Free Storm the Author's Cut by Vanessa Grant Page A

looked up at him. The moon was gone, but the clouds were lighter than the black of the stormy trees. She could see the silhouette of his head. He looked down at her and she felt the heat in his eyes. Ken, she thought, almost desperately, but she couldn't get the image fixed in her mind. She reached her hand up to touch Luke's hair. The rough curls moved between her fingers, tickling against her palm. She didn't know if she pulled his head down, or if he bent to touch her lips with his own. He kissed her so gently that her mouth trembled beneath his. When he drew away, she could not move. Then his fingertips traced across her back, down her arms and he pulled gently on her blanket.
    "Go into the water," he urged her. "You'll be cold here." He moved his hand to the belt around her waist. She covered his hands with her own, her heart pounding.
    "It's dark," he said gently. "I can't see you."
    He'd come to her in the dark, leading her away from the cliff, saving her from her own painful memories, from the terror and the guilt. With the storm starting to rise again around them, she knew that only he could keep her safe from the memories.
    She stood, moving away from him, slowly unfastening the belt herself. She could see him only as a black outline when he stood, but she felt his gaze through the dark as she let the blanket slip to the ground.
    "Can you see me?"
    "No, but I have a very vivid imagination!" There was laughter in his voice, and desire.
    What did he imagine? She unfastened the front of her bra. The storm raging in her made her wild and wanton. She tossed the flimsy undergarment to him, knowing how it would inflame his imagination. When she slipped her panties off and moved to the water, she knew that he would follow. She knew, too, that she needed him to follow her—needed him to shield her from the darkness and the storm.
    She felt her way to the edge of the pool, curling her toes in the fine sand. It was hot, almost as hot as the blood that throbbed in her veins. She worked her way into the deeper water. She sank down, leaning against the bank, letting the warmth seep into her.
    "It's lovely. Warm." The wind blew down, rippling the surface. The warm waves lapped on the surface of her breasts like the caress of a man. That other lonely island where Shane had died faded from her mind.
    Luke's shadow was long against the sky as he discarded his jeans and moved towards her. Her body burned, as if he touched her.
    She should be thinking of Ken, but she could not believe in tomorrow—or Ken—or anything but the dark form that stood outlined against the sky.
    "Come in and find out how good your imagination is."
    The night was black and he was only a silhouette, but she knew every movement. She knew when his foot touched the water and she knew he was moving towards her. When he came near her, she could see only the outline of his head against the sky. When his lingers brushed her arm, she trembled violently.
    His fingers stayed, grasped her arm. "You're not still cold?" The wind drove the warm waves against their bodies.
    "It's you. You make me tremble."
    "Do you know what you do to me?" He touched her face reverently and she knew exactly what she did to him.
    When she felt the warm pressure of his mouth, she opened her lips to him. His lips moved on hers, teasing against her, nipping her tongue gently when she moved it against him. His fingers kneaded her shoulders gently.
    She ached to touch him. She moved her hands in the dark, finding his chest. She ran her fingers over his smooth muscles, sensing the damp hairs with her palms. With her hands, she explored the ridges and curves of his torso, palms tingling with the feel of his skin.
    "Can I do that, too?"
    He was going to touch her breasts.
    "Yes," she whispered.
    He must know how she ached, but he taunted her gently, lovingly, moving his hands down her arms, gently across her midriff. She trembled, gripping his shoulders with her hands. His hands moved under her