True North

Chapter 52

Stormy blinked back at him, trying to remember how to breathe. His lips were moving, but she couldn't make out the words over the sudden ringing in her ears. Her pulse was racing and her stomach was in a knot and she felt incredibly light-headed. She had never fainted before, but she was fairly certain that this is probably what it felt like, and she wasn't about to let that happen. Damn those brown eyes of his! She tore her eyes away in an attempt to regain her composure, but her gaze fell to her lap, where their hands were still joined together. She should pull away—she needed to pull away!—but she couldn't. He spoke again, the words slow and thick like molasses in her suddenly-useless brain. She met his eyes again.

"Would it really be so bad?" he repeated, and she knew he was referring to more than just their hometown.

She shook her head. "No, it wouldn't," she admitted softly. "It wouldn't be bad at all."

"I sense a 'but' in there..." Brian prompted.

Stormy glanced down again, finally forcing herself to work her fingers free.

"But I don't want to complicate things," she finished.

"It doesn't have to be complicated..."

Stormy laughed bitterly. "Have you met me?" She turned sideways on the bench to face him, her eyes pleading for him to understand. "Brian, you're a great guy—the best! I really mean that.  You know who you are, and what you want and you've made a really good life for yourself.  And my life is... my life is a train wreck!"

Brian laughed and gave her knee and affectionate squeeze. He tipped her chin up and forced her eyes to meet his.

"Train wrecks are exciting," he reasoned, his dark eyes glistening deviously.

"People get hurt in train wrecks," Stormy debated solemnly.

Something in his expression softened, and he turned his body and slid closer to her. He cupped her cheek in his hand and stared unwavering into her eyes.

"Stormy, I won't hurt you," he promised.

"I know," she said, because she did know. Brian would never hurt her. "But what if it's the other way around?"

"How about you let me worry about that?" he suggested.

He moved closer and the only resistance she could offer was to turn her face away, but that didn't deter him. He moved closer still, so close that she could feel his breath on her face, feel the warmth of his lips as they hovered just above the surface of her skin. Her own breath came in shallow spurts as his heat traveled from the corner of her lips, following the line of her jaw until it stopped just in front of her ear. Stormy swallowed hard, and a tiny mewl escaped unbidden from her lips. She wanted to pull away, but she was powerless to do so. She felt her head move of its own resolve, angling down and back ever-so-slightly as his breath traveled lower, toward her neck. When his lips finally met with her skin, brushing feather-like over the spot where her earlobe met her jaw, it sent a white-hot jolt of electricity through every fiber of her being. Stormy gasped and pulled away, owl-eyed and trembling. She slid away from him and faced stiffly forward, unable to trust her own resistance. Brian sighed heavily and turned forward as well, maintaining the gap she had placed between them. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.

"I'm sorry, Brian," Stormy finally said, staring down at the ground beneath her feet. "I just can't. I know how this ends, and I can't do that to you. I won't." She choked down the lump that had formed in her throat. "Not to you."

He slid closer and gently took her hand in his, but she didn't resist.

"Tell me," he said softly, his thumb tracing small circles on the back of her hand. "Tell me how it ends."