back and he let out a low, deep groan of pleasure. The sound made me feel powerful, and I moaned around his thickness in my throat. His hands sank into my hair, and he held me down before thrusting his hips slowly, working himself over in my mouth, knowing just how far he could push.
I gripped his thighs. Thick muscles shifted beneath my palms with every thrust. My pussy ached with jealousy, wishing she were my throat. I reached a hand between my legs and rubbed myself while he fucked my throat, and the sight nearly made Storm lose all his composure because he shuddered and suddenly pulled me off him.
I wiped my lips with the back of my hand and he dragged me up to my feet for a kiss that had my teeth pinching my lips painfully.
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” I purred.
“Naughty girl.”
Storm spun me around and led me by my hair to the bed, where he threw me down on all fours. I landed face down, ass up.
He slapped my ass, and I yelped.
Storm wrapped an arm around my waist to haul me up so that my pussy was higher up in the air for him. He ran his fingers over me, teasing, and I flinched. His grip around me tightened and he growled at me to stay put.
When he filled me with his fingers, I moaned and bit down on the blankets beneath me.
Oh hell yes.
Storm knew all my favorite moves, and he performed them one after another until he pressed up against my G-spot. He was merciless, flicking his fingers in come-hither motions until I screamed into the blankets and lost control entirely. He patted my pussy as if to tell me I’d done a good job before stepping back and rummaging through his pants, still gathered around his knees, and finding a condom.
Lucky for me, my man always came prepared to the party.
He struggled to pull his pants off with his dress socks and shoes, and ended up doing a hop-skip backward until he fell into the chair. Cursing up a storm, no pun intended, he managed to get his clothes off, but I’d been a bad girl and left my post on the bed to come straddle his lap.
He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed my ass. “I had you right where I wanted you.”
I kissed his lips, his throat, his chest—I kissed every part of him I could reach with my lips and whispered for him to put the condom on. I felt his hands working beneath me, and once I knew it was safe, I sat back, guided his cock inside me, and took all of him.
Storm closed his eyes.
I kissed his forehead, his eyelids, his nose, and his jaw. I rocked in his lap and braced myself on his chest before picking up speed and riding him like my life depended on it. He smothered his face between my breasts and pulled me down on him hard, holding me in place while he bucked beneath me. I moaned and held him to my chest until he stood, his cock still inside of me, and carried me to the bed, where he laid me down gently, the muscles in his arms and shoulders looking particularly delicious as he did so.
I let my fingers explore those muscles while he fucked me deep and slow on my back. Every thrust made my toes curl. I struggled to catch my breath and pleaded for him to make me come.
“I’m yours,” I told him. “Use me. Please.”