Shuttered Affections (Cornerstone #1)

by Folsom, Rene

  He held me up against his hard body.

  “So beautiful,” he whispered against my lips.

  I gasped as we stood in the hallway, my naked skin pressed against his body, his arms wrapped protectively around me.

  “What are you doing here? You can’t just come barging in here!” I exclaimed. I wasn’t happy. Here I was standing naked in front of a man who made my pussy weep with just one look. I had my hair tangled into a towel and absolutely no makeup on.

  And, did I mention I’m butt-ass naked?

  “I came to see you. You weren’t responding to my text messages and I got worried. Then when I got here and you didn’t answer, I panicked and looked around for a key. You really shouldn’t keep a spare key under the mat… it’s not safe. I’m so glad to see you’re okay. God, Julia, if anything were to happen to you...”

  As his words muffled by burying his face into my neck, he pressed me up against the wall in the hallway and began kissing the tender skin just below my ear with fervor. I was completely beside myself he just waltzed into my home, uninvited, all because I didn’t respond to a few text messages. I should have been angry, but shock and fear took place of my rage and made it nearly impossible for me to function.

  “Aiden, please st—” I wanted to ask him to let me go so I could cover myself up. But I couldn’t get the words out with his lips distracting me.

  “Yes, Angel? What would you like?” He brought his forehead to mine, panting with desire.

  I hesitated… my mind completely clouded by his advances.

  “I… oh.” His lips began distracting me again while he nibbled at my ear. “I need to get my robe,” I admitted sheepishly.

  “Don’t you dare cover up this beautiful body,” he said as he began trailing his hands up from my hips, gliding along my waist, and barely brushing the sides of my breasts. “Don’t hide. You’re much too beautiful for that. I want to look at you.”

  I gasped at his touch. His hands were so soft against my skin. He made me feel so beautiful.

  Satisfaction was mirrored in his face as I blushed.

  My immediate reaction was to cover myself with my hands. But Aiden quickly grabbed my wrists and brought my arms above my head, pinning me to the wall.

  “No.” His single-word demand made me flinch.

  He held both my wrists with one hand as he stepped back to look at me. His other hand glided from my wrist, down my forearm, around my elbow, against my bicep, tickling my underarm. He continued his assault, his eyes following his fingertips as he grazed the side of my left breast, down my sensitive side, over the curve of my hip…

  “Please, Aiden. Don’t,” I begged as I turned my head and squeezed my eyes shut.

  He pressed his body against me and began ravaging my skin with his lips again. I could feel his hard erection pressing against my leg. He held me steady, firm, and did not ease up.

  I began to struggle beneath him, but that just made him increase his hold.

  He radiated power—a power that both frightened me and made my nerves twinge in anticipation.

  “Fuck, Juliana. I want you. And I can tell you want me, too.” His words were more forceful instead of the gentle tone he usually used with me.

  The fear was overpowering me. I could feel the lump forcing its way up into my throat. Nausea was beginning to overtake my desire.

  Aiden’s hands felt good on me, but I was beginning to hyperventilate with the idea of him holding me down. A hostage for his desires. My body craved for him to take me over, but my mind could only picture the memories of Rob and his evil grin as he violated me time and time again.

  I couldn’t stomach someone else doing the same. Tears began to stream down my face.

  “Stop! Aiden! Please, stop!” I yelled as I struggled beneath his relentless hold.

  “Julia? Are you okay? I didn’t mean to hurt you. Did I hurt you?” Aiden’s words were frantic as he let my wrists go and cupped my face.

  I kept my eyes shut, unable to look at him in my vulnerable state. I was crumbling inside. Here I stood, naked, completely exposed, and unable to clear my mind of the nightmares.

  A strangled sound erupted from my throat and I began to slide to the floor. His hands held steady around my face as he lowered to the floor with me.

  I knew he wasn’t Rob, but that didn’t mean his intentions weren’t the same. I knew Rob well, and he still ended up being a monster. Yet, I knew nothing about the man in front of me. I just couldn’t avoid allowing my nightmares to rule my life. It was inevitable. I was going to end up alone because I sure as hell couldn’t trust a man.

  He continued to hold my face with both of his hands as I sat curled up and naked on my hallway floor.

  “Julia, look at me please. Talk to me.”

  I opened my eyes. His face was blurred from the tears now flowing freely, yet he looked sincere and very handsome.

  “Did I hurt you? Are you okay?” he asked with gentleness.

  I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to hide my nakedness.

  “Please, tell me what’s wrong. I will fix it. Whatever it is, just tell me,” he begged.

  I trembled in Aiden’s grip, causing him to loosen his hold slightly.

  “I can’t!” I cried, cupping my face in my hands to sob.

  Aiden slowly picked me up and carried me over to my bed, then backed away as if he was going to leave. My heart cried out for him, but my body still trembled from the memories of him holding my wrists hostage against the wall.

  He didn’t leave. Instead, he grabbed my robe off the hook on my door.

  God, I felt like such a baby. But I couldn’t help it. I was a prisoner in my own memories.

  I felt Aiden slowly approach me, the wood floors creaking with each step he took. He gently draped my robe over my shoulders and closed it around my body, reverently covering my nakedness as I continued to shed tears.

  I felt him kneel in front of me, his hands grasping my thighs. He snaked his arms around my backside and laid his head in my lap.

  He just held me like that, gently stroking my lower back as I cried. No… sobbed.

  We stayed that way for a long time. My tears eventually dried up and I realized he was still kneeling on the unrelentingly hard, wooden floor.

  “Aiden, I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  He brought his head from my lap and looked up at me with despair in his eyes.

  “Hell,” he muttered as he wrapped his arms around me.

  “I wish I knew how to make it better for you, Angel. I hate seeing you so afraid,” he said honestly.

  “Your knees must be hurting. Please get up.” My words came out somewhat demanding. But I was still feeling his hands and body pinning me down and making me helpless.

  He slowly stood in front of me and backed away just a hair.

  Rubbing my hands over my robe and down my thighs, I softly said, “You should go.”

  His hands clenched into fists by his sides. “We aren’t finished talking, Julia. Not by a long shot. You still haven’t explained what the hell is wrong. You still haven’t told me what that was all about out there.” He pointed toward the hallway, his eyes flashing ominously.

  “I need some answers, Angel.”

  “I need you to go. Now,” I said with very little force. I didn’t bother to look up at him because I knew my resolve would crumble.

  He sighed loudly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him run his hand through his hair with his other hand on his hip.

  “Have a good night, Juliana,” he said acidly as he turned to walk out, taking my breath with him.

  Chapter 21

  “Well, fuck me sideways.”

  I dragged my defeated ass through the doors at H20. I probably appeared as miserable as I felt because Sid just looked at me with pity in her eyes.

  Since Thursday night was ladies night, both Sid and I worked the floor. It’s funny, you would think there would be a ton of ladies, but as it turns out, men usually s
wamped the place on ladies night.

  So desperate, I thought.

  As I was putting my things on a hook in the employee lounge, Sid came up and began to straighten my hair.

  “You okay, Jules? You look like you’ve been crying,” she asked. I could tell she was trying desperately not to feel sorry for me, because she knew I hated that emotion.

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine once I bury myself into work,” I assured her.

  Without saying another word, she spent the next few minutes helping me make myself more presentable.

  Just before I put my phone in my purse, it vibrated with a new text message from Highway Robber.

  I miss you already, Julia. I know you’re upset with me, although I’m not sure why. I do plan on making it up to you.

  Not sure why? Pfft. Just as I decided not to respond, another message came through.

  Thought I’d let you know, I’m going to be hanging with my brother tonight and he wanted to swing by the club and have a few beers. Didn’t want you to be surprised. We’ll be there around 9.

  “Well, fuck me sideways,” I mumbled out loud.

  “It would be my pleasure!”

  Surprised someone was listening to me, I swung around quickly with a deer-in-the-headlights look on my face.

  Pete stood there with a grin on his face. When he saw my reaction, he began a full-on belly-shaking laugh.

  “I’m just joking, Julia. Geez. What’s got you so uptight?” he asked, with concern etched in his voice.

  “Oh, nothing, Pete. I’ve just had a very challenging couple of days with school and personal shit. I’ll be okay,” I assured him and tossed my phone in my purse already hanging on the hook.

  Pete stepped in front of me, blocking my dart toward the door, and grabbed my shoulders lightly.

  “You know I’m here for you if you need to talk. About anything. Doesn’t matter if you think it’s not important… anything that is bothering you is important to me. You’re like family and I want to make sure you’re okay.” This time he spoke with the emotion I hated… pity.

  “Thank you, Pete. I really appreciate it. But, honestly, I’m fine. I promise,” I lied with a fake smile on my face. Knowing my poor acting skills, it probably turned out more like a grimace.

  He pulled me into a brief hug and let me go. One thing I really liked about Pete, he gave me my space. He never pushed himself on me and never demanded more than I was willing to give. He was a good friend and an awesome coworker.

  About an hour later, I finally had a chance to pull Sid aside.

  “He’s coming here tonight,” I explained to her with my arms crossed over my chest.

  “Who? Not… oh, God… not Ro…” I put my hand over her mouth before she could even utter the name.

  “No!” I nearly shouted my protest before she had a chance to finish saying his name. “Mr. Stone.”

  “Yay!” she said as she jumped up and down and clapped her hands in excitement.

  “No, Sid! Not Yay. I need you to do me a favor,” I said, with a pleading look in my eyes.

  “Well, sure. Anything. But why don’t you want to see him?” She looked honestly confused.

  I sighed. We didn’t have time for this conversation. “He came over after you left for work and it’s a long story I’ll have to share with you later. But he said he’s coming by with his brother and I was wondering if you could handle their orders. I just can’t deal with the drama right now.”

  “Sure. You’ll just have to point him out when he gets here and I’ll take care of it,” she assured me with a pat on my arm.

  I was still surprised she never noticed him with me on Tuesday night. You’d think she would have been all over us like white on rice.

  “Thanks, Sid, you’re a lifesaver. And, trust me, you’ll know him when you see him,” I explained with a bit of pride in my tone.

  What are you proud of? It’s not like anything is going to come out of your relationship with him, you dingbat.

  Relationship. Did we even have a relationship? Could we even call it that?

  At that moment, customers pulled us in opposite directions, and I was thankful for the rescue.

  At almost nine on the dot, Aiden sauntered in with…

  “Oh. My. God,” I whispered out loud as I saw the two men walk in. “There are two of them.”

  At the door stood TWO Aidens. The guy next to him looked identical, all the way down to the sexy, muddy-blond hair. The only difference was Aiden’s mouthwatering tattoo peeking out of his right sleeve.

  The man by his side was just as breathtakingly handsome and also happened to be ripped from the pages of GQ.

  Definitely his brother. But I had to wonder if they were possibly twins. They looked indistinguishable in every possible way. The Aiden-clone was dressed a bit nicer than Aiden, not that I didn’t drool over what Aiden was wearing. But his clone looked like he just left the office, removing his tie, unbuttoning his collar, and rolling up his sleeves to get comfortable for the evening.

  Almost as if on cue, Sid looked over at me with wide-eyes and her hand gently covering the jaw-dropped expression on her face. She blinked a few times as if asking, Is that them?

  I nodded and rolled my eyes. I knew she would spot him. I also knew I probably had an equal amount of shock plastered on my face.

  And by the looks of it, all the other women in the joint spotted them as well. Jealousy was beginning to boil in my veins before I looked over at Aiden and noticed he was staring at me. All these other women were practically following him like lost puppy dogs, and yet, he was only looking at me.

  Sid knew I needed her. It was like I provided her with direct instruction. Instead of nicely leading them to a table or barstool on the floor, she quickly offered them a private spot in her VIP section.

  Trying not to stare, I saw Aiden talking into her ear and gesturing toward my section with his thumb. Sid backed away with a smile on her face and motioned with her hand like it was no big deal and continued to lead them toward her VIP area.

  The music was loud and drinks were flowing. The female population slowly began to increase and I felt content with the steady pace of work—until I glanced over to Sid’s VIP section.

  There, next to Aiden and his clone, were five hot girls wearing next to nothing. Five. Count ‘em. F-I-V-E.

  I knew I was being irrational. But damn, I hated to see all those women hanging around him. One touched his thigh seductively and I cringed.

  With her friend-radar, Sid appeared at my side.

  “He’s not giving them the time of day, you know,” she said, hoping it would cheer me up.

  I tried to sound nonchalant in my words, “It doesn’t matter. He’s not mine anyway.”

  “Yeah… okay. Whatever you say, Jules,” she responded sarcastically, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest.

  I turned toward my best friend and decided I shouldn’t hide from her. She’d see right through it anyway.

  “What did you tell him to get him to sit in your VIP section?” I asked.

  She looked so proud of herself when she explained, “I said you were expecting a large party in your section and we couldn’t spare the room.”

  I looked over into my VIP section and it was at about normal capacity. Only one sectional was empty, which usually sat about six to eight people.

  Frowning as I realized her story wasn’t holding up, I was about to open my mouth when she said, “Yeah, I know. Looks like that damn reserved party didn’t show up after all, huh?”

  Damn, I was lucky to have a friend like her.

  “I have an idea, Sid. Will you play along?”

  She nodded eagerly and followed me over to her section.

  Chapter 22

  “I backed away from the gravitational pull that was Aiden Stone.”

  I confidently walked up to Aiden, who had a look of discomfort on his face. As soon as he saw me, his expression lit up, and then darkened again as if remembering how we parted at my
apartment.

  “Hello, gentlemen. My name is Julia. A VIP party we had reservations for never showed and we have enough room for two more patrons in our other section. Unfortunately, the section you’re in now has become over capacity for your server to handle. Would you two like to join me over on the other side? A round of shots will be on me for the inconvenience,” I said with a wink and a smile.

  Aiden immediately jumped up and said, “Well, of course, we would never pass up a free round of shots, would we, Coda?” He never took his eyes off me as he spoke.

  “Who gives a shit about the shots, I’d follow that blonde goddess anywhere,” he said as he gently pushed away the busty brunette trying to claw her way through his clothes.

  “Can we come too?” I heard a nasally voice whine as she grabbed Aiden’s hand.

  He absently peeled her hand from his as I spoke, “I’m sorry, but we only have room for two. Are you two gentlemen with any of these ladies? I’d hate to separate a party.”

  Coda stood up as he spoke in his sexy voice, “Heck no, sweetheart. We would be more than happy to switch sections as long as it doesn’t hurt the feelings of our pretty waitress.” His eyes twinkled in Sid’s direction.

  Man, this guy was a sweet talker just like Aiden.

  Sid piped up, “Oh, no, please. Don’t worry about me. I’ve got too many to handle over here as it is. Go ahead and have a good time, boys.” She winked in response to him as she turned and sauntered off.

  The nasal-queen stood and spoke boldly into Aiden’s ear, “Can I have your number, sexy?”

  “No, thank you. I’m married,” I heard him say.

  My stomach turned with his words echoing in my mind. Really, I knew he was married. This was old news. He hadn’t yet explained to me what his text message meant. What was I doing?

  My intent was to make sure these women got their grubby hands off him. But, who was I rescuing him for? Myself? He was not mine to rescue. His wife? The thought made me shiver as I began escorting the two men toward my section.

  “Damn, she’s nice to watch from behind too. Eh, Aiden?” I heard Coda exclaim a little louder than he should have.