Rainstorm (The Perfect Storm Book 1) Page 6

  That innocent face, combined with a body made for sin.

  And my body was more than ready to accept any challenge she made.

  There was no need to look for anything or anyone more beautiful than her. She was breathtaking.

  “Tell me about yourself.” She turned her gaze on me but before I could reply, she continued. “See? I’m an idiot, that’s such a stupid, bland, generic question to ask anyone. Let me amend it, tell me how you ended here in the city of angels, being a fancy executive in a big company.”

  “Oh baby, there is nothing fancy about my job.” She laughed at my reply. “I grew up on a farm, I think I told you yesterday, and I like to use my hands, get them dirty...”

  God, I swore I saw her squirming on her chair. Maybe imagining the things I could to her with my big hands? Easy, doll, all in good time. Let things come to the boil slowly, no need to rush. I’m here, I’ll always be here. She didn’t need a crystal ball to be certain of that.

  “What about you? How did a girl like you end up on television, delivering the weather forecast?”

  “By accident.” She shot me a sassy grin as she explained. “I was working as a junior production assistant, a lowly minion just bringing the coffee, running errands, that kind of thing. Then, one morning Arlene the weather girl didn’t show up. I happened to be there, they were desperate, and because I’d watched her closely and knew what was required, they threw me into it. It was meant to be just for the day, but somehow I’ve ended up still there almost two years later. A case of being in the right place at the right time I guess.”

  “You might have landed there by accident, but it’s no accident you’re still doing the job, Rose.” I’d never watched the show, but if she was half as charming on TV as she was in person, I didn’t doubt the audience loved her, bearing in mind Zeph had told me that my own mother was a huge fan.

  “How do you handle being in the public eye?” I asked next.

  She laughed at my question.

  “We live in a city full of real public figures, so in this big ocean I’m a very small fish, and the paparazzi are mostly too busy pursuing them to be bothered about me. Other than the occasional picture or small article, I have a very private, quiet life.”

  I just nodded although I didn’t agree with what said. She wasn’t in any way a small fish. She was a hidden treasure.

  A pearl.

  And I was eager to be the shell that protected that pearl.

  ☂☂☂

  Minutes turned into hours and we were hardly aware of the time flying by as we learnt about each other. I was captivated with her sweetness, her charm and her determination.

  But I was also surprised to learn that she had carpentry skills, which set off a whole new train of thoughts about us getting down and dirty together in the sawdust, with her all sweaty as she moaned and cried out my name.

  But however graphic my horny fantasies might be, I knew we needed to get to know each other better, set our bases first, and the restraint was taking all my willpower.

  As we drove back to her house later that night, my determination faded as I breathed in her alluring perfume and was bewitched by her gorgeous smile.

  It seemed as if the gods were daring me to make her fall as hard for me as I was falling for her.

  My body primed, my mind screaming for me to act, still I had to be patient if I wanted to build on the foundations of our promising beginning. It would take time to plan, to imagine, to create... time to set stone by stone. Nail by nail. Time to be confident the entire structure wouldn’t collapse.

  I wanted to take that time with her.

  Time to raise a new wonder.

  That’s what my head said.

  However.

  My heart thought otherwise. It was swimming in lust. Drowning in desire. Starving for her.

  The warmth of her small hand beneath my much larger one while I drove had my gut screaming that I should make a U-turn, head to my place instead of hers.

  But a woman like her deserved time. Time and dedication.

  Just as she patiently invested time with her restoration projects, I should follow her lead, be equally as patient, invest time in building our relationship.

  At least while my willpower remained intact.

  But every heartbeat made it fade.

  I was torn.

  So…

  My resolve.

  Disappeared.

  All those sweet little touches and caresses just weren’t enough. The beast inside me was ravenous, roaring with anticipation, desperate to come out of its cage and play.

  Her delicate fingers absently grasped mine while she quietly hummed along with the song playing on the radio, her voice soft and melodic, as enchanting as she was, just sheer perfection.

  I was mad for her, putty in her hands, and at the same time strong, whole, feeling more of a man than I ever had before.

  So fucking confused.

  By the time I cut my truck’s engine outside her house, I’d made a decision.

  Patience be damned.

  Seize the moment.

  I was ready to make the next move.

  She walked a little ahead of me, hips swaying, dancing at her own pace. Mesmerizing me.

  By the time we reached her front door, I was more than ready to throw down my resolution to proceed slowly and instead let my body take control.

  Craving a kiss, my mouth was dry, my muscles tense. But I knew that if I kissed her, I’d want more. So much more.

  With every step I took up the stairs, the lust inside me grew stronger.

  At her door, she toyed with her keys, looking for a reason to linger, to put off my departure. That was all I needed to push me over the edge.

  “Fuck it.” I took her face between my hands. Restraint be damned. I needed her!

  It wasn’t passion. It wasn’t lust. It was pure need. More than physical need. A magical casting.

  Our breaths mingling.

  Orange and mystery.

  Longing and lust.

  Urge and desperation.

  My forehead dropped to hers as I wrapped my hand around her slender waist, holding her close.

  Souls seeking out their partners.

  A groan of pure need left my chest as I tilted up her chin, then slowly, almost painfully, brushed my lips across hers.

  Sparks.

  All around us.

  Blazing.

  Everywhere.

  Burning my skin, igniting the gunpowder of my desire for her. Of my need. Her tongue dancing with mine, caressing, stroking. Every time deeper, every time sweeter, every time determined. Yes, determined for this night never to end.

  To make her mine.

  The kiss changed, no longer soft, no longer gentle.

  Demanding.

  My heart drummed in my chest, fast and hard.

  My lips traced the elegant line of her throat.

  Oh, the things I wanted to do her.

  “Come home with me,” I murmured. My hips ground against hers, my rock hard dick proving I was more than ready to claim her as mine.

  “What?” She was lost in passion, drowning in a rain of kisses, dazed in a storm of cravings.

  “Come with me, come to my house,” I pleaded, already certain that just one night with her wasn’t going to be enough. “Spend the weekend with me.”

  “I’m not sure...”

  A kiss, my mouth chasing after her excited pulse. Fast, voracious.

  “Go and get ready, Rose. Come home with me.”

  “Chase, I don’t know...” But I do, baby. I know. I know you’re special. That’s the reason I want you so bad. So don’t worry about falling, I’ll be falling right alongside you.

  My soul begged, my whole being pleaded with her silently between kisses and harsh breaths.

  “Please. Just come with me, babe.”

  My hands searched under the hem of her dress, exploring her gorgeous body, playing with the tiny scrap of lace at the apex of her sexy legs.

/>   Ready to make her moan.

  A magician showcasing some of his tricks. Enrapturing his audience.

  My very exclusive audience.

  I just wanted her.

  Alone. To myself.

  For hours and hours.

  In the shadows of my bedroom. In the steam of my shower. In the brightness of my living room.

  In every corner of my life.

  And then the light shone.

  Not in my imagination. In reality.

  The light by her door came on as it suddenly opened.

  “I’d say five minutes is plenty long enough to say goodbye, wouldn’t you?” a male voice announced, startling us.

  Rose screamed, startled, as I instinctively covered her body with mine.

  Her fucking brother.

  I’d been caught like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar.

  “What in the hell are you doing here, Neil?” Rose yelled from behind me. I glanced back at her to see flushed cheeks and fire burning in her golden eyes.

  “Making sure you get to bed safe and sound,” replied her brother smugly. “And alone.”

  Looking at my girl I was almost afraid for him.

  “Oh yeah? What’s it got to do with you anyway?” She rolled her eyes, her feet tapping the floor with annoyance.

  “Well, Dad’s not happy about any of this either,” her brother proclaimed.

  “I swear to God, Neil, if you aren’t out of here in five seconds I’m gonna tan your backside and don’t think I wouldn’t.”

  “I’d like to see you try, shorty,” he retorted.

  If I’d not been so wound up, the situation would’ve been quite funny, watching the siblings bickering, just the way I had with mine, growing up on the farm.

  “I don’t need any of this shit, I’m a fucking adult, for God’s sake,” she yelled again. “Tomorrow I’m looking for a place to move out. This is just ridiculous.”

  I was about to speak when she turned to me.

  “And you can just shut up. We have business to conclude.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” What the heck was I to say?

  I told you I grew up with four older sisters, so I sure as hell knew when to hold my peace.

  Rose strolled into her apartment, shoving the door so hard her brother stumbled back.

  “There you go.” She returned with a baseball bat, apparently ready to hit a home run.

  With her brother’s head, I imagined.

  Her poor brother lost his nerve at the sight of that.

  Run, Forrest, run!

  Neil beat a hasty retreat from the apartment, leaving me with my fuming goddess.

  So the night wasn’t ending yet, and I was more than ready to deal with my angry beauty.

  Chapter 7

  Rose

  Present day

  I never believed love could be so cruel.

  I never thought happiness could be so ephemeral.

  I trusted. I gave all of myself. I invested the most valuable thing I had.

  My entire soul.

  No, it wasn’t an investment.

  It was a bet.

  And I’ve lost the bet.

  Now I’m feeling like a big loser, a big failure. I’m defeated. I’ve lost the battle.

  Leaving everything I had behind the closed door of my house. Bringing with me a suitcase full of nothing. Not a single thing in there is important. Just material goods. All irrelevant, replaceable. I could live without every single element in there.

  What is the point of all these possessions, when the only thing I truly want, the only thing that can erase this pain, remains behind that door and does nothing to stop me leaving?

  Divorce.

  A word with the strength to break promises.

  The capability to annihilate dreams.

  The power to steal the air I breathe.

  I have often heard people say that calm comes after the storm.

  But, how do you survive while the wind parches your skin?

  While you are there waiting in silence for the water to reach past your neck and drown you?

  You own the sunshine, I used to say.

  And everything changed when I found my sky reflected in the blue eyes of the man I fell in love with.

  I built my home on the clouds. Foolishly trusting love would be enough to keep my world floating, flying. Our hearts soaring.

  I set my life around him. Gravitating to him. He was the planet I orbited around. Now, I’m being pushed toward an immense black hole, and it’s sucking me in. Sending me to another dimension.

  To a reality I didn’t believe existed. I still don’t want to believe it.

  I want my life back.

  What am I going to do with my life when I can’t even find the damn keys of my car in this stupid purse? My hands are trembling so hard that I can’t even undo the zipper to find them.

  I’m lost in a whirlwind, a storm of questions.

  Questions I don’t have the answers to.

  Why has he changed this way?

  What happened?

  What did I do?

  What didn’t I do?

  Where did I go wrong?

  Where did I fail so badly?

  Was it because I’ve changed?

  But he has changed too.

  And these feelings, the total and utter confusion, just keeps growing. Because all around me was perfection. Utter perfection. We had it all— didn’t we?

  And he got tired of that?

  He got bored living in our little bubble?

  Or it was the prospect of having children that freaked him out? Damn it. He said he wanted to be a father. He said he was ready for the responsibility.

  He said he wanted to see our kid growing inside me.

  Was that all bullshit?

  Just a few hours ago I thought our situation had a solution.

  I thought I had everything and at that point I still did.

  Until that word ended my world.

  Divorce.

  I’ve been living a fantasy. A stupid childish fantasy.

  I don’t want to feel this pain.

  I can’t handle it, it’s too much.

  Shattering me.

  Destroying me.

  Damn Chase.

  Until death tears us apart... what a lie!

  I remain frozen by the car, unable to move, crying a storm, my heart torn and my head full of questions tormenting me.

  I have no idea what my next step is going to be. But I do know that I need to focus and pull myself together, even if I don’t know where I’m going once I leave this parking lot. Maybe I should have accepted Chase’s offer to stay at the townhome, but I just couldn’t. I don’t think my heart could have handled that. Being at that house, spending my day being ghosted by what we had together would kill me.

  A slow and painful death.

  Is there any escape from this?

  It would have been like living with a stake piercing my body. A bleeding wound, a constant dagger in my side not ever letting the pain recede, torturing and tormenting me.

  Although I did not have any say in this break up, I will from now on. The days when I let my husband do everything for me are over.

  No more.

  It’s time for me to take control of my destiny.

  But that is easier said than done.

  Should I go to a hotel? Or should I call my parents and go back to Los Angeles to stay with them?

  But I just can’t.

  I’d never hear the end of their lectures, since they never agreed with my decision to leave everything I had to be here with my husband. I gave up a promising future in front of the television cameras, because I believed I had an even brighter future with my husband. Back then, I didn’t care what they said, because I was in love. ‘Where you go, I will go’, and all that shit we said at our wedding, which I can’t even let myself think about right now. All I know is that I would have gone to the end of the world if he had asked me to.

  Now I’m al
one, and I need to do this for myself. Although I’m just two hours away from my parents, it feels more like there’s a whole ocean between us.

  I just can’t go slinking back to them.

  Defeated.

  Destroyed.

  Divorced.

  I don’t doubt they would support me, but they’d never understand how I feel. I don’t want any lectures, I have enough with my own doubts and fears.

  I’m certain about one thing though, and that’s that I need to get out of here. Now!

  But I still can’t find my car keys. I’ve searched through my purse without success and now I’m at the point of throwing the entire contents out on the floor. I just cannot find those damned keys.

  Roselynn, did you leave them back at the house?

  In my desperate hurry to get away from Chase, I didn’t pay attention to minor details, like needing the stupid car keys to be able to get in the stupid car and leave.

  Dammit. I’d gladly break the window with one of my heels, but that won’t help, not when the car won’t start without the key fob.

  I’m about to start kicking the chassis in frustration when a hand on my shoulder startles me.

  “Roselynn?” a gentle voice murmurs, as if I were some kind of wild animal needing to be calmed. “Are you okay?”

  I turned around to find a pair of green eyes staring at me with concern, looking puzzled and worried.

  Ariel.

  “Where are you going?” she probes. “Whatever’s wrong, you can’t drive like this, you won’t even make it as far as the corner.”

  Ariel takes a deep breath before continuing with her questions. Questions for which I have no answers.

  “Roselynn is everything okay?” she asks. “Where are you going with those bags?”

  “I need a cab,” I snap, my voice sounding harder than I mean.

  “No, honey, what you need is a linden tea and someone that will listen to you.”

  That sounds wonderful, but... as much I love tea, it won’t fix this problem.

  “I just want to go...” I can’t even finish the sentence.

  “Problems in paradise, huh?” It’s a rhetorical question. “Come on, let’s go to my place, get you calmed down. Seems to me you need more than just a cab.”

  Even though I don’t really want to, I find myself following as Ariel picks up my bags and takes them to her small apartment over the parking lot.