Caught in the Storm by M. Stratton Read Free Book Online

to be close by.”
    Jackson jumped up and bent over to look closer at the map. Kat tried not to think about sinking her teeth into his ass, which was only inches from her face.
    “That’s a great idea! Why didn’t I think of that? Look here. There are tons of places he could be staying. Come on; let’s start getting names and numbers.” He looked back at her and smirked. “Unless you’d really like to take a bite out of my rock hard ass. I seem to remember you being a biter.”
    When she didn’t immediately answer, he turned around and lifted her up so she was sitting on the table with him between her legs. Grabbing her by the ass and pulling her close so that she was nestled against his hardness, he said, “Come on, baby, let me chase the darkness away.”
    His hands ran up her back until he framed her face, bringing it closer to his. “Let me in.”
    She closed her eyes and allowed herself to get lost in his touch. Tentatively, she brought her hands up and rested them lightly on his shoulders. Their kiss was filled with tenderness and longing, remembrance of what they’d had. She felt him shiver under her touch as she explored his body. It seemed to ignite something in her she thought was long buried. Wanting more, she hooked her legs around his waist and was rewarded by a deep growl in his throat.
    He pushed back so she was lying on the table with his weight on top of her when suddenly she could feel something sharp poke into her side. The more he relaxed his weight on top of her, the more it hurt. It brought back memories of Jeremy and what he did to her.
    Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest and she couldn’t catch her breath. Panic was building and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The scream started in her belly and built as it neared her throat. She started clawing at Jackson, the lines blurring between him and Jeremy, just knowing that she had to escape someway, somehow. She couldn’t go back; there was no way she’d survive another attack.
    The next thing she knew, cool air was rushing across her body, the weight from on top of her now gone. With her eyes squeezed shut, she couldn’t see what he was doing. She could hear a mewing and thought it was strange because they didn’t have a cat until she realized it was her. She curled up into a ball, wanting everything to go away. Especially Jackson, she didn’t want to look into his eyes and see the pity there. She just wanted it all to go away.

    Jackson didn’t know what to do. He wanted to gather her up and protect her from the demons that haunted her but he didn’t want to push her further away. With his hands clenched at his sides, he tried to talk to her in a quiet, calming voice assuring her that everything was okay. Once the tortured sounds coming from her subsided, he sat down in the chair next to where she was lying on the table.
    “Kat? Kat? I need you to let me know that you know it’s me here; it’s Jackson. Come on, baby. Can you talk to me? Anything?” Her refusal to talk was frustrating him, but he didn’t want to push it.
    “Baby, I’m going to touch you now. I can’t take it anymore. I need to help you.” He reached out his hand toward her. “I’m going to touch your shoulder now.” When she didn’t react to his touch, he kept talking to her, telling her exactly what he was going to do until he picked her up and cradled her on his lap. Gently rocking them both back and forth, he pulled an old story from his football days out of his head and absently told it to her, all the time wanting to kill Jeremy if he ever got his hands on him.

    Kat stayed in Jackson’s arms letting his warmth seep into her. She hated herself for falling apart in front of him. This was part of the reason she had left him before. After one of the most romantic nights of her life, she and Jackson had gone to sleep wrapped in each other’s arms. Then the nightmare started. It was the same one. No surprise there. Jeremy