Page 27 of Securing Jane

Storm inhaled deeply through his nose when he got a look at her face. Her lips were pink and swollen, and she licked them as she stared back. He wanted nothing more than to push her against the table behind them and rip her jeans off and gorge himself on her essence, but that would’ve been going a bit too far.

She smiled as if she could read his mind. “Bucatini,” she said. “I also picked up a bottle of red wine. Meiomi…it’s a pinot noir that’s popular northeast of us. I think you’ll like it.”

“I’m sure I will,” Storm said, doing his best to bring his body under control.

Jane nodded and started to take a step back, but Storm stopped her. He liked her plastered up against him. Liked that he could see her hard nipples under her pink shirt. “I’ve never felt like that before,” he told her.

She tilted her head in question.

“Like if I didn’t get inside you in ten seconds, I’d lose my fucking mind,” he said. Storm knew he was being crude, but he couldn’t stop long enough to try to find more polite words. “I don’t know what it is about you, but you’ve crawled under my skin, and I don’t want you to leave,” he admitted.

“It’s been a long time for me,” Jane replied. “I’ve weathered a lot of storms in my personal life, but I honestly didn’t expect them to last as long as they have.”

He recognized the line from their favorite movie, but didn’t interrupt.

“But now that I’m finally seeing the light, that Rose and I have some semblance of a normal relationship again, I’m ready to see if I can be selfish and concentrate on me for a while.”

“So I’m what…some sort of liberation for you?” Storm asked, confused.

“No!” she said immediately. “That’s not what I meant. I had the thought that I’d date men who wouldn’t want anything serious. To experience a kind of sex I hadn’t ever had. But then I saw you…and that was that. I didn’t want anyone else. How could I when you were everything I’d ever wanted in my life? Handsome, considerate, successful, respected, funny… I told myself that you were out of my league. That you’d never notice someone like me. But then you did, and I was on top of the world. Though I’m worried I won’t live up to any expectations you have when it comes to the bedroom.”

Storm couldn’t help it—he laughed.

When Jane stiffened, he shook his head. “I’m not laughing at you, Jane, I’m laughing because there’s no way in hell you can let me down. That kiss we shared was the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. And for the record, I haven’t been with anyone in a really long time either. I have no doubt we’ll be combustible when we get together, but there’s no pressure. I didn’t come over here expecting you to sleep with me. I was looking forward to spending more time with you. To spending as much of my forty-eight hours’ downtime with you as possible. Talking, laughing, eating, watching TV. That’s it.”

“So you don’t want to sleep with me?” she asked, her brows furrowing.

“Oh, I want to,” he said quickly. “But I don’t expect to. How fast things go between us is up to you. But know this…when I do take you to bed, I’m going to want it all from you. No hiding in the dark under the covers. I want the lights on, you spread open for me so I can look my fill. You’re beautiful, and I have a feeling I’m never going to get enough.”

He loved the blush that formed on her face, but more than that, he loved that she obviously craved to be with him in the same way.

“Okay,” she said after a moment.

“Okay,” he agreed. “Now, how about we eat before my stomach makes its disapproval known again over how little I’ve fed it today.”

Jane nodded, and he allowed her to pull away. He followed her into the kitchen and helped her dish up their meals. When they sat down to eat, it was surprisingly comfortable. There was no uneasiness because of their conversation. She laughed with him and happily shared her branzino, just as she snuck pieces of his bucatini.

They talked about nothing and everything. How she liked to collect pretty shells she found on the beaches around the base, how he had a thing for comfortable socks…he hated wearing scratchy socks, or having the poorly placed seams rub his toes the wrong way.

By the time they did the dishes and settled on her couch to watch a Seinfeld rerun, Storm felt even more like he’d known Jane forever. Being with her felt right, as if his favorite old pair of socks had magically been restored to their fluffiness and newness once again.

He only wished he’d found her years earlier, so they’d have had more time to be together.

Chapter Seven

Jane had her head on Storm’s shoulder and was as comfortable as she could ever remember being. It had taken her forever to get to this point with her ex. Yes, she’d been a teenager, but she hadn’t let him kiss her like Storm had until they’d known each other for months.

It was insane. She was a grown-ass woman who couldn’t keep carnal thoughts out of her head, of going to her knees in front of Storm and drawing his zipper down and taking him in her mouth right then and there. She hadn’t even thought that she liked sex all that much until she’d started fantasizing about him. And when he finally kissed her, she’d gone a little crazy, wanting to touch him from head to toe. Thank God his stomach had growled and brought her back to her senses.

But now, they were sitting on her couch watching Jerry Seinfeld try to guess his girlfriend’s name, which he knew rhymed with a body part, and all she could think about was jumping Storm.

She loved that he was being a gentleman and not trying to rush her, but Jane realized she wanted to be rushed. Would he think she was too aggressive if she initiated more than just snuggling?

“What are you thinking about so hard over there?” Storm asked. “And don’t tell me it’s the show, because while Jerry thinking his girlfriend’s name is Mulva is funny, it’s not deep enough for you to have this furrow in your brows.” He ran a fingertip over her forehead, and Jane shivered slightly at the feel of his callused fingertip against her skin.

“I don’t want you to think badly of me,” Jane said.

“Nothing you say would make me think badly of you,” he reassured her.