Page 95 of Cloud Storm

“Don’t be so impatient, Ariel,” he says, kissing my hand again, this time slowly, with promise. I’m melting here on his pristine leather seat. “You’ll ruin the surprise.”

“It certainly is a surprise. I thought we were going somewhere close to home, like a hotel room or something.”

“No, we’re taking a little getaway,” he tells me. “It doesn’t happen very often, so I plan to take advantage of every minute of this long weekend.”

“Then let’s not waste any more time, let’s just go home instead.”

“We’re not going home,” he says adamantly.

“But if we go home, Lancelot, you can have me naked in ten seconds flat.”

“Are you anxious, Hummingbird?” he asks, his hand sliding over my pant covered leg.

Why the hell didn’t I listen to Roselynn’s advice and wear a dress?

His hand travels to my center, stealing my words and complaints, leaving me silent. His fingers touch me through the fabric of my pants, igniting my body, peppering gunpowder onto the fire inside me.

All I need is his body filling mine as we speak to each other in our own language.

“That sounds promising.” He grins when a groan escapes my lips.

“Let’s go home,” I try one more time.

“Anticipation is half the fun.”

His fingers leave my heat and I have to suppress my groan of protest.

Feeling defiant, I cross my legs and turn to look out the car window. Lancelot takes the merge with the interstate 15, heading north east.

“Are we going to Vegas?” I ask when we have passed the city of Escondido.

“You’ve asked me that at least thirty times, and the answer is still the same,” he replies, laughing.

“At least tell me what time we’ll arrive.”

“If you keep asking, this is going to be a very long hour.”

Now I’m the one laughing.

“Well,” I exclaim, raising my arms dramatically, “At least I know there’s an hour left before we arrive.”

“You’re crazy,” he says, catching my laugh.

“You’ve known that for quite some time and yet every day you still choose to stay with me, leaving me to question your sanity.”

The atmosphere between us changes again, the silence comforting in a way that’s new to us. I trust him. I don’t care where he takes me, when I’m by his side, life is full of possibilities.

Forty-five minutes later, we’re taking a narrow highway to the east. It’s dark and quiet around us, just the lights of the car and the stars breaking the otherwise pitch-black night. Outside, I can see thousands and thousands of them.

“This is wonderful,” I exclaim as we follow the driveway of a hacienda-style property.

He looks at me and although it’s dark, his eyes shine like emeralds in the night.

“I assume you’ve never been to a place like this before, and I wanted to share your first time with you.”

“Did you do all this for me?”

He smiles, staring at the road.

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