For several long minutes, they just lay on the bed, holding each other, quiet in the afterglow. Kory knew at that moment that she had never felt that close to anyone else—not that connected, loved, or adored—and she didn’t think she’d ever felt those emotions toward someone either. Stone had become her entire world in those few moments, and she never wanted to let him go.
She wasn’t sure if she’d actually drifted off to sleep or had just come close to it, but she stirred when she felt Stone brushing the hair off her forehead with a finger. This time, his soft touch wasn’t building her to a mind-bending crescendo; instead, it was filled with a tenderness to rival a mother’s for her newborn infant and a love so intense she didn’t know that she’d be able to bear the pressure.
She was going to try, though, and she tilted her head, forcing her eyes open. She thought it might be like lying in the summer heat for an afternoon and then opening her eyes to see the intensity of the sun’s rays. Oh, his gaze was strong, but it was so infused with love that he gave her the strength she needed. On impulse, she brought her hand up and stroked his cheek, still gazing in his eyes. She couldn’t find words, though, no matter how hard she tried, and she hoped her eyes could say what she couldn’t.
His lips turned up in a half grin, so she thought maybe he knew. When she smiled back, his grin got bigger, and he said, “Happy birthday, Kory.”
It was then that she felt her eyes squint as they filled with hot, salty liquid. She had never felt an emotion like this, something so overwhelming and pure, and it brought tears to her eyes. She blinked a few times, willing them away, and she swallowed. She couldn’t let herself be mute for life. She had to force words through her teeth. So she sucked in a breath and then, as though it weren’t enough, she drew in another and swallowed. “Today has been the best birthday ever.” She brought her face closer to his. “And that was because of you. Thank you.”
He acted like he wanted to say something but instead, as though he could feel what was in Kory’s heart, he kissed her, and she felt like the world was falling away. That was okay. Let it. Her whole world was Stone now, because she didn’t need anything else.
Chapter Twenty-two
KORY HAD ALWAYS found it funny that colleges and universities had three semesters—fall, spring, and summer. It was as if they were pretending winter didn’t exist. Even sillier was the fact that the fall semester started a month before autumn’s actual start date.
But there she was, sitting in a new class—another psychology class, no less. Now that she’d settled on a new major, she could tell it was going to be harder to arrange rides with her friends, because there were specific classes she needed to take that were only offered at certain times, so she’d bought a bicycle and was saving up for a Vespa.
She’d talked to her advisor, because she’d been toying with going into business, but Stone himself had pointed out that Kory didn’t seem the business type…and money wasn’t everything. Well, that was easy for a self-made…what was he? A millionaire, she supposed. And that was easy for a self-employed millionaire to say. But there was truth to his words…that she needed to study something she was drawn to. Again, easy for a guy who’d never finished school to say. But Stone was turning out to be one of the smartest guys she knew. His life experience had shaped him and he had learned how to use his art to communicate.
She’d changed her degree to psychology. An associate’s degree in psychology wouldn’t do dick, and she knew that, but she could transfer to any university in Colorado and get a bachelor’s, a master’s, even higher, and then she could do what Natalie did if she wanted. Or she could teach. She found that laughable. She was no teacher, but her advisor showed her that there were many different jobs she could move into, even if she chose to not go higher than a four-year degree.
For now, though, Kory saw the wisdom in majoring in psychology for herself. She didn’t know what tomorrow would offer, but she did know that—for the first time since her mother had died—she was experiencing a new type of healing. It wasn’t what she’d done before, which had been to acknowledge the pain and then stuff it down—deep. No. Now she felt as though something new was happening—she’d taken off the bandage and the wound, exposed to air and sunlight, was beginning to scab over.
It was beginning to heal.
That fascinated the hell out of Kory, that simply by telling her story to someone who cared…she was feeling better than she had in years. Maybe she’d never be the kind of person who could do that for someone else, but she was feeling pure and alive and she never wanted to let that feeling go.
So when Kory and her advisor talked, she told him she wasn’t sure if she would definitely want to pursue anything further after getting her associate’s degree, that her interests might take her elsewhere, and he told her that was fine. She could go on to a four-year school with her degree and major in something entirely different. In fact, he said, she wouldn’t be the first student to do something like that.
She quit worrying about it and followed her heart.
After class that late summer afternoon, she felt exhilarated, knowing she’d made the right move, and she hopped on her bike. She didn’t have to work for a few hours, so she wanted to stop by The Iron Maiden to see Stone. It was after noon, so she knew he’d be there.
She was thinking about him the entire bike ride there, how she’d never in her whole life expected to have any type of relationship—nothing meaningful, at any rate. Friends, yes. She didn’t know what she’d do without Tina…or Lacey, for that matter. But a guy? After Art and then especially after her experiences with—well, she couldn’t really call them dating—boys in high school, she figured she’d just have to be happy with companionship and sex.
She’d managed the sexual part, something she’d feared would be a hang up because of her past. It turned out that it had been the easy part. The emotional connectedness part—that’s where she’d had problems…and now that Stone had become a major part of her life, she was beginning to see all that she’d been missing.
She’d had an empty spot.
He was filling it, though, bit by bit and day by day. She was beginning to wonder how she’d ever managed without Stone, and she definitely didn’t want to imagine her life without him. He was becoming more important to her than air or water. She made sure she didn’t come across as desperate or needy…but Stone was definitely her rock. More than once, he’d told her she didn’t need to hide who she was from him. He loved who she was on the inside and he wanted to help her heal.
That was probably why she was spending more and more time at his house and with him at his shop. The only times she was staying at her apartment anymore were when she had to work a super-late shift—and the last time she’d done that, Stone had told her he was going to start picking her up anyway, because he worried about her. She’d threatened him, but she was beginning to think she liked the idea.
He’d made room in his closet, his dresser, and his bathroom cabinet for her. He’d begun buying her favorite kind of apple to keep in the fridge as a snack and getting her preferred shampoo and soap. He made sure to have all her favorite music on his iPod so she could listen to it while she studied…often in the room where he did his drawing. They would spend hours together listening to music working on their own things.
At first, she’d thought she was maybe at that point in her life where she would have started to fall for any guy…but no. She knew better than that. Stone was a special man—really special—and she didn’t know if maybe she had sensed that when she’d first met him or if she’d just lucked into lusting after the right one. She felt fortunate…for the first time in her life.
Well…that was until the day she rode her bike to The Iron Maiden after class, excited to see the guy who made her feel warm and gooey.
Outside had been hot and she was starting to perspire, but the cool air inside the shop felt good on her skin. She paused for a moment as her eyes adjusted from the brightness outside to the dark in
terior of the shop. She noticed Richie at the counter. He’d been doing something with one of the velvet-lined boxes of jewelry but had slid it back under the glass when Kory came in. He said, “Hi,” and—for the first time ever—Kory thought she saw the hint of a smile on his face. That made her want to try being friendly.
“Hey, Richie. What’s up?” She walked over toward the beige sofa.
“Not much. Stone’s doing a tat right now. Two chicks, matching ink. We got some new t-shirts in you might like.”
She placed her backpack on the sofa and turned to face him. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He walked out from behind the counter and showed her the rack. They usually carried a lot of Goth clothes, things Kory would never wear, and it was all overpriced anyway. T-shirts, though…she wouldn’t mind checking those out. “Don’t quote me, but I’d be surprised if Stone didn’t give you the employee discount on them if you wanted one or two.”
Kory hadn’t even thought of that, and she tried not to frown. “Oh, I wouldn’t expect a discount.” She probably couldn’t afford them with a discount anyway. She knew they charged a lot because of the quality but also because the people who came in their shop were willing to pay more.
Richie shrugged. “Just sayin’.” He walked back over to the counter and a woman walked in right after and began asking him to show her their jewelry for navel piercings. Kory started browsing through the t-shirts. As she read the designs on the tees, she thought to herself that the store definitely knew its demographic (or perceived demographic) and catered to it. Yeah, Kory knew plenty of straight-laced housewives and otherwise “ordinary” people got inked these days, but many of them expected a certain feel for a tattoo shop, and The Iron Maiden gave them what they were looking for. Kory doubted they sold much clothing at all, but the racks projected that image. The t-shirts fit right in—skulls, Harley-Davidson, Goth imagery, and the like.
While she continued looking through the shirts, she stole another glance into the back of the shop and saw Stone hard at work, his gun pressed against a woman’s back. Another woman stood on the other side, hovering, as though she were watching to make sure nothing was messed up. Well, no, he must have been finishing up, because he backed off, wiping at her skin with his cloth a few more times. Kory could imagine what was being said, but she could tell the standing friend was saying she liked it and the woman being tattooed got up so she could look in the mirror behind her to see if she was happy.
Kory had no doubts she would be, because Stone was incredible.
She also saw Russ on the other side of the work area, tattooing a guy’s arm. She imagined the energy back there was great today.
She hoped Stone didn’t have another appointment booked for a while so she could talk to him for a little bit. She didn’t want to interrupt his work, but she needed to check in with him. He was insisting of late that he pick her up, no matter how late she got off…and then they would likely spend some naked time together after. She had studying to do, but she hoped she could get some of it done at work and then maybe in the morning too, but she wanted to make plans to spend some time with her man.
As she was finishing looking through the t-shirts on that particular rack, she moved to the one next to it, because it looked like it had some clothes on it that she hadn’t noticed before. In a few more minutes, her heart soared, because she heard Stone’s voice as he and the women exited from the back and over to the counter. Richie was ringing up the customer who’d been there to buy jewelry, so Stone was chatting with the women, talking about tattoo aftercare, just like she’d heard him do dozens of times before.
The blonde she’d seen getting the new shoulder tattoo wrapped her arms around one of Stone’s, giggling. “Oh, Mal, you are the best tattoo artist on the planet.”
Kory felt her smile fade when she saw the other woman take his other arm in the same fashion. She never would have thought herself to be the jealous type—and still didn’t feel that she was—but something about the way those women were laying claim to her boyfriend was pissing her off.
Stone seemed to be politely blowing them off, but he wasn’t removing their arms and he was laughing and joking with them. When Richie turned his attention to them, Stone began telling him what additional charges the cashier needed to ring up for the woman. “Oh, Mal, you know I’d be happy to make other payment arrangements.”
Richie started to laugh and said, “We don’t have a button on the register for that.”
Kory could hardly believe her ears. The woman continued. “You know Mona and I have dated the same guy at once, right? Are you into that kind of thing?”
Richie’s caterpillar eyebrows jumped halfway up his forehead, and Kory only noticed because he’d tossed his long bangs to the side once more. She half expected him to look her way, because no one else had seemed to notice she was there. Maybe he’d forgotten too.
She decided she couldn’t stay and watch these women paw the man she’d fallen in love with. If things progressed, she didn’t want to see it. As she started moving, she heard him say, “You are beautiful ladies. Thanks for the offer. But I’m pretty serious about someone else right now.”
Had he said that because Richie tipped him off? It didn’t matter. She had to leave and maybe they could talk about it later. As she picked her backpack up off the couch, she heard one of the women say, “She doesn’t have to know.”
Kory refused to look toward that side of the shop, instead focusing her eyes on the front door, and she walked straight for it. She heard Stone force a laugh but then he said, “Speak of the devil, there’s the woman of my heart.” She blinked but kept walking, even while she heard his boots on the wooden floor as he got closer to her. “Kory.”
She wasn’t the crying type. Never had been, even though she had awakened crying so many times in the past, it wasn’t even funny. Her history, her past had had that effect on her, but there was nothing—nothing—in her adult life that she’d felt was worth crying over.
Even the perfect man.
The perfect man who somehow understood her through and through.
The best guy ever who’d seemed to love her back, but now, seeing him with the bleach blonde with ultra white teeth and sculpted boobs made her doubt he could ever see her like he no doubt saw those women. Kory could never compare, so why even try?
She wasn’t crying now…but, for some reason, she could feel the sense of it stinging her nose, her eyes. Her heart. It was clenching in her chest cavity, aching for something it should never have wanted in the first place.
She felt Stone’s hand wrap around her arm and she turned in response. “Kory. Where are you going? I didn’t even know you were here.”
She heard the blonde say, “That’s his girlfriend?”
Yeah…Kory had been right. Those women knew she was no competition for them. “I have to go,” she said, her voice so quiet she doubted he could hear her. He could see her face, though, and he had to know she meant business.
He let her go, but as she tugged the glass door toward her, she heard him say, “Yeah, that’s my girlfriend.”
Kory was back out in the unrelenting heat, but it was what she needed now. The chill had buried itself in her bones, along with the cold words from the women, and she needed heat.
She needed air.
And, perhaps, she needed to be free.
Chapter Twenty-three
“KORY!” STONE WAS behind her, taking her arm once more, only now it was in the harsh light outside. She sighed, amazed that she still had cool control of herself, in spite of the turmoil she was feeling inside. She knew she had to let him go right now, right this minute, because she could never compete with women like the two who had been draped all over him in the shop.
She tried to lose the look of hurt that was no doubt plastered on her face, hoping to replace it with a look of granite—neutral but firm. “What?”
His eyes were soft and she could see in them that he cared. That didn’t make her feel better, tho
ugh. “Kory…talk to me.”
She saw no reason not to lay it all out there for him. If this was it, it wouldn’t hurt for him to know why. She was grateful to him for all he’d done, all he’d been for her, but maybe this was a natural end for them. She drew in a deep breath. “Stone…those women were all over you. I couldn’t just stand there and watch it.”
He shook his head. “I don’t blame you. If some guy was cozying up to you, it would take every civilized bone in my body not to try to knock his teeth out.”
Kory almost smiled. “Then you know how I feel.”
“Maybe.” He shrugged. “No, probably not.” He let out a long, slow breath while Kory searched his eyes. “But something you need to know…what you saw in there is not out of the norm. Lots of these women, they remember me from my Spawn days, and that’s why they’re here. It’s not that they want a tattoo done by Stone Bowman. No. They want a tattoo done by Malevolent Disorder. They want to say a drummer of a once-famous metal band touched their arm or their back or, yeah, their tit.”
“And how the hell am I supposed to compete with women like that, Stone?”
He started laughing, and he led her past where she had her bike chained up farther down the sidewalk to the bench under a tree growing out of the circular spot in the concrete. She started feeling a little miffed that he was laughing at something that obviously distressed her, but he said, “Kory…don’t you think if I wanted a woman like that that I would have one already? I’ve had women like her throwing themselves at me since the first time Spawn went on tour.”
He sat down and Kory sat next to him. “Really?”
Punctured, Bruised, and Barely Tattooed Page 16