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My muscles jump underneath his touch. It’s been so long since I’ve gotten laid, and the few times I had sex weren’t anything special. A quick lay in a tent with a boy on vacation. As a way of getting money, my dad used to take families up into the mountains on “treasure hunting tours”. The kid was my age, and I was curious. No one in Clary ever looked at me, but he did. We kept in touch for a little while, but it was obvious what we wanted from each other, a casual exploring of our bodies.
Stone Jacobs though? There’s nothing casual about him. I can already tell there would be no fumbling our realigning or soft apologies in the dark. It would be so much more than that.
But also so, so wrong.
I stick my chin in the air. “I’ve never hid from you.”
He grabs my hips. “Your dad kept you locked away like I was the big, bad wolf.”
I breathe out. “Aren’t you?”
We are enemies, anyway. When two people want the same thing that only one person can have, that makes them competition. When the competition goes deeper than sport, that makes them at odds. It becomes personal. Feelings get involved, and despite the fact that I’m going to be working with him, I don’t have to like it.
“Why do I have a feeling you’d like me that way?” Stone purrs. He grabs me under my thighs, hoists me up, and presses me against the rock, leaning between my legs.
I let out a cry as soon as he nestles against me, his cock erect under his pants and rubbing against my core.
Fuck, fuck. I close my eyes, trying not to focus on the needy pulse between my legs. This can’t happen. Not with any of the three of them but definitely not with Stone Jacobs. My ancestors would turn over in their graves, and that’s not to mention that we’re actually related. Technically.
Stone doesn’t seem to care right now though. His hips move ever so slightly. “I know that feels good, Dakota. Don’t hide it from me.” After a moment, he stops. “I have a stipulation to our agreement.”
I arch my hips, letting myself revel in the growing need pumping through me. It’s hard to even think straight while he’s pressed up against me. My mind is telling me to get the fuck out of there as quick as I can, but my body is singing a much different tune. Technicalities be damned. Stone fucking me against this boulder sounds like the best way to scratch this itch.
He hums a low growl in the back of his throat. “Open your eyes, Dakota.”
I shake my head. As soon as I see his penetrating gaze, I won’t trust myself.
He leans forward, his breath teasing my ear. “Look at me.”
His command curls my toes until I blink my eyes open.
He gives me a nod of encouragement, yanking me toward him again until my panties are on fire. “You said you were ours,” he starts, echoing Lucas’s words from earlier. “Then, you’re ours. No one touches this body while we’re partners. Understand?” He pulls away to stare those captivating eyes right into my soul.
I don’t even know what to say. Part of me wants to tell him to go fuck himself. How dare he? But the other part of me is here for it in the dirtiest way. “You might not have noticed,Partner, but no one wants me. I’m a freak,” I say, echoing Meghan’s words.
He pushes forward and growls into my ear. I suck in a breath as his cock grinds into me. “No one touches you. No one bullies you. No one so much as whispers your name unless it’s mixed with ours.”
I’m breathless, holding onto his shoulders for dear life. Abruptly, he sets me on my feet, and I palm the rock behind me to keep from falling on my face.
He grips my chin. “Are we clear, Dakota Wilder?”
I will not submit. Not to a Jacobs. Not to anyone, but definitely not to a member of his family. This is just him trying to regain the upper hand because they know they need me. If they don’t have me, they don’t have what my family knows. “Not nearly,” I say. “Don’t mistake this for anything more than a business partnership, Stone. You want what I have, and I want to find my father.”
His brow creases. “Dakota…”
I hold my hand up, wanting to slap myself for that coming out. “If we happen to find the treasure, that’ll just make my father’s homecoming that much more special.” I turn away from the look on his face. It’s akin to pity, and that’s not flying with me. I prefer him to be a prick, pressing me against this rock.
I turn, take a few steps, and am immediately blocked by Wyatt and Lucas. “Looks like we missed the real party,” Wyatt says, taking in my wild hair, and I’m sure even in the moonlight he can see my flushed cheeks.
I meet Lucas’s gaze, and he immediately looks away. Wonderful. This tentative partnership isn’t going well at all.
“I’ll make sure you get home,” Stone says.
Wyatt steps in front of Stone after letting me by. “I think we need to stay back and discuss some things. How are you doing, Lucas? You good?”
“Drunk as fuck,” he says, but the earlier good-naturedness is gone. In its place is a cold, disinterested voice. Whatever he and Wyatt fought about must have been big.
“Great,” Wyatt spits.