A Promise of Thunder

bared to the sun as he worked on his cabin. The sight of a half-naked Grady, his bronze muscles taut and slick with sweat, nearly always sent her pulses spinning out of control.
    “How is your cabin coming along?”
    Storm spun around, dropping the buckets she had just filled at the river’s edge and spilling the water onto the ground. “Must you sneak up behind me like that?”
    “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I always move quietly; comes naturally, I suppose.”
    “Look what you’ve made me do,” Storm said crossly.
    Scowling up at him, she nudged an empty bucket with her booted toe. Only then did she get a good look at him, and she gasped in dismay. He was shirtless, as usual, and pantless as well. The brief breechclout he wore left littleto the imagination. Storm’s eyes settled briefly on the taut piece of deerhide stretched across his loins before flying back up to his face.
    “I can remedy that easily enough,” Grady said, picking up the buckets and walking down to the river bank.
    Storm gulped and tried to look away when he bent over to draw water. A goodly portion of his taut buttocks was exposed, and the sight thoroughly unsettled her. When Grady completed his task and turned around, her face had turned a dull red. When comprehension dawned, he gave a soft, mocking laugh.
    “Does my body disturb you?”
    “I—no, should it?”
    “You make a terrible liar, Storm Kennedy. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were an untouched maiden. Did you never admire your husband’s body? Or explore his flesh in ways that made you both burn with desire?”
    Storm was appalled. “Why—I—how dare you suggest that I—I—participated in such depraved activities!”
    Grady cocked a dark eyebrow. “Depraved? You were a married woman, Storm. What is depraved about desiring your husband? Or pleasing him and being pleased in return?”
    “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His explicit questions were flustering her. She had no idea what he meant.
    Aghast, Grady stared at her. The notion that Storm’s husband hadn’t taught her the meaning of passion was inconceivable. Was BuddyKennedy too young and inexperienced to appreciate her woman’s body and what it was capable of?
    “How can that be? Did you find no enjoyment in the marriage bed?” He stared at her lips, mesmerized by the soft, pink flesh, parted slightly in shock. They begged for his kisses, and Grady’s need to taste their lush contours was so pressing it obliterated every moral instinct he possessed.
    Reeling in shock, Storm sensed his intention too late to turn and run. Actually, she wasn’t sure she would have fled had she known what was coming. Instead, her eyes widened as his arms slid around her, letting her feel his need as he pulled her close. When the look in her eyes changed from shock to confusion, Grady asked, “Can you feel how much I desire you?”
    Storm nearly fainted from pleasure. The feel of his hard body against her much softer one was a new experience. Of course she and Buddy had embraced, but never had she felt the pressure of his need branding her through the layers of her clothing. Buddy had been a gentle, thoughtful lover, ever mindful of her delicate sensibilities. Lovemaking took place only at night, under the cover of darkness, not during the day when emotions were laid bare in the daylight. Wasn’t that the normal way of things?
    Suddenly Grady was kissing her, his tongue tracing the soft fullness of her lips before covering them completely. She was shocked at herown eager response to his kiss, and her mouth parted in protest. It was all the encouragement Grady needed as he pressed her closer and slid his tongue between her parted lips. Abruptly his lips grew hard and searching, seeking, demanding, leaving no room for protest as his tongue explored ruthlessly, leaving Storm gasping for breath. Never in her eighteen years had she experienced a kiss quite like the one bestowed on her by Grady Stryker.
    Storm tried valiantly to escape the confines of Grady’s arms, but to no avail. The gurgling sounds she made deep in her throat seemed to increase his arousal as his kiss deepened, until she thought she would die of pleasure.
    She hated the feeling.
    She loved it.
    She wished he would stop.
    She wanted it to go on forever.
    It wasn’t Buddy.
    It was the thought of her dead husband and the knowledge that Grady was giving her more pleasure than she’d ever experienced with Buddy that