Page 3 of Stone Cold Bad (Stone Brothers #1)

THREE

JADE

I stared up at the man I’d used as a human shield. Why the hell did trouble always follow me? And this guy was definitely trouble, and the worst kind of trouble because he was wrapped up in an incredible package of muscles, ink and heartbreak.

“Sorry, that wasn’t really a kiss. I was just smashing my face against yours so that those guys couldn’t see me. Thanks again for that.” I tried to sidle past him. He stuck his leg between my thighs.

I sucked in a wavering breath. He caught my reaction.

The truth was, it had started as an all-business kiss, it was the first thing I could think of when I saw Ray’s lap dogs coming toward the hallway.

I hadn’t really noticed that the guy was incredibly beautiful until after I’d spun him toward me and pushed my mouth up to his.

He had kissed back in a way that made me instantly melt in his arms. A skilled kisser with a face and body to match, always a lethal combination.

His hand slipped beneath my skirt. I hadn’t seen it coming.

The guy was bold as hell and with a hard edge that made him just that much more appealing.

I stared unflinchingly at him as he rubbed his fingers across the crotch of my panties.

A satisfied smile crossed his face as his fingers touched the moisture, the wetness he’d coaxed from me with his damn kiss.

“See, now those wet panties tell me that it was a real kiss and a good one.” He leaned closer. He even smelled strong and tough like aftershave that had been made with leather and iron and musk. Whatever the heck it was, it made my head spin.

He glanced toward the door. “I figure we’ve got a few minutes until those fools give up and leave this place.

What could we possibly do to pass the time?

” He pulled the crotch of my panties aside.

I tried to squirm away from his touch, but he followed, not in a forceful threatening way but in a patient, persistent way.

He kept one hand braced on the wall as he leaned toward me.

In a gesture inconsistent with the dangerous, hard man in front of me, he pressed his free hand gently against my face.

“You look like you’ve been through some shit tonight, darlin’.

” He lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me.

His fingers pushed past the crotch of my panties, and his callused thumb ran over my clit.

I gasped against his mouth and wiggled away from his hand again.

His fingers followed. “Shh, relax. I’m going to make some of the dark crap go away.

” His fingers pushed inside of me. I grabbed his shirt for support as my body gave way to the feel of his hand between my legs.

My breaths came in short spurts. An hour ago, I was fighting off vile Ray, the man who I’d lived with for the past three years, but here I was, standing in a utility closet with a complete stranger’s fingers jammed in my pussy, and I didn’t want him to stop.

His skill with his mouth and tongue was rivaled by his talented fingers.

He knew exactly where to touch and with just the right amount of pressure and attention.

His thumb strummed my clit like a fine instrument while his finger fucked me with a perfect, solid rhythm that made my grasp on his shirt tighten.

I rocked my hips to grind harder against his fingers. I was in complete delirium at the notion of this hot guy making me come in the center of a utility closet, and all while Ray’s minions were out scouring the parking lot for me.

The man’s green eyes faded to chalky gray as his attention to my pussy seemed to be giving him erotic pleasure too. With solid determination, he teased my pussy bringing me closer and closer to climax.

I was just a few strokes away and desperate to finish when the door opened. I should have jolted in alarm or shame but I didn’t. I was in a fucking trance. His fingers and the way he stared at me with those pale eyes held me captive.

Another face appeared through the haze. It was a man equally tall and handsome but with darker eyes and lighter hair. His brother, I thought to myself as I continued to move against his hand. The green eyed man’s concentration had not been broken either.

“Figures you snagged her before I could even introduce myself,” the other man said. “Nice.” He stared down at his brother’s hand between my legs. “And not a stroke missed, you dawg. Proud to call you my brother. Now finish this because Hunter needs us.”

He was having a conversation and his brother was watching and somehow it didn’t matter. I was completely determined to finish this or die from disappointment. He was like a fucking pussy wizard. Magical.

“Is Hunter in trouble?” my captor asked, without missing a beat.

“Nope, but the guy he’s pounding is.”

“I guess that’s fifty-fucking-three, you cocksure, sticky fingers pro. You’ve got this contest in the bag.” His footsteps pounded the cement floor and the door shut.

I opened my eyes and gazed at the man. I didn’t even know his name, the beautiful man with the magical fingers.

He knew my pussy better than me. My lips parted with an appreciative mewl, and he pressed his mouth against mine.

“Come for me, darlin’. I want to watch your incredible face as your pussy clenches around my hand. ”

The dirty words pushed me right over. My fingers were white as I held tightly to the fabric of his shirt.

I cried out as waves of pleasure coursed through my body.

Slowly, he pulled his hand from between my legs.

I collapsed against his chest and he held me.

For a brief second, I felt safe, as if everything in my world wasn’t completely fucked.

I was finally steady enough on my feet to stand straight on my own. “So, I was part of a contest?” I asked. “Number fifty-fucking-three? Does it always have to be in a utility closet or are there other exotic locations on the list?”

He smiled. “Closet is optional. There’s a five hundred dollar pot, but—” He leaned closer and kissed me. “Contest or not, I would have done that. You looked like you needed it.”

I reached up and pushed his long, black hair behind his ear.

He had a sliver plug in each lobe. That, coupled with his size, mass of tattoos and black hair, definitely made him look like someone you would run from in a dark alley.

Only I hadn’t run. I’d spread my legs for him with hardly a second thought.

I hadn’t even minded when his brother watched.

Had I been living such a dissolute life as Ray’s plaything that my modesty had been shaken completely away?

Or was this man just that good? I held on to the hope that it was the latter.

As I reached back to pull up my hood, my sleeve dropped down.

My utility closet fantasy man took hold of my wrist and turned it to get a better look at the bruises Ray had left on my forearm.

His face turned grim. As menacing as he’d looked before with his massive shoulder span, dark hair and silver-green eyes, now he looked positively lethal.

“Which one of those guys did this to you?” The question slid from between a tight jaw.

I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t them.” I pulled my arm away and pushed the sleeve down.

I’d just let him bring me to orgasm, and I didn’t even know his name.

I didn’t feel the need to expose myself any more to the man.

He was just one stranger in what I figured would be a long line of them on my way to finding a safe place for myself.

Although, I doubted that I would cross paths with many who looked like the stranger in front of me.

He walked to the door. I could have asked his name, but it would be easier to forget him if I didn’t know it. He opened the door and peered out. The music had stopped, and only a few sounds rumbled up the hallway. They sounded like grunts of pain.

He glanced back. His eyes were now pale gray beneath the yellowish light bulb hanging over the doorway.

“I think if you keep up your hood and make a wide berth around the action in the center of the bar, you can slip right past the three goons. One is already face down on the ground, and my brothers are taking care of the others.”

He flashed me a smile and walked out into the hallway.

I yanked on my backpack, pulled the hood low over my head and ducked my face down.

We stepped into the barroom just as Grady, one of Ray’s most loyal guards, pulled a shiny blade from under his coat.

In one fluid movement, the handsome stranger grabbed Grady’s wrist and wrenched his arm painfully behind him.

The knife fell to the floor along with Grady.

The brother who had come into the closet was standing with his foot on Belkin’s head, another one of Ray’s watch dogs.

He was reading text messages, looking bored, as another man, who was also startlingly handsome and even bigger than my closet lover, pounded a pig faced guy named Tuttle into ground beef.

The other patrons stood at the far end of the bar watching in awe as the three brothers destroyed Ray’s men. I slipped out the door and looked around. I needed to make a quick decision, so I could get out of sight.

I headed toward the docks thinking I could hide out on a boat for the night.

I could be up at the crack of dawn, before anyone came down to the marina.

My feet sounded incredibly loud on the salt and wind weathered planks of the dock.

I was halfway when I realized that there were other footsteps pounding the dock behind me. I twisted around and stumbled back.