Remember Me (Storm Lords Book 1) (6 page)

And h
e turned and walked away from her. Somehow, she hadn’t expected it would be so easy. She’d thought that he would stay, argue with her. Instead, the door closed behind him, leaving her alone.

***

Cade shut the door gently, then slammed his fist into the con
crete wall.

He could still feel the softness of her beneath his hands; taste the sweetness of her on his tongue. He was burning up with need, and he cursed his lack of control. He’d scared her with the intensity of his emotion, and then alienated her compl
etely by calling her another woman’s name.

Or what she thought was another woman’s name.

He glanced back at the door, wondering whether to go back to her. But the way he was feeling right now, he didn’t trust himself.

She wanted him, he could sense it, but
she had a strong willpower. He needed to get through that. He’d told her he wouldn’t touch her unless she asked. Well, he would just have to make sure she did.

But right now, he needed to get away from her, before he did something stupid. He made his way
up to the roof of the building, stripped off his clothes, and a moment later, a huge red-winged creature soared into the night sky.

***

Phoebe had been worried that the nightmare would come again that night. But when she finally managed to sleep, it was to
dream of Cade kissing her, touching her.

His hands on her breasts. His mouth between her thighs.

In the dream she had wanted him, had pulled him onto her, into her.

She’d woken shuddering,
her hand between her legs, trying to get some relief from the cravings he stirred inside her. Lying alone in the darkness, she let her mind wander back to the feel of his lips on her skin, his hardness pressing against her.

Without conscious thought, her
other hand drifted across her breasts, her fingers grazing the nipples, imagining his mouth kissing her, licking the tight little buds, perhaps nipping them between his teeth.

In her mind, his mouth moved lower. Her belly cramped and her sex ached as her f
ingers glided between the slippery folds. She slid one finger inside, found the swollen nub, touched herself lightly, then harder as she imagined he would.

What would his mouth feel like? Just there. His tongue? She rubbed again, arching up of the sheets,
pure ecstasy exploding through her, as she pressed her palm against her sex to prolong the pleasure.

With her orgasm still rippling through her, she drifted into sleep, Cade still beside her. He stayed with her in her dreams murmuring her name against her
skin.

“Eleni…”

Day Three

Why the hell had he said that he wouldn’t touch her? His cock ached. His balls ached. He was in a constant state of arousal. He was surprised she hadn’t noticed—or would have been if she ever lifted her nose out of
that laptop. She was driving him crazy. He needed to get out, stretch his wings, try and ease the restlessness that plagued him.

Normally, he would have taken to the skies, gone hunting. There were always a few minor demons who’d escaped the confines of t
he Abyss and needed rounding up, sending back. Or a drug dealer who needed to be taken down, a petty dictator to be overthrown.

But he couldn’t do any of those things. Not with Phoebe at his side, and he wasn’t leaving her, however insane she was making hi
m. Still, he needed to get rid of some of this energy or he would explode.

They’d been in meetings all day. And as promised, he hadn’t touched her. But he wanted to.

Actually, he wanted to do a hell of a lot more than touch her. He wanted to sink into her,
lose himself in her, taste her. His gums ached at the thought, and he pushed it down. That wasn’t helping.

They had an hour to kill before his last meeting of the day.

He glanced across the room. Phoebe sat at his desk, typing away on that damned laptop.
What was she writing anyway? He edged closer and peered over her shoulder.

She slammed the lid and swiveled her chair to face him. “What’s wrong with you? You’re wandering around like a caged tiger. Relax.”

Was she insane?

He rolled his shoulders, trying t
o ease the tension, and her eyes followed the movement. She wasn’t as immune as she made out. His spirits lifted a little. “It’s still business hours, and we have one more meeting in…” He glanced at his watch. “…fifty-five minutes.”

“We do?” She sounded as
tired as he felt.

He nodded. “Minister of Defense.”

“Well, you can’t just hover over me for the next hour. Go to the gym or something. I noticed you have one in the basement.”

The gym?
He’d never been there before, and he had no intention of going now. “No.”

She scowled. “Well, go outside. Get some fresh air.”

Maybe that would help rid him of some of his pent up energy. “Let’s go.”

“I don’t think so.” She nodded at her laptop. “I have w
ork to do.”

He considered her for a moment, trying to think what bribe would work best. “Come with me, and I’ll tell you how the company started. Give you some background stuff for your story,” he said. When she hesitated, he continued. “All the gory detai
ls.”

She pursed her lips. “How gory?”

“Very.”

She stood up and picked up her bag from the chair, slung it over her shoulder. He’d noticed she never went anywhere without that bag.

“Just give me a minute,” he said and disappeared through the door in the rea
r of the office that led into his private quarters. He grabbed a leather jacket and hurried back. She was standing exactly where he had left her, in that sexy little black suit and the high heels. “Here, put this on.” He handed her the jacket.

She glanced
down at herself and frowned. “Why?”

“Because it’s cold outside.”

***

Phoebe gave in to the inevitable and followed him out the door. Actually, it would be good to get some fresh air.

Some very cold fresh air.

She’d been trying to kid herself that she didn
’t want him.

It was a lie.

Her whole body burned with need. Every move, every tiny shift reminded her of that. She was conscious of her breasts the whole time, the lacy material of her bra rubbing the sensitive nipples with each movement. Every step she to
ok reminded her she was hot and wet. Maybe she should excuse herself, go somewhere private, and get a little temporary relief. But she knew that would only increase the need.

Cade led her into the elevator, but instead of pressing the button to take them t
o the ground floor, they headed upward. He leaned against the wall, arms folded. Watching her. He was always watching her—no wonder she was on edge.

“Hey, I thought we were going outside.”

“We are.”

She opened her mouth to argue, just as the elevator came
to a halt. The doors slid apart, and she stared.

They were outside. A few flakes of snow drifted lethargically down. They must be on the roof, but the whole area had been turned into some sort of garden. It lay under a blanket of pristine white, but she co
uld see the forms of trees and shrubs, like a winter wonderland. She stepped out and closed her eyes, lifting her face to the soft biting caress of the snow. After a minute, she opened her eyes, hugging Cade’s jacket around her.

As Cade came up behind her,
the sky lit with a flash of crimson lightning. She wandered off, careful in her high heels, and explored the place. It was fantastic. A wooden pergola was situated at the edge, so you could look out over the city. Sinking down onto the bench, out of the s
now, she gazed around her in wonder.

“I’d love to see this place in the spring,” she said.

“You can,” Cade replied. He sat beside her, hands in his pockets. “Just stick around.”

She glanced at him sharply, but his face remained expressionless. Why did she
have the impression that beneath that bland demeanor was a seething mass off red-hot emotions? “Or maybe I could come back in May.” She kept her own expression equally blank. “Okay, so these gory details…”

He opened his mouth to answer, but her cell phone rang. She dug it out of her bag and glanced at the caller ID. Her sister. For a moment, her finger hovered over the off button but she looked across at Cade and decided she could do with a little distractio
n.

“Dad’s asking for you,” Susie said.

Shit.

She still hadn’t gotten back to her father. “I’ll get over there in a couple of days.”

“He’d really like to see you now, Phoebe. He’s worried about you, after that thing in Afghanistan. And you haven’t visited i
n ages.”

Phoebe bit her lip. Susie had the ability to make her feel incredibly guilty. She forced the guilt down. Anyway, she doubted her father really wanted to see her; they’d never gotten along like he did with her sisters. She glanced again at Cade; he
was watching her closely.

“Look, Susie,” she said. “I’m in the middle of something. But I’ll be free in two days, and I’ll visit Dad then—I promise.”

Her sister remained silent, and Phoebe bit her lip again. “I’ve got to go.” She ended the call, switched
the phone to voicemail, and slipped it back in her bag. She could sense Cade still watching her and almost squirmed under the intense scrutiny. “What?” she snapped.

“Tell me,” he said.

“Tell you what?”

“About your family. Why don’t you want to visit your f
ather?”

How did he always seem to understand exactly what was going on in her head? She looked away, out into the night. The snow was falling faster now, cocooning them in a small private world.

She took a deep breath. “My sisters are both married now with
kids. We don’t have a lot in common.” She paused. Was she crazy to open up like this? Then she shrugged. “I was always the misfit of the family.”

“Go on,” Cade urged.

“Dad was a security guard. Before that he’d been in the army, a sergeant in the SAS, but
he’d given that up when my mom walked out on us.” She’d always blamed herself for that as well; she’d been the youngest and a difficult child—too many problems and hang-ups for her feeble mother to cope with. “He gave up everything, and he hated that job,
but it was all he could get. Then he was shot during an armed robbery. Somehow, the company wriggled out of paying any compensation. He was in hospital for months, and we were put in foster care. Eventually he came home, but he never recovered. Not really
. And he never worked again. My sisters left school as soon as they could, got jobs to help out…they were wonderful.” She lifted a shoulder in a helpless gesture. “I’ve always felt that I disappointed him.”

But she knew that wasn’t the real problem. The tr
uth was, she’d never allowed herself to really love her family. Her fear had kept the emotion sealed away inside her. The dream had come to her when she was very young, and it had taught her a hard lesson. Not to risk loving anyone or they’d be taken from
her. And she would never recover a second time. She’d told herself that it was just a dream, but still her emotions had remained locked away.

Later, she’d been the same with her few pathetic attempts at relationships. They’d never lasted, but at least they
had been easier to walk away from. Her family wouldn’t allow her to walk away. They let her go so far and then pulled her back with that invisible chord she somehow couldn’t sever completely.

She’d come to see that her investigative work—taking on the big
organizations like the one that had ruined her father’s life—was her way of apologizing to him. While she couldn’t tell him she loved him, she could show him she cared. By exposing the rot, by striking a blow for the ordinary men and women like her father
who were cast aside when they were of no more use. Now, she was failing in even that.

“I’ll take you.” Cade broke into her thoughts.

“Sorry?”

“I’ll take you to visit your father.” He got to his feet, clearly impatient. “Come on, we’ll go right now.”

She s
at there, staring up at him. “You have a meeting, remember? An important meeting.”

“Screw them. You’re more important.”

“It’s the Minister of Defense.”

“Definitely more important.”

“Why?” Her brows furrowed. “I don’t understand why you should want to take
me anywhere.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand anything.”

“I just think you should see your family. Maybe it’s something important and later you’ll be sorry.”

“You can’t know that.” She considered going over there, facing them. But her emotions were
too raw. She felt naked, unable to hide. “I can’t, not now. I need to build myself up to it.” Make sure her defenses were securely in place.

He scrutinized her as though he could see inside her mind. “Okay, but promise you’ll go see him soon.”

She nodded
slowly, still confused as to why he should care, but unable to ignore the warm glow inside her that he did.

She stood up. “Let’s go to that meeting.”