Force of Nature (2 page)

Are my loved
ones safe and sound?

Those questions
are particularly terrifying, because you have no way of knowing until you
actually dig your way out of your shelter.

In a perfect
world, the basement door opens right up, and you emerge from your protective
cave. In that same perfect world, you see that your house is still standing,
and while there’s definitely some damage, everything you hold dear has truly
survived the raging storm.

But the world is
not perfect.

And we were
trapped.

The door
wouldn’t budge, despite the damage Aiden continued to inflict on his shoulder
as he tried to push. More than once, I had told him to stop. He was killing his
arm, and whatever was on the other side of that door was clearly enormous and immobile,
but he had remained determined.

It was really
sexy, and a little silly, but sexy nonetheless.

“I really wish
you’d stop,” I said for the hundredth time.

He grunted and
growled at the door until finally, blessedly, he turned around and pressed his back
against the solid wood. His hair, wet with perspiration, fell into his eyes. My
fingers twitched, eager to push it away from his face and back into the wavy
mess I loved.

“How can you be
so calm about this?”

“This isn’t my
first tornado, Aiden. I’m just thankful we have emergency lights.”

He sighed and
made his way back to our corner. I hadn’t moved from the safety of our spot.
The weather radio still crackled, but the updates were sporadic and sketchy,
and at this point, I just wanted to turn it off.

“We’re trapped,
Laura.”

“So it would
seem.”

His body brushed
mine as he sat back down. Somehow, I resisted the urge to lean closer to him.
The library’s basement was always cold, but it was even colder now, and I was
desperate for his warmth.

“And I have no
cell service.”

I nodded just as
the chilly air caused my body to shiver. Sighing heavily, he reached for my
hand and pulled me back into his lap. It had been my safe haven during the most
terrifying moment of my life. He’d held me tightly as the storm had roared
above us. Despite my sheer panic, I’d never once feared for my safety.

“How many
tornadoes?” Aiden murmured against my temple. I cradled my head against his
chest and tried to calculate.

“I don’t know.
I’ve lost count over the years. Double digits, though.” I lifted my head to
find him gazing down at me. “What about you?”

“Just a few, and
they’ve all been since we moved to Nebraska. I’ve never been trapped.”

“Neither have
I.”

Holding me
close, he began to rock us gently. After a few minutes, he started to hum a
tune. While it was comforting and soothing, I knew that it was just his thing.
He needed music like he needed oxygen, and the rhythmic rocking and the gentle
humming was as close as he could get to actually making a melody.

“Truth?”

“Of course,” I
said.

“If I have to be
trapped, I’m glad it’s with you.”

I smiled.

“Me too, Aiden.”

He pressed his
cheek against my hair and continued his gentle sway.

“Your turn,” he
said after a while.

I looked up at
him questioningly.

“Tell me
something. Something that’s true.”

I laughed
lightly and buried my face against his chest once again.

“This could be a
dangerous game,” I muttered, hoping he wouldn’t hear.

“Why dangerous?”

Crap.

I said nothing,
and after a few minutes, he pressed a soft kiss to my hair.

“All I’ve ever
wanted to do was talk to you.”

“Aiden, we talk
all the time.”

Lifting my head
away from his chest, I found myself staring into his blue eyes, with his face
just inches from mine. It was far too intimate, but I couldn’t bring myself to
move.

“We talk about
music and school. We never just
talk
.”

“I promise, I’m
not that interesting,” I said, laughing nervously.

I had fantasized
about this man for so long that it was ridiculous. We’d flirted shamelessly,
but not once had he given me any indication that he wanted more than
friendship. Now, we were trapped in a basement, and I was sitting in his lap.

And his fingers
were stroking my spine.

“I think
everything about you is interesting,” Aiden replied softly. He gently traced
his finger along my brow. “Like your eyes. Your eyes are the prettiest shade of
green, and they shine when you sing.”

He was either
completely full of it or the smoothest charmer I’d ever met.

“And your nose,”
he whispered, letting his finger drift along the bridge. “You have this tiny
mole right . . . here. And I bet no one notices.”

My breath
hitched as his finger blazed a trail to my lips. On instinct, they parted, and
his own breathing quickened as he traced the outline of my mouth.

“And your lips .
. .” he said, his voice a little rougher. “I’ve always wondered . . .”

His Adam’s apple
bobbed, and I watched, fascinated, as he swallowed anxiously.

“Wondered what?”

Aiden leaned his
face a little closer to mine.

“Truth?”

I nodded.

“I always watch
your lips when you sing with me, and I’ve always wondered how they taste.”

I didn’t know if
it was his sweet words, the enclosed space, or the roughness of his voice, but
desire blossomed in my stomach, making me brave. I twisted my body, straddling
him, and suddenly we were face to face. His strong hands skimmed my back as my
fingers wove into his hair—something I’d dreamed of doing for a very long time.

“Aren’t you
tired of wondering?” I moistened my lips, hoping I could convey that it was
absolutely okay with me if he was.

Aiden’s eyes
flickered to my mouth. “So tired of it.”

 Suddenly,
his mouth was on me. His lips brushed mine, gentle and light, until he finally
groaned and slipped his arms around my shoulders, pulling me closer to his
chest. His tongue slipped inside, massaging mine until I moaned into his mouth.
I felt his fingers slide down my spine and slip beneath the back of my shirt,
causing me to shiver against him. With a groan, he trailed his lips along my
jaw and down to my collarbone, pausing to suck on the skin there before making
his way back to my lips. It was only when we needed air did he finally bury his
face against my neck.

Wow.

Breathless and
overwhelmed, we held onto each other as our bodies struggled to calm down.
After a few minutes, Aiden lifted his eyes to mine. He gazed at me, his
expression unreadable, and I suddenly began to panic.

Did he regret
it?

And then the
most perfect and wonderful thing happened.

We both laughed.

“Obviously, we
aren’t attracted to each other at all,” he said with a grin.

I smirked. “Clearly.”

He smiled and
threaded his fingers through my hair.

“We waited far
too long to do that.”

“I think so,
too. Are you disappointed?”

He frowned and
held me a little tighter. “Why would I be?”

“I’m sure this
isn’t how you imagined our first kiss.”

“Well, no, I
didn’t fantasize about kissing you in a cold basement on the day a tornado
trashed campus, but I would never say I’m disappointed. As long as you promise
me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

He gently kissed
the tip of my nose. “Listen carefully. It’s important.”

“I’m listening.”

“Promise me when
the door opens, and we step out into whatever destruction we find, that your
hand will be in mine.”

I smiled.

What an easy
promise to make.

* * *

“Mrs. Abbott’s a
smart lady.”

Living in Nebraska
hadn’t made Mrs. Abbott complacent when it came to storms. She’d stored an
emergency storm kit in the basement filled with everything from bottled water
to blankets, the last of which was coming in very handy on our makeshift bed on
the floor.

“Yes, she is,” I
agreed.

I snuggled
deeper into his arms. The floor was uncomfortable, but lying next to him more
than made up for it. He pulled me close to his chest, and I sighed deeply as
his arms wrapped around me. His nose nuzzled my hair.

“I bet I stink.”

“Not a chance.”

“I will if we
don’t get rescued soon.”

According to
Aiden’s cell, it had been over three hours since the tornado. In spite of the
emergency stash of protein bars and water, I was too afraid to eat or drink
anything in fear that I would need a bathroom—the one thing we didn’t have down
here in the dungeon.

“Do you think
they’re okay?”

Aiden tightened
his arms around me. “Who?”

“Everyone.”

He sighed
softly. “Truth?”

I nodded.

“I don’t know, Laura.
If we’re trapped, there are probably others, you know?”

The weather
radio crackled and hummed, making it impossible to understand anything. My body
trembled. Whether it was due to the cold floor or my overwhelming anxiety was
debatable.

“I wish I had my
guitar. Or my laptop. At least we’d have some music.”

I smiled. “You
really like music, don’t you?”

“Of course. So
do you. Don’t you?”

I twisted around
in his arms. Aiden gazed down at me, his eyes searching mine.

 “I do love
music. I just worry sometimes that making a career out of it will cause me to
hate it. Maybe the necessity of making money will kill the creativity and ruin
the enjoyment of it. I love music; I don’t want to resent it.”

“That makes
sense,” he said with a nod. “What would you rather do?”

“That’s the
problem. I don’t know. I’m twenty-two, a college senior, and I have no idea
what I want to be when I grow up. I only auditioned for the music scholarship
because I would have needed to take out loans otherwise. A city fireman and a
school secretary’s salaries don’t come close to covering tuition, but they
earned too much for me to get any kind of financial aid. Singing was my shot,
and it worked. And I know how lucky I am to have received it. But now it’s four
years later, and I’ll soon be graduating with a degree I don’t really want.”

He threaded his
fingers with mine. “I had no idea. I just assumed music was your life. I’ve
never wanted to do anything else but play guitar, but I’m also realistic. Very
few guitarists can make a living at it. That’s why I decided to teach. I like
kids, and at least I can do what I love and hopefully make a career out of it.”

“My dad is a
fireman. It’s such a dangerous job, but it’s rewarding. He makes such a
difference. That’s
what I want to do . . . to make a difference.” I
smiled up at him. “Wow, this conversation got deep. For five minutes, I
completely forgot we were trapped.”

He laughed. “Me,
too.”

I kissed him
softly. The taste of his soft lips and the little groans that vibrated from his
chest were becoming addicting. We had spent the last year in this slow dance,
tiptoeing around our feelings for one another. Now that we’d given in, it was
kind of hard to keep my hands, and lips, to myself.

Something I’d
always known about Aiden Barnes was that he was a gentleman, which was a rarity
on a college campus. He wasn’t like most twenty-two year old guys. While his
roommates partied, he’d be in his room with his guitar, working on some
complicated chord progression. He opened doors and said “yes ma’am” and did all
the perfect things a perfect guy is supposed to do.

Now that we were
trapped in a storm with nothing else to do, I found myself wishing he wasn’t
such a gentleman.

We were
breathless when we finally pulled away. his fingers entwined with mine.

“Why didn’t you
tell me how you feel?”

He grinned.
“Because deep down, I’m chicken-shit.”

Aiden Barnes,
Greek god and musical prodigy, was insecure? How was that possible?

“I never dreamed
you’d have feelings for me, too,” he said. “It took being trapped in a storm
for us to be honest with each other.”

“Nothing like a
near-death experience to put things in perspective for you. But Aiden, you
could have any girl on campus. Surely you know that.”

“The only girl I
want is right in front of me, and I’m trying very, very hard to keep my hands
to myself.”

“You shouldn’t
try so hard.”

He groaned
softly and rolled me over onto my back, his eyes radiating with need as he
lowered his head. This kiss wasn’t sweet at all. It was hungry and hard and
maybe
he isn’t such a gentleman after all
.