Thunder and Lightning

Bev’s insides coiled tight. Her heart skipped a few beats and that lone tear building in her eye crested the rim and slid slowly down her flushed cheek.

“Maybe it’s for the best.” How that could be, she didn’t know. When two people were this deeply connected, how could they simply walk away from each other?

Damn it.

She’d never faced this problem before because she’d never allowed it to happen.

No. That was totally wrong and she knew it.

This problem had never been an issue for her because she’d never met Cane. Until now. Apparently even immortals could have soul mates and he was hers. As sadistic and painful and detrimental as it was. He would always be the one to fill her heart and soul and mind. And she would spend an eternity remembering this night. And long for him. Pine for him.

She choked back a sob, lifting her head to face him. “This is so much more complicated than you can imagine. I came to Savannah to start over. But I can’t do that with you. For reasons I can’t explain, it’s just…I can’t.” And damned if the tears she’d never shed before didn’t flow like rivers from her eyes.

Cane’s arms wrapped around her. The rain outside sluiced down the windows in sheets, like the tears that streamed down her cheeks. As though the heavens and Tlaloc were weeping with her.

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His lips pressed to her temple before he said, “Just take a deep breath. We’re trying to move heaven and earth in one night, Bev. We’ve got to slow down. Think this through. Figure it all out.”

She sucked in a healthy gulp of air, held it, let it out slowly. She was shaking from the inside out and knew he was right. They were moving so fast. But wasn’t that the way of it when you knew exactly what you were doing, knew exactly what you wanted?

They wanted each other. They’d embraced that realization tonight and had thrown themselves into the moment.

And then so much more had transpired.

Her eyes scanned his too-handsome-for-words face until they locked with the obsidian stones that would forever haunt her. “You’ve been so worried about hurting me. I could do the same to you.”

No need to explain it’d be emotional not physical pain. The sheer size of him was evidence enough.

Nodding his understanding, Cane said, “We both have secrets.”

“Yes.”

“Something we don’t want to tell the other.”

“No.” She stared intently at him. “Something I can’t tell you. For good reason. A really good reason. I’d give anything to change that, but… It’d only make things worse, I think.”

His jaw clenched. “Is there someone I need to know about?”

“Oh god, no.”

He looked wholly relieved. But only for a moment. New tension darkened his features. Not necessarily over the wall she was erecting between them. It was because he had his own wall to build. She could see it in his eyes. She felt his regret deep inside her. A painful inevitability enveloped them. Whatever his secret, it was as significant to him as Bev’s was to hers, regardless of relative terms.

“Let’s deal with this tomorrow,” he said. “I’m not usually one for putting things off, but… If we’re at an impasse right now, maybe we just need to let it lie. And besides,” his fingers skimmed over her cheek and he added, “I don’t want to waste a second with you, Bev. I want to touch you and taste you and love you.”

Her lids fluttered closed. Her heart constricted. Her pussy clenched tight. He affected every inch of her inside and out. Physically, emotionally. On levels she’d never known existed.

Giving a slight nod of her head, she said, “I don’t want to waste a second with you either.” Her eyes opened as she added, “I want you to touch me and taste me and love me too. And you can’t even imagine how I intend to reciprocate.”

He groaned. Then his lips pressed to hers and everything seemed right again. She could let the inevitable fall by the wayside tonight. What mattered most was the time they had together.

She kissed him in return, passionately. Giving herself to him as though they had an eternity to love each other. She wouldn’t hold back. If one night was all they could share, then she intended to make the most of it.

When he leaned against her, pressing his front to her back, she inched toward the mattress. Still partially on her side, not quite on her stomach, she allowed him full access to her body. One hand slid around the side of her that hovered over the mattress and cupped her breast. The other hand moved between her legs, fingering her in the way that drove her wild. Teasing her clit with a slow, circular motion, then delving deep into her wet pussy.

“I want you to come again,” he mumbled into her ear. “And again. And—”

“And you know what I want.”