I OPENED THE patio door as Aria approached.
“Thank you,” she said, her shoulders slumped. She paused inside the doorway, looking out at her brother. “He’s going to need you right now.”
“Okay …” My heart jumped. “Everything all right?”
“No.” She placed a gentle hand on my arm. “He’s going to try and push you away and fall within himself. It’s what he does. But he is a good guy, Creena. I know you see that in him. He likes you. He likes you a lot. He’s different with you.”
“How so?” I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.
“He’s himself.” She gave me a sad smile. “So please, just be patient.” She gave my hand a gentle squeeze and ushered the kids out the front door.
I frowned, glancing back and forth between Stone still sitting outside and his sister leaving the house. Why the hell didn’t Luna live with him?
Taking a breath, I opened the door and slowly made my way outside.
Stone sat on the blanket with his head in his hands.
I wasn’t sure what the hell just happened but I knew he needed something. Anything. He needed to get out of his head. I knew his daughter leaving couldn’t be sitting well with him.
“Stone?” I asked, kneeling on the blanket beside him.
“Every time she leaves, it kills me more and more.” He gripped his hair, digging his fingers in his head. “Fuck.”
“Hey.” I grabbed his hands and moved in front of him. “Don’t hurt yourself. If you need to hurt anyone, hurt me.”
His head snapped up. “What the fuck?”
“That’s not … Oh, God.” My cheeks heated. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, we can train together. If you need to hit something or work it out, we can do it together. Whatever you prefer.”
His eyes searched my face. “You’re not going to ask why Luna doesn’t live with me?”
“I won’t ask unless you want me to, Stone. But I also don’t want you to hurt yourself,” I repeated slowly. “If you need to take out your pain on anyone, take it out on me. I’m a big girl. I’ve fought and trained with the best.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I am.” I sat cross-legged in front of him, keeping his hands in mine. “Brogan and Coby train together. Why can’t we?”
“She’s also a tough little thing that can bring the biggest man to his knees.”
“Are you saying I’m not tough?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m not sure.” He turned my hands over in his, brushing his thumb over my palm. “You have callouses. You’re a nurse and you tattoo on the side. You shouldn’t have these callouses.”
“There are things in your past you don’t want to talk about. That’s why I won’t ask about Luna. You can tell me when you’re ready. There are also things in mine I’ve tried to bury. I grew up in a rough neighborhood. My dad had me train with the best until I knew how to defend myself.”
“Did he teach you how to hit and take a punch? Why would you have to train with the best for that shit?”
“I … I didn’t have to defend myself against other kids,” I told him. A part of me wanted to split myself open and lay everything out for him but then there was a part that couldn’t face him judging me. So, I kept it to myself. For now.
“Where did you grow up?”
I hesitated. Aria had warned me that Stone would try and fall within himself. Well, little did she know that I was the exact same way.
“I’m from a small city in Japan. My dad married an American woman and we moved here when I was four. But we went back every summer.” I shrugged, trying to play it off that it wasn’t a big deal when really, it was. Stone didn’t know who I trained with. He didn’t know what my hands had done or how many lives they had taken. Or the pleasure I got from watching the life leave someone’s eyes knowing they very well deserved it.
“That’s pretty fucking amazing, Creena,” he said, pushing his hands beneath my dress.
“We’re done talking about heavy shit I’m assuming?” I asked, licking my lips.
Stone leaned toward me. “Yes.” In a quick move, he pulled me into his arms and cupped my ass. “Every time she leaves, I get stressed the fuck out.”
“What do you usually do when she leaves?”
“I work out. Hard.” He kissed my jaw.
“Oh.” A breath of relief washed over me.
“Did you think I would fuck it out?” he asked, pulling back.
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “Sex can relieve stress.”
“Yes, it can.” He nipped at my bottom lip. “I fucked. I fucked a lot. But it didn’t do anything. I usually ended up just working out. It was healthier that way.”
“Less clingy women I gather?”
He chuckled. “Yes.”
“Hmm.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Well, I’m up for fucking or working out or even talking. Not in that order, either.”
A wicked grin spread on his face as he slid his finger from my tailbone between the crack of my ass and lower.
I jumped, cupping his jaw. “Talk to me, Stone. Tell me what you want to do to me.”
He pushed me onto my back and knelt between my legs. “I’ll talk to you,” he whispered in my ear. “I’ll talk so damn hard, you’ll feel my words fucking you.”
I shivered beneath him.
Stone made good on his promise and spent the next hour talking to me through the use of his body. He craved the screams on my lips, the sounds of pleasure that left me only making him use me harder.
And I gave in willingly. Always.
***
(Stone)
I hadn’t seen or talked to Creena since I spent the night inside her a couple of days ago. It had been intoxicating, delicious and downright dirty as fuck. She never asked me questions about Luna. She didn’t demand answers or get upset I never told her about my daughter in the first place. She let me use her until we were both sore and exhausted.
The woman had a mouth on her, the vulgar words falling free from her lips like they had a mind of their own.
Everything she asked, I did and returned it just the same, if not more so.
Creena made me want to submit and beg before I even knew what I was doing. Her dominant side made me go against everything I believed in. I wasn’t sure why, but I liked it.
It wouldn’t last. None of my sexual exploits ever did. Women couldn’t handle my mood swings. Creena would be no different.
A text from my phone sounded, reminding me I was at the market. Angel and Jay were having all of us over for a bonfire in their backyard. It almost seemed too normal for us. But I did as I was asked and picked up a case of beer and a bottle of tequila.
My body stirred, all thoughts of Creena writhing beneath me coming to mind. I wanted to pass out in her arms with my cock hard and stiff inside her only to wake up and fuck her all over again. She was my drug of choice, and I couldn’t wait to get high off her again.
A feminine voice pulled me from my fantasies. My cock twitched. Rounding the corner, I found Creena with a phone to her ear and a deep frown furrowed between her eyebrows. I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping. As much as I wanted to go to her and demand she tell me what was wrong, I didn’t. Something pushed me back and stopped me. So, all I did was watch and listen.
“Do you even understand what you’re asking of me?” she whisper-yelled into the phone.
My curiosity was piqued.
“I need time, Kenny,” she huffed, brushing her fingers down a bottle of liquor.
A surge of jealousy roared its ugly head.
“No, you can’t do that. Kenny. Ken—” She pulled the phone from her ear. “Fuck.” Grabbing the bottle, she stomped right toward me. Her gaze snapped up, locking with mine. Her cheeks reddened, her mouth set in a grim line. “How long have you been standing there?”
A ripple of pleasure slid down my back at the bite in her tone. “Long enough.”
She inhaled a sharp breath and walked past me.
“Creena.” I stepped in front of her.
“Don’t, Stone.” She glared at me. “I don’t need your judgment or your questions. Not right now.”
“My judgment?” I laughed. “Baby, you have no idea what the fuck I’ve done. You should be the one judging me.”
She frowned, her beautiful eyes searching my face.
“Who were you talking to?”
“None of your business,” she ground out, pulling another bottle of liquor off the shelf.
I snatched the phone from her hand, scrolling through her last known contacts.
“Stone, give me my phone back.” She slapped my arm, attempting to reach for the cell.
“Now, Creena” —I turned away from her— “you don’t want to cause a scene, do you?”
“Vincent Stone, give me my damn phone.”
“Using my full name, are we?” And fuck me, but hearing my first name leave her mouth sent a ripple of pleasure racing down my spine.
Creena placed her hands on her hips. “Stone.”
Ignoring her, I found her last contact and raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Kenny?”
“No one.”
My stomach twisted. “Boyfriend? Husband? Someone I need to fucking worry about?”
“God, Stone.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s my brother. You don’t need to worry about not being able to get your dick wet again.”
God, I loved the mouth on her. Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I pulled her against me. “Trust me, baby girl. I was never worried.”
***
(Creena)
I never wanted to tell Stone who was on the phone. Between Kenny and him, I wasn’t sure who pissed me off more. The fact that my brother made me come out of retirement should have irritated the fuck out of me but, instead, it excited me. An unknown force inside of me pulled and tugged. It was a raging war of should I, or shouldn’t I?
“What’s going on, Creena?” Stone asked, walking out of the store with me.
I almost forgot he was with me. “Nothing you should worry over.”
“When someone pisses off my friend, it doesn’t sit well with me.”
Friend. We both knew we weren’t just friends, but I let that comment slide.
Letting out a rough sigh, the air leaving my lungs did nothing for the mood I was in. “My brother is an asshole. Nothing new there.” I waved it off like it was no big deal. He loved me. I knew that. And I loved him back. But I didn’t love his ways or what he was into. Our family business was corrupted and evil, it almost made the Organization we were dealing with look like kittens and puppies. My great-grandfather was a money hungry bastard, and Kenny was no different.
Stone stepped in front of me, placing his hands on my shoulders and peered intently into my eyes. “Talk to me,” he said gently.
“Are you going to talk about yourself, Stone? Tell me things you’ve never told anyone?” I continued when he didn’t say anything, “Exactly. Listen, I like you. I like our friendship and what we’re doing. But don’t ruin it by asking questions when you’re not ready for those answers.”
“Who the hell are you?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer.
I was just a girl trying to be good when my past was bad.