A Promise of Thunder

began stroking her back in slow, lazy circles, soothing her as he would a child who needed comforting. Grady didn’t press the issue, but deep in his heart he knew Nat Turner was capable of much more than Storm gave him credit for.
    Another streak of lightning blazed a path across the inky sky and a roar of thunder rattled the windows, bringing a new fear to Storm. She clutched at him frantically and buried her head against the solid warmth of his chest.
    “What is it? Are you afraid the men will return?”
    Once again her head moved back and forth in a negative motion as she offered a muffled explanation. “I never did like storms. When I was a small child one of my playmates was struck down by lightning. I couldn’t understand why she didn’t get up. Through the years, myfear of storms has never abated.”
    Grady tried to concentrate on her words, but by now the raw pleasure of having Storm warm and willing in his arms eclipsed all else. The single garment she wore offered little hindrance as his stroking hands tested the suppleness of her flesh beneath the linen nightdress. He felt the softness of her breasts against his chest and knew instinctively that he could never leave the cabin without attaining a glimpse of Paradise. And if he was any judge of emotions, it was what Storm wanted too.
    “Perhaps I should leave,” Grady suggested. “I’m only human, Storm. I can take only so much. Are you willing to test my endurance?”
    Grady’s stroking hands were so soothing, it took considerable effort for Storm to sort through his words. And when she did, she didn’t care that he was asking her to send him away before it was too late. Under no circumstances did she want to be alone. The comfort she found in Grady’s arms was far too pleasurable to abandon. She looked up at him with an astonishingly level gaze, and Grady had to look away, knowing that he intended to make love to her this night yet unable to stop the tide of passion that surged through his loins.
    He wanted Storm Kennedy. Wanted her with an urgency that transcended all reason and thought.
    “I don’t know what you want from me, Grady.” Her voice was shaky and unsure. “Can’t you accept the fact that I don’t wantto be alone and let it go at that?”
    “You’re amazingly innocent for all your bravado, love,” Grady said softly. “I understand your fear perfectly. You’re the one who doesn’t understand what
I
want from
you
. Look at me, Storm.”
    Reluctantly, she raised her head, staring into the incredible blue depths of his eyes.
    “I want to make love to you, Storm Kennedy.” There, he’d said it. She could order him out now before it was too late or …
    Grady’s words were like a caress against her skin. They seeped inside her, bringing a languor that prevented coherent speech. His breath was warm against her cheek, his naked chest and legs hard and unyielding. She felt the ponderous weight and substance of his hunger, so alive and palpable she could almost taste it, and something new and profound opened up inside her. It was almost as if a mystery was about to be revealed to her.
    “Don’t leave me, Grady.” The words tumbled from her lips before her mind released them.
    “Oh, lady.”
    His arms closed around her like steel bands; his hands grew boldly insistent as they made short work of the buttons at her throat. Then she felt his warm lips nuzzling her neck as he pushed her nightdress down her arms to her waist. She gasped as the cool night air puckered the crushed rose velvet tips of her breasts. Another flash of lightning turned darkness into daylight, and Grady raised his headto stare at her bared flesh, his blue eyes startlingly intense. He let his eyes feast on the firm, lush breasts with their impudent nipples until his heart was beating so fast he could scarcely breathe.
    “Oh, lady,” Grady repeated in a strangled voice. “Sweet, so sweet. I knew you’d look like this.”
    He tugged at the hem of her nightdress, eager to rid her of the last remaining obstacle between him and all that he desired, but Storm resisted.
    “Oh, God, I don’t know what I’m doing. This isn’t right. I can’t.”
    Grady groaned, all restraint fleeing in a surge of passion so profound it made a mockery of his Indian training. “I suspect you’ve never been loved like I’m going to love you,” he managed to say. “Don’t stop me now. I think I’ve waited for this moment my whole life.” He tilted her chin up,