Stone Heart_A Single Mom & Mountain Man Romance

by Rye Hart

  And for the first time in years, I locked both the deadbolt and the doorknob.

  CHAPTER 24

  GRAHAM

  A knock came at my door, and I waited for the second set. There was only one person I was opening that door for. Everyone else was in danger if I opened it for them. I listened as a second set of knocks spelled out the one name I was looking for. Only then did I hop up from the couch and whip the door open.

  “Fucking finally,” I said.

  I pulled Daniel into the house, still a bit shocked he was there. I enveloped him in a hug and patted his back, relieved someone else was there with me. The past couple of days had been torturous. Lily had come knocking on my door several times, and Cindy had even tried once. It had been hard, not answering the door for them.

  But I couldn’t.

  I had to keep them safe.

  “You look surprised to see me,” Daniel said.

  “So shoot me.”

  “Don’t look so surprised. I have to be here to help,” he said.

  “Thanks for coming,” I said.

  “Have you seen Cindy at all lately?”

  “Nope. Been keeping my distance from them. They’re at risk now because of my inability to stay away. Thanks for that, by the way.”

  “Hey, how is this my fault?”

  “Blend in with the crowd. Make friends. Get laid.”

  “I said nothing about getting laid, but it’s about damn time that happened too.”

  “And now she and her daughter are in danger because of me,” I said.

  “You don’t know that. I have no intelligence that says that.”

  “What do you have?” I asked.

  “For now, I think you’re actually safe.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? You came into town to tell me I’m okay? I know you better than that.”

  “I said you’re safe for now. No one’s been spotted in town for the past twenty-four hours, and chatter about you at the Agency has died down to almost nothing.”

  “I’m not making any excuses this time until I have some answers,” I said.

  Then, a knock came at my door.

  I paused, waiting for the person to go away. But instead, another knock landed. Then another. Then another still. I gritted my teeth as Daniel looked at me, his gaze commanding me to open the door.

  But I shook my head.

  “Graham? You there?” Cindy asked.

  “Mr. Graham? Do you still need a Band-Aid?”

  I watched Daniel’s jaw drop with an ‘aw’ before he reached for my door. I tried to stop him, irate that he would still want to put them at risk like this. It didn’t matter that he thought we were safe for the moment. I knew the dangers lurking out there. I knew the trouble I was in. But Daniel was too busy playing fucking matchmaker to care.

  He whipped the door open, and my eyes fell on Cindy, her beautiful body and her wonderful presence as her daughter held her hand.

  “Graham!” Lily said. “I missed you.”

  “Hey there,” I said. “How are you?”

  “Lily and I were about to head out to dinner, and I figured you might wanna join us. I didn't realize you had company, though,” Cindy said.

  “Yeah. Got a friend visiting, but maybe another time?” I asked.

  “He could come if he wanted. I’m Cindy, by the way.”

  “Daniel,” he said with a smile. “And who is this beautiful little girl?”

  “I’m Lily,” she said. “Do you like bread?”

  “I love bread. Is that what we’re having for dinner?” Daniel asked.

  “We’ve already got dinner plans,” I said.

  “And they were just canceled,” Daniel said.

  I saw the confused look on Cindy’s face and the puppy dog eyes Lily was giving me. She obviously got those from her mother. Daniel was looking at me with a shit-eating grin on his face, and I heaved a heavy sigh. At least if they were going out with both of us, they would have double the protection if something happened.

  “Okay,” I said. “We’ll come to dinner.”

  “Yay!” Lily said. “Come on, Mommy. I’m hungry.”

  The four of us hopped into Cindy’s car and headed into town. Daniel kept making conversation with Cindy, and I could see the growing curiosity in her eyes. Lily kept interjecting with questions, and Daniel answered them with ease, and in any other scenario, it would’ve been nice. The girl I liked and her daughter getting along with my best friend.

  But I kept my eyes peeled for danger as we walked into the restaurant.

  The night actually turned out to be pretty nice. Cindy and Daniel got along, and Lily and I talked about her day. Cindy kept eyeing me with that cute smile of hers, and Daniel entertained Lily so we could talk a bit. The food was fabulous, and the company was superb, and I felt my worries slowly melting away.

  It was like enjoying a family meal, a real, tried-and-true family meal.

  I enjoyed myself. I enjoyed the conversation and the presence of Cindy and Lily. It had only been a couple of days, but I had missed them a lot. They were my weakness, Lily with her persistent, energetic demeanor and Cindy with her soft presence and her motherly calm.

  I basked in the meal we all shared before we set out for home.

  I walked Cindy and Lily to their door as Daniel disappeared into my house. Having him there was a constant reminder of the danger we were all in. But every time I met Cindy’s eyes, a calm spread over me like a soft and cozy blanket.

  “Would you like to come in for a drink?” Cindy asked.

  “I probably shouldn’t leave Daniel at my house by himself.”

  And just as I said something, I heard a car strike up. I watched Daniel wave at me as he pulled out of my driveway, giving me a thumbs-up as he passed by.

  Where the fuck was he going?

  Cindy’s giggle pulled me from my trance, and I looked down at her. Lily was fast asleep in her arms, and I nodded my head in agreement. I followed her inside and helped her get Lily to bed. Once she was settled, the two of us ventured back to the kitchen.

  She poured us both a glass of whiskey before she leaned against the kitchen counter.

  “What’s going on with you?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Don’t play that game with me. I don’t have time for it.”

  I watched her sip her drink as I threw mine back with one gulp.

  “I think you’re better off with someone else,” I said.

  Cindy’s eyes locked on my face as I sighed.

  “I think you’re better off with someone who doesn’t have the past I do, who can support you and Lily and provide for you guys in a way I can’t.”

  “And who decided this?” she asked. “Because it wasn’t me.”

  “Sometimes the best decisions in life are made for us,” I said.

  “Bullshit.”

  My eyes whipped up to hers as she slid her glass along the kitchen counter.

  “I know you want me as badly as I want you. And for the past two days, I haven’t been able to figure out why you’ve been avoiding me,” Cindy said.

  I watched her approach me as I set my glass down on the counter.

  “I know you can’t deny the chemistry we both feel. We experience it every time we’re around one another. And I like being around you, Graham. You understand me in a way no one else does. Then you’re going to make a decision not to see me anymore without even talking to me about it?”

  I could see the fire in her eyes, the anger and the hurt I had caused her. It filled me with guilt.

  “Well, I don’t accept your proposal,” she said.

  “I didn’t propose anything,” I said.

  “You were going to. You were going to tell me to go off and find someone else. Someone better. But I don’t want better. I don’t want someone else. I want you, Graham, and that should count for something.”

  She fisted my shirt and pulled my body to hers. She stood on her tiptoes and crashed ou
r lips together. Her hands ripped at my shirt, busting buttons as she slid it off my shoulders.

  My cock instantly rose at the action and at her desperation and the way she clawed to get closer to me.

  I gripped her hips and walked her out of the kitchen. I turned us around, collapsing back onto the couch. I pulled her on top of me, her legs straddling my pelvis as she pushed my shirt off my shoulders.

  Then she yanked hers over her head, exposing her beautiful body to me.

  “Tell me you don’t want this,” she said.

  I leaned up and kissed the valley of her breasts as my hands worked the clasp of her bra free.

  “Tell me you don’t want me, and you can leave.”

  But I couldn’t. As I kissed her tits and pressed my face into her bosom, I knew I couldn't tell her that. I would never be able to look her in her eyes and tell her I didn’t want her because I didn’t simply want her.

  I needed her.

  CHAPTER 25

  CINDY

  He wasn't going to push me away that easily, not after opening myself up to him the way I had. He understood me and my pain without trying to change it. He didn’t try to push me into something I wasn’t ready for, and he didn’t look at my daughter as if she were baggage. He fit into my world like a sock fit a foot, and he wasn’t going to run from me simply because of his past or because he was scared.

  I ran my hands through his hair as he buried his face into my tits. He felt like fire, and I felt like ice. He was melting away the walls I’d thrown up after Bradley died with nothing but the strokes of his tongue. I felt beautiful underneath the palms of his hands. I felt wanted underneath the thrusts of his hips. I wanted him.

  Needed him.

  Craved him in a way I hadn’t any man since my husband.

  I felt his cock tenting in his pants. His callused hands ran up and down my back as my hips rolled into his. I pushed his head up, pressing him deep into the cushions of the couch. I was in control this time. I was going to take what I wanted before he gained the upper hand again.

  I stood up and shimmied out of my pants. I watched him work his belt and his button free, then I grabbed the legs of his jeans and pulled. His entire body jostled, and his eyes widened. I could see his cock throbbing for me, growing at the sight of my naked body.

  Our eyes connected, and I saw a heat rise in his gaze, a desperate lust that overtook his body as his muscles flexed for me. We were naked in front of one another, our bodies bared and everything exposed in the middle of my living room.

  Then I stalked toward him and straddled his cock with my dripping pussy.

  He groaned as I sank onto him, my pussy swallowing his girth. My legs shook, and my hands curled into the strong muscles of his shoulders. His hands guided my hips, massaging the excess that had appeared after I was pregnant with Lily. I moaned at his touch before our lips connected, and a spark ignited in my toes.

  I needed to feel him as close to me as I could get him.

  I rode his cock, rocking and swaying and swiveling my hips. He grabbed tightly onto my ass and rocked me closer, my chest falling in front of his face. He kissed my tits and lapped at my nipples. I raked my nails down his back as my knees tried to gain traction. He was thrusting into me, rendering my body helpless even though I was on top of him, even though I was the one who had all the power.

  My juices drenched his groin as he filled me with his dick. My toes began to curl when my pussy fluttered around him. I was rocketing off into the atmosphere as he pounded harder and harder, gripping my ass so tightly it began to burn with the marks his nails were leaving.

  And I loved it.

  I loved every second of it.

  My climax crashed over me, and my eyes widened in shock. I didn’t feel it coming, nor did I suspect it would happen so quickly. I slid down his cock one last time before he held me to his body, our hips connected with my pussy clamping around him.

  He kept lathering my bosom in kisses, leaving wet trails behind until our lips met once again.

  Graham held tightly onto me as he picked me up. I wrapped my legs around him, feeling his cock grow against my walls. I whimpered into his neck and nipped at his pulse point, pulling grunts from his throat. He walked us down the hallway until his knees were against my bed. Then, we collapsed in a fit of desire before he pulled out of me.

  “No. Come back. Please,” I said.

  I reached for him, but he wasn’t there. My juices were pouring from me as the sound of my door closing rang out into the room. I thought he had left, dropped me in my nakedness and my vulnerability and left me to fend for myself.

  Until I felt his hands on my ankles.

  He twisted me over in one motion before lifting my hips into the air. He tugged me to the edge of the mattress and knocked my legs further apart with his knees. His cock was bouncing against my ass, jiggling my cheeks and grabbing handfuls of the ample flesh. I looked back and caught his primal, predatory stare on my body.

  I swayed my hips side to side and watched his eyes widen with desire. I felt his cock press between my folds, my arousal slicking his skin. I shivered with delight as the tip of his dick slid into my entrance, his body sinking painfully slowly into mine.

  My face fell into the sheets as his hips bottomed out against mine.

  I felt him pull back. Then all at once, he slammed into me. I moaned into the sheets as his hand crept down my back. He worked my hair out of its bun, fisted my tendrils within his palm, and then pulled my face off the bed.

  “Better keep quiet,” he said. “Don’t wanna wake anyone.”

  He slid out and slammed back in, and I bit down on my lower lip. I pushed my hips back into him, trying to get him to go faster. It was torture, holding back my sounds. I wanted to moan his name, to groan and whimper with every stroke he took. He kept pulling out and pressing back in, emptying me before filling me up. Every time he slid out, I panicked, wondering if he would come back to me.

  Then he rewarded my patience with another pulse of electricity.

  He picked up his pace, his balls slapping against my clit. I was trying so hard to swallow down my sounds, but it was becoming almost impossible. Tears rose in my eyes as my skin flushed with frustration. My pussy was throbbing, and I could feel that fire burning behind my abdomen.

  But as if he could read my mind, he let go of my hair and my face fell into the bed.

  “Oh, Graham. Holy shit. Yes. So good. Oh, keep going. Keep going. Don’t stop. Keep going. Yes. Yes. Yes!”

  His hand cracked against my ass just as my body came around his cock. The burning sensation catapulted me to a world I’d never experienced before, and a tear of pleasure slipped down my cheek. He felt so good. Too good. Heavenly good. I moaned into the sheets as his cock rode me through my orgasm, my pussy massaging him as juices began to drip down my stomach.

  But he wasn’t done with me.

  I could feel his cock begging for more.

  His knees hit the bed between my legs, and he picked me up around my waist. My body felt limp like a rag doll being tossed around in the wind. We fell to our side on top of the comforter of my bed, and his hand slid down my thigh. He picked up my leg and tossed it behind me, wrapping it back around his hips.

  Then, I felt his cock at my entrance again.

  His teeth nibbled on my shoulder as he moved my hair from my face. My chest was panting for air and sweat was dripping down the back of my neck. He showered me with kisses. He watched as a salacious flush crept along the curves of my body. His fingertips slid up and down my side, sending goosebumps ricocheting over my limbs.

  He slid into me, sending me diving back into his ocean as his cock pressed against my walls.

  He grunted in my ear with every thrust. His hands massaged my tits and tugged at my nipples. I reached back and fisted his hair, pulling his lips into my neck as he bit into my skin.

  He couldn’t bite hard enough. He couldn't fuck me long enough. My legs were shaking, and tears were rising in my eyes, and
I loved every second of it. His hand cracked against my ass again, and I begged him for more. Again. And again. And again, until my entire cheek was on fire.

  I was dripping on the bed as he pounded against my ass.

  “Cindy, fuck, yes. Shit. Come for me. Give into me. Take it. Take it all.”

  His fingers parted my pussy folds, and I knew I was done. He stroked my clit, petting it as I melted into his body. Stars burst in my vision, and every muscle in my body tensed. He commanded my body like a fine-tuned instrument. He knew which chords to strike and what buttons made what sounds. I felt him smiling into my neck while his fingers worked my clit. My entire body pulsed for him as I rose into the heavens before my orgasm slammed me against the ground.

  I pressed into his body, feeling his muscles pull taut. I milked his dick with every ounce of strength I had as his hips stuttered. He was chanting my name in my ear. Calling me beautiful and wonderful and perfect. I jerked as he slid into me, pumping me full of his thick, hot cum as he sighed heavily against my ear.

  I stayed pressed into him as his fingers slowed their ministrations on my clit.

  His biting became sucking, and he kissed the teeth marks he’d left behind. He nuzzled into them, groaning as he felt their indentions. I was breathless. Exhausted. My fire had been extinguished, but the embers still burned for him. I felt our juices leaking from me as he slowly pulled away.

  But his grip around my body grew tighter as he lay there.

  I felt safe with him in my bed. His dominant nature was something that was new to me, but I loved every ounce of it. My ass was throbbing, and my neck was burning, but I knew a man with that kind of passion wouldn’t deliver it if he didn’t feel it.

  Didn’t mean it.

  I wanted him to stay, but I knew he couldn’t.

  “Are you okay?” Graham asked.

  “I’m so much better than okay,” I said.

  “Good,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m glad.”