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“You didn’t tell Darby about what we found.” Storm lowered his voice. “Why not?”
“I’m not sure.” I replied. “I have a strange feeling in the pit of my chest, and I can’t explain it.”
“You don’t trust him?”
I shrugged. “I feel like he hasn’t told us something.”
Storm glanced toward where Darby and Beam were making food then back toward me.
How would it feel to be held by him as more than a friend, of stripping down for his eyes only?
Our eyes met and I blushed and looked away.
“Don’t do that.” Storm’s voice cracked. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“There’s no way.”
“No?” Storm asked. “It’s in your eyes.”
Silence.
The kind of silence that left my heart hammering inside my chest. It was so loud, I could hear it in my ears—or was that my mind’s way of playing a trick on me?
He lifted his arms from the sofa and rested his elbows against his thighs as he leaned forward.
Though I was embarrassed at what he would say, and because Darby and Beam were so close to us, I still couldn’t get my brain to tell my body to move.
I still couldn’t get my brain to tell my brain to stop him, to push him back.
“I know what you’re thinking.” He repeated. “And I may be young in your eyes, but I don’t share.”
My heart stopped, flipped and raced again.
“I don’t move unless she knows and agrees there is no going back.” His voice dipped lower. “You’re not ready for the kind of intensity that comes with me—most women aren’t—and I’m okay with that.”
My thighs rubbed together as if they had minds of their own as I tried hiding my arousal from everyone—even myself.
“Then I mark her as mine.” Storm looked away from me for a second. “Anyone who comes for what’s mine will hurt—and I take great pleasure in teaching them that lesson.”
“Storm.” I panted.
“So, don’t ever look at me like that again.” Storm warned. “Because you have no idea what you’re asking for.”
By then, dinner was almost ready, and Darby claimed he could finish on his own. Beam was back at the computer, typing furiously—a little like Tex when he was on a role.
Before I could speak, Storm rose and walked over to where Beam was working. He braced a palm to the desk while leaning over Beam’s shoulder.
“That’s interesting.” He mused. “Did you double check that?”
“Three times, P.” Beam replied. “That’s accurate.”
“So, who is running this gang?”
“No one knows.” Beam replied, pointing to the screen. “But according to this, no one in the gang does anything without orders from that person.”
“Well.” Storm rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess it’s time we find out.”
I held my breath, closed my eyes and counted to ten.