Broken Storm Part One by May C. West

Prologue
    K eiko let her hands drop. Chase stopped them in
place. He was close to her, shoulder pushing into her chest as he bent his face
towards her.
    She struggled through a breath. It felt trapped in
her chest. It came in a short, sharp gasp.
    Chase let a hand rest on her neck, pushed it over
her hot, trembling skin, then down towards the first button of her blouse.
    ‘You’ll be fine,’ his breath was warm against her cheek.
It pushed her loose hair against her face, tickling at her cheeks and nose.
    ‘Chase,’ her voice was a whisper. ‘They’ll come
back though.’
    Chase turned towards her. Pulled his shoulder from
pressing into her, brought his arms around instead. He rested one hand low into
her back, pushing her into him.
    She looked right up into his eyes. She swallowed,
the move tight in her throat.
    She could feel his own breath hard in his chest,
but it was slower than hers, rhythmic.
    ‘Keiko, I won’t let anything happen to you,’ he
nuzzled into her. The light stubble on his chin shifted against her cheek, then
her neck, then her chest as he moved lower.
    She didn’t pull away, but she could not stop the
thoughts from burning within.
    Something was happening to her, something she could
not stop.
    Chase brought his hands around, the fingers stiff
but moving fast. He undid the last button on her top, tugging the fabric aside
as he slid his warm hand over her belly.
    She shuddered back at the move. It made her back
arch, her toes curl.
    ‘This building is surrounded by security,’ he
brought his face back to her neck, talking into her hair, his cheek flush with
her own. ‘Nothing can happen to you. You’re safe here.’
    God, she wanted to believe him. But she couldn’t.
    Too much was happening.
    Chase stopped nuzzling her for a moment, brought
his hand back from her stomach, his fingers lingering before he let his arm
drop by his side. Then he touched her shoulders, one by one. The move was
gentle, light.
    He looked right into her eyes. ‘I won’t let
anything happen. I promise.’
    Her lips parted. ‘I just don’t know what... to do.’
    He pushed the loose black hair from her face, using
the back of his fingers to brush it behind her ear and letting the same hand
drop back to the long scar along her neck.
    He didn’t take his eyes off her once. ‘Keiko,
whatever happens, I won’t let you go this time.’
    His voice shook. A little of the control gone.
    It got her attention. She looked at his eyes, his
moth, then let her attention drop to his chest.
    He pulled her in. Wrapped his strong arms around
her.
    She could feel him breathing into her again. This
time she let her own grip tighten around him. Took solace from the contact.
    Patting at her hair, he didn’t speak again.
    The antique clock to her side ticked down the seconds.
    She waited there in his arms, his grip so firm and
unrelenting.
    As his chest brushed into her own, the fabric of
his expensive shirt flush against her blouse, her breasts pushing further into
him with every breath, she relaxed.
    Maybe he sensed it; he brought his hands down her
arms, the move so slow and the touch of his skin so light it made her shudder.
    She turned her head up towards him. As his lips
pressed into hers, he took a sharp breath, his chest now harder against her
own.
    Keiko had never slept with a billionaire. Chase had
never slept with a simple college student.
    That was about to change.
    Not caring what her breath sounded like, what moans
and noises escaped her lips, she moved faster into him. Letting her face press
into his neck as she pushed herself up on her toes.
    Chase Harlow was one of the richest men in the country.
Keiko could only afford to buy second-hand shoes.
    He pushed her towards the wall behind. The move was
not sudden and neither was it violent. Just determined, like the look in his
eye as he tugged at the last buttons of her shirt.
    ‘I’ll keep you safe,’ he mumbled again in her ear,
his breathing rocking and punctuated