“You always did have a temper.”
Piper laughed. “That’s funny. Not with anyone else. You always knew which of my buttons to push.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“You still do.”
Grabbing her around the waist, Stone rolled until she was tucked beneath him and leered. “You gonna let me push them again?”
She smacked his shoulder, but couldn’t quite stop a smile from tugging at the corners of her lush lips. “Maybe.”
“Oh, you’re gonna let me touch all of them,” he growled as his mouth found hers. He’d fought against wanting her for so long and now that he’d touched her, tasted her, claimed her...he had no intention of letting her go.
And the way she melted beneath him, her body going liquid and pliant, backed up the confidence he’d laced around the words. She wanted this as much as he did. He’d seen it, clear as day, deep inside those crystal-blue eyes as he’d stroked inside her.
To prove to them both just how right he was, Stone began to let his hands caress down the velvet softness of her skin. But right about the time his fingers brushed beside the dint of her belly button a large rumble erupted between them, startling the hell out of him.
And reminding him that his initial trip out here had been to tell Piper he’d made lunch.
Collapsing onto her back, Piper’s body sagged beneath him, losing the taut awareness that had crept in when he’d started to explore.
“The expression on your face right now... I wish I had a camera.”
“Ha ha, funny girl.” Pushing to his feet, Stone wrapped his hand around her wrist and tugged until she followed him up. Reaching behind her, he snagged the flimsy dress she’d been wearing earlier, gathered it in his hands and pulled it on over her head.
His half-hard cock nearly wept when the material settled over her body, but his brain tried to reason that if he fed her now, they could enjoy hours of fun later.
Arm slung around her waist, he pulled her into the shelter of his body. “Food now, sex later.”
Piper’s hands splayed across his chest, but she didn’t push him away. Instead, she settled against him, the sensation of her being in his arms so comfortable and right.
“Such a Neanderthal.”
“Please. Your stomach would suggest you simply say thank you.”
Turning out of his arms, she trotted away, tossing a taunting look over her shoulder. “Thank you.”
Stone shook his head. Even when she did what he suggested she was always full of attitude. And he loved it.
Following behind her, Stone quickened his pace so he could catch up, and give her a sharp swat across her pert rear.
Piper yelped, stopped in her tracks and glared at him over her shoulder. “Try that again, stud, and we’re going to have words.”
Blood whooshed through his veins and he couldn’t quite hold back the exhilaration that bubbled through him. One of the best things about Piper was the fact that she didn’t let him intimidate her. Never had. Even as a slip of a little girl, she’d always acted like she was ten feet tall and bulletproof.
And it had been his job to protect her. To make sure she could continue to believe that.
He didn’t deserve to touch all that fire. To call it his. And yet, here they were.
So, he was going to enjoy it while he had it.
Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Stone pulled her against his body. Her back settled against his chest and her head immediately dropped to his shoulder, exposing her throat.
Whether she realized it or not, she’d just given him the most perfect gift. The gift of her trust. Her vulnerability.
“Sweetheart,” he rumbled, low and deliberate against her ear. “The next time your ass tingles from my handprint you’re going to be panting and begging me to come.”
She laughed, the bleat of sound incredulous. “I seriously doubt that.”
A slow smile curled at the corners of his lips. “Care to make a bet?”
A shiver rocked down her spine, rubbing the round curve of her ass right against his erection that was suddenly very far from semi.
Yep, he had no doubt she was going to enjoy this. But first, he had to feed her.
* * *
Piper was on edge, and it was surprising considering not two hours ago she’d been limp from two very delicious orgasms.
It was all Stone’s fault.
She’d never been the kind of woman greedy for orgasms before. She’d dated guys. Been in relationships. Sex was pleasant. She enjoyed it.
She did not crave it.
Not like this.
The need for more didn’t cloud every thought or prevent her from carrying an intelligent conversation.
Maybe it was just because it was new.
Or maybe it was just because it was Stone and she’d wanted him for so long.
Whatever it was, she needed to find a cure because she was becoming seriously irritated with herself.
Leaning back in his chair, Stone sipped from the glass of wine he’d poured and watched her across the table tucked into the breakfast nook beside the kitchen. The space was intimate, certainly more so than the formal dining room she’d seen last night when she was wandering the house.
They’d been talking for a while. Stone asking all sorts of questions about her life—the part he’d missed—and her only having enough functioning brain cells at the moment to answer.
She’d spent that time watching his mouth move. The way his strong fingers caressed the cool stem of his glass. It had really done a number on her when he’d gathered a drop of condensation rolling down the side onto his finger and sucked it into his mouth.
Everything inside her had gone molten. What the hell was wrong with her? She was long past the point of out-of-control hormonal reactions to the opposite sex.
Humor, heat and intense interest filled Stone’s gaze as he watched her. “Piper.”
“Yeah.” She really needed to get a grip. Maybe getting him to talk would do the trick. “Tell me about being inside.”
Piper wanted to know, but she also needed him to share that piece of himself with her. Needed it in a way that was more demanding even than the sexual haze currently distracting her.
“Tell me,” she said again when he didn’t react.
She knew he wouldn’t want to. Understood the reasons behind his inevitable protest. And she was ready for them. Had formulated her argument against just about anything he could say.
This wasn’t something she’d decided in the last two hours. It was something she’d realized days ago. After their first encounter in his parents’ library. She just didn’t think there would be an opportunity where he might be open to sharing.
And maybe this wasn’t the time, but right now, she needed to know if he was open. Before she let herself get in too deep.
If she wasn’t already.
What she wasn’t prepared for was for him not to argue. For him to simply give her what she’d asked for. Or at least some of what she’d asked for.
“It wasn’t fun, but it’s prison so it wasn’t supposed to be.”
Piper schooled her reaction. Pulling her practiced, professional composure from deep inside, she wrapped it around herself like a familiar blanket. And let him continue.
“You haven’t met Gray or Finn, but I’m sure you will.”
Piper tried not to let the inevitability and acceptance in that statement mean too much. But it was difficult.
“I never expected to find two men who mattered to me in prison. I mean, I’m a criminal, but we both know the circumstances surrounding my plea deal.”
Guilt snaked through Piper’s belly. Her composure slipped, apparently enough for Stone to see it because he said, “Don’t you dare. You know that’s not what I meant. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Every da
y if you need to hear it. I’ve never regretted the decisions I made. And I never will.
“What I meant was it’s not like I’m a typical criminal. And trust me, the other inmates were fully aware of who I was the moment I walked in the place. If there’s one thing I learned, it was that the gossip inside is worse than anything you’d find in the worst middle school. Because no one has anything else to occupy their time.”
Oh, she could imagine. But it bothered her that even in prison, Stone had endured people whispering about him. Had speculated and passed judgment over him without having the first clue about the man he truly was.
It pissed her off that the entire world was still doing that.
But that was a conversation for another time.
“My plan was to keep to myself, avoid confrontation and serve out my time.” The bitter edge to his laughter sent a shiver of apprehension through Piper.
“The other inmates had a different idea. I might have been in a low-security prison, but it was still filled with criminals. And they didn’t particularly like the idea that a convicted murderer, one they felt had bought his way into a lighter sentence and had billions in the bank, was among them. And they set out to prove—to themselves and me—that I was no better than they were.”
“Dammit,” Piper breathed. Her chest ached. She could imagine the boy he’d been, twenty and unfamiliar with the rough side of the world, even if his parents hadn’t always sheltered him, confronting men who had something to prove and a mean streak that ran deep enough to inflict pain.
“I’m sorry.” The words weren’t nearly enough, but it was all she could do.
“Nope, not your responsibility to apologize, Piper.”
Her jaw ground against the unfairness of what he’d just said. “Maybe not, but you’re getting it anyway. You might not wish anything was different, but I do. I spent ten years closing my eyes at night, hoping when I opened them it would all be just a nasty dream. That somehow I could figure out a way to change it. To fix it. And you telling me I shouldn’t feel that way is wrong, Stone. You don’t get to make that determination for me. For anyone.”
He shrugged. “I hear you.”
But he didn’t agree with her. Not the first time—or most likely the last—they’d have to agree to disagree.
“Through all of that though, I found Gray and Finn. They were outcasts just like I was. At first, we banded together because there’s strength in numbers. But eventually, we earned each other’s respect. And trust. They’re honorable—well, Finn is honorable in his own way. And I’d trust them with my life. Have on more than one occasion.
“It didn’t take us long to realize none of us was weak. We might not have had the physical strength some of the other inmates did—”
“At first,” she drawled, lifting a single eyebrow as her gaze pointedly traveled across the expanse of naked chest beneath the open shirt he’d pulled on before coming inside.
“At first,” he acknowledged, humor crinkling the edges of his eyes.
“I’d spent years studying business. I was practically raised in a boardroom. Our dinner table conversation not only covered grades and school assignments, but discussion of material costs, negotiation tactics and bargaining power. Once I figured out that even behind bars the world runs on currency and power...it was simply a matter of figuring out the business I wanted to run.”
“I bet the guards loved you.”
“They did. They liked the Cuban cigars I had shipped in for their weekly poker game. Not to mention the fact that I kept a tight lid on what I could and made their jobs easier.”
Yeah, she didn’t doubt that at all. Stone might have become some prison boardroom badass, but he was still the same man he’d always been, down to his core—strong, honorable and determined.
“So, the first few months were rough. One of the reasons I’d only let my dad visit was because I knew my mom would freak if she saw my face.” The ghost of pain mixed with humor in his eyes.
“Is that why you wouldn’t let me come?”
And just like that the humor fled, leaving only the pain behind. The sharpness of it had breath backing up into her lungs. She wasn’t going to like what he had to say.
“No. I never intended to let you come. Piper, I didn’t want you within a thousand yards of that place.”
“But you were going to let your mom visit?”
“No.” His mouth twisted. “Yes. It’s different.”
“I don’t see how.” Hadn’t they already tread over this ground? And, yet, it seemed they were going to continue having the exact same conversation. “Stone, you killed him. For me. I just don’t understand how you could cut me out after that.”
“I killed him. For you. And I was glad, Piper. I didn’t have a single moment of regret. Not a spark. I’m pretty certain that makes me a monster.”
“I’m pretty certain that makes you a hero. My hero, in this case. But you can’t tell me if you’d walked in on that same scene, with Blaine attacking another woman, that you wouldn’t have reacted the same way. Because you would have. Because you’re a good guy. You do the right thing. No matter what the cost. And you always have.”
It was one of the reasons she loved him.
But those words stuck in her throat when what she really wanted to do was share them.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Somehow, I think it does. But, I forgive you.”
“Oh, yeah? How magnanimous of you.” His eyes glittered at her, anger and irritation turning them to polished stone.
“Don’t be an asshole. Do you think I could have shared what we just shared outside if I didn’t? I forgive you for cutting me out, and trust me, a huge part of me would like to stay mad at you. That hurt. Deeply. But I also forgive you for doubting me. For thinking me weak, and then treating me like I am. I forgive you for making decisions about my life without consulting me. But mostly, I forgive you for not asking for my forgiveness about any of that and not even understanding why you should.”
* * *
She forgave him?
Well, wonderful for her. But he didn’t forgive himself.
He’d done something terrible. His soul was stained with the reality, but worse, he was so afraid that stain would bleed onto her. And he’d do anything to prevent that from happening.
He’d fought to keep her at arm’s length because he didn’t deserve her. Plain and simple.
He’d forgotten that for a little while.
Pushing away from the table, Stone walked away. He needed distance, from her and from the emotions this conversation was dragging up.
But she wasn’t about to let him get away. Not this time. Instead, Piper followed as he paced into the living room. He stopped at the wall of windows, facing the gorgeous vista of tropical paradise spread in front of him.
And he wanted to scream.
How could the world look perfect and beautiful and yet still be capable of holding so much pain?
Her soft hands landed on his hips. The heat of her body seeped into him as she pressed close. She didn’t say anything, but simply stood there. His breath raced inside his lungs. Her arms wrapped around him from behind, hands pressed against his chest as if she could hold his galloping heart.
Because that’s what she’d want to do for him.
“I wasn’t fast enough,” he finally growled.
She shrugged. “Do you think I was asking for what happened? Taunted him?”
“No, of course not.”
“I was wearing a tight skirt and a shirt that showed my belly that night,” she murmured.
Stone shook his head, not understanding. Turning, he said, “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I didn’t scream no. I didn’t make any noise at all really. At first I was too shocked, and then his hand was over my mouth. But maybe I didn’t strug
gle enough.”
She was starting to piss him off. “What?”
“Maybe that makes it my fault.”
“Of course it doesn’t.”
“Mmm,” she murmured, her arms tightening around him. “Then why do you insist on feeling guilty for something neither of us is responsible for?”
Stone stood still, her words slowly sinking in.
He wasn’t responsible.
Logically, he recognized that. “I’d give anything to have been able to stop it sooner, Piper.”
The warmth of her breath seeped into his chest. “Do you think I don’t know that? Or wish things had been different in so many ways? What if I had screamed? Maybe someone else would have come running and you wouldn’t have killed him, losing ten years of your life. But you don’t have the capability of changing the past any more than I do.”
She was right, but that knowledge didn’t take away the frustration or the feeling of inadequacy. The regret that he hadn’t acted sooner and the knowledge that he was damaged down to his core.
“You’ve given enough because of what happened. I don’t need or expect you to give any more. You saved me, and I’ll always be grateful. You spent years protecting me, but maybe now it’s my turn to protect you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you’ve whisked me away to a Caribbean island, put both of our lives on hold, because you don’t want me to tell anyone about what Blaine did. But maybe it’s time to share the truth. To free us both from the weight of the past.”
“No.” The harsh word flew from his mouth. Nope, he wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Stone, running away from your problems will never solve anything.”
Oh, he was fully aware of that. “Thanks for the advice, Doc, but I’m not running. I’m strategically managing.”
Piper laughed, the sound harsh. “We have a difference of opinion on that.”
“Duly noted.”
“Everything would be easier if you’d just let me tell Madelyn Black what happened.”
Piper closed what little distance was between them, laying her hands on his chest. Tipping her head back, she stared into him with those ice-blue eyes that had owned him since he’d met her. When she was younger, he’d been powerless to deny her anything when she looked at him that way.
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