Page 59 of To Catch a Firefly

“What are you…”

My question peters out when Ellis lowers me to the dirt, his body draped over mine. My heart beats heavily as his palm snakes under my shirt, heated skin holding tight to my hip. He catches my eye.

“Luck.”

It’s a question, and I nod, breath hitching as Ellis brushes his lips against my own. My eyes slip shut as he kisses me slowly, a drugging press of his mouth against mine, each movement so much more careful and precise than before. His tongue swipes at my lips, a tease, and I realize what’s happening. Ellis isseducingme. Savoring me.

I nearly laugh at the abrupt switch in our positions, but my amusement dies when Ellis drops his face to my neck and nips at my skin. My cock jumps, not having softened in the least since the moment Ellis first shoved me up against the wall.

“El,” I moan, shifting against him restlessly.

I swear I can feel his smile.

He takes his time, fingers toying with my hip as his lips drag a slow path down my neck, to my collarbone, the hollow of my throat. They feather over my shirt, along my chest. My pulse is heavy in my ears as Ellis’s mouth pauses, brushing achingly lightly over my nipple. The heat of his breath through the fabric is near torture, and I don’t even feel bad when I grab Ellis’s hair and tug. He chuckles hoarsely.

“Ellis,” I warn.

He nuzzles against me and then nips. I curse, my hips hitching as lightning snaps along my spine. I’m so focused on Ellis’s slow descent down my body that it takes me a moment to register what I’m hearing.

“El,” I say, freezing.

He hums, his fingers inching up my shirt. His lips land on my stomach, near my belly button, and my core clenches tight.

The thundering recaptures my attention.

“Ellis, do you hear that?”

He pauses, his face poised directly over my crotch, eyes meeting mine. He’s still for a moment, registering the same thing I am, and then his eyes flare wide. The door rattles dangerously on its hinges, a loud crash making me jolt, and thenEllis sets into motion. Before I can comprehend what he’s doing, Ellis is up over my body, rolling the both of us toward the wall. My breath whooshes out of me as I topple over him, only to end up returned to my back, my shoulder pressed against stone. Ellis sinks over me, his arm around my head as the very ground begins to shake.

I think Ellis is saying something against my ear, but I can’t hear it. It sounds like an airplane is landing on the house. Feels like it, too. Every muscle in my body is tensed, my teeth clenched together and rattling, as an earth-shaking groan bellows from above and dust rains down over us like sugar shaken from a sieve. There’s an ungodly crash, a tearing like nails on chalkboard, and then the vibration of a thud as the broken remnants of a beam land less than five feet away.

Ellis shouts something as the overhead light flickers out, his grip on me tightening, but I don’t need to hear him to understand exactly what’s happening.

The tornado is directly overhead.

Chapter 21

Ellis

It only lasts seconds, but it’s the most terrifying few seconds of my life. Through the dim light from the lantern radio, I watch the dust float down as the house stops rattling, my head tucked against the side of Lucky’s. That wooden beam landed right where we were lying.

Lucky’s hands are wrapped around my arms, his body shaking below me in little bursts. I wait for the longest time as the tornado moves on, its deep roar like a departing train. My ears ring in the aftermath, popping when I swallow, but eventually, the noise quiets enough for me to hear Lucky’s breathing. There’s a boom of thunder, but it’s distant.

“Holy shit,” Lucky finally mutters.

I unwrap my arm from around his head slowly, leaning back so I’m no longer crushing him. “Okay?” I manage, surprised I have words at all right now.

Lucky looks up at me with an expression I’m not sure I’ve ever seen on his face. Genuine fear. He blinks several times, his mouth opening but no sound coming out.

“Gone,” I assure him, brushing his dirt-ridden hair back from his face.

He nods slowly, swallowing, before snapping into action. His hands run over my back quickly, and his eyes flit across my face. “Areyouokay?” he asks, palms moving to my cheeks and then my shoulders.

I nod.

“Did you get hurt?” he persists, voice frantic. “Did…did anything fall on you?”

His hands are on my back again, roaming. He won’t find anything but dust and dirt.

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