Riding the Storm - Brenda Jackson [54]
She turned when she heard a knock at the door. “Look Lisa, there’s someone at the door. I’ll talk with you later. Bye.”
After hanging up the phone, she glanced at the clock on the wall, then crossed the living room to the door. It was late, after midnight. The only reason she was still up was because she had taken the morning off for her physical at the fertility clinic. Since her appointment wasn’t until nine, that meant she would get to sleep late.
She knew before she got within a foot of the door that her late-night visitor was Storm. That would explain the reason her heart was beating so fast and her senses were getting heated. She tried forcing her conversation with Lisa out of her mind. Her best friend was wrong and she wasn’t afraid of anything, especially a serious relationship with Storm. She merely chose not to have one.
“Who is it?”
“Storm.”
She quickly opened the door and he stood there, staring at her. His eyes were dark, intense, and she immediately recognized the look in them. Her lips curved into a smile. “Hi.”
He returned her smile and the heat infiltrating her senses kicked up another notch. “Hi, yourself. The card game ended and I wasn’t ready to go home.”
“Oh?”
“I had to see you, Jayla.”
A teasing glint shone in Jayla’s eyes. “Okay, you see me. So now what?”
He slowly took a couple of steps forward, and she took a couple of steps back. When he was completely inside the house, he closed the door behind him and locked it. He walked the few feet over to her, cupped her shoulders in his hands and pulled her to him, her mouth just inches from his. “Now this,” he breathed against her lips.
Then kissed her.
As soon as their mouths touched, Storm felt something hot rush through his bloodstream. The scent of Jayla, as well as the taste of her, was getting to him and the only thing he could think of doing was devouring her, making love to her. Suddenly, some emotion that he’d never felt before flared within him, almost bringing him to his knees, and he finally acknowledged it for what it was.
Love. He loved her.
Storm drew back and stared at her for a quick second before his mouth came back down on hers again. His hands were everywhere as he began removing her clothes, and broke off the kiss just long enough to remove his own. Then he swept her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom.
What should have been a no-brainer had been hard as hell for a staunch bachelor like him to figure out. The reason he had wanted a relationship with Jayla had nothing to do with them being great together in bed, but everything to do with emotions he hadn’t been able to recognize until tonight.
He was in love with Jayla Cole. She had caught more than the eye of the Storm. She had captured his heart.
Ten
A nchoring himself above Jayla on his elbows, Storm looked down at her and smiled. Dang, she always looked beautiful after experiencing an orgasm. What more could a man ask for than to be right there to experience each one with her.
He sighed deeply. Now that he knew he loved her, he had to figure out a way to get her to fall in love with him as well. First, he would have to gain her complete trust, and then he had to make sure she clearly understood that he was her Mr. Right and wanted a long-term relationship with her, one that ended in marriage. A smile curved his lips. Yeah, that’s what he wanted, Jayla as his wife.
“Why are you smiling?”
He met her gaze. Her eyelids were heavy and her cheeks had a sated flush. Leaning down, he brushed a kiss across her lips. “After what we’ve just shared, how can you ask me that?”
As usual, everything had been perfect. The way their bodies had come together while a trail of fire had blazed between them. It was a fire he hadn’t wanted to put out, but instead had done everything within his power to ignite even further, to make it burn out of control.
And it had.
By the time he had entered, she had been delirious with desire, begging breathlessly for him to make love to her; she’d been a she-cat, clawing his back and nipping