Chapter 9
Monroe
I loved Stone’s hands. They were perfection. One of them was also still on my thigh and his thumb was stroking back and forth. I wanted to squeeze my legs tighter together to relieve the ache I felt between them, but I didn’t. I was struggling to breathe.
Stone and I remained silent on the drive to his place. The anticipation of what was to come had the both of us lost in our own thoughts. Of course, I didn’t know what Stone’s thoughts were in that moment, but I knew I had millions running through my mind.
How would he react when I told him the truth? Would he still want me with my inexperience? Would it hurt? Would I be any good? What if he didn’t like it? How would it feel to have his hands and mouth on my body? Would he ever love me?
Stone turned the truck into a driveway and my nerves went into overdrive. It was dark out now so I couldn’t see much. As we approached the home, Stone pushed a button to open the garage door. He pulled into the middle bay of the three-car garage with his hand still on my thigh. After the truck came to a stop, Stone turned it off, squeezed my thigh, and said, “I’ll come around to help you out.”
His hand left my thigh and he was out of the truck. I couldn’t have moved on my own even if I wanted. My leg was on fire. The spot where his beautiful hand had been resting was scorching. And my belly felt funny. It was crazy to me that I had been performing dance routines on stages for twenty-two years and I never felt anything close to the anxiety I was currently feeling.
My door opened and Stone held his hand out to me. I put my hand in his, shifted in my seat, and stepped out of the truck. After guiding me into the house, Stone asked, “Would you like something to drink?”
I looked up at him and shook my head.
He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into his body. Stone took my purse from my hand, tossed it on the counter, and brought his hands to the front of my jacket. My jacket was pushed down my arms and ended up on top of my purse. Before I could take in any of my surroundings, Stone’s hands went under my arms and lifted me clean off the floor like I weighed no more than a feather. He set me down on the kitchen counter and went to work on removing my boots next. Once both boots were gone, his magical hands came back to rest on the skin just above my knees. He applied gentle pressure there and said, “Open for me, Monroe.”
I opened my legs. My breathing grew shallow as Stone put himself in the space between them and pulled me close to him.
“Wrap your legs around me and hold on,” he instructed.
I did as he requested.
One of his arms wrapped around the middle of my back while the other went to support my weight at my bottom as he lifted me off the counter. His baby blues never left my eyes as he began walking. I couldn’t take in any of his home because I was so hypnotized by the look in his eyes. I only noticed the movement of him climbing the stairs.
The next thing I knew I was being put down on my back in a bed and Stone came to hover over me. He kept his gaze on my face a minute before he brought his mouth to mine. And that’s when it happened. Everything suddenly became frantic. His lips on mine, his tongue against my tongue and his hands roaming my body from my outer thigh up along my hip and abdomen and over the curve of my breast. It felt incredible. Nobody had ever touched me there. I began using my hands to explore him, but hated not being able to touch his skin. I wasn’t sure if I should, but I brought my hands to the hem of his shirt and ran my hands up along the skin of his muscled back. He felt unbelievable.
Stone pulled away from me and for a moment I thought I had done something wrong, but his hand went behind his neck where he pulled his shirt over his head in one swift movement. My eyes made their journey over his body. Rippling abs, a solid, muscled chest, and beautiful shoulders and arms. The sight of his half naked body had me holding my breath.
I couldn’t think or react before Stone’s hands came to the hem of my dress and began sliding it up my body. Before I realized what had happened, I was there in my bra and panties with Stone’s heated eyes roaming my body.
“Christ, you’re beautiful,” he said, his voice hoarse.
“Stone,” I whispered, realizing I was now way beyond the point where I should have told him the truth.
He must have thought my saying his name meant that I needed him to come back to me because he was back over my body again and his head was buried in my neck. His tongue came out to lick the skin on my neck before he kissed that spot. I was trying to regain some sense of control, but his naked torso against my mostly naked body was making it difficult.
“I can’t wait to be inside you, Monroe,” he rasped.
“Stone,” I called again.
“Hm.”
I forgot what I wanted.
His mouth was trailing kisses down my chest and one of his hands was cupping my breast. The next instant I felt his mouth cover the other breast, only the lace from my bra separating us.
“Wait, Stone. Please, stop,” I barely managed to get out.
He froze.
His head came up and he looked at me.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I need to tell you something,” I confessed.
His eyes held mine.
“I want this to be good for you,” I continued.
“Was I giving you any indication that it wasn’t already feeling very good?”
Shit. This was difficult.
“No, it’s just…I’ve never done this before.”
His brows drew together and he gave me a confused look.
“You haven’t done what before?”
He was seriously going to make me say it?
I brought one of my hands up between us and pointed back and forth between us before I admitted, “This. Us. What we’re doing now…and, um, what I’m pretty sure we’re about to do.”
Realization dawned in his features and he asked, “Monroe Archer…are you telling me you’re a virgin?”
I nodded.
Stone’s eyes searched my face before they got a pained look in them and he pulled away from me. Suddenly, I felt very exposed and uncomfortable. I guess I got my answer. He was not okay with my inexperience. I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing.
“Fuck,” he all but roared as he sat on the edge of the bed with his legs now dangling over the side.
I immediately shot up in the bed and was sitting upright. I thought I was nervous a little bit ago. Now, I knew I had no idea what nerves were because I was borderline frightened at his reaction.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.
His head snapped to me and he asked, “What are you apologizing for?”
I shrugged my shoulders and explained, “You seem angry.”
A look of remorse washed over his face. “Angel, I’m not angry with you. I said some horrible things about you a couple nights ago. I was already pissed at myself, but now, I feel like a pile of shit.”
My voice was gentle when I spoke. “Stone, you made a mistake and you apologized. I forgave you. Please don’t hold on to that.”
He shook his head as he looked at me with soft eyes. “You really are an angel and I don’t deserve someone the likes of you.”
I felt myself grow sad. Why did he think so little of himself?
“They knew,” he said, softly.
Confused, I asked, “What?”
“On Friday, Wes and Zane both told me I’d fucked up, but just didn’t know it yet. Later that night when I came to your house and met Vaughn, I thought they knew that Vaughn and Remi were your brothers, but that wasn’t it. They knew about you, didn’t they?”
I nodded.
He shook his head and looked away.
I felt my eyes get wet.
“What’s going through your head?” he asked when his eyes finally came back to mine.
“I ruined it,” I answered, my head dropping to my lap.
“What?”
“This. Here. Tonight. I shouldn’t have said anything and just hoped for the best.”
“Monroe, look at me.”
My head came up and I looked at him.
“What you just shared with me is not something you don’t share. Fuck, if you hadn’t told me, I could have hurt you. Now that I know, this is going to go a whole lot differently.”
Well there you go. This wasn’t going to happen. Damn. Shit. Fuck. Why’d I have to open my mouth?
“You sure this is what you want?”
“What?” I gasped, surprised at his question.
“A girl doesn’t hold on to something like that for nearly twenty-five years to give it up to someone she doesn’t know much about. I don’t want you to do this because you think that it needs to happen. We can go slow and take our time getting to know each other. Then, if and when the time comes that you’re ready for it, we can take this next step. I don’t want you to rush this.”
“I know this is what I want, Stone. I’ve never felt anything like I do when I’m around you and I want to experience this with you.”
“Fuck,” he rasped out. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Just how much have you not done before?”
“I have had two people kiss me. Once each. You and I did more in your truck than I’ve ever done with anyone else. What just happened now in this bed is a whole lot more than I’ve experienced before.”
“Nobody has ever touched you?” he asked, shock in his voice.
I shook my head.
“Nobody but me,” I whispered. “And now, you.”
“You want to be mine?”
I nodded.
“You know you can’t take it back once you give this to me?”
I nodded again.
He looked away.
I gave him some time before I finally began to fret. “Are you worried?”
“About what?” he replied.
“That I’ll probably be bad at it.”
His gaze shot to me. “Angel, there isn’t a fucking chance in hell that you’ll be bad at it.”
“Then, why do you seem hesitant?”
He took in a deep breath before he answered. “Aside from snowboarding, the last fourteen years of my life have pretty much been total shit. I’m having a bit of a hard time trying to wrap my head around the fact that someone like you wants me the way that you do. I’ve got some fucked up shit in my head. I know it and it’s only fair you are aware of it before anything else happens between us. I can’t make you promises of forever, angel. I won’t ever be able to give you forever. You want to hold on to the special part of you so that you can give it to someone who can give you forever, I understand that and I respect it.”
I knew he was the one for me. He might not realize it or think it could happen, but I knew. I could feel it and that made me courageous. I shifted on the bed and crawled toward him. Once I made it to his side I pressed a kiss to his shoulder. I peppered kisses all along his shoulder and toward his neck. After I kissed up the side of his neck and stopped at his ear, I wrapped my arms around his chest and whispered, “I want to give this to you, Stone. More importantly, I want you to be the one to give this to me. You are everything I want.”
He wrapped his hands around mine and squeezed. Turning his head toward mine, he looked in my smiling eyes a moment before he took my mouth. It was different this time. It was sweet and tender. There was no more frenzied panic to get to the finish line. My nerves were gone and I was filled with warmth.
Stone twisted and gently laid me back on the bed. His body was hovering over mine and he said, “Want to make this special for you, my angel. You trust me to give you that?”
“Yes, I trust you.”
“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do before I do it. If there’s something I do that you aren’t comfortable with, you tell me. If there is something you want, you tell me. Most important, and please hear me on this Monroe, if you change your mind at any point and want to stop, you tell me. Understand?”
I nodded.
He kissed me on the tip of my nose and said, “Good girl. Now, I want to take your bra and panties off and then I’m going to touch you and kiss you. Everywhere, angel. The first thing I’m going to do is make you come using my fingers because if it’s going to be your first time, I want to see that beauty.”
I felt the wetness pool between my legs.
Stone brought a hand down to squeeze my thigh.
“Then, I’m going to put my face between these beautiful fucking legs, taste you, and make you come using my mouth.”
My breathing grew shallow.
“And last, Monroe, I’m going to put myself between your legs and make you come using what I’ve got here,” he explained as he pressed his erection against my body. “You good with all that?”
My heart was beating so fast and I was burning up for Stone, but I was good with all that so I nodded.
Then, I called, “Stone?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you tell me what I should do?”
He grinned at me and insisted, “The only thing you need to do is enjoy it. Okay?”
“Okay, but...” I trailed off.
“But what?”
“What about you? I want to do something for you. I want you to enjoy this, too.”
“I plan to enjoy every single minute of this. You don’t need to worry about me. I promise you I’ll get everything I want out of this. You got something you want to do, go for it. If I’m not cool with it, I’ll tell you. Just sayin’, though, not sure there’s much you could do that I won’t be down for. Ultimately, just do whatever feels right to you.”
“Okay,” I answered quietly.
With that, he brought his mouth down to mine and kissed me on the lips while his hands roamed over my body. Both hands slid up my sides from my hips to my breasts. Those incredible hands moved to my back and lifted me slightly. In one quick movement, Stone unhooked my bra. He pulled his mouth away from mine and looked down at me as his hands went to my shoulders. Stone’s fingers slipped under the straps of my bra and I began to tremble.
“Are you okay?” Stone asked, his voice gentle.
I nodded, biting my lip.
Stone pulled the straps down my arms and removed the bra from my body. He took in my naked breasts a moment before he brought a hand up to one to squeeze it. He swiped his thumb across my nipple and then bent to suck it in his mouth. His tongue licked and tasted before moving to the other side. It felt so good; I couldn’t help but moan. Stone’s free hand trailed down the side of my body to my hip. He squeezed me there before his fingertips roamed further down my body traveling to just above my knee and very slowly back up my inner thigh.
Within seconds, his hand was at my special spot cupping my sex.
“Stone,” I rasped out.
I began moving my hips against his hand, loving the feel of him touching me. Stone’s mouth began traveling down my abdomen. Just as he reached the top of my panties his hands went to either side of my hips and wrapped around the fabric there. I tensed briefly, but lifted my hips. Stone looked up at me as he slid my panties down my legs. It was an incredibly intimate moment for me. After he tossed my panties aside, Stone looked down at my body. I started to move my hands to cover myself when he captured me by the wrist.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nobody has ever seen me before. I feel embarrassed.”
“Just relax. You’re beautiful, baby. There’s nobody else here but me and you don’t have to feel nervous or ashamed.”
“Okay.”
“Spread for me, Monroe.”
I hesitated, but eventually separated my thighs a bit. Stone’s eyes went there.
“Prettiest pussy I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to taste you, angel, but first I want to watch you come apart for me.”
I was still taking quick, shallow breaths. Stone’s hand came back to my sex and his fingers swiped through.
“Soaked,” he said, his voice gravelly.
His touch was gentle and felt incredible. I barely got used to the sensation I was experiencing when one of Stone’s fingers pushed inside me. It felt so good; I thought I would cry. Instead, I moaned. The moan that escaped from the back of my throat was loud. I couldn’t stop the moans coming from me because that finger began sliding in and out of my body. It felt too good and I thought I was going to burst at the wonderful sensations I was feeling.
“Oh my God, this is amazing. I love your hands,” I marveled, completely out of breath.
Stone chuckled and carefully slid a second finger inside me. I felt fuller. I loved it. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, his free hand came up and wrapped around my breast. He gently pinched my nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
“Oh,” I moaned.
My hips began moving quicker. I felt a sensation building deep in my belly and knew something big was coming. I’m not sure if he realized it or just knew what was happening with my body, but Stone pressed his thumb to my clit. He worked me with his fingers not more than another minute before I moaned through my first orgasm ever given to me by someone else. The feeling that splintered across my entire body was like nothing I had ever felt before. Stone’s fingers slowed as I rode out the wave of pleasure. I began to come down from my orgasm when he spoke.
“That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
“It felt beautiful. Wow, that was amazing.”
Stone brought his mouth down to kiss me. He pushed his tongue into my mouth. I took it and sucked. He groaned. When I released his tongue, he pulled his mouth away and said, “I want to taste you now. You good with that?”
“Yeah,” I answered, still slightly out of breath.
Stone shifted on the bed, settled between my thighs, and looked at me with a grin briefly before his head disappeared. Then, I felt his mouth on me.
Oh. My. God.
I thought his hands were great. They were. I really loved his hands. His mouth, though? I’m not sure there was anything better than his mouth. He kissed, licked, sucked, and tasted me. It was the biggest turn on for me to look down between my legs and see him there seeming to enjoy what he was doing to me. I didn’t know how it was possible, but within minutes I was already feeling an orgasm building. I fisted the sheets in my hands, preparing for the ride.
“Stone. Your mouth. I love your mouth.”
I felt him smile against my sex before he went back to work. Then, it happened again. Pleasure shot through my body and I was trying to hold back the sounds coming from me as Stone’s tongue pushed inside of me. He kept his mouth on me until I stopped writhing and my body went limp.
I closed my eyes and shared, “Oh my. I really do love your hands…a lot. But your mouth. Wow.”
When I opened my eyes, I saw Stone standing beside the bed in a pair of boxer briefs. I could see his arousal straining against the fabric.
“Feeling good?” he asked.
I sat up in the bed and took in his whole body. He had thick, muscled thighs and a strong, solid upper body. I had nothing to compare it to, but from what I could tell, he seemed to be blessed in the manhood department.
I looked up at him, my eyes questioning, and I asked, “May I touch you?”
“I’ll never say no to that.”
I shifted to my knees in the bed so that I was almost eye level with him. I brought my hands up to his chest and looked in his eyes briefly before directing my attention back to my hands. They roamed the solid planes of his chest and abdomen. I leaned forward and pressed kisses to his body. Not long after, I lowered myself back to rest my bottom on the heels of my feet. My hands were resting on his hips and I looked up at him.
He nodded, understanding the question in my silent expression.
Keeping one hand still on his hip, I moved the other to his hardened length. I wrapped my hand around him and gently squeezed. He groaned. I guess he must have liked me touching him. I slid my hand up and down his shaft and heard more noises coming from the back of his throat. It made me feel extraordinarily powerful.
My hand left him and went back to his hips. I wrapped my fingers around the waistband of his boxer briefs and looked up at him.
“Go ahead,” he encouraged me.
I slid them down, revealing the prize underneath. He was beautiful. I got the briefs to about mid-thigh when Stone bent to help push them the rest of the way down his legs. When I wrapped my hand around him I looked back up at him. The heat in his eyes was undeniable. My gaze went back to his manhood and I saw a drop of wetness at the tip. I swiped my thumb over it as I licked my lips. Taking him in my mouth was something I wanted to do, but I was unsure of myself and of what to do.
“I want that, Monroe,” he affirmed.
I looked up at him.
“I can see what you want to do. I want you to do that, but I’d rather do it another time. I’d like, if you are ready, to be inside you.”
Another time. That sounded fantastic. The promise of more of this with him made me nod my head.
I dropped my hand from him. Stone turned toward the nightstand, opened a drawer, and pulled out a gold foil packet. He tore it open and slid the condom over himself as I watched. Then, I was on my back and he was over me settling himself between my parted thighs. He brought his lips to mine and kissed me. While his hands framed my face, his tongue pushed past my lips and I tasted myself on him. When he pulled his mouth from mine, I felt the tip of him at my entrance.
“You sure?” he asked, gently.
“Yes.”
Stone slowly pushed inside of me and stopped. This was already overwhelming.
“You alright?” he asked.
“Mm hmm.”
He pulled back, but stopped before he was completely out of me.
“Oh, wow. That felt incredible,” I whispered.
He smiled down at me.
“Do you think you can handle more?” he asked.
“What?” I answered, thinking all I wanted was for him to do that again.
“That wasn’t all of me.”
My eyes rounded.
“I’ll go slow,” he reassured me.
He started to push back in and stopped again.
“More, handsome. I want you to keep moving.”
“You’re so fucking tight, Monroe. I don’t want to hurt you. We have to go slow.”
“I want to feel you move. I want to feel all of you. Please,” I begged, my voice a breathy whisper.
Stone pulled back out again before he pushed forward. It wasn’t rough or fast, but it was steady and it was all of him. I let out a noise that was a combination of a cry and a moan. Or maybe, it was a cry followed by a moan. There was a mere second or two of sharp pain, but it was instantly replaced by the warmth and pleasure I felt being filled by him.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice rough and filled with concern.
I brought my hands up to frame his face and as I looked in his swirling baby blue eyes I assured him, “The best I’ve ever been.”
“Angel…” he trailed off.
I lifted my head and brought my lips up to his to kiss him. When I pulled back he told me, “I want to move. You good with that?”
“Absolutely.”
And then he moved. He started slowly at first, pulling back and then pushing forward into me. It was beautiful and I couldn’t help but think that there was nobody else in this world with whom I would have rather shared this experience. Stone’s movements soon picked up from deliciously slow thrusts to slightly more hurried. It was even more amazing.
How could I have been missing out on this all my life?
I was completely lost in the pleasure Stone was giving me. I wanted him closer; I didn’t want him leaving me. I wrapped my legs around him and every time he pulled away I used my legs to pull him back toward me. A growl escaped him when I did this. I loved hearing it because it made me believe he was enjoying this just as much as I was. His hips began to power faster into me and I started lifting my hips to meet his. This caused more noises to come from Stone.
Unsure of how it was possible and too close to care, I was now on the verge of my third orgasm. I was moaning, my hands touching him everywhere, my legs keeping him close to me, and I loved everything about it. Stone’s thrusts picked up and one of his hands went to one of my breasts while the other rested at the side of my neck, his thumb occasionally swiping back and forth across the skin there.
“Stone, oh God,” I cried out.
“Take it, angel,” he demanded.
I took it. I called out his name as I rode out the wave of pleasure Stone had just delivered to me and just as I finished, Stone called out, “Oh fuck, Monroe.”
He came apart above me and I watched with avid fascination. He was unbelievably sexy and seeing him like that had me captivated. He collapsed on me briefly before rolling to his back and taking me with him. We stayed like that a bit, me on top of Stone with him still inside of me. My cheek was pressed to his chest and one of his arms was wrapped around my back.
“How do you feel?” Stone’s gentle voice filtered into my ears.
“I feel torn.”
Stone’s body went solid. “Fuck, Monroe, are you serious? I’m sorry. Why didn’t you stop me and tell me I was hurting you? That’s why I wanted to go slow. Let me --”
I lifted my face from his chest to look at him and cut him off. “No, handsome. That’s not what I meant. I meant that I feel indecisive. I keep changing my mind. You see, I love your hands. I’ve loved your hands since the first day I met you. Tonight, you touched me with those hands in places and ways nobody else ever has and it was the most incredible experience of my life. I was convinced they were the best part of your body. Then, you put your mouth on me and I realized that your mouth is pretty spectacular, too. So, I put your mouth in the running for the best part of your body. But now, I feel confused. I’ll be honest, I have a slight obsession with your hands, but I’m beginning to think that the best part of your body is the one that’s currently still inside me.”
I felt Stone’s body vibrate beneath me. He was laughing. Seeing him like that filled me with a warmth I’d never felt before.
“You are too fucking much,” he said through his laughter.
He rolled to his side and explained, “Need to get this condom off. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” I answered.
Stone pulled out of me and knifed up off the bed. I watched his departing backside and realized even that was remarkable. He walked out of the bathroom a minute or two later carrying something. When he approached the bed, he sat on the edge next to me and twisted his upper body to face me.
“Open your legs, angel,” he said, gently.
“What?” I asked, slightly anxious.
“I want to make sure you’re okay. Let me take care of you there.”
Hesitantly, I parted my thighs. Then, I saw and felt what Stone had carried out of the bathroom. A warm washcloth. An overwhelming feeling spread through my body. I watched Stone’s face as he focused his attention on tending to me. If I didn’t know or wasn’t sure before, I knew for certain now. In that moment, watching him take care of me, I fell in love. Deep, down-in-my-bones, all-consuming love. I was so sure of it because when I considered the thought of not having this, not having him, my heart ached.
I felt the wetness leak from my eyes.
“Does it hurt?” Stone asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I shook my head.
“Why are you crying?”
“You made this perfect for me. From the second you picked me up at my place until now…it was all better than I could have imagined. Now I know why I waited this long; I was meant to have this with you. Thank you for giving this to me and for making it so special.”
His face softened and, for a moment, I saw a vulnerability in his eyes I never saw before now. The hardness that was usually there had vanished. It only lasted a couple of seconds and then it was gone.
“Honored that you chose me to give that to you, Monroe.”
Stone tossed the washcloth to the side and moved himself in the bed. After turning out the light on the nightstand, he put his head on the pillow next to mine, rolled to the side, and turned my body before pulling it against his, my back to his front.
“I want one more first with you tonight,” he stated.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Having a woman spend the night with me.”
I turned my head to look back at him. This information surprised me. Puzzled, I confirmed, “You’ve never had a woman spend the night?”
“Not going to lie to you. Had lots of women, none of them spent the night. And, none of them were ever in this bed with me.”
My body tensed at this news. I was the first woman he brought to his bed. The feeling that washed over me was indescribable.
That’s when I knew. I was meant to have this with him.
“Um, Stone?” I eventually called.
“Yeah?”
“You spent the night with me at Wes and Charley’s place back when Emme was kidnapped,” I reminded him.
“I know, but that doesn’t count.”
“Why not?” I asked, intrigued.
He kissed me on the shoulder and answered, “You weren’t mine then.”
Heat spread through my body and I relaxed deeper into him. After several minutes of silence, I called, “Stone?”
“Yeah?”
“I was always yours.”