Taken by Storm Read online

  “I didn’t expect it to be so loud,” she murmured. “We never had weather like this in California.”

  “That’s because the smog cloud covers that city like a blanket,” Devin teased.

  “I lived in the valley so the smog was nowhere near my place.” She smiled and his heart gave a little jump in his chest.

  “So, Cali-girl, why did you move to Florida? What’s your story?” Devin asked.

  He watched her busily make pallets for them to sleep on out of the thick down comforters and blankets.

  “My parents are kind of the hippie types and I wanted a change,” Callie explained. “I never fit in with Valley girls. My dad is well off from his work with technology but no amount of money makes those girls accept people. I tried for a while to fit in, then didn’t much care. So I used some of my trust and bought this place and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

  “Well then that’s absolutely great you followed your heart,” Devin replied. She shook again when the wind whipped something against the house and it shook. He noticed that she put them to sleep with a space between them.

  “So what about you?” Callie asked.

  “Military life is in our blood. My dad, grandfather and great-grandfather were all soldiers.” Devin shrugged. “I always knew this was what I wanted.”

  “Is there a Mrs. McKay and little mini-McKay’s waiting for you to get home?” she asked.

  He laughed. “Nope, not a one. Are you testing it out to see if I’m single, Ms. LaRue?”

  There goes those lips, Devin thought as she pursed them to mask her irritation. He made a vow to taste those lips at some point. He wondered how she would feel if he asked her out on a date after the hurricane crisis was over.

  “I’ll have you know, your relationship status is no concern of mine. I was just making conversation,” Callie said.

  “So proper. Is that the preppy California girl I hear coming out?” Devin couldn’t help but tease her.

  Her response was to throw a pillow at him and he caught it easily. She settled in on the bed she made on the floor and got between the blankets, pulling them up to her neck. Devin moved from next to the fireplace and moved to where he would be sleeping. The comforters smelled like lavender as he settled in. Tiny flopped down next to his master with a loud sigh. The noise of the hurricane outside grew louder and Devin flipped on the radio to see if there were any weather updates.

  “Anita is making her way across land at a sluggish rate. We won’t be having a quick blow from this weather system, Anita plans to stay around and dump as much as ten inches of water inland and more along the coast. Flooding is not just a possibility, it’s a fact. Florida is just now getting the brunt of this storm. The next few hours the wind gusts will be well over one hundred miles an hour up to one fifty. Please seek shelter, do not venture outside trying to take pictures.”

  “Who would be crazy enough to try to be out in this?” Callie asked.

  “Trust me, there are some idiots who do it. We had to break up at least four hurricane parties on the beach and in a coastline hotel,” Devin answered and lay back. He threw his forearm over his eyes. “People don’t have the common sense God gave a duck sometimes.”

  “The noise is horrendous. How long will it last?” Callie shuddered and he watched her wrap the blankets tighter around her.

  “It could be more than twenty-four hours. This hurricane is as big as Katrina was and we saw what that did,” Devin murmured. She didn’t say anything and he moved his hand to look at her. She looked pale under her chocolate skin and her eyes were wide as she stared at the flashes of lightning that came through the cracks in the wooden shutters. He sat up and faced her. “Are you okay?”

  “I—I’m fine,” she said weakly.

  “We’re going to be okay,” he said comfortingly.

  “You just said it just like Katrina. I saw the news wh—when they were trapped, downing,” she whispered. “I can’t swim and I’d drown…”

  He could hear the panic begin in her voice. Something had to have happened in California that gave her such a phobia about water. He knew soldiers who couldn’t swim and this kind of panic was not usual.

  He sat up and faced her. “Hey, hey, you’re not going to drown, I won’t let it happen. The water won’t come up. I swear it. You’re on a hill and a good walk from the beach.”

  “How can you swear to something that nature…?” She shook her head and took a deep breath. “I won’t drown, I won’t be underwater again.”

  Devin took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. “What happened, Callie? How did this fear get hold so tight?”

  “High school. And you were right, it was a prep school.” He felt her shudder. “The girls, I wanted to be in their clique and they wanted to initiate me and all I had to do was to meet them at the pool at the school. I was so scared and they held me under until I felt the water choking me… They ran and didn’t call an ambulance. The pool keeper found me and resuscitated me.”

  “Mother of God, tell me they were arrested or something,” Devin said. He’d heard of hazing in the military, but then, he’d also heard that female hazing was ten times worse.”

  She shook her head. “No. We were all juveniles and the school called it a prank that went wrong. They were expelled but then their parents bought them back in with a big donation to the school. My father is a man who believes in non-violence but he was livid when he found out. He pulled me out and took away his funding. It cut them deep but not deep enough to care. He let me choose my school then and I went to public school and it was tons better.” She looked at him. He could see the terror in her eyes. “I can’t go through that again, the feeling, the sound of water in my ears.”

  He pulled her into his arms and held her tight. “You’re safe with me, Callie. Nothing will happen to you.”

  She stayed in his arms and then began to pull away. Devin didn’t want her to leave his embrace just yet but he let her go all the same.

  “I’m fine, sorry for breaking down like that,” she muttered and swiped at her eyes.

  “You’re scared. No one is blaming you,” Devin said. “We can sleep closer together and I’ll hold your hand.”

  “I don’t need to lean on anyone,” Callie said.

  Devin didn’t pay attention. Instead he grasped the blankets she lay on and pulled them to him. She gave a small squeak but he was satisfied they were now closer together. “We’re going to lay down and sleep and I’m going to hold your hand.” She opened her mouth to argue and he put up a finger with one hand and clasped her small hand in the other. “Eh—you don’t get a say. Go to sleep it’s going to be a long night.”

  “Well—well that’s completely loutish,” she sputtered angrily. But she still lay back, much to his satisfaction.

  “I know it is,” he said and did the same.

  He felt her grasp relax over time and knew she was finally asleep. A spitfire, he thought with a smile. She hated letting him into that piece of her life that started her fear. It made Devin wonder about her all the more. He found that he was caressing her fingers with his thumb and stopped. Then, with a shrug, he started the movement again. It comforted him to hold her hand as well, and while the wind and rain roared its fury outside, he fell asleep. Sometime in the middle of the night she’d turned and ended up in his arms. Devin opened his eyes and he was lying on his side holding her and outside was silent. He stared down at her face relaxed with sleep and those lips that called to him slightly parted. She was amazing, gorgeous. Not in a supermodel kind of way that seemed to put together and fake, Callie was a natural beauty that he was unable to resist. Devin leaned his head down and pressed his mouth against hers. She kissed him back drowsily until he lifted his head. Her eyes fluttered open and then widened when she saw him over her.

  “What are you doing?” she asked breathlessly.

  “Giving into temptation,” he said silkily. “You were kissing me back.”

  “I was asleep!” she gasp
ed.

  “So you were dreaming about kissing me?” he said. “Either way, it was definitely sparks worthy.”

  “Why is it so quiet?” Callie asked. “Is the storm over?”

  “It’s the eye. It’s all well and good for about an hour then we get the outer bands until it passes over completely.” Devin explained and teased. “Now answer the question, were your dreams filled with images of my body?”

  “Don’t fool yourself, I was not dreaming about you,” she replied and he grinned at the starch in her voice.

  “Let’s see what happens when you’re awake,” Devin murmured.

  His head descended to her and he took her lips again. This time it wasn’t a slow, easy kiss but a smoldering heat that bloomed from them both. The calm of the storm outside had nothing to do with the swirl of passion that encased them. Lord she tasted good. It was a swift thought that left as quickly as it came. She slipped her tongue into his mouth and tangled with his. Devin groaned loudly and molded her body to him, sinking into her taste. He never knew passion to take hold of him like this. He wanted her right then and there writhing beneath him as he sank into her over and over again. He pulled away roughly and tried to take a breath to bring his thoughts into focus.

  “Don’t stop,” she moaned.

  “God, we have to. I can see myself fucking you senseless right now,” he muttered.

  “I’m not stopping you, I’ve never felt like this before,” Callie replied.

  “Maybe you should,” Devin said softly, searching her dark chocolate eyes. “You don’t know me very well.”

  “Callie LaRue, twenty-six. I own the Starlight Bed and Breakfast. I love my dog and my hat collection. I like to dance naked in my room to an assortment of music…”

  “Dancing naked?” Devin interrupted.

  Callie waved her hand. “It’s my way to de-stress after a long day. Let me finish. I love chocolate, I make a mean blueberry muffin, I love cooking, baking, and in my rooms I have floor to ceiling bookcases which are full of books and I’ve read them all. My favorite color is orange and I like violets. Now you.”

  Devin was grinning by the time she was done and followed along the lines she did. “I told you about my family being career military, I love football and I watch the Army-Navy game each year religiously. I’m thirty-four, I live alone in an apartment close to base, I like to eat so I’m glad you like to cook and I can do it too. I’m a mean griller so summers your taste buds will cheer in pleasure.”

  “So this is not a one-night stand thing?” she said.

  “I don’t do one-night stands,” Devin responded. “If I take you tonight you’re mine.”

  He meant every word and she beamed a smile at him. “Then we’re two perfect strangers who connected in a hurricane. I have one more thing to tell you.”

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “I’m kind of a virgin,” Callie said in a rush. ‘It shouldn’t mean anything, but hey, I know how some men are when they think a woman is not experienced. I’ve had a few dates end because of that little tidbit… You’re not saying anything. Okay, I turned you off, I can go back to my blankets and we can pretend…”

  “Callie, shut up,” Devin murmured. “Two kisses are all it took to make me want you. Being a virgin just makes you all the more precious.”

  “Really?” she whispered.

  “Definitely,” Devin said. “Now let me kiss you again, because I’m craving your taste.”

  “Mmmhmmm.”

  He felt her fingers trail along the back of his neck and scalp before pulling his head to hers. Their kiss was hot and intense and he felt her working the zipper of her sweatshirt to get it off.

  He stilled her hands. “No, sweets. This is your first time and I get to unwrap my gift.

  She was silent as he kissed her neck and then she gasped as he sucked the tender flesh. Her little responses were going to drive him crazy, because the tiny moan that came from her lips when he cupped her breasts made his cock ache. He finished the zipper for her and stripped the sweatshirt off her shoulders. The thin cotton T-shirt came next and he bared her dark skin to his heated gaze. She was perfect. He’d never seen skin so creamy as he kissed her shoulders gently. He trailed his lips down to her to torso and kissed the indent of her navel and worked her sweats off her legs, taking her panties with them. The only thing that was left was her socks. He could see the little hearts on the pink fabric and decided to leave them on her feet. He took a mental picture of her and saved it in his memory under the file “Callie naked”. It was the most erotic thing he’d ever seen.

  “Come kiss me again. I miss your lips,” she urged softly.

  “I’m going to get undressed and do just that,” he said.

  It was the quickest he’d ever got out of his uniform in his life. He thanked God he never put his shoes back on because the ache to have her was fierce and he would have cut the laces down the middle to get them off. Outside he could hear the wind begin picking up again and he hardly paid it attention. When his hand touched her heated skin and their lips touched, he was lost in the things that made her. Her scent surrounded him and the way she rubbed her leg against his drove him to distraction. Devin set out to make him hers and brand their bodies together.

  The thunder outside couldn’t hold a candle to the sound of his blood rushing in his ears. She tasted like sin, the most decadent dessert, and he wanted his fill of her. She was curvaceous and her body dipped in all the right places. He trailed kisses down her neck and to her plump, full breasts. Devin lifted the heavy globes to his mouth and sucked the tantalizingly thick nipples into his mouth. She arched against him with a tiny moan that drove him wild. He gave both breasts the same attention until it seemed the tug of his lips was the cause of her hips rising to press against him intimately.

  He wanted more of her and trailed kisses down her torso until he reached the mound between her legs. He inhaled the sweet musk of her before teasing her with one little flick of his tongue against her clit. He groaned at her taste and felt her body tense at the first contact of his mouth on her snatch. Her breath caught in her throat and her hips shifted restlessly. Devin wanted to build her need until she was screaming his name, then he would take her. Callie was impatient and moved again, lifting her hips to invite him to lick her again. He chuckled and pressed an open-mouth kiss against her snatch. He delved between her thick pussy lips with his tongue.

  Callie whimpered, “It feels so good. I want more.”

  My God! Devin closed his eyes and looked for patience. Was she so innocent that she didn’t understand how her words enflamed him? He moaned as his mouth played with her. The taste of Callie brought out a primal need in him so fierce that he buried his face between her thighs. His tongue roamed hungrily and penetrated her moist core. At the onslaught of his mouth she ground herself against his face, seeking relief.

  “Oh I feel like I’m reaching for something and I can hardly stand it,” she moaned.

  Devin raised his head and looked at her wild eyes filled with desire. “Let go, Callie. Don’t fight it and let me taste you come.”

  He began his hungry ministrations of her body again, feeling her shudder and tremble as he sampled her pussy. Her body arched and tensed as an orgasm claimed her. She came and her juices flowed, much to Devin’s delight. He licked as her juices flowed, his groans of pleasure at her taste filled the air.

  “Oh, what was…?” Callie asked breathlessly. “I feel like I’m made of jelly. Is it always like that?”

  “Lord I hope so,” he replied. His breath was just as labored when he raised his head from between her legs.

  “Is it bad that I want it to go on, Devin?”

  He chuckled. “There is more to come, sweet Callie.”

  She gasped as his fingers trailed on her pussy, up and down in slow movements meant to enflame her. He watched pleasure play across her face before her eyes closed and her lips parted. Her hips rose, trying to seek more from his touch. Devin rubbed over her clit the
n teased the entrance that she longed for him to fill. Her body shivered again, under his control. She tried to move her body to get his fingers buried deep inside her, yet he only circled, teasing the sensitive flesh.

  “Do it,” Callie whispered and a tortured moan escaped her lips.

  “What are you asking me to do?” Devin wanted her to ask for the pleasure she was seeking.

  “I don’t know. I want the aching to stop but still keep going,” she said breathlessly.

  “Tell me to fuck you with my fingers.” Devin’s voice was raw with desire. He was the first to take her to this plain of pleasure and it aroused him all the more.

  “Devin, fuck me with your fingers,” Callie pleaded.

  “Look at me, let me see you come,” he ordered.

  She opened her eyes and he looked into their smoky, chocolate depth. He swore that desire made her lips fuller, her body sexier. Callie was his feast. Devin slid his finger into her slick opening, so very slowly until he had it buried. He didn’t want to hurt her but feeling her pussy clench around his digit was driving him crazy.

  He kept that slow pace until she begged. “I need more!”

  “Ssssh, baby, soon. Just feel.”

  Devin kissed her hard and penetrated her mouth, imitating the movements of his fingers. Callie writhed against his hand that was giving her pleasure and cried out his name as she clutched at his arm. He watched her fall over that crest and she pressed her face against his chest as her body trembled. He could watch her come over and over again. He lifted her chin so he could kiss her deeply and her response was almost frantic. He ran his hands along her body, memorizing her by touch, and groaned when she took his shaft in her hands and stroked him. Unable to resist the building ache to be sheathed inside her, Devin covered her body with his own and molded them together.

  She wrapped her legs around his lower legs and he could feel her wetness against his cock. He reached between them and positioned himself at her entrance and slowly slipped inside. Her body tensed as if waiting for the pain. He bent his head to her breasts and sucked the tight nipples one after the other until she whimpered and he took himself deeper into her moist snatch. She was too damn tight and he took his time entering her. With the pad of this thumb he rubbed her clit until she moaned his name her hips bucked against him. Devin gave into his need and with one final thrust sheathed himself into her tight snatch. He kissed her while he waiting patiently until her body accepted him.