My Immortal (3 page)

Stevie’s breath on his skin stole the thoughts from his head. It took a full minute to process her words. Even then, he wasn’t sure he cared about anything other than the woman in his arms. “Why don’t we dance and snap a couple of pictures to send to the current Mrs. Tripp so we can get this job out of the way?” As if to punctuate his question, a throbbing rock song rang from the speakers. “And did I mention
,
you look delicious in red?”

She slid off the barstool. “Thanks.” A blush crept up across her cheeks. “Lead the way and I’ll follow.”

Once they reached the dance floor, Storm spun her in his arms so her back rested against his chest. The scent of alcohol and fevered bodies hung thick in the air. Stevie reached her hand around to twine her fingers in his hair and ground her ass into his groin. He palmed her jaw, turning her head, and kissed her lush mouth. “Ah Stevie, this music makes me want to rush home to fuck you.”

A moment of shock flickered in her eyes as she froze mid-kiss.

He grasped her hips and tugged her closer. “Do you feel this, Stevie?” His erection pulsed against her curvaceous butt. “You do this to me, not a silly bet.
No one else.”

Her lips parted and he captured them in a deep kiss. Heat rushed through his system. He needed a bed, now. Her nails scraped his scalp, but he didn’t care. He wanted her marks on his back, his arms, anywhere she damn well pleased.

A bump from one of the couples in the crowd broke his reverie. He glanced up to see Bruce and Cherylyn knotted up in their own sensual embrace. He snorted.
Shitty timing.
“Spin, Stevie.
Photo time.”

She did as told and stuck a sexy pose by throwing her arm over her head and clutching the strap of her thin cotton dress. Pretending to capture pictures of Stevie, Storm took the photos necessary for the job and a couple extra for himself. So he sounded horny and a bit possessive? By the time he confessed, he wanted her for more than work partners.

A fresh burst of desire flushed his body. His cock throbbed to the point of pain.

He nodded when he finished his handiwork and tugged her close once more. “Let’s get one of us together.” She snuggled against him and pouted for the camera. At the last minute, she turned and planted a wet kiss on the corner of his mouth.

“You want to play dirty?” Storm met her surprised grin.

Stevie crooked a brow. Her eyes flickered with the pulsing light display from the ceiling and a bit of mischief. “Maybe I do.”

He shoved the electric device into his back pocket and captured her lips.

They couldn’t get home fast enough.

What a sweet torment.

Chapter Three

Ten minutes later, when Stevie and Storm stepped out into the brisk night air, Stevie rubbed her chilled arms. The fluorescent parking lot lights glinted off the cars. The throbbing bass line of the club music rumbled the pavement under her feet. She rubbed her clammy palms on her hips and rolled her tongue around her dry mouth as thoughts swirled around her brain.

She wanted to open up and let go in Storm’s arms. At the same time, she fought the baser urge to thicken her defences around her heart.

“Do you mind if I drive?” Storm wrapped his arm around her. “I thought I’d give you a rest for the ride home.”

Stevie cocked her head. Storm never asked to drive her precious car. He always allowed her that little bit of control. She worried the corner of her mouth for a second.

The valet attendant arrived and handed her the keys. Who was she kidding? She trusted the man completely.

Storm wriggled his brows. “So?”

She smacked the cool metal into his outstretched hand. “You can drive, but if you scratch my baby, I will come get you.” She crossed in front of the hood and thanked the attendant as he closed her door. “Don’t forget, I know where you live and the security code.”

Storm threw his head back and laughed. “Is that a threat or a promise? I can’t wait to get you home.”

Stevie plopped down in her seat and drew her legs up. The leather of her boots screeched as she shifted to get comfortable. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t tear her eyes from Storm. He acted so calm and cool. How did a sexy man like him end up partners with an average woman like her? Or how did that jerk put it…a chunky woman. Someone wanted to play a cruel joke.

Storm stared straight ahead as he stroked her thigh and she felt tingles throughout her body. She clenched her teeth to keep from moaning. She’d let her guard down in the club and had to put it back with extra reinforcements. But damn, it felt good to run with her needs and go after the man she wanted. She couldn’t process the whirlwind of emotions as his touch sent shimmers of desire snaking through her system.

The corner of his mouth kinked. “Stevie, tell me if I’m doing something you like. I want to make you feel the way I see you—beautiful.”

Stevie gasped, but any words she tried to vocalise evaporated in her throat. Her cheeks warmed. Dammit. The walls around her heart crumbled with each kind phrase and gesture.

Storm pulled the Camaro to a stop in his garage and flicked off the engine. “Why so surprised with how I feel? I didn’t ask you to grow another head.”

As Stevie stood and slammed the car door, she pondered his words.
I want to make you feel beautiful.
Butterflies fluttered through her stomach as she followed him through the garage. Stevie waited until they stood in his kitchen to give a reply. She needed air and time to think. “You won the bet, but I want a real answer. Are you attracted to me? I know we spend a lot of time together, and it’s been a while since I’ve…you know.”

When he strode across the room, fire blazed in his hazel eyes. The tips of her ears burned as he appraised her body. He cupped her jaw and nuzzled her neck with feather soft kisses.

“Babe, I am so attracted to you, it isn’t funny. I think about you when you leave and fantasise about you every time I close my eyes. Based on the way you reacted back at the club, I’d say the feeling is mutual.”

“You sound like a stalker who needs some time in the sunshine.” To mask her shock, she used sarcasm to wave away his bluntness.

Storm cocked his head and considered her. She wanted to look away from his probing gaze, but found she couldn’t. He not only saw her, but he saw through her to her soul. Everything around them melted into nothing.

His brows furrowed and dimmed the desire radiating from his body. “Who hurt you?”

She fumbled for a reply. Storm never wasted any time getting to the heart of the problem, even if it was the one problem she chose to bury. “What?”

“You compare yourself to all those chicks in the club and you forget every man has his own set of requirements for what makes a woman hot.”

Oh, he meant
that
problem. She chewed the corner of her mouth. A wild idea whirled across her mind. Why not test his desire and give her body the release it needed? He wasn’t those cops and this wasn’t a forced situation. This was two people wrapped up in a torrid wave of passion.

Breathe, Stevie. Breathe.

He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip to quash her answer. “Stevie, I’m a sucker for curves, an enormous heart, and eyes the colour of the sky after a thunderstorm. It seems that you possess all those, and since you’re the only woman I’m interested in, that’s damned special.”

She stepped into his arms and smoothed her hands along his pecs. Her boots clicked on the oak hardwood floor. Stephanie Persing wanted this man more than life itself. “Show me. Show me how much you want me.” She nudged him to the cool steel door leading to the garage.

Never let me go.

Storm devoured her lips in a plundering kiss. Electricity zinged through her veins and the rest of the world dropped away. Stevie yanked the hem of his T-shirt out of his jeans and slid her palms over his taut muscles.

He groaned and cupped her ass, pressing his erection between her thighs. “Let me make love to you on the couch, not thrown up against my garage door. You deserve better than a horny man bent on his own satisfaction.”

She scraped her nails against his pebbled nipples. The straps of her dress dropped off her shoulders, revealing the tops of her breasts. For one of the few times in her life, she felt free and ready to give him whatever he desired, including her heart.

Her reserves of courage fell dangerously low, but she ignored the urge to flee. Instead, she chose to use a snappy comeback. “What are you waiting for? Or did you change your mind?”

Storm unleashed a sound, a cross between a roar and a growl. He scooped her into his arms and carried her to the living room. Once there, he placed her on the sectional couch and yanked his shirt over his head. Inch by inch, the delicious curves of his chiselled torso came into view. She bit back a scream, feeling a bit like Jane once Tarzan decided to claim her.

“Why here?” Stevie asked, toying with her hero.

“Closest,” he muttered and nibbled the sensitive flesh of her stomach. He smoothed her dress down past her hips. Soon the constricting garment lay in a heap on the hardwood floor. Only her bra, panties, stockings, and boots remained. “I wanted you naked, but I don’t think I can hold out that long.”

Stevie hooked her fingers in the waistband of his jeans and unbuttoned the soft denim. His cock sprang free and pointed to her like a beacon. She gasped. “You went commando tonight? A bit presumptuous, doncha think?”

An impish grin twisted his lips. “I planned to get lucky.” Storm pushed her simple cotton bra over her breasts and palmed one globe. Her nipple peaked under his feather-light touch. “Holding you is damned lucky and perfect.”

She wriggled in his arms and caressed his cock against her clit. The touch sent shimmers of delight through her body, concentrated between her legs.

Her brain refused to shut out the thrilling sensations and her common sense told her they needed a rubber.
“Condom.
We need protection.”

Storm fumbled in his jeans pocket and produced a foil packet. “I didn’t forget.”

Stevie giggled and ran her fingernail up the vein on the underside of his dick. “Now show me what you can do with this.”

While Storm slipped the barrier onto his shaft, she draped her legs around his slender waist and groaned. He took the lead from her and used the crown of his cock to tease her pussy lips. She groaned at the myriad sensations. When she wrapped her fingers around his girth, fear and apprehension coiled within her system. He wouldn’t fit.

As Storm licked the sensitive spot below her ear, his breath tickled her skin. “I have to make you more ready for me, sweetheart.”

His words fluttered about in her brain and his tender touches relaxed her body. He rubbed her clit then inserted his fingers into her pussy, making her shiver. Her legs akimbo, she ground against his hand.

“There, sweetheart,” he murmured. “Beautiful.” Positioning his cock at her entrance, little by little, he pushed in and withdrew from her body, stretching her, filling her.

Stevie gasped for breath. She started this charade with her bet. Why did she want to welch out in the middle without seeing the ending? Pain, humiliation, and fear tumbled in her brain. Memories flooded back to her—being held down, her mouth gagged. Why couldn’t her brain shut out that awful night back at the precinct? She forced the thought away and focused on the way he made her feel and forget. No man’s kisses tasted like his.

Stevie groaned. She was in way over her head without a damned life jacket.

The next time Storm slipped into her, he went all the way to the hilt. Stevie screamed, but not in pain. She felt full and light. He cleared her mind.
“Storm.
Oh, my God!”

His thrusts increased and his kisses became rougher. His hand meandered between their bodies. He found her clit and rubbed the heated nub with his middle finger. “Damn, you’re so tight and wet. Just for me. Fuck.”

Stevie angled her hips to match his ministrations. Every ripple and vein in his cock caressed her inner walls. His pubic hair rasped her clit with each push, making her more sensitive and moist. The orgasm built within in her like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Pinpricks of light shone behind her closed eyelids. She cried out as waves of pleasure crashed over her.

A moment later, Storm tugged her hips in the most violent thrust. When he threw his head back, a strangled cry escaped his lips as he came. He collapsed next to her and cuddled her close. “I’m going to crush you, but damn, I don’t want to move.” His heated breath tingled on her sensitised skin. After a few minutes, he held himself up on his muscle-corded arms. “You wore me out.”

Stevie revelled in his warmth and the afterglow of the best orgasm of her life. No matter how strong the instinct to flee, she didn’t want the moment to end. His breath puffed lightly over her cheeks and the heaviness of his lower body only reminded her of thick insulation against the demons in her life. If only for a short time, sex was beautiful again.

She stared at the smattering of pictures on his walls and noticed she was the only person besides him in the photos. Where was his family? Sure, her family life was a mess, but at least she had parents. Would he allow her to become more in his life?
To become his family?