Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 108709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Seriousness settles between us, the fire from earlier still resting in my veins. He slowly shakes his head, his stare never breaking from mine. “I could never hate you, Menace,” he murmurs, looking at me as though I’m the most precious gemstone. “You have no fucking idea just how far I’d go to protect you. You’ve been my world since I was seven years old, and I’d kill men like Ash every fucking day if it meant keeping you by my side, whether they’re the only blood I have or not. You come first. I’m never letting go of you, Menace. You’re mine. You’ve always been mine, and no amount of time, distance, comas, or fucking prisons is going to change that.”
My heart races, booming so erratically in my chest, and I place my hand against his massive chest, feeling the way his heart races just the same. “I was right, back at the house,” I whisper, nerves flourishing through me. “You’re in love with me.”
He just watches me, his lips pressed into a hard line before tearing his gaze away and focusing on the approaching car. “Come on,” he finally says. “Get back in the car. We can’t risk being seen.”
And with that, Stone walks away, leaving me trembling on the hood of the Firebird.
19
ARIA
This man is impossible. Though I’m sure he’d probably say the same about me.
He’ll accidentally give me an inch, and I’ll greedily take a mile, but then he shuts down, and those walls come slamming back into place, closing me out. But what am I supposed to do? He’s the only one who has the answers I need. The only one who knows who I truly am. The only one who can piece together the missing parts of my life, but I also don’t know him well enough to push for these answers, and all I’m doing is backing myself into a corner.
One thing is for sure, he can’t handle when shit gets serious. He doesn’t like talking about that night, and it’s clear from his reaction that he holds a lot of guilt, anguish, and heartbreak over everything that went down with his brother. I just wish I could remember what led us to that moment so I can tell Stone that it wasn’t his fault—and truly mean it. But I doubt there’s anything I could say that would somehow help him work through that guilt.
It’s been almost an hour since we stood out on that road, and so far, we haven’t said a single word. It was a relief to find that the approaching car was just a family loaded into a minivan and not a cop car hot on our trail.
This past hour has brought nothing but heaviness. One part of me can’t stop replaying that dream in my head, can’t stop thinking about the words Stone said, or the guilt that rests on his shoulders. While the other part of me is desperate to feel his lips against mine again, to feel the way his body would move with mine, to know exactly how he tastes. God, just the way his hands moved over my body.
I need that more than I’ve needed anything before, like the way my body needs oxygen, or like the way a lock needs a key, or a shadow needs the light. We just belong together, and while I don’t truly understand why, I feel it deep in my soul. Stone Blackthorne belongs to me.
“So,” I say when the silence begins to eat at me, desperate to lighten the mood between us. “Seven straight years of nothing but jerking off. You must have the worst case of blue balls known to man.”
Stone slowly turns his head, those dark, terrifying eyes locking on to mine, but he doesn’t respond, just stares as though he could somehow intimidate me. But after hearing what he said while I sat on that hood, telling me how I belonged to him, how I would always be first, he no longer has the ability to intimidate me—no matter how hard he tries.
“Come on,” I say, unable to keep the grin off my face, desperate to climb across this car and fuck him right here while he drives. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
He shakes his head and focuses on the road again, choosing not to respond, but I see the tiniest hint of a smirk at the corner of his lips, and nothing has ever made me feel more accomplished in my life.
I smile to myself as we continue down the road, then before I even know what I’m doing, I’m climbing across the center console and settling right in his lap, my knees straddling his thick thighs.
“The fuck are you doing, Menace?” he asks, one hand resting on the steering wheel, the other dropping to my ass.