Reflected in the Rain (The Storm Inside) Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chatper 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Thank You

  Acknowledgements

  Books by Alexis Anne

  Reflected in the Rain

  a novel by

  Alexis Anne

  alexisannebooks.com

  Reflected in the Rain

  By Alexis Anne

  Copyright 2014 Alexis Sykes

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  Cover design by Kari Ayasha of Cover to Cover Designs

  www.covertocoverdesigns.com

  To my family~

  for dragging me out of hiding, standing behind me, and teaching me every single day what love looks like.

  Chapter 1

  ~Eve~

  “You are not wearing that,” I stated flatly, shaking my head and putting my fists on my naked hips.

  Jake’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as he stepped out of our closet. “And what exactly do you suggest I wear instead?”

  I thought about it for a moment before blurting out the only thing that came to mind. “An orange prison jumpsuit.”

  He burst out laughing and snuck his arm around my waist, kissing my neck up and down while he ground his hips against mine. He wasn’t wearing anything special—just my favorite dark wash blue jeans and my favorite tight black t-shirt that showed off his tan skin, green eyes, and that fantastic body of his. He looked hot and I knew every single woman who saw him all night long was going to see the same thing. When he added in that casual nonchalance he had about life, Jake was irresistible.

  For some reason, I could just picture Greg taking him to a strip club and getting a private room. I could see Jake all casually sitting in a booth with one leg propped up on his knee and his long arm resting along the back of the booth. I could see that bored, uninterested stare.

  “Darlin’, you have nothing to worry about.” His lips kissed the spot behind my ear that made my knees weak and I gasped as I was suddenly, completely, turned on.

  “Want a quick present before you leave?” I gasped as his hand palmed my ass and jerked my body against his.

  He pulled back just enough to look down into my eyes. “Maybe. But only if it’s because you’re horny.”

  I squirmed under his intense gaze. “It’s not you, Jake. I promise. It’s this ritual. It just seems so silly…” I was well aware I was being jealous and irrational. I mean seriously, the man came back for me after ten years. Of course he was mine, every bit as much as I was his. I knew Jake had eyes only for me—it was actually one of the few things I believed in without question. But that didn’t stop me from feeling jealous when he looked like that.

  He laughed and pulled me onto the corner of the bed beside him. “Babe.” His green eyes searched all of mine. He didn’t need to say anything else but I appreciated the way his hands wove up into my hair and the intense way his eyes were making love to me. It almost pushed away the feelings of jealousy.

  Almost.

  “Have fun tonight. Just not too much fun,” I grumbled.

  Jake kissed the tip of my nose and then my mouth—we made out like teenagers for a minute before he pulled away gasping. “Fuck, Eve. Only you…” I knew exactly what he meant. How could just kissing be so much fun? “Go get dressed, woman.”

  I hopped up and curtsied playfully. “Yes, sir.”

  My hair and makeup were already done. I even had on my jewelry. I just needed to slip into my dress. But it wasn’t until I looked into the mirror that I realized how sexy the dress was. It didn’t seem that way on the rack yesterday, it almost looked classy. Black and shiny, but skin tight. With our crazy schedules I didn’t have time to try it on until now… turns out “black, shiny, and skin tight” was also very low cut and hit all my curves in just the right ways that my breasts looked bigger and hips looked sexier than normal.

  My hair was down in long, loose waves and my makeup was dark and seductive. I looked good. I just wished it was Jake and I going out together like this so we could actually enjoy being dressed up.

  As I stepped out of the bathroom, Jake’s eyes widened and his jaw flexed. “Nope. Not happening.” He pointed at the closet. “Pick out something else.”

  I popped out my hip and tossed my hair over my shoulder. “And what exactly do you suggest I wear instead?” I was mocking him and Jake didn’t find it nearly as amusing as I did.

  He glared at me and his nostrils flared. “Do not go there. I do not look like you!”

  I laughed. “You’re kidding right? This,” I waved my hands from my head to my knees, “is exactly like that.” I did the same thing to his outfit. “A sexy black dress is the male equivalent of what you are wearing, Jake.”

  He opened his mouth to argue, then stopped. “Really?”

  I nodded and drank in the sight of him again. He’d added a shiny silver watch to his wrist and black shoes. Hot didn’t even begin to describe him.

  “Well, fuck! What do we do now? Because you are not going out like that. Not without me on your arm. Or wrapped around you. Fuck.”

  I sauntered across the room, wiggling my hips and breasts as I walked. “I have a proposition for you.”

  He raised an eyebrow and followed me with his eyes. He was trying to look angry and skeptical, but it wasn’t working. I could see he was both intrigued and turned on.

  “We have,” I grabbed his wrist and held up his watch so I could read it, “thirty minutes until our rides arrive. I will let you strip me out of this dress if you let me peel you out of your clothes and wrap my mouth around your cock.”

  He was breathing harder now as his eyes wandered over my breasts. “And we both pick out new outfits?”

  I nodded, sliding my fingers under his shirt and against his warm skin. “Deal?”

  He didn’t answer me right away. Instead he kept staring at me with a faraway look. I was starting to wonder if he was going to answer me when his eyes darted up to mine. “Tonight doesn’t mean anything. And our wedding is only a formality, you know that right?” His hand tightened on my hip and his gaze sharpened. “There is no one else for me but you. I’m already married to you in my mind.”

  “I know,” I whispered, taking his face in my hands. He had a little bit of stubble and it was rough against my palm. I wanted to feel the bite of that stubble between my thighs. “You know I feel the same way, right?” Sometimes, in the midst of my own happiness, I forgot that inside Jake there were still some past insecurities that occasionally bubbled to the surface.

  He nodded slowly, but I felt like my words somehow fell short. “I could get ‘Property of Jake’ tattooed somewhere,” I offered dramatically.

  He rolled his eyes and licked his lips, his eyes zeroing in on mine for a kiss. “Don’
t be ridiculous,” he murmured before kissing me so softly it took my breath away. He kissed me again and again, taking more of my breath with him each time. “Let’s have some fun before the cavalry arrives and pulls us apart.”

  “Deal,” I whispered as I tugged at the hem of his shirt and he let me slide it over his head. He didn’t fight me when I moved to the button of his jeans. He just watched me, silently and intently.

  I slid his pants and boxers down enough to release my prize—his mostly erect and perfectly gorgeous cock. I wanted to pleasure him in a way I knew he liked and make him feel good.

  As I knelt down and wrapped my hand around the base of his cock, Jake brushed my hair back from my face, running his fingers against my scalp. When I looked up at him, his eyes were deep and dark, but soft.

  I took it as a good sign and I smiled mischievously (the way he liked so much) and licked up his length in one long movement. Jake could barely keep his eyes open. As I wrapped my lips around him, sliding down as far as I could, my lips meeting my hand, I swirled my tongue and slowly eased back to his tip.

  I paid special attention to the head of his cock until his fingers tightened in my hair. It was his sign he was ready for more, which I gave him. More than usual, actually. I don’t know what came over me. Maybe it was all the weird emotions floating around us, or maybe I was just being the possessive girlfriend. Whatever it was, I was a bit more wild than normal, taking him deeper into my throat than I typically found comfortable, and moving with an enthusiasm I usually reserved for special occasions, like this.

  Jake seemed to like it. A lot. He was moaning and grunting, sucking air in through his teeth as his hands massaged my scalp. I knew he was close by the strain of his jaw and flex of his forearms, so I reached up to cup his balls at the exact same moment I moaned. His eyes shot open, looking right into mine, and he came hard. I was a little shocked by how hard he came. I guess we were both feeling a lot.

  As he panted and swallowed, he ran his hands through my hair one last time, and then bent forward to rest his forehead on the top of my head. “Goddamnit, Eve. I’m not going to be able to stand tonight.” He was still gasping for air.

  I smiled, “Good.”

  “You are evil.”

  I didn’t act like a jealous girlfriend very often so I was going to give myself some latitude for one night. “Now, what do you want me to wear? A clown suit? Perhaps a snowsuit?”

  He chuckled and tilted my head up for a kiss. “But it’s your turn, babe. Get your ass up here so I can enjoy taking this dress off you.”

  The minute I was on my feet, Jake slid his hands up the back of my thighs under my skirt. “Damn woman, there’s barely anything between you and this dress.”

  “We only have fifteen minutes… you better hurry or your won’t have enough time.”

  Jake scoffed at me and stood up. “I don’t need fifteen minutes, darlin’. Trust me.”

  Oh my. Jake was in a much better mood. He moved around behind me, pushing my hair over my right shoulder and tipping my head to the side. His hands ran up my arms and over my shoulders. “The view from here is spectacular. This is a damn fine dress, Eve.”

  I leaned back against his shoulder and let him peel one sleeve down my arm, popping out my naked breast. “I love that you never wear a bra.”

  “I know…” I breathed as he cupped me in his palm. It was warm and felt so nice.

  Jake wrapped his other arm around my chest and held me against him so I could keep my balance when he started to tease me. He rolled my exposed nipple between his fingers and I gasped because it felt so good. My panties were already damp, but now they were soaking as my body warmed and throbbed for more of everything. It always surprised me, I could be so satisfied, but the moment Jake went to work on my body, suddenly I needed more. It was like I could never get enough of him.

  He moved my head to his other shoulder, “Just relax, darlin’,” he whispered in my ear. His left hand continued to work my nipple while his right hand caressed the fabric of my dress, looking for my other nipple. It instantly hardened under his touch and Jake ran his thumb back and forth until I was panting and writhing against him.

  My body was hot and slick and so ready to combust it wasn’t even funny.

  “See?” he whispered in my ear. His breath was hot against the sensitive skin of my ear and neck. It tickled in a good way and only turned me on more. “I know you. I know what you need and when you need it.”

  He eased down the zipper on my dress and peeled it away from my skin. It slid away, onto the floor, leaving me in nothing but my utterly useless panties and Jake’s hands.

  “You are so turned on you’re shaking, Eve.” He was breathing almost as hard as I was.

  “Only you can do this to me,” I murmured.

  He sucked in a deep breath and squeezed my body against him harder. “Fuck, Eve. If you only understood what you do to me.”

  His left hand continued to work my left nipple while his right hand slid down my belly and between my legs, stopping to rub slow, magical circles around my clit. I bucked against him and moaned as I saw stars for a second. Then he moved down to my sex, his fingers swirling and dipping beneath my soaked panties.

  “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” he gasped. “You are so turned on for me… I wish we had more time.” He slid first one, then two fingers inside me and I shuddered. “You stay right where you are until I’m done with you,” he growled as my body contracted around his fingers.

  I adjusted my feet under me, pressing myself further into Jake’s chest, as he rolled my nipple in rhythm with his fingers inside me.

  My undoing was the words he whispered in my ear. His lips were pressed high up on my neck as he said, “You are so beautiful, darling. I love you.”

  Orgasms that powerful should be illegal.

  Chapter 2

  -Jake-

  “Eve will be down in a minute,” I said as Jennie burst through the front door flushed and excited.

  She looked me up and down and cocked an eyebrow. “You two are ridiculous.”

  “How is that?” I asked. She couldn’t possibly know Eve’s delay was my fault. Even though it was.

  She folded her arms over her chest and scoffed. “I’m willing to bet money those pink cheeks of yours are not from running down the stairs to meet me. Also, I’m not an idiot. You two are easier to predict than afternoon thunderstorms in summer.”

  “Well, there could be worse things to be known for. Where’s Andrew?”

  Jennie flitted around me in her skin-tight black pants and shimmering gold blouse, and into the kitchen just as Andrew stepped through the front door wearing jeans and a casual white button-up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. “What’s up groom-to-be?” We shook hands and followed Jennie into the kitchen. She was already mixing herself a rum and coke. I knew she’d lived here for, well, forever, but it still felt weird every time she acted like she still lived here.

  This was my house now. Not hers.

  Aside from redecorating the bedroom and moving my office into Jennie’s old bedroom, nothing else in the house had changed. There was no obvious mark that screamed my name when I walked through the door. Jennie could go to any cabinet and find anything.

  I was seriously considering rearranging the cabinets just to throw her for a loop.

  “What’s going on?” Andrew asked as he watched her with about as much confusion as I was feeling.

  I liked Andrew. We got along really well and even though he was a bit more uptight than I was used to, he was a good guy. Which was good since Eve and Jennie were practically one person.

  “Eve and Jake were still doing it when we got here, so I’m making a drink.”

  “Nice,” Andrew said, clapping me on the back.

  “It is beyond me why any of you care about my sex life,” I muttered.

  Jennie just giggled and Andrew leaned against the bar stool. “Dude, we all have sex. We’re glad you two are so happy, but sometimes we get
tired of waiting around for you two.”

  “Are we so bad that it is actually a thing?” I groaned.

  Jennie snorted again as she tasted her drink. Andrew looked at me pointedly and nodded. “But I don’t blame you. If Jennie had a thing for public places and last minute sex, I’d be right there with you. But she has other preferences, shall we say?”

  Jennie actually blushed. I didn’t think it was possible, but her cheeks were as red as tomatoes. “Shut up, Andrew, or you aren’t getting any of those preferences tonight!”

  Before I got an unwanted dose of knowledge on Jennie and Andrew’s sex life, I changed the subject. “What are we doing tonight? Why is all of this such a big mystery?”

  I got blank looks from both of them as if I were the idiot in the room. Andrew broke first. “You and Eve are difficult to pin down. We all felt it was best to take away any ammunition from the two of you. You can’t shoot down what you don’t know about.”

  Well, fuck. They did have a point. As it was, I’d barely kept Eve off me upstairs. “Fine,” I grumbled. “But I take no responsibility if Eve decides to kick your ass.”

  Jennie shrugged, “I can take her.”

  “Alright, let’s get this over with!” Eve slammed her purse down onto the counter looking about as flushed as I imagined I did. She looked gorgeous. Her dark hair was freshly brushed and restyled after I so thoroughly ruined her earlier look. She was now dressed in a purple sequined strapless dress and her favorite black high heels. She still looked sexy (it was pretty much impossible for her to be anything else) but at least she didn’t look like sex-on-heels anymore. That black dress had been… well, hot. The minute she stepped out of the bathroom my brain had gone haywire.

  I walked around Andrew and slid behind my fiancée, kissing her behind the ear. “Hey darlin’.”

  She smiled and swooned just like she always did. “You ready for this?”

  I squeezed her around the waist and kissed her again. “I want you to have fun, just not too much fun.” I repeated her words from earlier.