There was just somuch. Catastrophes around the world we couldn’t do shit about. Catastrophes wecoulddo something about, but that somethingfelt so small that we rarely did even that. The daily grind of bills to pay, work to do, people to care for. A never-ending stream of things vying for our attention. I felt like I was constantly running as fast as I could, even though in actuality, all I was doing was standing still, staring at my phone.
There wasn’t a single part of my body that didn’t hold on to the effects of that, of treating every ding of my phone as life or death, wondering if that DM was going to be a floral arrangement inspired by one of my designs or a dick pic. My shoulders ached. My back spasmed. My stomach was constantly twisted in knots. And the funny thing was, I hadn’t realized any of it.
I hadn’t let myselffeelany of it.
Until now.
A week without Wi-Fi—only using my phone to listen to audiobooks before I went to sleep and checking the burner phone once a day for an update from Hector—and I felteverything. It hurt, but a good kind of hurt. A tingly, achy feeling, like sticking your hand in hot water after you played outside in the snow without gloves. My body coming back to life.
The clouds hid the stars, but I didn’t mind. The brewing storm had its own beauty. Wind whipped at my cheeks, and I tugged my hair loose from its bun so the wind could have its way with that, too. Maybe I really was smack in the middle of a mental breakdown, because I kicked off my Uggs so they would stay dry,tossed Jeremiah’s borrowed coat onto the rocking chair, and left the safety of the porch.
The sky grew darker. I didn’t hear thunder or see lightning, but I could sense a sudden shift in the air as the storm bore down on me. A cold drop of rain splashed against the crown of my head, followed seconds later by another one on my shoulder.Here comes the storm.
I closed my eyes and lifted my face to the rain.
8
JEREMIAH
Fucking hell.
Nothing could have prepared me for the sight of Lennon Graves out in the summer storm wearing nothing but skimpy shorts and a tank top, the outline of her body limned in gold from the light shining through her cabin window. She stood there with her face tilted to the sky as if she were offering herself to the gods. I took what they couldn’t, my gaze eating up every part of her.
She knew I was there, even though she didn’t look at me. I came this way at the same time every morning, doing a quick pass by the guest cabins to make sure all was well before heading to the pastures to bring in the horses. Ever since Lennon’s first morning here, when she told me not to sneak up on girls in the dark, I hadmade sure she could hear me coming. She’d learned a lesson from our first encounter, too, and always had her coat on when I came through. Truthfully, every morning I told myself she wouldn’t be out here, and every morning I hoped she’d prove me wrong, and she had.
But today…today I’d felt like a fool stomping along, knowing there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of Lennon being out in this storm. With the rain coming down in heavy sheets, I hadn’t even hoped for it.
Yet here she was. Her tanned skin was slick with rain. Rivers of it dripped from her raised chin and sluiced down her throat, following the ridge of her clavicle down to the full slopes of her breasts. I wanted to trace the path with my tongue, lick up every drop that disappeared into her deep cleavage.
No coat. Her shorts seemed to wither into nothing more than underwear, and the thin cotton of her tank top turned sheer. She wasn’t wearing a bra. I could clearly see the dusky outline of her areolas and peaked nipples. My cock stirred because I had thoughts about licking those, too.
Thoughts I had no business having.
What the hell was wrong with me? She was a guest here. People came to Mercy River for healing, not depravity. I didn’t trust her, and that was all the more reason to stop imagining the taste of her nipples in my mouth. A decent man would look away, but Gabrielcould have blown his trumpet to summon us back to heaven, and I would still be standing here, staring at Lennon’s breasts.
Fuck, they were magnificent.
“Lennon,” I rasped, my throat the only dry thing left on the planet, which was fucking unfair given the circumstances.
I had felt attraction. Lust, even. But I had never known what it truly meant tothirstuntil now, and this woman was all that could quench it.
She looked at me then, blinking the raindrops from her eyes. “Hey.” Her voice was barely audible over the soft roar of the rain pelting the dirt.
She ran her hands over her hair, past her ears, down her neck, squeezing the water from her skin as she went, and then left her hands there, cupping the sides of her throat. Her elbows pushed her breasts together.
Could a man die from this? It felt like I could die from this.
“Lennon.” I exhaled her name nearly against her lips. When had I gotten so close? I had no recollection of crossing her yard, but I was already unzipping my trench coat, opening it wide, and wrapping her inside with me. The rain streaming down the brim of my hat would have hit her upturned face, so I took it off and held it over her head. “What are you doing out here in the storm, honey?”
Her gaze lifted to my hat and then slowly lowered tomy face with a baffled expression. She rested her hands on my chest, her fingers fiddling with the top button of my shirt. “I wanted…”
A raindrop fell from her nose to her bottom lip, and her tongue peeked out to swipe it up. My vision tunneled until that pink, plush mouth was all I could see. I might have made a sound, a quiet, needy groan. I hoped to everything holy she hadn’t heard me.
She shivered. Her wet body had soaked through my flannel, but I tightened my fist on the placket of my trench coat and pulled her closer. Too close, maybe. With her hips flush to mine, she felt every hard inch of how she affected me.
Her eyes widened, but then her lips tilted into a wry smile. “I wanted to play in the rain. What about you? Why are you out here?” Her voice turned sultry as she leaned in. “Do you want to play with me, Jeremiah?”
Fuck yes, my dick screamed, which was why my dick wasn’t in charge of me. What was more alarming was that every cell in my body agreed with it. My gut was normally reliable at keeping me out of trouble—and hell, Iknewthis woman was trouble—but right now it was flashing nothing but green lights.
