Reflected in the Rain (The Storm Inside)

by Alexis Anne

  Greg took another swig of his beer. “Jake told her if she could get Steele to agree to buying him out, he’d sign on the dotted line.”

  Crap. She was still around then. I didn’t like this at all.

  “Cool your jets, Evie. It’s not as bad as it sounds. She’s going through me.” He said it like he was a proud dad, leaning back in the booth and tugging at the collar of his shirt. “Jake won’t have anything to do with her until a deal is worked out. If a deal is worked out.”

  “You?”

  He nodded, “Yep. It may kill me, but I’m taking point. I’ll keep her off Jake and away from you. Hopefully having to go through me means she’ll cut the crap and keep things simple.”

  Somehow I doubted that was possible. “So, what’s the deal with you two?”

  Greg looked away from me and concentrated on his beer. “We’re oil and water, ammonia and bleach, hydrochloric acid and… anything. We just don’t get along.”

  I cleared my throat, “But why?”

  He shrugged his shoulders, “Everyone has their triggers. She is each and every one of mine combined into one crazy… person,” Greg grumbled. “I promised Jake I’d stop calling her names unless she really, really, really deserved it. He made me promise all three ‘really’s.”

  I laughed. “And some of those triggers would be?”

  “Manipulative. Fake. Selfish. She tries to use her looks to get what she wants… the list goes on.”

  I could certainly see how they antagonized each other. Greg was a particular personality as well. As much as he and I got along, those same personality quirks would drive some women, like Ashley, up a wall. Greg was very blunt and liked real people. He loved women… a lot, but he hated fake women. He played with them like fish on a line.

  “Ok, I can see how you two don’t like each other, but it’s more than that.” I was getting to the bottom of this if it killed me.

  He squirmed and fidgeted some more until the waitress appeared and took our orders. We both got burgers.

  “Do you like her?”

  He looked at me like I shot him in the gut. The complete horror showed from his eyes to the thrust of his jaw and the set of his shoulders. “No. God, no. No, no, no. Wash your mouth out with soap young lady.”

  I shrugged my shoulders, “Well, you are squirming and you two act like kids, it was one possibility.”

  He shuddered and chugged his beer. “No, I just…” he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I just don’t know how much to say. Jake is like a brother to me and you’ve…” he actually blushed a little. The pink on his cheeks was completely foreign and kind of adorable. “You’ve become like a sister. I love you two to death.”

  I hopped up out of my side of the booth and slid in next to Greg. He lifted his arm and I ducked under to hug him. “You’re like the brother I never had, Greg.”

  “Better than Tim?” He sounded genuinely hopeful I liked him better than my brother-in-law, then added under his breath, “Please say you like me better than Tim.”

  “Tim would never get into trouble with me like you. He’s more like a friend. You, are my brother from another mother.”

  Greg let out a loud whooping laugh. “I’ll take it.”

  I hoped sitting beside him, where he didn’t have me staring him down from across the booth, would help him say whatever it was he was avoiding telling me. The waitress came by with a fresh pitcher and mugs. It was nice to sit so comfortably with another man I had absolutely no feelings for and no professional relationship with. Greg and I were just friends, plain and simple.

  “I hate her because of the way Jake is around her.” Greg said it to so quietly and calmly, it was bizarre.

  I froze, his words settling around me like ice cubes.

  “I don’t even think he realized he was doing it, but every time she came around, he would regress. It was so weird. One day he’d be fine and dandy; joking around with everyone, happy, working hard. And the next…”

  I was having a very visceral reaction to Greg’s words. The last time I’d felt this nauseous was the first time Jake told me about Ashley.

  “The next?” I prompted him.

  “The next, he’d struggle to get through the day. Ashley seems to have a special ability to bring out the worst in Jake. And it’s a two-way street. He brings out the worst in her, too.”

  “Greg?” He looked down at me, all big brotherly and adorable. “I fucking hate her.”

  He nodded and cocked his head to the side a little, “Yeah. Me too. But you know what?”

  I shook my head, feeling a strange combination of sad and angry.

  “You don’t have a damn thing to worry about. I think the reason he hung out with her as long as he did was because he was lost. You give him purpose and direction, so it really doesn’t matter that she’s suddenly reappeared. She can’t knock him off course like she used to.”

  I liked hearing that. “Greg?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks.”

  Our burgers arrived and conversation veered back toward the ridiculous. “Since the wedding ceremony isn’t until five, I was thinking of sending him on a wild goose chase for most of the day. You know, making up ridiculous things you absolutely needed to get down the aisle? But then your mom yelled at me.”

  “Greg,” I laughed, “it’s an island. A tiny island. We’re going to have enough traffic problems, please don’t lose the groom.”

  He shrugged. “I won’t. Tom and I decided we just need to hang anyway. He hasn’t seen Jake in months and I haven’t seen him in almost a year.” A little flock of nervous butterflies took off in my stomach at the mention of Jake’s uncle. I was surprisingly nervous about seeing him again after all these years.

  “Good plan.”

  We ate some more in silence when I realized Greg was smiling and looking off into the distance. “What are you thinking about?”

  His eyes snapped back to mine. “I was daydreaming. It was glorious.”

  “Gonna clue me in?”

  He pushed around his fries before answering me. “I was kind of… maybe… dreaming about you beating the crap out of Ashley.”

  “So violent, Greg! I would never…”

  He laughed at my lie. “Eve, you have a special place in my heart mostly because of your passion. You take no prisoners. You know what you love and you protect it without question—you are exactly what Jake needs in his life.”

  I kind of wanted to hug Greg again, but I stayed where I was. “Are you suggesting I am prone to fits of violence when it comes to my future husband?”

  He grinned, “Heaven help anyone who comes between you and Jake.”

  ***

  My last full day of work as Eve Daniels was in the books. Thinking about Ashley all day had taken its toll on me. I felt more exhausted than usual and was practically dragging myself through the front door of our house when Jake surprised the crap out of me.

  “Hey darlin’, welcome home.” He was standing just inside the door with an enormous grin on his face, his gorgeous dimple peeking out and his green eyes flashing.

  “Thanks, baby,” I replied, practically throwing myself into his arms. He was warm and strong. He was so inviting I wanted him to carry me upstairs, curl around me, and just sleep.

  Instead, he took my bag from me and set it on the table.

  “Take your shoes off, please.”

  “My shoes?” I asked, even though I was already kicking them off.

  “Yep,” he replied and popped his eyebrows. Jake was up to something. He looked me up and down and frowned a little. “Do you mind taking your pants off? You look too stuffy.”

  Now I frowned. “My pants? Jake, what is going on?”

  He didn’t wait for me—he came right on over and reached for my waist. “Your pants, you should take them off.”

  Was he losing his mind? Normally he’d ask seductively, glide his fingers along my waist and kiss me until I forgot what was happening. “My pants? This can�
�t wait until, I don’t know, I get past the front door?”

  He shook his head at me like I was being difficult. “Fuck it. I’ll just take you like this.” He bent down and threw me over his shoulder.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I yelled and smacked him on the ass since I was hanging over his back. I was laughing as loud as I was yelling.

  “I have a surprise for you. I was simply trying to get you comfortable, but I don’t have time to waste on debates.”

  He took me through the kitchen and out the back door onto the porch. Our porch was wide and covered, with columns and a rail separating it from the backyard. Normally there were large, comfortable lounge chairs and tables lined up along the house, but as Jake walked me outside and tossed me down, I realized he’d rearranged everything. I landed on a mattress covered in pillows and blankets.

  Beside the mattress was a table covered in a variety of snacks and appetizers. A bottle of wine was open and two glasses were waiting beside it. “We’re having a picnic?”

  Jake laid down on the mattress beside me, smiling up at me as he wove his fingers up into my hair. “It is our last night at home for a while. I thought we should make it special.”

  “Oh,” I breathed.

  “Yeah, oh,” he replied and kissed me, his tongue sliding against mine as his fingers tightened in my hair.

  The weather was perfect. A cold front was sliding in from the north, so the temperature had been dropping all day. It would be raining soon and Jake knew exactly what rain did to me.

  I decided I didn’t want to talk or think. I just wanted to let everything go. I wanted to escape inside Jake for a little while, so I let him kiss me until my toes curled, and then I rolled on top of him.

  “I think you are wearing far too many clothes, Mr. Spencer.” I started at the top of his shirt, unbuttoning one after another until his shirt was open. I tugged up his white undershirt and ran my hands along the muscles of his stomach, then hooked my hand around his belt and got to work on his pants. Jake was grinning at me the whole time, his eyes rolling back in his head whenever my skin touched his.

  The rain started to fall quietly, so quietly at first I barely noticed it. Not until there was enough water for it to start dripping slowly from the leaves and the roof above. It created a symphony of noises that seemed to blot out the rest of the world.

  “Take your clothes off,” I commanded as I stood up and finally dropped my pants. Then, with a grin, I took off my blouse and bra, but picked Jake’s shirt back up and pulled it over my shoulders to keep the cold away.

  “Don’t you want to eat first?” he asked, grinning.

  I paused as I pulled his shirt closed around my nearly naked body. “Do you really want me to stop?” I teased back.

  “Oh, no,” he replied with a slow shake of his head, his eyes drinking all of me in. “Get your gorgeous ass down here.” He sat up and tugged on my hand, pulling me onto his lap.

  I straddled him and ran my hands down his bare chest. “Who needs food when there is something this delicious in front of me?”

  Jake laughed so hard he practically bucked me off of him. “Cheesy much? Get down here and kiss me, woman.”

  And so I did. I kissed the hell out of him. I had way too much pent up frustration from the last day. It needed a way out and Jake was my favorite way to exorcize my demons. The deeper we kissed, the more our bodies ground together and with very little separating us, we quickly moved from excited to aroused.

  But the rain was falling harder and the temperature was dropping. Even with the heat generated between us, a chill ran over my skin.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Jake grinned. Then he pulled the blankets up around us, flicking the switch on a heated blanket. “There’s more where that came from if the temperature keeps dropping. I got the space heater out, but I was hoping we could get lost under all these blankets for a while, first.”

  Then he rolled me underneath him, “Or I could just keep you warm with me.”

  I liked that idea. I liked all of it, actually. The blankets were soft against my skin. I liked being lost under the covers with Jake. I never knew what was coming next… a hand, a kiss? Maybe soon he’d let me have some of that erection he had sliding against my skin.

  Just the thought made my body throb with anticipation. As much as I was enjoying being lost in the blankets, nothing compared to being lost in Jake. He could wipe away my doubts and fears, quiet my mind, and relax my body like nothing else ever had or ever would. I craved the peace he gave me.

  So I tilted my pelvis up and let his cock fall between my legs. I loved the way his green eyes lit up and he sucked in a breath. “Excited are we?”

  I nodded and pushed my sex against him. There was an explosion of sensations from the contact of his body against mine. I wanted more so I pulled back and tilted forward again. This time he slid inside, just a little. Just enough for us both to gasp and freeze.

  The rain was falling soft and steady only a few feet away from us, but we were so dry and warm under the protection of the porch. It was like we were in a bubble, just the two of us, safe together from the world. It was like Jake was feeling the exact same way I was because, just as my emotions were starting to get the better of me, he wrapped his arms all the way around my body, holding me close and locking his eyes with mine as he very slowly and teasingly started to make love to me.

  With small strokes he entered me, and with each gentle thrust my body responded. I was wet and desperate for more. I writhed in his arms as my body took over—its needs and desires shut what was left of my brain down.

  “I know you don’t want to talk about it right now,” he gasped, “but I fucking love you.”

  What he really meant was that Ashley didn’t matter. “I fucking love you, too,” I whispered, arching my back and allowing his cock to slide all the way inside me, as far as Jake could go. He was buried to the hilt and his body pressing against my clit made my core pulse.

  “Nothing else feels like being buried inside you, Eve. I would live like this if we could.”

  My eyes were closed, my back was arched, and my hands were dug into the skin of his ass, pulling him harder and deeper every time he pulled back. I knew he wasn’t actually getting deeper inside me, but I liked to think he was. I wanted us to fuse into one being.

  “It might be hard to eat and watch TV and stuff like that,” I gasped, then cried out as he buried himself inside me again.

  “True, true…” he kissed a trail of kisses up my shoulder, gasping and pumping. “But I think I could live with the consequences.”

  “What if we got bored?”

  Jake stopped mid-stroke and looked me in the eye, “Blasphemy. You take that back!”

  Instead, I kissed him again and rocked my hips up to meet his. He groaned and pushed inside me. “Fine, say whatever you want… just don’t stop doing that.”

  I nibbled at his earlobe and lower lip, “We could agree to meet at home for sex every day at lunch?”

  Even that sounded too tedious. I liked the unexpected sex far too much, but I also enjoyed any sex with Jake, so maybe there was no such thing as too much sex.

  Or maybe I was thinking way too much for someone who had a gorgeous man on top of her.

  “Fuck, woman. Shut up and come.”

  “Sir, yes sir.”

  There was no more talking after that, just hands and tongues. Skin on skin. Jake inside me, and my body welcoming him again and again with every thrust, until I felt that rush of electricity sweeping through my body and coiling deep in my belly.

  “Higher,” I gasped. I wanted his cock to hit me right at that bundle of nerves.

  “There?”

  I nodded and jerked as he glided exactly where I wanted him, digging my nails into the skin of his shoulder, barely able to catch my breath as he hit that spot over and over and over. My whole body shook and shuddered as the orgasm detonated at the point where Jake’s cock slid into my body, and washed through every inch of my sk
in, opening up my lungs, and making my heart race. My scalp tingled and my toes curled around his calves as I folded my body around his.

  The rain drowned out my cries, not that I cared if anyone heard me.

  That was a damn fine orgasm.

  Jake was panting and laughing, “That felt good. Was it good?” His skin was covered in a fresh layer of sweat and my hands started sliding.

  “Yes!” I breathed as he thrust deep inside me and his body made contact with my clit. “Do that again.”

  He grinned, his dimple showing and his eyes flashing, “Like this?” he asked, thrusting hard and deep.

  I groaned, my whole body groaned. “Yes, again.” He thrust over and over, I knew it was something he liked as much as I did and I was hoping in a minute we’d both be coming.

  Jake grunted. The muscles of his arms straining and lifting my hips up to meet his, his jaw tightened and his eyes darkened. It was so hot to watch him work inside me. To know it was me and my body making Jake lose his mind.

  He pushed inside me one last time, his cock pulsing inside me. I felt the kick and spasm, and that little movement along with his warm body pushing against my clit pushed me over the edge one last, refreshing time.

  “Maybe we should stay like this forever,” I gasped with my fingers buried in the skin of his ass. “Because this is pretty fantastic.”

  Chapter 10

  -Jake-

  “Give me a kiss and I’ll give you the grapes. It’s that simple.” I dangled the bunch of red seedless grapes from my fingers, letting them sway gently while I taunted Eve.

  She raised an eyebrow and shrugged, “Maybe I don’t want the damn grapes that bad after all.”

  Oh no she didn’t. She was playing with me—no, mocking me. I tossed the grapes and tackled her against the mattress and pillows. She was naked and had the blankets pulled up around her for warmth. But now she had me on top of her again and I wasn’t so sure two orgasms were enough for her tonight.

  Not with the way she was looking. Her hair was a mess, long and dark and ridiculously tousled. It was sexy as hell as it fell over her shoulders and curled against her pale skin. When she looked like this—a combination of relaxed and sleepy and mischievous—all I wanted to do was fuck her over and over and over again.