Atonement (Heart of Stone)

by Sidebottom, D H

  A phone trilled an alert tone and I glanced towards Ava’s bag, realising it was coming from there.

  I glanced towards the stairs, wondering if I should take a look to see if it was important. Hell, I was the one holding secrets not Ava, she had never held truths from me; I was the fucking idiot that did that.

  My gut seared when I read the name on the screen. Kade.

  Taking another glance towards the upper floor, I swiped the screen and grit my teeth as I read.

  Kade:

  Hey, I heard what happened. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. If there is anything I can do, you know where I am. x

  Oh, there’s nothing you can do arsehole.

  I managed to hold back the growl in my throat as I noticed their conversation spanned a few months.

  Wow, she had been in contact with him for months, not just lately. Even though their conversation throughout the whole of the texting was innocent, it didn’t stop the burn in my stomach. The jealousy and anger bubbling under the surface took my breath from my lungs and turned it to steam as it left my mouth.

  She knew how I felt about the prick, yet she had been going behind my back and talking to the cunt for fucking months.

  Jesus fucking Christ!

  Hitting the back button I perused her other text contacts. All were innocent until I hit an unknown number and my knees buckled as I tapped the message open.

  Holy fucking hell!

  There were 6 photos, all of them showed Rebecca and myself in Allure. One even showed her with her hand on my arm, looking up at me with her wide fuck me eyes.

  “Shit!”

  They were dated three days ago. Why the hell hadn’t she told me? Why had she kept these hidden? The sender obviously hadn’t known Ava already knew, otherwise this little manoeuvre would have been so damaging, it would have killed her all over again. At least she had found out for herself about me and Rebecca. At least she had seen with her own eyes that Rebecca and I had been fully clothed and not interacting in any way possible.

  But fuck, I needed to find this bastard and fucking quick before he did any more damage to my already broken and ravaged marriage.

  Chapter 18

  Ava

  I could hear his heavy breathing before I even opened my eyes.

  What had I done now? After eight years I knew every single implication each different breath meant and listening to him now, I knew it was an angry breathing.

  Wonderful.

  I opened my eyes and focused on the window for a while, my back to him until I was ready to let him know I was awake.

  “Turn around.”

  It seemed he knew the signs of my own breathing as well as I knew his.

  Inhaling deeply I turned towards him, leaving my body horizontal on the bed, the sheet low on my hips revealing my breasts fully and my nipples erect, a result of the dominance in his voice.

  Just because we were married didn’t mean I didn’t know how to play him.

  His eyes were dark as he fought with a fierce rage, the sight clamping my stomach and pulling my brows together in a frown. “Mason?”

  He stood, a fist held tight beside him and the other hand on the nape of his neck, the sight of his anger brought me upright in bed. Something had riled him and I couldn’t for the life of me think what it was.

  He stalked towards me, one firm thigh rippling alongside the other as he approached. His jaw was tight in a stern line and his chest heaved with each substantial pull of air.

  His fingers gripped my chin and titled my head back until my neck had no more to give, my face directly in front of his furious one.

  “Did you fuck him?”

  Okay, I was not expecting that, whatever it was, and I frowned deeply, “Who?”

  He scoffed slightly and I tried to tip my head in question but his hand held me firmer, refusing me any give what so ever.

  “Who? Who? Shouldn’t your answer have been an immediate no?”

  “Mason… I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”

  He bit his lower lip as he held a phone screen to my face so close I couldn’t focus on whatever he wanted me to look at. I couldn’t move my head back to adjust it either because of his hold so I raised my hand, took a glance at him to let him know what I was doing, before I gripped his hand and moved it back slightly.

  Shit. I swallowed harshly but stared him out, “If you had just asked me I would have told you I was still talking to Kade, you didn’t need to sneak through my phone, Mason. I thought you knew when I told you I had invited him to your birthday weekend.”

  He pursed his lips and nodded slowly, “But according to this, Ava, you’ve been talking to him for damn months. Did it go further than talking?”

  “What the hell? No, I hadn’t even seen him in person until he visited The Panther. I told you, I always had a spot for Kade, Mason. I never lied to you, never.”

  His eyes fired red, before they turned back to the black dense of fury as his hand released my jaw and slid across my cheek softly. I would have thought he was being gentle until it slid further into my hair and took a fistful, tightening as he pulled my face close to his.

  My pussy ignited as my belly throbbed and I watched as his fury flickered to arousal and need, his warm breath fuelling my own arousal into a fierce roar.

  A slight whimper erupted from me and Mason growled deep before he crashed his mouth over mine. His lips locked onto mine, the rhythm in his kiss fast and reckless, firm and wild as his tongue buried deep within me, colliding with my own as we clashed teeth and wrestled against each other.

  His hands bordered my waist and I was suddenly flipped on the bed, my face in the mattress as Mason pushed my knees high so my arse was raised in the air.

  “Oh fuck…” I snarled as Mason’s thumbs opened me up to him, displaying me like a damn trophy in a cabinet, an artefact in a museum, a centrefold in Playboy.

  “Yeah, oh fuck. This…” he inserted a finger inside me, my arousal letting him in without any restraint, “This is mine, baby. I own you, Ava. I possess every god damn piece of you.”

  I groaned deep as he pushed in another finger and circled them inside me, collecting my juices before he removed them and pushed into my bottom.

  I pushed back against him, my lust and desire now taking over and killing any inhibitions I had. Hell, when it came to Mason I didn’t have any anyway. This man always turned me into a hot, panting rampant bitch.

  Before I could take another breath his cock slammed into my pussy, deep and hard, firm and brutally. He hissed loudly before a loud groan rumbled from him and I echoed each of his erotic sounds, my body pulsing in need as I bumped back against him.

  His hand fisted my hair as he leant over me, his cock still deep-rooted and his fingers still fucking my ass.

  “Your hot pussy demands me, baby. It screams in fucking delight with every – fucking – ram – of – my – cock.” His words were met with a plunge to emphasise his implication as he removed his hand from my hair and pushed down on my lower back, making my back arch for him so he could drive deeper still. “My cock, Ava, my cock.”

  “Fuck me Mason, fuck me hard, baby.”

  His fingers disappeared from my backside so he could envelope my wrists and hold them above my head as he flattened me to the mattress.

  His drives grew frenzied and wild as he fucked me hard and fast, his body holding me hostage under him as he brought me higher and higher to the oblivion I needed.

  “Please...” I begged. He knew what I needed as his teeth collided with the flesh on the nape of my neck and then bit harshly, his lips sucking at my skin simultaneously.

  My body exploded in a pleasure so extreme my whole world rocked and tipped sideways. My scream was nearly as loud as Mason’s as we both hurtled to a climax neither of us breathed through, its intensity blowing apart my senses and nerve endings.

  His final thrust was united with his fierce ejaculation, his hot cum filling me and triggering my own orgasm. “Arghhhh, f
uck, yes!” I screamed at him as my back arched, my toes curled and my pussy milked him fucking dry, demanding every last drop of ecstasy from my husband.

  “Christ… Hell…” Mason shouted his own expletives as he rammed one final time so deep the pain from the depth of him grabbed my lungs and brought my breath with a wheeze.

  “Shit baby, sorry” he rasped as he realised he’d hurt me.

  I shook my head, unable to form words as my body tried to rectify my frazzled senses.

  He pulled out gently, causing an ache inside me at the loss of him before I was pulled in tight against him, my head pushed to his firm chest.

  Our breathing mirrored each other’s as our sweaty bodies slid together and held on tight. I had missed this, missed the closeness and nearness of him. The ache over the previous few weeks had left me exhausted and depleted.

  I squinted my eyes as I felt a tear drop from the corner and slide down my face and onto Mason’s chest.

  “Hey, baby, don’t cry.”

  “What am I gonna do without him, Mason? He was my rock, my fucking light. My god damn crutch.”

  The tears were flowing harder as my sobs racked at my chest, harder and faster with each realisation that I was never gonna see my saviour again. The man who had grabbed me in the dark depths of hell and pulled me up, brought me back to life and continued to support me until I was healed and strong.

  “Hey,” he shifted sideways so his face was directly in front of me, our chests touching as he stroked his thumb along my jaw. “Listen to me, Ava. George nurtured you and encouraged you, baby. He lifted you and reassured you but he didn’t live for you, you did that on your own. You, you Ava, you’re the one who survived through it and battled your demons. You are the one who pulled yourself through so much shit that you came out the other end a fucking warrior, my fucking warrior.”

  He frowned and slid his thumb over my bottom lip, pulling the flesh and stretching it under his action. “Why didn’t you tell me about the picture messages, Ava?”

  Shit!

  He frowned deeper when he felt me stiffen and a faint growl echoed in the air in warning. “It didn’t matter, because I already knew. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of an emotion.”

  “Her?”

  “Well it was obviously Rebecca, Mason.”

  He sighed and rolled onto his back, his face hard and preoccupied. “No, doesn’t make sense. Rebecca already knew that you knew.”

  Hell, yeah, he was right. I hadn’t thought of that.

  I mirrored his movement and settled on my back, my own gaze captivated by the mosaic tiles in the ceiling. The pattern of blue and cream enamels was sheer splendour, the design relaxing but mesmerising. The blue swirls and cream flowers completely hypnotising and fascinating. “What does Rebecca do in Allure?”

  He frowned then turned to me, “Baby…”

  I held up a hand to him, “Mason, I’m not asking to start an argument but I need to know. Something is obviously serious if you went behind my back with…her.”

  “I didn’t go behind your back Ava…”

  “Yes Mason, you did.” I argued sternly, he had and if he didn’t believe that then there was something wrong with him.

  He sighed and ran his fingers through his thick hair, he was in desperate need of a cut and I tilted my head and studied him as he swung his legs over the bed and dropped his head in his hands.

  He was exhausted; I could see the strain on his face and the hunch of resignation in his shoulders.

  I moved behind him, slipping my legs either side of him as I snaked my arms around him and pulled him into my chest for support. “Talk to me, baby. I want to know.”

  “No, Ava, I don’t think you do. I… hurt you and god damn it, that fact tears me up but I… I didn’t know how to tell you without…without risking you.”

  I pulled in a resolute breath and slid my hands over his trembling ones. “I’m gonna go down and make us coffee. Take a moment, pull yourself into a zone of honesty and then join me. We’re doing this Mason, you hear me? I need to do this now.”

  His eyes flicked sideways and caught mine as his hand came up and palmed my cheek, “Can you handle it? Deal with the truth?”

  I rolled my lips. Could I? But I nodded firmly, “I have to Mason. Whatever it is, you’re my husband, and I love you and all your faults. I knew what you were and what you did when I married you. Hell, I’ve even joined you in that lifestyle. It’s the lies that hurt, Mason. Eight bloody years of them and…”

  “…Rebecca.” He finished for me with a look of pain and a sigh of ache.

  I exhaled heavily but answered with a small ‘yes’.

  His eyes flittered across my face then a soft smile tilted his lips, “Okay, go make that coffee. I’m gonna take a quick shower then I’ll be down.”

  I smiled widely. “Thank you, I love you…”

  “…and me, you” He finished as he kissed my cheek and lifted himself up. My eyes attached to his glorious arse as he made his way into the bathroom. His taut buttocks clenched and unclenched rhythmically in a pattern when he knew I was ogling him, “Enjoying the show, baby?”

  I giggled as I pulled on Mason’s t-shirt, foregoing any underwear as I left him to his shower and went to make a full pot of coffee, knowing I would need a substantial amount of the stimulating substance in an effort to keep calm as my husband finally let me in on his final secret, his other life, his Mr Hyde and his secrets.

  Chapter 19

  mason

  Ava placed the full carafe of black coffee in the centre of the table and I knew we were in for a long night, but hell, we needed to do this. If I had any chance of repairing my marriage it was by being truthful, honest and absolutely blunt.

  She sat opposite me and I knew it was to get the full view of my face, the force of my honesty and maybe a little distance so her fist couldn’t reach me. Shit, my woman could fucking lay me out with a single swift punch, most of my men couldn’t even do that.

  I inhaled greatly, pulling in the courage from the air around us and blowing it out slowly as I closed my eyes. “I have owned Allure since I was eighteen.”

  She gasped and I heard her harsh swallow before I opened my eyes and studied her. Her chest was heaving in anger but her face showed no other emotion than shock.

  “Twenty two years?” she whispered with a choke and my heart fisted at the sound of her.

  I rolled my lips and nodded, still watching her deeply, waiting for… hell, I didn’t know what I was waiting for.

  “What you don’t know about me is very little Ava, but this, this is something I didn’t know if you would understand after your past.”

  She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “What the hell does my past have to do with a fucking knocking shop?”

  “Brothel, Ava. An upmarket brothel at that.”

  She laughed and shook her head, “Call it what you want, Mason, but it’s still a place men go for a fuck, nothing more, nothing less.”

  I shrugged, “Whatever, but it’s nothing like the backstreet fuck holes out there. It’s secure, expensive and I look after the girls.”

  She nodded slowly but her eyes hardened along with her jaw, “Your girls? Correct me if I’m wrong Mason, but that makes you a pimp.”

  My teeth sank into my lip and I sighed heavily, “Fair enough but I don’t touch Ava, not since you. I know what you think and let me tell you, you’re wrong, baby. Your cunt is the only pussy I’ve touched in eight years.”

  She smirked and locked my gaze. “That’s not entirely true is it Mason? Maybe six years, but definitely not eight.”

  I sighed but didn’t answer her. “What I don’t understand is how you get away with it.”

  I frowned at her as I poured us more coffee, my frazzled nerves needing the stimulant that coke would provide but I settled for coffee. My life was too complicated without another addiction to the white stuff.

  “It’s disguised as a strip club. The upper rooms can be declar
ed as hotel facilities and we only ever entertain regulars or cast iron recommendations. Plus, it helps when you have the police Commissioner in your pocket,” I tipped my head and smirked at her “thanks to you.”

  “Jesus Christ, Mason. You have Robert Delaney on your books?”

  Yep, that didn’t go down too well.

  I shrugged again but didn’t answer, not sure what to say and how she would react. She shot out of her chair and palmed the kitchen worktop, her shoulders heaving as she digested this latest information.

  “Do you even realise what I risked to get him and his daughter out of your life Mason?” she bit out without turning.

  I swallowed and rolled my tongue around my top teeth trying to dampen the dryness of them as my heart pounded with my wife’s hurt and anger.

  I stood and approached her, encircling her waist as I rested my chin on her hair but she remained with her back to me and her face out of the window. “I… I needed both of them, baby.”

  I cringed when she stiffened and gulped, her whole body radiating pain and anguish at my words.

  “You always needed her though, didn’t you? Always needed your little fuck whore in a way you never needed me.”

  She pulled out of my embrace but I caught her as she tried to leave. “Sit down and let me finish, Ava. You wanted the honest truth and fuck, you’re gonna get it. Sit the hell down and listen.”

  Her eyes blazed as her breaths turned into shallow pants of ire. She didn’t move so I gripped the tops of her arms and lifted her, carried her over to her chair and placed her gently down. “Listen.”

  She ravaged her little finger with her teeth, the sight hardening my cock like it always did but I rounded the table and settled opposite her. “My dealings with Robert Delaney are needed to keep the business out of the spotlight, as for Rebecca…”