Storm Warning by Kadi Dillon Page B

breath. “You don’t want me, Gabe. Please just forget that ever happened.
    “I don’t want you?” h e asked with a sneer. Was she trying to make him angry? No, he realized, watching her slim fingers pluck at the ground. Her lips were pressed into a prim line, as if she was holding something back. His patience and control were both wearing thin.
    “Gabe, I—”
    “You want to look at me when you’re talking to me instead of mowing the damn field?”
    Tory’s gaze snapped back to his. “Why are you so angry with me?”
    “Because you,” he said and yanked her toward him by her shirt collar, “are sitting here denying what you felt for me last night and you’re asking me to forget it when you know neither of us can.”
    “I’m not denying anything,” she replied hotly. She jerked back and pulled herself from his grasp . She lifted her chin again and looked at him right in the eye. “And I’m sorry you thought it was more than it was. I’ll be more careful in the future so we won’t have any more misunderstandings .”
    He could scarcely believe what he was hearing. Was she actually trying to convince him she wasn’t attracted to him? Did she think that would make him back off?
    “I understand,” he smiled easily. He understood he was just going to have to show her.
    Tory let out a reli eved breath. “I’m so glad you—”
    She swallowed her words when he pulled her into his arms. His lips covered hers and savagely demanded from her. He took and he took —running his hands down to grip her hips— until she was breathless and limp against him.
    And right before her arms went around him , he shoved her back onto the ground.
    “ Understand that ,” h e bit out.
    She could only stare at him and cover her swollen lips with trembling fingers. He felt like a brute, like an animal. She was so small and he forgot his strength sometimes. He didn’t understand how she got under his skin so easily.
    “Gabe,” she whispered, shakily.
    “Tory! We’ ve got one brewing on the radar, ” Kary shouted from the watch station. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her and he watched her hazy eyes go sharp and glassy. They darkened to the velvet brown he’d admired when he’d first met her. Her lips firmed and he could see the shutters close. She wouldn’t worry about the kiss, at least not until later.
    “Get your camera ready, Wills. It’s going to be a doozy. ” She scrambled up off the ground and ran to the watch station.
    It certainly is , he thought with a sigh.
    Tornado sirens roared in the distance.  Gabe was behind his camera in a quick instant. After hooking up his shutter release, he stood beside the tripod and snapped a few shots of the murky clouds in the e ast to test the lighting .
    Damn, but that girl infuriated him. He stole a look at Tory where she was crouched down watching the clouds. She clutched the binoculars in her hands and her fingers were white as bone.
    She had a scowl sat on her face as she waited. Gabe tore his g aze from the crazy, beautiful, infuriating woman and concentrated on the clouds. It looked like a black sea. He saw the rotation before Adam pointed to it. He clicked a few shots .
    The air still ed around him. He could even describe it as tranquil, that calm before the storm. He glanced over and saw Tory pointing and saying something to Kary . He followed where her finger indicated and could see it.
    The sky wa s barely beginning to dip down. Gabe shot a picture of the phenomenon and zoomed in for another . It grew gradually and as it descended from the sky, it gained thickness and became darker and darke r. It sounded like a freight train. The hairs on his arms stood like a frightened cat’s.
    He glanced over to Tory again. Now, she held the binoculars to her face and stood in front of the crew. She was trembling violently. He was just about to call ou t to her when he heard Adam whoop from the other side of him .
    He turned back to see the tornado take shape and spin r