After the Rain (The Twisted Fate Series Book 1) Read online

  As he walked back to his seat, he was relieved to see that she seemed to have wandered off somewhere. But when he got closer, he saw that she was only bending down to scratch in her bag. He realized with shock that, standing directly above her, he could see all the way down the top of her dress – and she was not wearing a bra. Who doesn’t wear bras? He almost gasped out loud but quickly swallowed it down.

  Her breasts were small, but perky and firm. Her skin was snow white, and had a kind of porcelain texture. She moved around as she searched though her bag, and they shook a little.

  WOW!

  He was… it was… she was…

  What was happening?

  And then Stormy looked up at him with those emerald eyes, and smiled knowingly as she met his gaze. He’d been busted in the worst kind of way possible – like some horny, gawking teenage boy. He’d been caught in the act.

  Stormy never wore bras. She didn’t believe in them fundamentally. Why strap something down and away when it was just an innocent boob? She’d never been a prude when it came to her body. She wasn’t a flaunter, but she couldn’t care less if someone saw her topless on the beach or in a changing room. It was a body. Everyone had one. Why be embarrassed or ashamed?

  Marcus had definitely been looking down her top when she’d bent over. She couldn’t really blame him – the dress was old and the neckline gaped, but she loved that dress and had chosen it especially for the flight. It reminded her of a field of bright sunny sunflowers, which was a happy thought she wanted to hold onto during this nerve-wracking journey.

  She didn’t mind that he’d seen her boobs. But it looked like he did mind, because he had gone a bizarre shade of red.

  “I… um, so sorry…” Marcus mumbled and stuttered, averting his eyes and turning even redder, if that was possible.

  “Oh, it’s okay!” Stormy smiled breezily. “It’s not like you’ve never seen a breast before.”

  “Shhh,” Marcus hissed, looking panicked now. His eyes darted around to see if anyone had overhead her. “Do you have to say such inappropriate things in public?”

  Stormy giggled at him. She couldn’t care less who overheard them. “Does the word breast make you uncomfortable, Marcus?”

  “Sssshhh. Please stop it.” Marcus slid sheepishly into his seat and looked around once more. But the other passengers were too absorbed in what they were doing to notice what was going on, so she decided to push him a little further.

  “Breast, boob, boobies…” She teased playfully, almost laughing to see him squirming in his seat before turning to glare at her. She threw her hands up in resignation. “So I guess you wouldn’t like it if I said ass, either?”

  “You are the most inappropriate person I have ever met, Stormy!” Marcus hissed under his breath.

  “And you have the most blocked chakras I’ve ever seen.”

  “Well it’s a good thing I don’t believe in chakras, then.” Marcus sounded like he was getting genuinely pissed off.

  “Well they believe in you, Marcus,” Stormy countered. “They believe in you.”

  “You know that statement of yours makes no sense at all?” His tone seemed to be getting a little nasty, and Stormy didn’t like that.

  “Hey. No need to be a snapper-dragon.”

  “SNAP!” The word came out a little too loudly. “It’s a snap dragon.” He was really angry now.

  “Snip snap. Snipper, snapper. Snap, crackle, pop… whatever.” Stormy crossed her arms in a huff. She never fought with people, and she didn’t like it one little bit. Fighting was a waste of energy. But something about Marcus rubbed her up the wrong way. And he was clearly used to fighting with people – he did it for a living.

  They stared angrily at each other for a moment, before breaking away at the same time and sitting in silence. Stormy was still holding the amber in her hand, and was turning it around in her palm while trying to figure out why she’d liked the feel of his eyes on her so much, when she didn’t like him one little bit. When she’d looked up at him, his pupils had been dilated, and his expression had thrilled her. It held the promise of something. Sex and—

  Suddenly a perky airhostess appeared at her side and broke her train of thought.

  “Hello there. Can I offer you chicken or beef?” she asked with a toothy, too-white smile.

  “Do you have anything vegan?” Stormy asked.

  “Um… we have a vegetarian option. A lovely vegetable lasagna.”

  “Mmmm. It has cheese in it, doesn’t it?” Stormy tilted her head to the side and was about to launch into her do-I-have-to-tell-you-about-the-antibiotics-they-add-to-dairy-these-days speech when the airhostess spoke again.

  “Unfortunately it does.” The toothy smile flickered and it was clear that the airhostess was irked. “I could remove the cheese and just pick out the veggies…?” she offered, slightly sourly, but trying her best to hide her irritation.

  “That would be fabu-delish. Thanks so much.” Stormy heard Marcus sigh next to her and decided to ignore him.

  The airhostess smiled politely and turned to Marcus. “And you, sir? Chicken or beef?

  Marcus leaned over towards Stormy and raised his voice deliberately. “Beef, please. Big, bloody, chunky beef.”

  Stormy cringed at the image and once the airhostess had disappeared with a swish of her crisp linen skirt, she turned to Marcus. “Do you know that when an animal is killed, they experience intense fear and produce a surge of adrenalin, which is still in the meat when you eat it? You are eating fear and distress. It’s basically like eating negative emotions!”

  He blinked rapidly at her. She hated it when he did that, which seemed to be pretty often. But then, he did have nice eyes, she had to admit that. They were rather big and brown and had a kind of–

  Stop it, Stormy. Get a grip. You don’t even like this guy. But something else deep inside her was screaming something very different, and those voices were getting screechier by the minute. She tried to silence them with the power of her usually strong mind, but not even that was working. Oh Aphrodite – this was disasterville!

  But all those terribly inappropriate feelings that Stormy was starting to experience soon passed when their meals were delivered. She turned to watch Marcus eat – the way he was slicing into his beef with that knife, the way the blood oozed out and the knife grated against the plate. They way he was savaging the flesh with his hungry mouth-beak and pummeling it between his molars was driving her nuts.

  “That cow probably had a mother and someone that loved it, you know.” Stormy couldn’t keep silent on this issue anymore. Meat was murder. And Marcus needed to know that!

  “What about that mushroom?” he countered smugly, pointing at her meal with his bloodied fork. “Maybe it also had someone that loved it.” His tone was snappy and sarcastic.

  Stormy looked at Marcus for the longest time before speaking again. “I don’t like you. And I like most people.” She held Marcus’s mocking gaze while trying to hide her slight twinge of guilt as she crunched a carrot. Maybe vegetables did have loved ones?

  “Well, I’m not exactly mad for you, either.” Marcus swallowed his last mouthful, pushed the dish aside and tossed his napkin down all rather dramatically.

  “Then I guess we understand each other,” Stormy replied huffily.

  “I guess we do.”

  Stormy glared in the opposite direction for a few moments, stewing over Marcus’s rudeness and the possibility that mushrooms had feelings, when the plane suddenly started shuddering. “What was that?”

  “Relax, it’s just turbulence.” She could practically hear him rolling his eyes. She hoped it was painful.

  The plane bumped again and her stomach dropped. “Something’s wrong, something’s wrong,” she fretted out loud. And despite her current intense dislike of him, she found herself clutching onto Marcus tightly again. This w
as met with the same disproving look she’d received before.

  “Nothing is wrong, trust me. There is always some turbulence on a flight.”

  “Are you sure?” Stormy was petrified. The words from her horoscope were ringing in her ears, and she was more convinced than ever of her imminent and untimely demise. Death by airplane crash. She hoped it would be into the sea, at least – smashing into the ground would not be fun.

  “I fly all the time, and have never been on a flight where there isn’t some turbulence. And we always land safely. It’s fine.” He was trying to reassure her, but his tone was dismissive and impatient.

  Stormy looked around at the other passengers. No one else looked even vaguely perturbed, and the airhostesses were relaxing as they chatted up a storm. If there was something to worry about, surely they would be running around like mad cow diseased chickens, but they weren’t. She took a deep breath and steadied her nerves.

  “Try get some rest, okay? We have a long flight ahead.” And with that, Marcus extricated himself from her grip, put his chair down into a full reclining position and lay back, pulling the covers over him.

  Stormy did feel tired. The stress that she’d been experiencing over the last few days leading up to this flight had been exhausting. She jiggled the little lever that reclined her seat and pulled the soft blankets around her, and immediately nodded off to sleep.

  But her pleasant sleep was plagued by a terrible, terrible dream. Terrible. It involved Marcus. And it involved his lips, his hands and various other body parts that she would rather not name at this point. It involved her hand on his big bare chest and a lot of sweat. It also involved his big, large and very attractive-looking…

  The second Marcus drifted off, her emerald eyes came into focus. Other features soon joined them: her delicate nose and small, kissable mouth. Those little breasts that were definitely in need of fondling. In his mind’s eye she stood before him and let her dress drop to the ground; she was completely naked, and she was sexy as hell. The dream escalated very quickly and soon he was also naked, and she was on top of him and somehow knew how to give the kind of lap dance that only a seasoned exotic dancer would and then she…

  BAM.

  The plane felt like it dropped a few feet in the air, and everyone jumped. A few passengers let out shocked gasps and Marcus woke up instantly. He turned to see that Stormy was looking at him with a strange expression on her face. When he met her gaze, she blushed and turned away immediately, and he automatically did the same. He wondered why she wasn’t panicked – unless, of course, she’d somehow just had the same dream that he’d had?

  But the next violent, jarring shudder put the fear straight back into her eyes. This time, even Marcus got a fright.

  TING-TING.

  The sound of the seatbelt signs being turned on rang out through the cabin, and everyone around them started scrambling in their seats just as the plane did another gut-wrenching drop. This time, it felt like a lot more than several feet. Stormy grabbed Marcus by the hand again and looked at him in sheer terror. This time he didn’t mind. He felt a responsibility to keep cool, calm and collected, so as not to send her into full-blown hysterics. He couldn’t imagine what someone like her would look like in complete panic mode – it would probably not be a pretty sight. But he was struggling to keep a lid on his own sense of alarm. He had to admit that he’d never felt anything quite like this–

  And it only got worse as the plane suddenly felt like it was being tossed around in the air like a ragdoll. The engines roared and made a loud grinding noise as they struggled against what sounded like gale-force winds. People were screaming now, and the overhead storage compartment burst open, tipping some hand luggage out into the aisles.

  Stormy grabbed Marcus tightly, eyes now wild with terror.

  “Ladies and gentleman,” the overhead speakers crackled. It was the pilot’s voice – that was never a good sign. “As you’ve no doubt noticed, we are experiencing some rather severe turbulence. A freak monsoon has arrived off the coast of Kenya, which we are currently flying over. We have just received word to make an emergency landing at the Jomo Kenyatta airport in Nairobi. They have requested that all planes in the area be grounded.”

  “Shivering Shiva!” Stormy was practically on top of him now, straining against her seatbelt as she crawled into his lap and squealed hysterically in his ear. The sky outside looked like the interior of a strobing nightclub as the lightening split the air around them, causing the plane to shudder even more. The overhead lights flickered and failed, plunging the cabin into darkness. A rogue catering cart clattered past them down the aisle as the nose of the plane tipped precariously. Shit! Panic finally gripped Marcus, and a realization hit him: he was going to die in the arms of this strange woman, this Stormy-Rain. How appropriate, in a way, considering they were in a storm.

  A terrifying thought hit Stormy: she was going to crash in the arms of Marcus. The stars had been right, Goddessdammit. She’d broken out into a sweat and the nausea was rising and falling in intense swells as the plane was buffeted through the air.

  “Please keep your seat belt buckled and do not leave your seat,” the pilot was practically shouting to be heard above the roaring engines and pounding wind. “Hold on, this is going to be a bumpy landing, but don’t worry – I will get you on the ground safely.” Stormy couldn’t help but wonder if she detected a hint of doubt in his voice.

  The turbulence got even worse as they began their descent, and the engines sounded like they were about to blow up at any second. The grinding sounds coming from them grated against Stormy’s already shattered nerves. The plane felt like it was bouncing up and down on a trampoline – one minute they were dropping and the next they were rising. The tray tables started to shudder and all Stormy could do to stop herself from screaming was clutch onto her amber and to Marcus for dear life. Her eyes were tightly shut and her head was buried in his chest. She felt him reach up and wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her closer. Even in her state of wild panic stations, she felt a little reassured by the strength and solidness of his body.

  Stormy forced her eyes open and looked up at Marcus. His eyes were wide and glued to the seat in front of him, and his mouth was set in a grim, hard line.

  “Marcus,” she managed to whisper through the nausea. “I don’t really hate you. I’m sorry I said that.”

  Marcus’s eyes met hers and he forced a tight, fleeting smile. “Me too. Sorry I said that, too.”

  And then, without any kind of warning, it happened.

  They were kissing.

  It was fast and frantic and furious and frenetic and other words that begin with an ‘f’. Stormy gasped loudly as Marcus buried his tongue in her mouth with an audible groan. Her sudden need for him drowned out her pulsing fear; it felt like she couldn’t get enough of him as she opened her mouth wider and wrapped her hands around the back of his head to pull him even closer.

  Sanity had left her, and clearly him, too. She felt like she was being controlled by a power and force greater than herself as they licked and bit and nipped at each other like starving animals.

  Stormy gasped against his mouth once more as she felt him slip his hand down the front of her dress and squeeze her breast. She squirmed deliciously in his lap as he bit down not-so-gently on her lip. Stormy responded, arching forward and pushing her body into him. His mouth left hers and traveled to her ear, and a shiver shot up her spine as he bit down on her earlobe and ran his tongue down the length of her neck. This was crazy. She knew it, but she didn’t care. She reached under the blanket that was still draped across his hips and ran her hand over the front of his jeans. He was rock hard. They grabbed at each other like two hormone-driven teenagers, suddenly unconcerned that they were about to plummet to their deaths and totally oblivious to the fact that they were surrounded by people. They were caught up in their own storm right now.

 
“We are about to land, please assume the brace position.” The pilot’s strained voice finally broke through their frantic groping, and they let go of each other as the plane thundered towards the runway. Stormy grabbed Marcus by the hand as the plane finally hit solid ground with a heart-stopping thud.

  Moments later, applause rang out through the cabin, and some passengers even burst into tears from the sheer joy of being alive. But Stormy didn’t move. She froze. Dead still and silent. Out of the corner of her eye, she observed Marcus fixed in a similar pose, still locked in the brace position with his eyes down.

  Slowly, as the minutes ticked by and the passengers around them started to gather up the hand luggage strewn down the aisle, she stuck her head up like an ostrich out of the sand and came face-to-face with Marcus. They stared at each other in absolute shock. Stormy couldn’t quite recall how the whole thing had happened – it was as if they’d both been possessed.

  “Um….” Marcus finally spoke, his voice sounding shaky and uncertain. “Can we just pretend that never happened?”

  Stormy nodded vigorously. “Yes, absolutely. Never fucking happened. Noooo. Not at all. Not in a million gazillion millennia, no way Jose, nada.”

  “You don’t have to take it that far, okay.” Marcus sounded offended. “I mean, it was, it was….” His pupils dilated as he looked at her again, and she felt her face go hot. “Never mind. Let’s just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  “Oh, it won’t!” Stormy was certainly never going to let that happen again.

  “Was it that bad?” Marcus suddenly asked looking a little crestfallen.

  Stormy was taken aback by the question and licked her lips, still tasting him. “No. It was… um, it was… it was good.” It had been good. In fact, it had probably been too good.