Chapter 15
He held me all night. Made love to me, distracted me with spine-tingling kisses, and then simply wrapped those strong arms around me and held me. Despite several more storms blowing through, I slept relatively well and didn’t freak out.
If I’d been alone, I never would have rested.
When I woke an hour ago, the bed was cool where Ryker had been, and the sun was streaming through the windows. Everything outside looks calm.
But I don’t trust it.
Because I was smart and checked the weather app, and we’re getting more storms this afternoon, and I want to make sure I get all the recording time in that I need today before there’s a chance that I could lose power.
So now that I’m showered and armed with both coffee and breakfast, I make my way to my studio.
For several hours, I lose myself in the work. Record, stop, back up, rerecord. Make notes. It flows well, and by the time noon rolls around, I’m working at a good pace, not willing to take a break to grab something to eat.
I’m in the zone.
But then, the power flickers.
And I panic.
“Shit, did I save that?” I’m hitting keys, checking documents, relieved that everything seems to be there, and rather than press my luck, I double-check that everything is secure and then shut down altogether.
I’d like to keep working, but it looks like the storms are starting to roll in, and this time, the electricity is going to join in the party.
I open the door to my studio just as thunder rolls overhead. My soundproof booth kept the noise out, and that was amazing.
“It’s okay.” I take a deep breath and go back in for my noise-canceling headphones. “Wear these, crank the music, and do some stress cleaning p>
That’s how I usually deal with summer storms.
The power flickers once more and then goes out altogether, and I blow out a breath.
Great.
I know that the house has a generator, but I have no idea how to get it going. I don’t want to text Ryker and interrupt him because I’m sure he’s still cleaning up from yesterday’s storms.
If the power’s still out in an hour, I’ll shoot him a text and ask him to guide me through starting the generator.
With that decided, I raid the cleaning supply closet in the laundry room and fill a bucket with glass cleaner, toilet scrub, brushes, sponges, and plastic gloves, and then make my way to the primary en suite bathroom.
With P!NK blaring in my ears, I get to work, starting with the shower. Halfway into scrubbing, I get too hot, so I shed my T-shirt and continue working in my bralette and shorts.
Of course I notice the flashes of light through the windows, but I do my best to ignore them, safe in my music from the thunder.
When that bathroom is finished, I work my way down the hallway to the one off my old room and get busy in there. When I turn to the vanity, I get lost in going through my makeup, deciding what’s old enough to toss and what I should keep.
But then there’s a noise I can’t ignore. Even through the noise-canceling headphones and the music, I can hear it.
Or it’s the rumble making its way through my body that I recognize, and that has me pulling the earphones off, and I gasp.
Holy shit.
The rain! It’s coming down in sheets, no droplets anywhere in sight.
And then the thunder starts again, and my stomach climbs into my throat.
Shit, this is a bad one.
Without overthinking it, I rush down to my studio and close the door, and it blocks out all the noise, and I huddle in a corner, pull my knees to my chest, wrap my arms around my legs, and pray that the storm passes quickly.