Taming the Storm (The Storm 3)

He ducks his head, stepping into my space. “You never replied to my text…after she kissed me in front of you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, so I went to the trailer to find you. I literally just sat down, and I was checking my cell. The next thing I knew, she was half-naked and on me. Then, you were there.” He stares deep into my eyes. “It was that quick, Ly. I didn’t get a chance to react.”

I look at him, assessing him. I actually think I believe him.

“And if you had…the chance to react?”

He moves closer, so close that I have to tilt my head back. The scent of him overwhelms me. I feel my body teeter.

“Then, I would have pushed her off, told her it wasn’t happening…because I’m with someone…you.” His hands cup my face. “I made an error in judgment, waiting there with her, but that was my only crime. I didn’t betray you. I wouldn’t. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a cheat.” His fingers brush my cheek tenderly. “This arrangement…this commitment I’ve made to you—to most people, I know that exclusive fuck buddies might sound like a laughable commitment, but to me, it’s big. It matters. You matter…to me. I care about you.”

He cares about me.

I curl my fingers around his wrist, closing my eyes, as I soak up his words. “I care about you, too,” I admit softly.

Emotions overwhelming me, a lone tear runs down my cheek, and Tom catches it.

“I would never willingly do anything to hurt you, Ly.”

I lift my hand and place it against his red cheek. The cheek I hit.

I’ve never hit anyone before, not even Dex after catching him with Chad.

So, why did I react like that from seeing Tom with her?

“I’m sorry I hit you.” I give him a sad smile.

“Don’t,” he says roughly. “No sorry, no regrets.”

Then, he’s kissing me. But there’s something in this kiss, something different…something more.

Tom wraps his arms around me, holding me tight.

I melt into him.

Lips close to mine, he says, “Would it be inappropriate to say that I really need to be inside you right now?”

A smile takes over my lips. “Since when have you cared about being inappropriate?”

“Good point. Come with me.”

He leads me by the hand. We stop a little farther on by a large stage panel marked, Entry Point. Wear Hard Hats Upon Entering. Employees Only.

Tom lifts up a latch and pulls open the panel, which I now know is a door.

A door which will take us under the stage. The stage that currently has a band performing on it and a few thousand people watching out front.

“Here?” I blink up at him.

“Yep.”

“Is it…safe?”

“Are you interested in safe?” His darkened eyes stare deep into mine.

Mouth suddenly dry, I shake my head.

“Then, come with me.”

Bending his head, he steps inside.

Excited by the danger…by him, my trembling legs follow him.

The space is limited. Tom can’t stand straight. His head is dipped forward. We’re surrounded by scaffolding and the thumping of bass and drums and singing.

Tom closes the door, plunging us into total darkness.

I shiver.

Then, I feel Tom press up against me, his warmth infusing me.

His fingers trace a path down my arm. He takes hold of my hand. “You okay? You’re shaking.”

“I’m fine.” I smile even though he can’t see it.

Just shaking in my boots because I’m so turned-on that it’s borderline ridiculous. This is what you do to me.

Tom’s hands come up to either side of my neck. Pushing out, he slips Cale’s jacket off my shoulders and down my arms until it hits dirt. Then, he removes the off-the-shoulder black top I’m wearing, leaving me in just my bra. His hand goes to my back, and he pulls me in close. His deft fingers creep down toward my ass. Then, I feel him touching my panties through the tear in my shorts.

Crap, I forgot all about that.

“Um…Ly, you do realize that you have a massive rip in the ass of your shorts, don’t you?” A lone finger is moving up and down the huge hole in my shorts, grazing the crack of my butt through the thin fabric of my panties. “Are you going for easy access with this look? Not that I’m complaining.” He slides his hand inside and grips the edge of my panties, moving it aside, so he’s just touching skin.

A shiver takes me over as he caresses my ass.

“No. I bent over, and they ripped. That’s why I went back to the trailer, and—”

Tom cuts my words off with a kiss. Swift and fast.

“Don’t,” he breathes.

Then, I feel a change in him, and I know this ride is about to get rough.

Just how I like it.

“Turn around,” he says gruffly into my ear.

Doing as he says, I turn slowly on the spot.

He presses up against my back, and his hands run down my arms until he reaches my hands. “Bend over.”

I do as he asks.

Tom is still holding my hands. He places them on a metal scaffolding bar in front of me. I can feel the vibration of the music playing above through it. “Hold this, and don’t let go.” His voice is commanding in my ear. “You let go, you don’t get to come.”

“Okay,” I say, breathless with anticipation. My body is sizzling.

Then, I register the song the band above is playing. It’s a cover version of “Thought I’d Died and Gone to Heaven” by Bryan Adams.