I'm in the process of writing something longer and just needed a bit of a respite from it, and here's the result …
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The Storm Inside
Chapter 1
"Well, it's your bloody fault! If you 'adn't been givin' me earache it wouldn't 'ave 'appened!"
His piercing blue eyes blazed with righteous indignation and her insides turned to liquid.
"Oh, I like that! Well, if I'd been driving we wouldn't even be on this road, for God's sake. Told you we should have gone left back there, but would you listen?"
She stuck her nose in the air and crossed her arms defensively, trying to ignore the overwhelming desire to straddle him and rip his shirt off.
Gene seethed, wondering how she could simultaneously make him want to shake her and snog the face off her. Bloody woman, one of these days he'd give her a seeing to she'd never damn well forget. He shuffled around in his seat trying in vain to relieve the pressure of his trousers on his trapped erection.
"How did it go? 'Trust the Gene Genie, Bols?' Well look where that got us."
"Would yer just put a sock in it fer half a minute?"
He pouted, glowering at her as he turned the key in the ignition more in hope than expectation. The engine spluttered and died. He tried again with exactly the same result, running his fingers through his hair distractedly. Bugger. How was he supposed to have known there was a ford? It was getting dark, there was a bend in the road and by the time he'd realised and hit the brakes a tidal wave had engulfed the bonnet of the Quattro. So now here they were, immobile in the middle of a stream directly in the path of an approaching storm. A few fat raindrops plopped onto the windscreen and in the distance the lightning flickered and there was a faint rumble of thunder. He thought he felt her tense next to him, and sighed.
"Look, Bols. Seems we're stuck 'ere, at least fer the foreseeable future so let's call a truce shall we? Maybe I should go an' see if there's a house anywhere nearby, they might let me use the phone."
She grabbed his arm and held on tightly, her eyes wide with fear.
"Don't leave me here on my own, Gene. Please …"
He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Not afraid of a little storm are yer? Tough old bird like you? "
She swallowed nervously and nodded, biting her lip, and he could see she was genuinely frightened. He fished around for one of several hipflasks secreted around his person and passed it over to her, noting her shaking hands as she took a decent swig and then went back for another. Suddenly the situation didn't seem quite so bleak. Here they were in the middle of nowhere, Alex was drinking on an empty stomach, clearly vulnerable and in need of a distraction from the weather. His manhood twitched as one or two potential scenarios ran through his head, and he cleared his throat.
"Don' worry, luv, I'm not goin' anywhere, not if yer don' wan' me to. Nothin' to be scared of, we're in the best place, after all."
She searched his eyes for further reassurance and he nodded out of the window.
"Four rubber tyres, Bols. Safe as houses. Probably safer, in fact."
He was pretty sure he'd read that somewhere, and as long as she believed it that was all that mattered.
A flash of lightning lit up the sky closely followed by a loud crack of thunder, and she jumped like a startled animal, clutching his arm again. He put his hand over hers and squeezed it.
"Let's shift into the backseat, luv. We can cuddle up together under me coat and wait till it passes, OK?"
She nodded wordlessly, and his heart leapt. There was no way she'd have agreed to that under normal circumstances, she must be terrified. She pushed her seat backwards as far as it would go and scrabbled her way through and he followed her, moving both seats forwards again to give them some much needed leg-room. He shrugged his way out of the coat and she snuggled up to him, burying her face in his neck as another clap of thunder sounded overhead. He wrapped an arm round her and pulled the coat up over both of them.
"Shhh, luv. It's fine. All be over in a few minutes."
He could feel her shaking as she nestled in even closer, and he rested his chin on the top of her head while his fingers stroked little circles on her waist. Her voice was muffled but he could hear the catch in it.
"It's the thunder, Gene. I've been petrified of it since I was a child."
She couldn't very well tell him about the explosion that had killed her parents and the terror of loud noises that had haunted her ever since. Lightening flashed and thunder rent the sky above them again, and she whimpered, grabbing a handful of his shirt. He could feel her heart pounding against his chest and was suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of tenderness towards her, rocking her in his arms and whispering soothing words into her hair.
"Come on now sweetheart, I've got yer. Nothin' ter be afraid of while I'm here. Trust the Gene Genie."
The light had all but faded now and the rain was pounding on the car roof as the storm passed slowly overhead and retreated into the distance. Neither of them moved or spoke for a long while, but he was aware that she'd stopped shivering, her breathing was less rapid and her grip on his shirt had relaxed somewhat.
Alex, for her part, was becoming gradually aware that she was wrapped in the Guv's arms breathing in the familiar musky masculine scent that was so uniquely Gene and always made her knees go weak. She was suddenly very conscious of the muscular thigh pressing against hers and the warmth of his skin under her cheek, and with the adrenaline still pumping round her system she felt as though all her nerve endings were acutely tuned to him.
Gene still had his eyes closed and his nose buried in the sweet scent of her hair when he became suddenly aware of an erect nipple poking into his chest and gentle fingertips stroking the nape of his neck.
Slowly Alex moved her head back, and he felt her warm breath on his face, hardly daring to breathe. Her voice was low and husky, and he knew her lips were mere inches from his.
"Gene …"
"I know …"
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Hope you enjoyed. If you want more let me know!