Jada’s purse caught in the door as she escaped into the privacy of her apartment, and she threw the thing across the room. Her cell phone skidded out as it hit the floor. The entire ride home, Jada had sobbed uncontrollably. She felt like a complete idiot for falling for Jackson’s ploy. She’d slept with him, for Christ’s sake. Jada hated crying, hated the weakness, the vulnerability, the fact that it did nothing, and yet she sobbed until her throat was raw and her eyes dried up.

Shivering in the growing darkness of her apartment, Jada watched as rain clouds filled the sky outside her window. They poured sheets of water down upon the earth, crying for her now that she was out of tears. The sky was a deep gray, and lighting streaked across it in cracks of rage and fire. The screen on Jada’s cell phone lit up, and from her place on the couch she could just read the screen. Jackson was calling.

The phone rang time and time again, but she refused to answer. She was either going to hear more bullshit from Jackson’s mouth, or he was going to tell her he had never had any intention of paying for her “services.” That thought sent a fresh wave of pain through her, and she managed to squeeze out a few more tears as the rain streamed down her windows.

She wasn’t sure how long that went on. Jada just stared out at the rain while she drowned in her own self-pity and idiocy. After what felt like hours, a knock at the door broke her depressed silence, and she was forced to get up and see who it was. Through the peephole in her door, Jada saw Jackson’s face behind a bouquet of irises, and in that moment anger finally managed to overcome her sadness.

Jada threw open the door. “You son of a bitch! You really think I’m simple enough to be appeased with a fucking bouquet?!”

Jada grabbed at the flowers and threw them into a puddle just outside her door. Jackson’s face showed shock and confusion, but he’d already proven how good an actor he was.

“No! You can shove it! You may have been able to buy my hand in marriage, Jackson Hays, but there’s no way you can buy my forgiveness! I’m done being your idiot partner in this ridiculous scheme! You can have Evelyn! She’s just the type for you!”

Jada was shaking all over, from the rain, from the cold, from the broken heart that was filling her chest up with pieces of shrapnel. The pain was almost too much, and she just couldn’t look at his face anymore. She went to slam the door, but Jackson stopped her.

“What are you talking about?” He held his hand against her door, the rain now soaking through his coat and clothes.

Jada couldn’t deal with this. Since Jackson wouldn’t let her close the door, she pushed past him and walked away into the rain. The water burrowed through her clothes, and in seconds she was soaked to the bone. She didn’t care. She could drown in it for all she was concerned.

“Jada, wait!” Jackson ran up to her and spun her around to face him. “What are you talking about? Evelyn’s just my assistant, and a crappy one at that.”

“Whatever, Jackson. You can’t lie to me anymore. Evelyn told me everything. She told me you two have been sleeping together and how you don’t need me anymore. Tell me, did she mind that you had to sleep with me to ensure you got that deal? Or was that her idea?”

“What the hell, Jada? I would never sleep with her. What’s gotten into you?”

“Forget it. I’m out of here.” Jada pulled her arm out of his grip and tried to run farther away into the powerful storm.

“Goddamn it, Jada! Listen to me! That crazy bitch has had a thing for me for years. I never thought anything of it because, well, because I didn’t think of much before I met you. I wasn’t coming here to buy your forgiveness; Evelyn told me the Qaresman business license was approved. The billion-dollar deal can be finalized now. I brought the flowers to thank you for your part, not to apologize.”

The rain streamed down around them, forcing them to shout to be heard. In the quiet now, Jada felt confused and frustrated.

“How can I believe you?” Jada was cold, and the rain just continued pounding down on her.

“Wait.” Jackson pulled out his phone, shielding it with his coat. He dialed a number and held up the phone to his ear.

“Evelyn, you’re fired, as of immediately. Clear out your desk. Security will escort you out.” Jackson looked Jada dead in the eye. “And if you ever come near my girlfriend again, I’ll have you arrested.”

Jackson hung up. He placed another quick call, apparently to security to tell them to escort Evelyn out of the building.

With that done, he put the phone back in his pocket. “Please, Jada, you have to believe me. I can’t stand to be without you. I…I love you.”

Jada stood frozen as thunder shook the streets. Cars zoomed by, and somewhere in the distance a dog barked. She looked at Jackson, standing soaked in the rain just like her, and met his eyes. She couldn’t find the deceit she was looking for. She just found desperation, desperation for her.

“I love you too.”

Edmund smiled, then, and Jada jumped into his arms, certain that he was telling the truth. In the rain, she wasn’t sure if she was crying, but it didn’t matter. He pulled her to him, and their mouths embraced as securely as their bodies. The rain seemed to warm, and they were swimming in the torrent together. Lifted in his arms, Edmund carried Jada back to her apartment and shut the door behind them with a slam.

* * *

Their passionate kisses played on, Jada’s hair slapping around them because it was so wet. Edmund pulled back slightly to lean on the door and kick off his shoes, but still he held Jada in his arms and showed no sign of putting her down. While she held on with one hand, she used the other the pull off one shoe and then the other.

They landed on the floor with a loud thump. Jada and Edmund’s kisses fired up their chilled bodies, and Edmund playfully pinned Jada against the wall, using his arms to pull off his sopping coat and shirt.

Edmund’s bare chest gleamed in the soft light of her apartment, his skin icy thanks to the rain. Jada’s fingers explored the shapes of his muscles, and he pushed her back against the wall to kiss her deeper and deeper. He tasted of rain and spices, and his tongue danced in her mouth, creating a rhythm like they’d had during their waltz.

The wall they were against was no longer working, and Edmund quickly turned and tossed Jada against one across the way, closer to the bedroom. They would make their way there eventually. The pictures on the wall shook with the abrupt force, and one of them crashed to the ground. Jada couldn’t have cared less. She only moved to squeezed Edmund with her legs and pull his face in for roaring kisses of strength and possession. Edmund returned them in kind.

The shirt Jada wore was soaked through, and the thin fabric left little to the imagination. Edmund looked down at her and growled, and the masculine sound cut straight to her core. With Edmund holding her up, Jada worked her arms through the shirt, tearing the wet thing from her skin. The move revealed her lace bra, and Edmund ducked his head down to kiss and nibble at her goose-fleshed breasts.

Soon he was walking again, and his hand was at the clasp of her bra. He managed to open it with one hand and tossed the flimsy garment aside. Their chests met as they continued to worship each other’s mouths, a love neither of them was prepared for coloring their passion.

Edmund’s steps led them to Jada’s bedroom, and the space was dark thanks to the shadowy storm clouds filling the sky. Booms of thunder echoed in the quiet home as Edmund brought Jada roughly to the bed. Her landing knocked a lamp to the ground, and the bulb shattered on impact. With their mouths interlocking, Jada reached for the buckle of Edmund’s pants as he reached for the button of her own.

Jada proved a bit quicker, and as Edmund stepped back to remove his pants, Jada slid off the end table, shucking her own pants off, on top of the broken lamp.

Naked before each other, Edmund climbed onto the bed, pulling Jada into his lap. There, she hovered as they kissed and caressed each other into a passionate, drunken haze. When neither of them could take a moment more of anticipation, Jada lowered herself to Edmund, causing them both to gasp in pleasure.

They found their rhythm naturally and let blurry-eyed joy overcome them. Their skin was now warm from the exertion, and their hair was slowly drying in puffy waves of dark bangs and darker curls. Slowing their movements, they adjusted the frenzy of their kisses to a slow but powerful pull and release.

Edmund pushed a stray curl behind Jada’s ear as he looked up at her, and they gazed at each other as they moved in a blissful dance. His blue eyes were all Jada could see. His face was the entire universe. A few days had passed, and Edmund had allowed the stubble to return to his chin. Jada smoothed a finger over it and smiled gently. Edmund opened his face up to the happiness and held nothing back from her. Burying himself in her damp curls and bosom, he smiled, and Jada felt a warm wetness form on his cheek.

He looked up at her, their movement rocking them both back and forth, stoking that internal fire as it continued to build and build. His face was genuine, real, and Jada let herself cry the tears of joy the rain had wiped away. They pulled closer, the pressure building, and kissed their smiling lips together.

Edmund put his mouth to Jada’s ear and whispered, “I never believed someone like you existed. I never thought I’d have this.”

A small heartache for past pain hit Jada but was shuffled away by his utter joy. She looked down at him, pushing his bangs out of the way. “These blue eyes have haunted me since I first met you. Even then, somewhere deep inside, I was too scared to acknowledge it, but I knew you were mine.”

Edmund’s voice was rough and a bit strained, but he matched his words to the rhythm of his hips. “I am yours, always and forever. There’s no going back for me.”

As the heat built up around them and Jada felt the oceanic crest of pleasure peak, she said, “No backward; only forward. I’ll be there with you.”

It was all so much, so much sensation, so much everything, and they both held on to each other, fusing their mouths as the flying rush of their dual release collided and sent the universe spinning. If love was said to be magic, Jada now truly believed it, because here in this room, two souls had become one, and the past and future didn’t matter.