Seducing Mr Storm by Poppy Summers

for her reluctance. She was altogether too afraid of the strength of her feelings for Elijah.
    The following day was bright enough to venture outside. Susanna bemoaned the loss of her favourite cloak, bonnet, and gloves to Elijah and hoped he wouldn’t be foolish enough to attempt to return them. She wandered over the lawns and down into the woods, kicking her way through piles of red and golden leaves, listening to the crackling underfoot, the melodic sound of birdsong overhead. She heard the rushing of the river, swollen from the torrential rain that week, as she stepped into the clearing and realised that, actually, lightning did strike twice.
    A midnight black horse stood tethered to an oak. A pile of clothes lay on the bank. In the feisty current, Elijah Storm swam naked.
    Susanna stopped dead.
    He spotted her instantly. He stood, the water lapping around his bare, muscular chest. ‘Miss Seymour, as I live and breathe. I have items of your clothing awaiting you at my home.’
    She glowered at him. ‘Why are you permanently undressed?’
    ‘I thought you liked me that way? You yourself undressed me one evening as I seem to remember. You tore at my breeches like you were opening a box of chocolates.’ He smirked. He walked closer to the bank and she watched the water fall slowly down his rippling torso, revealing a line of dark hair that disappeared down his belly. She swallowed. His biceps were huge, as though he felled trees for a living or indulged in other manual labour. The power of his body awed and disconcerted her.
    ‘An accident,’ she said, her voice small.
    He raised an eyebrow, stepping closer still so the waterline fell to the dark hair at his groin, and she nearly whimpered. ‘See anything you like?’ he asked teasingly, standing still.
    She shook her head, lips pressed tightly together.
    ‘Then perhaps I should climb out.’
    ‘I don’t think so,’ she said hastily.
    ‘Why? Worried you won’t be able to control yourself?’
    She laid a hand on the horse’s flank for reassurance. ‘The only one of us who exhibits loss of control on a frequent basis is you, Mr Storm.’
    He laughed loudly. ‘Is that so?’
    ‘Yes.’ She lifted her chin. ‘If I undressed right now, you would be unable to stop yourself rushing from the water to claim me, am I right?’
    He regarded her with his head cocked on one side as though trying to work out if it was a trick. And it was. She would not end up in the same compromised position as last time with him. Instead, if she could turn the tables she would tease him so badly he would finally realise he was never going to get anywhere with her and abandon the chase. A little ache in her chest was easy to dismiss.
    ‘No,’ he said stonily. ‘If you wished me to stay here and admire you from afar, I could do that.’
    ‘Could you?’
    ‘I could, although I’d rather be over there pinning you to that tree and driving into you.’
    Susanna’s face flamed. She pictured the image all too well. She put her hands to the fastenings on her bodice and he stared, eyes riveted. She unlaced deftly and pulled the gown down her arms to her waist, standing in her restrictive corset with breasts bulging from the top. Elijah licked his lips. A slight flush rose over his cheeks. The water lapped at his belly, receded; for a moment she saw the head of his cock, tumescent.
    He was always so hard for her. The knowledge made her legs shake and her fingers tremble as she unlaced the corset and bared her breasts proudly. Elijah drew in his breath. He ground his teeth.
    ‘God in heaven, woman.’ He stumbled to the bank and she reared back, pressing against the tree. Elijah stood there in the shallows with his hard prick dripping water, his heavy balls tight and swaying. It was all she could do not to run and fling herself upon him.
    ‘Stay right there, Mr Storm, or I shall scream,’ she informed him.
    He gave a little growl. ‘Then show me,’ he said. ‘Show me everything or God