Page 5 of Ever After Between the Lines (Montgomery Ink Legacy)

“He chained me in the basement when my brother died. Beat me, did…well, things. I don’t want to go into detail because I don’t want to think about it.

They were training the new Rook, the new Knight, and I was just the runner.

They wanted me to kill this kid, this fucking kid, so that I could take over the Rook position, and I wouldn’t.

” Stone met my gaze. “I wouldn’t. And when they killed my brother, there was nothing else for me.

I tried to leave, and they wouldn’t let it happen.

I stayed for as long as I was forced to, and then there was nothing else for me. ”

“Stone,” I whispered.

“A friend helped me out, though I don’t think he is actually a friend. An ally that I hadn’t realized was an ally until it was almost too late to. He got me a car, helped me get out while I was thinking about just taking the bus to get here to you.”

“Because you knew where I was,” I whispered, my hands shaking.

“Of course I did. I always knew where you were, because I needed to make sure you were safe. That’s why I stayed. Well, part of it. Because I needed to make sure you were safe.”

Tears slid down my cheeks, and he cursed under his breath. “Stop it. I wasn’t blaming you.”

“I know. But damn it, Stone, why did we lose so much time?”

“We don’t have to lose any more.”

And then his mouth was on me, and I was lost. He tasted of coffee and Stone. I moaned into him, craving him. He was the drug, and I was the addict, and it had been too long since my last hit.

An eternity since my last hit.

I slid my hands up his back, digging my nails into his shirt, and he groaned into me, pinning me against the wall.

I hadn’t even realized that he had backed me up next to the front door until I was there and I groaned, arching against him.

My nipples were hard, pressing against his chest, and he smiled against me.

“You taste so fucking good. Like a memory, sin, and a promise all rolled up into one.”

“I could say the same of you. I missed this, Stone. I missed you.”

“It’s only been you,” he whispered, and my eyes went wide.

“What?”

“Since you left, it’s only been you.”

I swallowed hard. “I waited too. I didn’t realize I was doing it, but I waited.”

He groaned, his thick cock pressed against my belly. “Fuck. I’m not going to last long.”

“Then this first time, we don’t have to last. I just need you.”

“Deal.”

And then he was kissing me again, pulling up my shirt.

I tugged at him, ripping at the bottom of his shirt until he pulled back, shrugged off his jacket, and remove the shirt over the top of his head.

He was all ink and long lines of muscle.

My hands ran over the scar on his chest, the other on his hip, another on his bicep, and he cursed under his breath.

“The only scars I have are the ones of my own making. Ignore the rest.”

“Only if you ignore them too.”

And I tugged off my shirt, leaving me in my bra, and his fingers went to the scar between my breasts.

“I’ll kill him for you.”

“No. He’s nothing right now. Don’t let him in here.”

The King didn’t matter right now. He couldn’t. I couldn’t let him be part of this.

I may wear the King’s scar on my flesh, but I wasn’t his Queen. Wasn’t his anything.

Stone growled, and then he kissed me again, and I was lost.

I tugged on his pants, and we each toed out of our shoes, stripping each other gently. We were still standing, my back pressed against the cool wall.

“I need to be inside you,” he grumbled as I reached between us, gripping his cock. He was wide, long, and I couldn’t touch my fingers as I wrapped around him.

“Were you always this big?” I asked, looking down.

He grinned. “It looks like I’m going to have to refresh your memory.” And then he reached down, lifting me by my thighs, and speared into me.

I was wet, soaking for him, and he slid right in with ease.

I looked at him, my breath coming in pants as I looked down between us, at the way that we connected, his cock deep inside my pussy.

“Stone.”

“Fuck, I didn’t mean to go so fast, but I slid right in.”

“Because I’m always wet around you,” I said as I clenched my inner walls. His eyes crossed, and he groaned, kissing me again. And then I wrapped my legs around his waist and urged him.

“Please. Fuck me. We’ll make love later, but now I just need you to fuck me.”

“Deal.” Then he moved, sliding deep inside of me. He slammed me into the wall over and over again, and I arched for him, meeting him thrust for thrust. I’d be bruised later, but then again, as my fingers clawed down his back, he’d carry my mark as well.

And that’s all I wanted, for him to carry my mark on his flesh, his soul, just like he had branded me long ago.

He flipped his thumb between us, over my clit, and I met his gaze. My mouth parted, and I came. It was a rush, passion and promise and heat all at once as my cunt clamped around his dick, my entire body breaking out into goosebumps as I came, my head thrown back, my body in need.

Stone bit down on my shoulder, grunting as he followed, filling me as if the both of us hadn’t been able to hold back. It was hard, rough, and it was perfect.

It was only then that I looked down and realized he hadn’t used a condom.

Stone was the only person I had ever had sex with, and if he was telling the truth, and I had to hope he was, I was the only person for him.

“Fuck, I didn’t protect you.”

“It’s okay. I’m on birth control. I’m clean.”

Stone let out a shaking breath, his dick still twitching deep inside me. “I’m clean too. But hell. I need to do better about taking care of you.”

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

And then I kissed him, falling in love with him all over again.

The boy that I’d loved, the man that I yearned for, and the promise I knew needed to be kept.

He was Stone, he was mine, and I had to hope that in these moments we had for one another—that this couldn’t be the end.