Page 26 of Stone (Claimed and Protected #3)

S tone

Time seemed to stand still, the moment capturing my mind while spinning my libido out of control. Having Dani in my arms was dangerous. Yet holding her felt right, invoking the same strong sense of need and desire that had haunted me at least once a day.

I wanted her touch, her sweet lips on mine, and her legs wrapped around my hips as I fucked her long and hard.

I needed her words of wisdom and her quiet smile, her comforting words no matter the difficulty.

I longed to reverse time and make different decisions.

What I shouldn’t have I craved and what I longed to change I couldn’t.

What the fuck was I doing holding her so tightly, my cock twitching painfully?

Hell, it wasn’t like me to blow off work.

Then again, I’d never adhered to a faithful work schedule. The excuse had been handy, but staying away from Dani hadn’t done me any good whatsoever. In fact, I’d only felt the urge to touch and taste her more often than ever before.

Maybe that was because she’d purposely worn the shortest shorts and tiny tank tops that had done nothing but make my mouth water from intense desire. Today’s dress? Even more damning to my libido.

I’d avoided her at all costs, although my eyes had found her every time she’d moved from one room to another.

Putting my hands on her under any circumstances wasn’t acceptable in my mind.

Yet when she leaned into me, tilting her head until our lips were firmly pressed together, I could feel my resolve crumbling.

Now, having her in my arms, her warm body crushed against mine, I was losing all sense of control around her.

We were frozen in the moment, neither one of us either wanting or willing to move.

Her breathing was labored, her sweet breath cascading across my face and just having her in my arms had pushed me to the edge of self-control.

She could feel my desire, my longing pressing my hard cock between her legs. She wasn’t moving and neither was I and at this point, I wasn’t entirely certain we would end up going anywhere.

With another drag of her tongue, she licked my lips and I lowered my hand to squeeze her bottom.

Goddamn it. All control was tossed aside.

I captured her mouth, immediately pushing my tongue inside. She stiffened even as her fingers crawled up my chest and she snaked one arm around my neck, tangling her fingers in my hair. Somehow, it felt as if we were coasting through the moment, an old familiarity kicking in.

We’d once trusted each other implicitly and she’d been able to look across the room and I could easily find her. She rotated her hips, tugging on my hair and the longing kicked up a thousand degrees. She had a way of testing my willpower that was both undeniable and unfair.

All I could think about doing was stripping off her sexy little dress and having my way with her. I wanted nothing more than to fill her with my cock, driving into her sweet pussy until she cried out my name. And Jesus Christ if I didn’t want to tie her to my bed, keeping her there until…

Oh, who the hell knew?

The kiss became even more passionate, both our bodies humming to the current flowing from one to the other. Just the way she was undulating her hips across mine kept my balls aching. No other woman had managed to pull such hunger and emotion from me at the same time.

Maybe she knew what she was doing or maybe she was reacting to her own haze of lust, but as I dominated her tongue, I rolled my hand along her back, grinding my cock so there was no mistaking what was on my mind or what I was desperate to have.

That broke the spell. She pushed me back by a few inches, immediately rubbing her hands on my chest before turning. “I think maybe we should go.”

“Yeah. We should.”

Somehow, we continued staring at each other for a few seconds longer.

With her face flushing, she fumbled with the tennis shoes that had fallen off her feet, struggling to get the material over her heels. Obviously, she didn’t want to risk the possibility of falling into my arms again.

My clumsy girl. Only she wasn’t mine any longer.

There was so much pain in her voice. I ran my hands through my hair before grabbing the cooler.

She snagged her bathing suit from the floor, holding it against her chest as if using it as a barrier.

I motioned toward the door and she didn’t bother looking at me before stepping toward it. Once outside, she immediately headed for the Jeep’s passenger door.

There was nothing to say that would bridge the void between us. There were no words that would guide us to what we’d shared before or to put a permanent end to what we felt once again.

At this point, there was only silence and that was deafening.

With a heavy sigh, she slipped on her dark sunglasses so I wouldn’t be allowed to witness her pain.

Hell, I did the same, my jaw remaining clenched as I rolled away from the house.

As I headed to my favorite private cove on the island, she leaned her head against the seat, keeping her face pinned to the side. Every few seconds, I stole a quick glance, easily noticing the rise and fall of her chest. Fuuuuck. Where the hell were we supposed to go from here?

When I witnessed a single tear rolling down her cheek, I reached over then immediately curled my fingers, pulling my arm away.

The fifteen-minute drive was arduous, yet at least when the cove came into view, Dani immediately sat up in her seat, her lips pursed and I felt her excitement building.

“Oh, my goodness,” she breathed.

Just as I pulled through the trees close to the water, she grabbed the roll bar, easing through the opening in the roof.

With her hair flying in the breeze, her dress carving a beautiful picture around her voluptuous body, and the bright sun kissing her skin, it took all my willpower not to pull her onto my lap and fuck her here and now.

She had no idea just how beautiful she was.

I pulled the Jeep under a group of palm trees for shade, cutting the engine. Her squeal of glee was exactly what I’d hoped to hear.

“There’s no one around,” she said, finally looking down at me.

“Nope. That’s why I love it so much. It’s off the tourist map and rarely do locals come here. I found this place a couple weeks after I moved here.”

“I wish your parents could have seen where you ended up. They’d be so happy for you.” She thumped down in her seat once again, ripping off the tennis shoes quickly. With a laugh in her voice, she climbed out, racing toward the ocean’s edge.

“Don’t you dare get in the water!” I called.

She spun around, blowing kisses with both hands. She was a walking, talking rebellious woman who needed to be tamed. Why did the thought bring a smile to my face?

I took my time gathering our things, constantly watching the way she kicked her feet in the water, twisting and turning as the waves gently lapped at her feet.

I moved to a prime spot on the beach, tossing down the towels, placing the cooler and her bathing suit off to the side and waiting to see what she would do.

She stood in the same place for at least five minutes, studying the ocean water.

I’d witnessed many a tortured soul search for something to ease their pain over the couple of years I’d been here.

I’d done the same more than once, fighting the continued anger and every memory that haunted me.

Had the quiet moment of reverence worked?

I’d thought so until she’d returned to my life. Right now, I fucking hated karma, fate, or whatever magic wand had been used for some divine intervention.

When she turned toward me, even from a distance our gazes locked.

She wore no expression and as she walked in my direction, her steps were slow.

She eased down onto the towel, fixing it until the material was flat on the surface.

Then she reached over me to get to the cooler and her breast rubbed against my knee.

The spark was instant. We both froze. She lifted her sunglasses and mine with two long fingers. Eye contact was made, a sexy and highly flirtatious smile offered. Did she have any clue what she was doing to me? Were her sinful actions done on purpose just to torture me?

When she offered a flirty wink, even dragging her tongue across her bottom lip, it was either to test me or to kill me. She obviously didn’t know me that well. I might be easygoing on the outside, but I usually took what I wanted without asking for permission.

It was all I could do to keep my hands to myself. My pulse kicked up and I wouldn’t bet on whether or not I could remain a gentleman.

“So you’re a rich guy,” she stated not as a question but as an amusement.

“Are you talking about the wad of cash you found in my wallet?”

“Uh-huh and the fancy house you live in.”

“I wouldn’t call it fancy.”

“I would.”

She’d known exactly how poor my family had been while her father had been the richest man in town. Maybe in the entire state. My family had struggled for years to buy clothes to send me to school or to put food on the table.

My dad had never managed to hold down a job and everyone in town had thought him a deadbeat. They hadn’t understood him or his talents. “I don’t know about rich, but I do okay.”

“You’re like your father, you know.”

I wasn’t expecting her comment. “How so?”

“He was ingenious and no one ever gave him enough credit. Do you remember when you were shocked to learn he’d invested money in the stock market?” Her memory was incredible. I glanced at the ring on her finger for the fifteenth time.

“You mean money he’d won from a poker game?”

She cocked her head, studying me quizzically.

“Poker games aren’t illegal. Instead of spending the money on drugs or booze, he invested every dime.

That’s what you told me and it was the first time you acted proud of him.

I’m going to guess when your parents died, they left you something special in their will. ”