His to Possess (28 page)

The door closed and Dane realized Rafe had finally succeeded in slipping away.

Now he was alone with the woman he loved, her naked body tight against his. He wanted
to devour her. To possess her totally and completely.

He pulled off his shirt, then shed his pants. She smiled and pulled off his boxers,
then lay back on the bed and opened her arms to him. He prowled over her. Even though
she’d just emptied him of all he had, somehow his cock revived as he slid it over
her slick folds.

She smiled as her fingertips outlined the heart shape of the tattoo Melanie had drawn
on him.

“Tell me again that you love me.” Her eyes glowed as she gazed at him.

“Of course I love you.” Then he drove his aching cock into her.

Tears welled in her eyes as he thrust steadily.

“I love you, too.” Then she moaned, her passage clenching around him. She clung to
him and he watched her eyes as they glowed brighter while a beautiful, intense orgasm
blossomed within her. Her breath caught, then she wailed her release.

As she bucked and trembled beneath him, to his total surprise, an orgasm rocked through
him at the same time.

He collapsed on her, then rolled over, pulling her tight to his body. Joy swelled
through him as he realized Jessica was his. Forever.

Even though both he and Rafe had been torn over their relationship with Jessica only
days ago, now not only had the rift between him and Rafe been closed, he had won the
woman of his dreams. Life would never be the same again.

He held her tight to his body, breathing in the heavenly scent of her, knowing he
would never let her go.

Epilogue

Storm reached for Jessica, longing for her soft body next to his. He opened his eyes
and, as the daze of sleep dissipated, realized that Jessica wasn’t here.

Jessica was Dane’s now.

He rolled over and groaned as the bright sunlight shone in his face. He glanced at
the clock. His alarm wouldn’t go off for another twenty minutes, but he was awake
now, so he might as well get up.

He pushed the covers aside and stood up, then stretched.

After his shower, he returned to the bedroom and dressed. He gazed in the mirror as
he adjusted his silk tie. The man who stared back at him in the impeccable charcoal
suit, white shirt, and magenta tie was not Storm, the free-wheeling rock musician
who hopped on his motorcycle and traveled wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted,
on a moment’s notice.

No, the man in the mirror was Rafe Ranier, an executive who helped run a huge corporation.
A man who went to the office everyday, who attended meetings and made important decisions.

He frowned, not liking what he saw. He just wanted to be true to who he was deep inside,
instead of being something his father had molded him into. He wanted to
like
who he was.

Jessica had loved Storm. She was the first person who had loved him exactly as he
was. She’d even seen past the rock-star persona, seeing him more clearly than the
fans, than his family. Even than himself.

He wanted that. He longed for a woman who knew
him
and wanted
him.

He turned and strode to the door. Ten minutes later he got into the limo that was
waiting for him outside the entrance of his apartment building. He checked his e-mail
as the limo negotiated the city streets. Finally, it pulled up in front of the office
building, and he went inside and headed across the lobby.

“Good morning, Mr. Ranier.” Betty from Accounting smiled at him as he stepped into
the elevator.

“Good morning, Betty.”

Several other people stepped inside before the doors closed, then the elevator glided
upward. The way people in the company acted around him, respectful and a little nervous,
made him uncomfortable.

The doors opened on the executive floor and Rafe stepped out. A stranger sat at Melanie’s
desk. She was a lovely young woman with upswept, sandy brown hair and wide, hazel
eyes. She smiled pleasantly as he walked by, and bid him a good morning, but he instantly
resented her.

He knew he was being unreasonable, but she was sitting at
Melanie
’s desk. He wanted
Melanie
to be sitting there. This woman reminded him that Melanie was gone. That she had
left because of
him
. And, damn it, no one would tell him why.

As he walked into his office, his cell buzzed. He sat at his desk and pulled the phone
from his pocket and glanced at it.

HEY, STRANGER. STILL IN PHILLY?
DOING A GIG THERE. INTERESTED?

It was from Travis, Jessica’s brother and lead singer of Savage Kiss.

Storm smiled. He would love to play with the band again. He looked up Travis in his
contacts list, then called him.

Travis’s familiar voice answered. “Hey, man. What took you so long?”

Storm chuckled as he leaned back in his leather chair. “You texted me all of two seconds
ago.”

“So, you made up with my sister yet?”

Fuck. Storm gripped the phone tightly, leaning forward. Even though Travis had tried
to play it cool, Storm knew Travis had been upset about Storm walking out on Jess.
Storm had never revealed his alter ego to Travis, so he couldn’t tell him he’d done
it to avoid hurting her. Of course, he got a big fail on that one.

“No. It turns out she hooked up with another guy.”

He knew Travis would find out eventually that Storm was really Rafe Ranier, a wealthy
businessman, but he didn’t want that to happen yet. Travis was his friend—Storm’s
friend—and Storm didn’t want things to change between them.

“Too bad. Mom and Dad liked you, though
I
can’t figure out why,” Travis said.

“Gee, thanks.”

“So what about the gig? You in?”

Storm asked details about where and when, and finally agreed and then disconnected
the call. Of course, he’d known all along he would. He practically salivated at the
thought of getting back up on stage, even if just for a few days.

“Hi, do you have a minute?”

He glanced up to see Jessica standing in the doorway.

“Sure.”

She came in and sat down. “A lot has happened over the last few days and I just wanted
to make sure everything is okay between us. I mean, I know we discussed it, but now
that Dane and I are together … I don’t want things to be awkward between us.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? Because Dane and I discussed it, and Dane said he could find a position
for me somewhere else in the company, so you and I wouldn’t have to see each other
every day.”

He frowned. “Are you having problems being around me?”

He’d already driven Melanie away. Would he be the cause of Jessica leaving her job,
too?

She smiled, but sadness haunted her eyes. “No, of course not.”

“Jess, I don’t want you to quit your job. We’ve already lost Melanie.”

She frowned. “Rafe, don’t beat yourself up about that. I told you, it was just time
for her to move on.”

“If that was true, Dane wouldn’t have tried to make me think she’d been fired. She
wouldn’t have avoided telling me why she wanted to leave.”

Jessica’s lips compressed. “She was just afraid you’d try and talk her into staying.”

“In other words, she didn’t trust that I’d want the best for her.”

She leaned forward and placed her hand on his. “Please, Rafe. Just let it go. She’s
found another job and she seems to like it.”

“Where?”

Jessica released his hand and toyed with a pen lying on his desk. “At Verve.”

His eyebrow arched. “She’s working at a coffee shop? Did she get a management position?”

Jessica’s hesitation told him everything.

Why the hell would someone with Melanie’s skill and experience take a minimum-wage
job serving coffee?

“Which location is she at?”

Jessica shifted in her chair. “Look, I need to get back to work. Dane needs a report
for his three o’clock meeting.”

He pursed his lips. “Okay, but before you go, I just wanted to let you know I heard
from Travis. He’s coming to town.”

She smiled brightly. “Yes, he called me last night. The band will be playing here
for a few days, then he’s going to visit for a couple of weeks before they continue
their tour.”

“You didn’t tell him you and Dane are engaged?”

“No, I didn’t want to tell him on the phone. I thought I’d wait until he gets here
and meets Dane, then tell him.”

Storm smiled at the thought of the laid-back Travis meeting no-nonsense Dane. The
two were as different as night and day.

“Travis asked me to play with the band.”

She gazed at him, her eyes wide. “What did you say?”

“I said yes.”

“Oh.”

The anxiety in her wide green eyes tore at his heart.

“You don’t think I should play with them?” he asked.

“No, it’s just … does this mean you’re leaving?”

“No, nothing like that. I’m just joining them for the concert in Philadelphia.”

“Oh, good. Dane is so happy to have you back, and I know it would hurt him to lose
you again.”

He shook his head. “I already left once. I won’t do that to him again.”

She smiled. “I think your playing with the band again will be good for you. And I’d
love for Dane to see how talented you are.”

He wondered what Dane would think, watching his younger brother strutting across the
stage, whipping the audience into an exhilarated, screaming frenzy.

“Did I hear someone mention my name?” Dane said as he strode into the office.

“No, sir. We wouldn’t dare talk about you when you aren’t here.” She winked at Rafe
as she stood up.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt your talk.” He stepped to her side and kissed her cheek,
though Rafe could tell his brother wanted to do far more than that. He could see the
desire in his brother’s eyes—not just lust but a deep need. He’d never seen his brother
so demonstrative with a woman. So totally captivated.

He clearly loved her.

“I just wanted to let you know I’ll need you to join me in my two o’clock meeting.”

“Yes, sir.” Jessica fell into the role of obedient assistant, showing no hint of the
closeness they’d just shared. He watched her follow Dane from the office.

He knew she loved this role and she played it well. Being controlled by Dane turned
her on immensely, and just thinking about it made him remember the domination scenario
they’d played out the last time they were together. His groin tightened at the memory.

It made him wish he could call Melanie in here, close the door, and then play the
role of aggressive boss to submissive secretary. The images playing through his mind,
of Melanie stripping off her suit at his command, of her unfastening her bra and revealing
her naked breasts, shocked him. He’d never thought of Melanie that way before. Melanie
was his secretary and his friend.

He shook away the idea. It was probably just that Jessica and Dane were sending off
pheromones.

Or was it more that it was starting to sink in that Melanie was really gone.

And the realization that since she no longer worked here, he would never see her again.

A deep emptiness gnawed at the pit of his stomach. She had been more than a secretary.
He had been able to talk to her.

He missed that.

He leaned back in his chair. And damn it, the thought of Melanie working at some minimum-wage
job disturbed him.

He didn’t know why she’d left, and Jessica kept telling him to leave it alone, but
he didn’t want to.

Maybe he couldn’t figure out his own problems, but somehow he would find a way to
put things right. He’d talk to Melanie and see if he could convince her to come back
to Ranier Industries where she belonged.

Rafe and Melanie’s story continues in …

HIS TO CLAIM

Coming soon from St. Martin’s Press
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