A Promise of Thunder

Will you take the law into your own hands? You have a son to think about, Grady, and a wife.”
    For the first time since Buddy’s death Storm saw things clearly. She was wrong to hold Grady responsible for Buddy’s death. Poor Buddy just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The truth of the matter was that Grady had been challenged, and if he hadn’t reacted swiftly he would have been cut down in the street. The bullet that killed Buddy did not come from Grady’s gun. Living with vengeance had changed Grady from a happy youth to a hardened renegade called Thunder and made him a bitter and remorseless man. The same thing could happen to her if she didn’t forgive Grady for his part in Buddy’s death.
    “I truthfully don’t know what I would do if that happened,” Grady said slowly.
    “I forgive you, Grady.”
    “What?”
    “I shouldn’t have held you responsible for Buddy’s death. It was an accident—a tragic one, but an accident nevertheless.”
    “What about the other?” Grady asked solemnly.
    “Other? What do you mean?”
    “What about the guilt you feel when I make love to you? Do you still regret that it is me bringing you pleasure instead of your dead husband? Do you still feel shame that I can make you feel things that Buddy never did?”
    Storm flushed, embarrassed that he read her mind so effortlessly. “I can’t help it. I knew Buddy all my life, just as you knew Summer Sky. It frightens me that you have touched my life so profoundly in such a short time. What kind of woman am I?”
    “A passionate woman, Storm Stryker, who never knew the joy of sexual fulfillment until I gave it to you. It pleases me more than you’ll ever know to think that you gave me much more than your virginity, which rightfully belonged to Buddy. I’d much rather have your fire, your passion, your soul.”
    Storm went still. “You said you didn’t want my soul,” she said quietly. “You didn’t even want my love.”
    “Do I have it?”
    “Do I have yours?”
    How like Storm to answer a question with a question, Grady thought, suppressing a grin.
    “You have the only emotion I am capable of at the moment.”
    “What is that?”
    “I care for you. I wouldn’t have married you if I didn’t. My body wants you, more than it’sever wanted another woman. You have my passion, my care, my consideration. As for love, let’s take one step at a time. Now it’s your turn.”
    “I could love you so easily, Grady,” Storm confessed, “but I’m afraid.”
    “What do you fear?”
    “I fear the hatred that still exists in your heart, the violence that comes searching for you, and the lust for vengeance that fills your life. I fear losing you as I lost Buddy—and I fear surrendering my soul and receiving nothing in return.”
    “Don’t ever fear me,” Grady said, raining gentle kisses on her lips. “I won’t ever hurt you. Loving you with my body cleanses my soul of all its hatred. You’re good for me, Storm. I need you. Tim needs you.”
    “Oh, Grady, I want to believe you.”
    “If you can’t believe me, then believe in the way I make you feel and trust your emotions. I’m going to love you again, sweet, and when your body is burning and you’re panting with rapture, remember that few couples ever experience anything so profound. Then tell me whether or not you believe what I have just told you.”
    His kisses fell like gentle summer rain on her face and throat, and she felt his hand slide over her abdomen, her skin shivering beneath his touch. When his fingers moved lower, seeking the center of her desire, Storm opened her legs and allowed him free access.
    “Oh, God, this is what I want,” Grady gasped as his hands sought the moistness between her legs. Storm felt helpless, but instead of being shamed by it, a blossoming excitement built within her and her body grew taut as a stretched canvas. His lips silenced her soft cries and his tongue danced against hers in desperate need. Then suddenly he was on her, in her, thrusting, retreating, thrusting again.
    The force of Grady’s fervor rocked her to her very core, and Storm gasped as she was flung over the edge of pleasure’s peak. Her body shuddered as she watched Grady strive toward his own climax. In the throes of passion he looked more fierce and threatening than the renegade savage she had originally thought him to be. Yet she knew him to be more vulnerable at this moment than at any other time in his life. Suddenly he