Reflected in the Rain (The Storm Inside)

by Alexis Anne

  “Are you testing me?” I growled as I buried my face in the crook of her neck. The skin from her shoulder to her ear was my favorite to kiss because she always let me kiss her there. And it never failed to make her putty in my hands. Sure I loved kissing her breasts, but it wasn’t nearly as consistent as the neck.

  And I was all about sure things when it came to Eve.

  “Maybe,” she gasped as my tongue hit that spot behind her ear. “Need to make sure I know what I’m getting myself into.”

  “What?” I pulled back so I could see her face. She was biting her lower lip to keep from giggling and her brown eyes were dancing.

  “You know, before I make a life altering decision this Saturday.”

  I shook my head slowly with my eyes locked onto hers, “I guess I’ll just have to convince you then.” That was when I unleashed the tickling. I was merciless, hitting every spot I knew she hated. She laughed and wiggled beneath me, and just for the safety of my manhood, I wrapped my feet around her legs, pinning them beneath me. Then I tangled my fingers in hers, pulling her arms above her head so she couldn’t move.

  “Don’t tickle me like this,” she begged. There was real fear in her eyes.

  “I’m not,” I promised and kissed the hollow of her neck. Her eyes immediately softened then heated, as she realized we weren’t playing games anymore.

  Eve was a lot of things, but she was rarely powerless. Even when the chips were down, she found a way to turn the tables in her favor. She always managed to find solutions to every problem and keep herself from falling behind.

  Except with me.

  She let herself be vulnerable, she allowed me to take control, and most important of all, she trusted me.

  I absolutely loved that it was something she did for me, and no one else.

  So I kissed her again and again until she tried to escape my grasp. I let her go. I didn’t really want to hold her down. I’d rather have her hands on me.

  The second she did, I shuddered. My body reacted to her touch the same way every time. I brushed that crazy hair back from her face and looked into her eyes, “I’d never cheat on you, Eve. I can’t. I’m physically incapable of sleeping with anyone but you ever again.”

  I kept saying the wedding was just a formality, but it wasn’t. It was a big fucking deal to me. It was everything. I’d been in love with Eve for years, but I was constantly amazed by what that meant. It kept transforming into something more, something bigger. Every time I thought I could put my finger on it, and define it, my feelings for her grew deeper and I realized there was a whole other level to being in love with someone. She didn’t just turn me on and I wasn’t just happy when I was around her, Eve had become my life. She was everything to me and I wasn’t sure I could live without her anymore.

  It was crazy to think of it now, but until a few months ago (the night we fought at the hotel in Orlando) it hadn’t occurred to me we could get married. But when Eve finally unloaded her anger and really let me into her mind, I finally saw everything differently. That was when I realized I meant as much to Eve as she meant to me. For some reason, up until that point, I was still convinced I loved her more. I needed her more than she needed me. I was the one at the disadvantage. She could crush me and walk away and still live her life.

  But not me, I knew I couldn’t live without her.

  It hadn’t occurred to me to ask Eve to marry me. Why would she? I would never deserve her. I wasn’t good enough to love her as it was, but then I’d left her. I knew asking her to be my wife was too much.

  But then she yelled and cried, and called me her family.

  That single word meant so much to me. I saw Eve and our entire relationship differently from that moment forward. I finally realized it wasn’t about deserving her—I’d never do that. But I could make her happy. My dream of building a life with her, having a future, and making our own family… it was real. It was something I could have.

  I just had to have the courage to claim it.

  I barely slept that night in the hotel. I wanted to ask her to marry me right then and there, but I wanted to do it right. I was going to plot and plan so I was sure when I asked that question, the only answer I would hear was “yes”.

  My love and fidelity to Eve wasn’t a question for me, and I had absolutely no doubts about her. But the act of making it official, of merging her name with mine and becoming a real family… it was a big damn deal. Ten years ago I could barely imagine a life like this, and now it was real.

  “You’re packed?” she asked, running her fingers through my hair. Every muscle in my body relaxed and I had to remind myself to keep from crushing her.

  “Yep, bag is next to the front door and ready to go. I just need throw a couple of things in an overnight bag and I’m done.” We packed two separate bags. One to get us through our wedding night, and one for the honeymoon. Packing for two and a half weeks was interesting, but it helped that we were going to the Caribbean. Packing didn’t involve much more than comfortable clothes and bathing suits, even in January.

  “I’m not,” Eve frowned. “I’m having trouble deciding which new sexy lingerie to bring.”

  “That is a terrible problem to have, babe. Maybe you should model them all for me again, I can help you choose.”

  She rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Seriously, are you even going to care if I wear lingerie on our honeymoon?”

  I’d wash her mouth out with soap if I thought I could get away with it. “How could you possibly ask that question? Are you insane? That is some seriously hot lingerie.”

  “Well then…” she looked me over and cocked an eyebrow, “I’ll be sure to pack as much as I can. I’d love to see that face a few times on our trip.”

  “This one?” I asked, plastering a ridiculous smile on my face.

  “Yep, that would be the one. Incredibly, undeniably, happy Jake. The most beautiful thing in the world.”

  I kissed her because I didn’t know what to say when she said things like that. It always overwhelmed me so much I was speechless. But a kiss, a kiss I could do. So I tried to tell her how she made me feel with my lips and my tongue.

  “Did you make any plans? I saw you looking at excursions the other day.” I rolled to the side to take my weight off of her and rearranged the blankets. The rain was still steady. It was everything I was hoping it would be. When I heard it was going to rain all night, I pictured exactly this: us cuddled up on the porch, wrapped up naked together listening to the rain.

  “No plans, but I have lots of information so we can pick and choose what we want to do every day. Or not do.” She grinned and bit the corner of her lip. Eve had something very mischievous on her mind.

  “What?” I asked, but she just chuckled.

  “It’s stupid. It’s… a bad idea.” She blushed. The red blotches appeared around her collar bone and streaked up to her cheeks.

  “Oh no you don’t.” I pulled her arms away from her body and ran my hands along her soft skin. “Tell me what you’re thinkin’ darlin’. All your secrets are mine now, remember?” I winked so she’d know I was being playful.

  When she hesitated, I started kissing her neck and nibbling at her ear, moaning and groaning until she was panting, too.

  “I was just thinking… we’ve been so busy with getting things in order… we haven’t had much… fun lately.”

  I pulled back to look into her eyes. I cocked an eyebrow. “Fun?”

  She nodded slowly and attempted to bring the blanket back up around her. I stopped her. “What kind of fun?”

  She blushed all over again, turning even brighter red this time. “The kind you and I like to have.”

  Oh…. Eve wanted to have fun. As in, sneak into a dark corner and let me have my wicked way with her fun.

  “Oh…”

  She smiled up at me and wiggled her eyebrows, “Yeah, oh.”

  I sat up, crossing my legs and planting my hands in my lap. I wanted to see her and really understand whatever evil
idea she’d concocted. “Fill me in, I’m all ears.”

  She sat up too, only pulling the blanket around her waist. She fumbled around and found my shirt again, but left it hanging open so I could enjoy the sight of her breasts.

  “Well, as we are both aware, you and I very much enjoy a certain high-risk level of PDA. And that PDA has been sorely missing from our lives for several weeks now. I miss it, I crave it.” She blushed again. “I was thinking our honeymoon was an excellent chance to rekindle things.”

  My blood was pumping hard, most of it straight to my cock. I was thinking of a hundred things at once (all sexual). Places, scenarios, clothing choices… the list was overwhelming. “I like where your head is at.” She still wasn’t looking right at me. Her eyes were unfocused like she was thinking of something very specific in her head. “Eve, what’s up?”

  Her eyes darted to mine and she chewed the corner of her lip. “I may have a little game for us to try… but it could be stupid.”

  I was pretty sure “sex”, “game”, and “stupid” did not belong in the same sentence together. “Just tell me what it is. I won’t laugh, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  She licked her lips and took a deep breath. My shirt was swallowing her, the sleeves were dangling past her fingers and my collar pushed up into her hair, which was still wild and everywhere. “I was thinking we could each make a little list. Maybe wishes? Or challenges?” her voice dropped at the second suggestion.

  “As in, I get to pick things for you to try to accomplish?” I really hoped that was what she meant, because I really liked that idea.

  She nodded, “Something like that.”

  My cock twitched a little under the blanket. It was entering heat seeking missile mode. All these dirty thoughts of doing it with Eve all over the Caribbean were making it go haywire. “Let’s do it.” I already had a list a mile long.

  Eve on a balcony.

  Eve on the plane. Could we do it on the plane? Did people actually get away with that?

  On a beach, or in the water, or on a hike…

  Smoke may have been coming out of my ears at that point. The male brain can’t handle that much sexual freedom all at once.

  “Alright, well first we should agree to some rules.”

  “Rules?” I was pretty sure I had a perma-grin plastered to my face. It might not come off for a few months.

  “Yes, rules.” She rolled her eyes. She knew I was off on Fantasy Island. “Focus. We each pick challenges. They have to be attainable or it won’t be any fun. And they have to be different.”

  “Agreed. When should I give you my challenges?”

  Her eyes twinkled a little and she smiled. It was the slow sexy kind of smile that made me want to do very naughty things with her. “On our wedding day. I’ll send you my list while you’re waiting to marry me. It will give you something to keep your mind off selling me your soul.”

  I huffed, “I sold you my soul a long, long time ago, darlin’. But I wouldn’t mind spending the day dreaming up ways to make your fantasies come true.”

  She gasped and swallowed. Apparently my words had an effect on her.

  “I hope you’re ready for round two, because I’m coming for you,” I warned a split second before I rolled up onto my knees and prowled across the mattress. When I was over her body and looking down at her sweet lips, I stopped long enough to kiss her before I had my way with her.

  Not that she minded.

  Chapter 11

  ~Eve~

  “You’re doing what?” Jennie gasped.

  We were getting pedicures. Our feet were soaking in glorious hot tubs of water while our backs were being massaged by the machines inside the black chairs we were sitting in. There was soft music playing and the sweet scent of flowers floating through the air.

  Oh, and I was so relaxed I’d decided to tell my best friend about my sex ideas for my honeymoon.

  Brilliant.

  Not that I didn’t tend to share most of my life, including my sex life, with Jennie, but I wasn’t in the mood for her barrage of questions. I was even less in the mood for what was more than likely her list of ideas. Jennie’s ideas were always bad. Just… bad. There was no other way to describe it.

  “It’s not that big a deal. It’s just supposed to be fun. You know, make things a little more interesting.”

  She shook her head, rolled her eyes, and took a long drag of her wine. “Don’t get me wrong, it sounds like a lot of fun. I’m just surprised. You and Jake don’t seem like you need to spice things up.”

  I leaned back against the head rest as the kneading hands of the chair worked my shoulders. “I thought you had me figured out by now, Doctor Jennie. I tend to overcompensate sexually when I’m feeling vulnerable.”

  When she didn’t answer, I looked over at her. She was leaned over the arm of her chair, her chin in her hand, concentrating. “Is this about the ex?”

  Ugh. Ashley. “Probably.”

  “I still can’t believe she showed up on your doorstep like that. What do they put in the water over there?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied, “but it better be the last surprise to show up on my doorstep for a long, long time.”

  “She was really that pretty?”

  I groaned and sunk further down in my chair. It didn’t matter that Jake was mine. And it totally didn’t matter that I was perfectly happy with my own appearance. The other woman in my man’s life was pretty.

  “Gorgeous. I still can’t get over the hair. Who has hair that shade of red? I wanted to stare at it.” No, actually, I wanted to play with it. Every once in a while I was such a girl.

  Jennie flopped back in her seat and made some sort of grunting noise. “Well, Jake always did have great taste. Would it have been better or worse if she was hideous?”

  Did it matter? “I think the bigger issue is what is underneath the red hair, perfect pale skin, and bright green eyes. I swear she is as different from me as possible.”

  “You mean she actually trusts her best friend?”

  Ouch. Maybe I deserved the dig, but did it have to be while talking about Ashley? “For the millionth time… I’m sorry! My party was amazing and you did a great job. I should have trusted you. Thank you and I’m sorry.”

  Jennie was grinning, “I forgive you. You should know full well by now I know you inside and out. I gave you a perfect night for you. I expect the same courtesy when it’s my turn.”

  “Strippers?” Strippers were definitely up Jennie’s alley.

  She closed her eyes and sighed, “Oh, yeah. Give me some hot guys missing their clothes!”

  Maybe I should plan a weekend in Vegas for Jennie. I wasn’t so sure Tampa could handle Jennie’s fantasies. “You’ve got it. I am your slave.”

  “Finally. But seriously, tell me about the bitch. Get it off your chest. I know you’ve got all kinds of crazy suppressed inside.”

  I took another long sip of wine and adjusted the massager to work on my lower back. Sex with Jake last night had been fantastic and sleeping on the porch listening to the rain had essentially been a fantasy come true, but my back was arguing with me a bit more than usual.

  “I don’t know, I barely met her. I just got the impression she was two different people. She wears this mask of sweetness and fragility, but I know that isn’t who she is.”

  “Why?”

  “Sweet and fragile people don’t hold their own with Greg. He eats them for breakfast or ignores them like they don’t exist. He and Ashley can’t stand each other. I watched them fight, her mask is only skin deep.”

  I wanted to tell Jennie why Greg hated Ashley, but it didn’t feel right. I wasn’t sure if it was where we were, or the timing, or what… but I held back that conversation. Maybe I just needed more time to digest it.

  “If she pisses off Greg that much it could be fun to watch them at a party one day.”

  Did Jennie have a death wish? I shot her an evil glare and she held up her hands. “Sorry. Bad
idea…”

  Jennie absolutely hated having her feet touched. She winced and jerked throughout the entire pedicure. “Seriously, you are the strangest person. Why do you get pedicures?” I asked her.

  She shrugged. “I like everything else. And when I’m done I have pretty feet! Besides, you’re one to talk.”

  “Me?” I scoffed. I knew exactly what she was talking about, but I was pleading ignorance.

  “You swore you’d never do it again. Swore. And by swore I mean you cursed like a sailor and called me the worst best friend in all of eternity. And yet here you are…”

  “What?” I asked innocently.

  “I can’t believe you’re doing it.” She shook her head and looked me up and down.

  She could look all she wanted because I was doing it. I’d made my decision. “I’m only getting the bikini done this time.” I could handle it. Last time, many, many years ago, Jennie had convinced me to get a Brazilian bikini wax. She loved them and got them all the time. She raved, went on and on about the virtues and how it really didn’t hurt that much.

  “Who was I dating then? Is it bad I can’t even remember his name?”

  “Brandon.”

  “Ohhhh….. yeah. I remember him now. The guy who liked wind surfing in the bay. He was crazy.”

  Brandon had been handsome enough. He had that blondish—I spend all my spare time outside—tan and rugged good looks. He was fun—that was why I’d dated him: he took me on one wild adventure after another. And he’d had a thing for my lady parts. He raved about them and thought they were gorgeous. I thought his enthusiasm was a bit weird. But we were going on a week-long trip to the beach, and Jennie convinced me I should give Brandon an eyeful.

  Saying I swore like a pirate was probably being nice.

  It had been hell. Why anyone intentionally did that to themselves baffled me. Every time I looked at Jennie in a bikini I couldn’t stop thinking about that experience. Why did it seem so horrendous to me and barely phase her?