A Promise of Thunder

that Laughing Brook wants you? She wants to be your wife. She expects it.”
    “Why can’t you accept the fact that I don’t desire Laughing Brook in that way? It was wrong of her to deliberately hide your note, but I can’t find it in my heart to hate her. She’s been like a mother to Tim since Summer Sky’s death.”
    “How do you feel about me, Grady?” Storm asked bluntly. “Do you love me?”
    Grady opened his mouth to say the words Storm yearned to hear, then closed it abruptly. He had loved Summer Sky and she had been taken from him. If he bared his soul, what assurances did he have that loving Storm wouldn’t destroy her just as it had Summer Sky? What he feared most was losing Storm. He had tempted the Gods these past years by living on the fringes of the law, and now that he had a second chance at happiness he feared his love would harm Storm just as it had destroyed Summer Sky.
    For the first time in years he was frightened of the evil forces that had controlled his life. Frightened for Storm’s sake.
    Besides, Storm had never expressed love for him; quite the contrary. She despised him for the kind of life he had led and for the violencethat followed him. The passion they shared was something neither of them had counted on. If he never had anything else from Storm, he would have her passion.
    “My God, Grady, don’t you feel anything for me?” Storm cried, turning away. “I’ll pack my things and leave. I won’t hurt your parents by remaining where I’m not wanted.”
    “Not wanted?” Grady repeated, swinging her around to face him. “I’ve always wanted you. I’ve never wanted anyone like I’ve wanted you.” His blue eyes glowed with a savage inner fire and his expression was fiercely possessive. “I’ve always prided myself on my ability to control my needs and emotions. But with you all my resolve and willpower flees like leaves before the wind. I have no need for pretty words and vows. My actions demonstrate what I feel for you.”
    “Your actions merely tell me you are a virile animal whose lust cannot be controlled,” Storm said. Grady winced but did not contradict her.
    “I don’t deny it, sweetheart,” Grady said. The intensity of his lowered voice sent a thrill of apprehension down her spine. “I cannot control myself where you’re concerned. Call it lust or whatever you like, lady, just know that you’re mine and you’re going to return with me to the homestead when I leave Cheyenne.”
    She answered quickly, over her choking, beating heart. “You’ll have to be more convincing than that.”
    Grady’s face went slack with disbelief then flushed with pleasure when he realized what her words implied. Without further hesitation he swept her into his arms.

Chapter Eighteen
     
    Storm experienced the same hot breathlessness she felt every time Grady touched her. The air around them seemed to be thickening, vibrating, turning dark with emotion. With an efficiency of movement Grady released the fastenings on her dress and bared her breasts. His lips lowered slowly until they were hovering over the exposed flesh swelling in avid anticipation of his next move. His breath was so warm she could feel her skin sizzling from the contact. Though he hadn’t actually touched her breasts they felt heavy and full, the nipples engorged by the sweet abrasion of his breath.
    “You’re trembling; are you cold?” The smile in his voice told her he knew exactly what made her tremble.
    His lips touched her flesh.
    She made a strangled sound and involuntarily arched upward.
    His warm wet tongue slashed over her right nipple. Made ultrasensitive by her pregnancy, the sensation was exquisite. When he shifted to caress the other nipple, Storm groaned in sheer delight.
    Grady raised his head and looked deeply into her eyes. “Your body has missed me.”
    “I have no control over the response you force from my body.” No matter how much or how often Storm tried to deny her feelings, her body betrayed her.
    “Am I convincing enough yet?”
    “I’d rather you told me how you felt.”
    “And I’d rather show you. I’ve missed you too.” His head lowered and his mouth closed on her left breast.
    Storm gasped as the strong suction of his mouth created a fire in her blood she hadn’t known since she left Oklahoma—pulling, drawing, his teeth gnashing on the engorged nipple. The heat he was creating became a tingling ache between her thighs. Commanding the last of her dwindling