Page 6

STONE

I drop Kendall onto my mattress, grinning when she bounces and laughs. It’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard, and I want to hear it every day.

I lean down and cup her tits, loving the weight of them in my hands. My flannel is soft, and as much as I love seeing it on her, I want to see her naked even more. Little Kendall in a bikini was overwhelming. My Kendall in all her glory is going to be life-changing.

The buttons give easily beneath my fingers, revealing a creamy strip of skin as I work my way down. I don’t push the shirt aside, not yet. She’s like unwrapping the present you’ve waited all year for. I want to savor the experience because there will never be another like this.

Once her shirt is unbuttoned, I climb onto the bed and press my lips to hers.

The kiss starts soft, then explodes into heat and passion.

I can’t get enough of her taste. I need more.

Trailing my lips down her throat, I kiss a path down all that creamy skin I revealed, tasting heaven.

Sliding my hands beneath the fabric, I reverse course, peeling the shirt away until her gorgeous tits are revealed.

Jesus, they’re perfect for my hands. Her nipples are a pale pink, already at hard points from the lightest touch.

I pinch one, delighting in her gasp, then suck on the other.

Fuck, I will never get tired of watching her squirm beneath my mouth, blue eyes glued to mine. I switch to the other side, savoring the feel of her hard bud on my tongue, then work my way back down to the place I want to taste most.

Her leggings peel away easily. I help her out of the sleeves of the shirt, and both pieces are tossed away, leaving her in only a pair of lacy pink panties.

Her legs are smooth under my palms as I move them aside, fitting my shoulders between them. I glance up, checking to make sure Kendall’s still with me. Her eyes are practically glowing with lust.

She grips the sides of her panties and pushes them down.

I help strip them off and focus on the neatly trimmed hair. The smell of her desire makes my cock so hard, it’s pushing painfully against my zipper. “Gorgeous, baby girl. You smell so good. I want to taste this pussy.”

“Please,” she whispers, hips rolling on the bed.

She’s so wet for me. I slide my fingers between her folds, back and forth, ghosting my touch over her entrance and her clit. “Here?” I tease.

Kendall gives a little growl and shimmies her hips to get my fingers where she needs them. “Yes. There.”

Fuck, she’s cute when she’s demanding. It almost makes me want to tease her more.

There’s plenty of time for that, Colter. Once this shit with Ryan is over, you’ll find a way to convince her to stay. Then you can spend days teasing her like this.

I want that so fucking bad. Before she showed up on my porch, I thought I wanted nothing more than to help other vets like me and restore the relationship I so casually destroyed. Now, all I want is Kendall. Everything else is secondary, because without her, it’s all meaningless.

Lowering my head, I lick a stripe up her pussy, savoring the taste of peaches and the musk that is all her. I can’t help the moan that escapes my throat. Grabbing her thighs, I yank her closer to my mouth, move her legs over my shoulders, and lick her like a starving man.

Kendall arches her back, crying out in ecstasy when I latch onto her clit, flicking it with my tongue. I lick and suck, flick and tease until she’s gushing for me. Then I slide one finger inside her pussy. Two. She whimpers, riding my hand as I plunge them into her core.

“That’s it, baby girl. Ride my hand. Take what you want. What you need.”

“Stone!” Her back arches again, legs trembling as I push her higher.

Her hands go to her tits, plucking at her nipples. Fuck that’s hot.

“That’s right, honey. Show me how you take your pleasure.”

“Put your mouth on me,” she cries, half demand, half plea.

Gladly. Leaning forward, I suck her clit again, adding pressure as I fuck her with my fingers. I reach up with my free hand and move her hand aside, pinching a nipple and rolling it between my fingers. When I do it a second time, sucking her clit harder, Kendall screams my name, splintering apart.

I lap up every bit of her honey, bringing her slowly down.

Kendall grabs my shoulders, urging me up.

I climb up her body, press a deep kiss to her lips, letting her taste herself on my tongue, then lie beside her and pull her close. My dick is so hard it hurts, but I’ve never felt better in my life.

She curls into my side, resting her head on my shoulder. “When I can breathe, it’s your turn.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

She rises up to one elbow and glares down at me. “Yes. It does.”

I like this bossy side of Kendall. Knowing her parents and her soft heart, I don’t think she’s ever really demanded what she wants. If she needs to do that more using me, fuck if I’m going to say no.

“Then maybe I need to keep you out of breath a little longer.” I pull her on top of me, loving the weight of her there. “Because once I’m inside you, I plan to stay there all night.”

Her eyes soften and she places a tiny kiss on the corner of my mouth. “I like the sound of that.”

Pulling her close, I settle her in my arms and listen to the rain pounding on the roof. Life has never seemed more perfect, and that unsettles me. If there’s one thing I learned from my days as a SEAL, it’s that peace never lasts. And when it comes to Kendall, the danger to her terrifies me.

My woman is more tired than I realized. The heavy emotions from these last days have drained her. In moments, she’s asleep in my arms.

I hold her for a couple hours, listening to the rain and living in the moment. It won’t last. I know that. Ilya is out there, and I still have to deal with Ryan and his bullshit.

The more Kendall and I talk, the more I revisit that fight on her birthday.

I’ve carried guilt around for years, feeling like it was my fault that things got to the point they did.

Now, I can’t help but wonder how much was Ryan’s own insecurities that played a factor.

Yes, I missed the warning signs. Had I seen them and taken action, I never would have been in the SEALs.

I might not have Kendall in my arms right now.

Nothing about that alternate scenario feels right.

This is where I’m meant to be. I need to make him see that.

The crunch of tires on gravel pulls me from my thoughts. I slip out of bed and move to the window. Speak of the devil.

Kendall stirs behind me. “What is it?”

“Get dressed, honey. Your brother is here.”

“What?” She scrambles up faster than I’ve ever seen her move, grabs some clothes and flies into the bathroom, slamming the door closed.

Fucking adorable.

I close the door to the bedroom behind me and grab my boots and a rain jacket. It’s pouring and muddy as hell, and I’m about to meet my best friend for the first time in six years with the taste of his sister on my lips.

Nothing about this is going to go well.

Ryan is already striding across my drive. He points a finger at me. “You’re a goddamn asshole, Stone!”

He looks like hell. He’s lost at least twenty pounds since I saw him last, has a few days’ beard growth, and his shirt is stained and dirty.

Gone is my friend from high school and the military.

In his place is a man that looks like a strung-out addict.

And he’s been living off Kendall’s generosity for three months? Fuck him.

“Looked in the mirror lately, Knowles?” I fold my arms over my chest and wait for him on the porch.

“Fuck you. You don’t know a damn thing about what I’ve been through these last years. But then you never cared anyway, did you?”

“Yeah, I did. Still do.” Though right now, I’m wondering why.

He scoffs. “Bullshit. Same old Stone. Telling me what I want to hear instead of the truth.”

“You want the truth? You’ve been blaming everyone but the person responsible for all these troubles, Ryan.”

“Who? You? I already know you’re to blame.”

Pain spears my chest. Because he hates me so much, and because he’s blinded himself to his own failings. “No. You .”

Ryan lunges forward, throwing a sloppy punch.

I grab his wrist, twist it behind him and shove him face first into the porch post.

“That’s right. Show me how much stronger you are.

How much better,” he seethes as blood trickles from his nose.

“I don’t know how I ever looked up to you.

I thought you were amazing, bringing yourself up from nothing, seeming to care about others in a way I hadn’t seen before.

But it was all a fucking lie. You’re just like everyone else. ”

He said all these same things the night we fought. Hearing them again makes me release him and take a step back. “You were my best friend, Ryan. If you had told me you were unhappy?—”

“I tried, but you didn’t listen!” he shouts and swings around, glaring at me as he wipes his nose.

“I would have followed you anywhere. Done anything for you. But I couldn’t make the SEALs.

Look at me, man.” He waves to his body. “I never had the physique for that, and you knew it. You purposely went where I couldn’t follow, just to put me in my place.

Well guess what, asshole? My parents were right about you all along.

I am better than you. I was then, and I am now. ”

Pain stabs at my heart and my chest tightens at his words.

“I never meant to hurt you or go where you couldn’t, Ryan.

The SEALs were what I was meant to do. I knew that even though we wouldn’t be in the same unit anymore, you were already far outpacing me on the technical side.

You know how bad I am at math. I couldn’t have kept up with you if I’d tried. ”

“That’s right. You didn’t try. Maybe if you’d stuck around, I wouldn’t have fucked up that maneuver that got me booted from the Navy.”

I heard rumors of something he was involved in, but no one I knew had hard facts. All I know was that it happened a little over a year after our fight, and no charges were brought. Maybe the Navy gave him the choice to leave honorably. “You think it would have been different if I’d been there?”

He leans back against the post, eyes hard. “Guess we’ll never know.”

Before I can respond, the door swings open. Kendall stomps out, hands on her hips, and glares at her brother. She’s put her hair up in the messy bun I love and is wearing my flannel again. A fact her brother zeroes in on.

“Ryan Knowles, where the hell have you been?”

“Not fucking my ex-best friend,” he spits. “Guess I left that to you.”

Her mouth drops open, and she takes a step back, as stunned as if he slapped her.

That’s it. I’m done. No one talks to her that way, especially the family that’s supposed to love her. I slam my fist into Ryan’s mouth and another into his gut.

He doubles over, spewing curses.

“Stone, don’t!” Kendall says, grabbing my arm. “Don’t hurt him.”

“So he can keep hurting you ? I don’t think so, honey.”

“You make me sick,” Ryan growls. Then he turns on his sister. “And you betrayed me. You want to play house with Colter? Fine. But don’t come running to me when he tosses you aside for what he wants next. It’s what he does to others.”

Her lip trembles. She lifts her chin a notch. “What about what you do to people, Ryan? I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t owe so much money to a mobster. He threatened and terrified me, and instead of facing him and protecting me, you disappeared and left me vulnerable.”

“I doubt he’d have hurt you. It’s me he wants.” By his tone, I’m not sure he believes his own words.

“And if he couldn’t find you, how do you think he planned to draw you out?” I argue.

Ryan looks uncertain but quickly hides it beneath a sneer. “If he plans to use Kendall now, it’ll be a waste of time.”

She sucks in a gasp.

“Get out before I bury you,” I snarl. I’m one second away from ripping his fucking head off and shoving it down his neck.

Ryan looks at Kendall. “Despite everything, you’re still my baby sister. Come with me. We’ll get the hell out of here and go far away from Petrova.” He glances at me. “And everyone else who wants to hurt us.”

Kendall crosses her arms over her waist, shoulders hunching. She shakes her head. “No. I’m staying here. Stone will protect me.”

He scoffs again and jumps off the porch. “It’s your funeral,” he calls as he marches back to his car. His tires squeal as they dig into the mud, then they catch and he speeds off, going much too fast for the pouring rain and muddy mountain conditions.

I’m at Kendall’s side in an instant, catching her when she sags against me. Lifting her into my arms, I carry my precious woman inside.