I’d need to go through the carwash. Except there were eggs all over the door handles. Digging in my bag, I found a crumpled-up napkin and used it to grab the handle. Not wanting to litter, I wadded up the nasty napkin and dropped it on the floorboards.
Unable to see out of the windshield, I tried to use the wipers. Unfortunately, all it did initially was smear the eggs across the glass. After damn near emptying the washer fluid, I could see well enough to get to the car wash.
It was so embarrassing when I pulled in and the employees were trying not to laugh. As soon as I hit the soap suds, the tears I’d been holding back began to fall. By the time I exited, I was sobbing and had to pull off to the side of the road.
Why was all this happening to me? The stalker making threats and destroying my car. Students taking their frustrations out on my vehicle. What had I done that was so bad?
Once I’d gotten myself under control, I continued to Styx’s house. It was so weird to think of it as my home.
He’d asked me to move in but hadn’t said he loved me. Was that normal? Did people who hadn’t said they loved each other live together? Or was that his way of saying he loved me? Hell, I hadn’t told him I loved him either.
By the time I arrived, the doubts and worries were spinning in my head.
The garage door shut behind me, but I sat in my vehicle, shaking. It was like I was cracking apart at the seams. I’d been pretty strong about all the crap happening, but it was getting harder.
Maybe if I knew who was doing it, I’d be handling it better. Then we’d have someone for the police to go after. Then it would end.
At the tap on the glass, I shrieked, and my hands flew up to cover my face. Heart in my throat, I tried to catch my breath. Everything seemed fuzzy. Vaguely, I was aware of the door opening as I sat there shaking.
It took what seemed like forever for my vision to clear and the whooshing in my ears to stop. Then I heard Styx talking to me and realized he was holding me cradled to his chest.
“It’s okay, babe. I’m here. I’ve got you. Shhh,” he crooned.
My response to his knock on the window was over-the-top ridiculous. It made me feel as if I was losing my ever-loving mind. That was what the crazy person responsible for the terrorism against me had done. They had taken control of my life.
I’d become a victim, and I hated it.
“I’m s-sorry. It’s been a rough d-d-day.” I sniffled.
“Why don’t we go inside, and I’ll run a hot bath for you?” He pressed a kiss to my temple.
“You don’t h-have to do that, but th-thank you.”
“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” He framed my face and kissed me again. Then he lifted me out of the vehicle and carried me inside through my protests.
“Get undressed. You still have over two hours before anyone gets here. Relax for a bit, and I’ll take care of stuff here.”
Going through the motions, I undressed. It was easier than having to make decisions for myself at that moment.
Before he let me climb in, he folded me in to his large frame and held me. Though I was naked, he didn’t grab me or grope me like he might have any other day. He simply made me feel cherished.
With a kiss to the top of my head, he gave me one last squeeze. “In you go before it gets cold,” he said as he helped me get in.
Sinking up to my chin, I closed my eyes.
“I’ll come check on you in a bit, okay?”
I nodded. The sound of the door closing was the last thing that registered as I dozed off.
Something trailing across the tops of my breasts woke me. My eyes popped open.
“Hello, sleeping beauty,” he murmured as the corner of his lips quirked.
“Mmm, sorry, I didn’t mean to doze off.”
“Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to sleep in the tub? It’s dangerous.” He spoke soft and low. It sent tremors running through me. His able fingers plucking at one of my nipples didn’t help.
“So are sexy, tattooed bikers. Yet here I am,” I sighed.
His laughter burst out before he leaned over and gave me a gentle kiss. “Lucky for me, I guess.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“You wanna tell me what had you so worked up when you got home?” He slipped it in so casually, I had to pause.
“It was silly. Some disgruntled students egged my car,” I huffed.
“What?” he exclaimed. “Did you report it to the office or call the police?”
“No, I’m pretty sure it was kids. It was egged, not vandalized.”
“That is vandalism, Gwen. You should’ve reported it, or at the very least called me. What if it wasn’t kids? There have been too many things going on to discount anything.”
Sighing, I knew he was right. Didn’t mean I liked it, but he had a point.
“You’re probably right. I was just so upset, I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“I know I’m right. I’m not trying to be a dick. I only want you to be safe. We’re going to find out who’s behind this shit. Okay?”
I nodded.
“You want me to warm up the water or are you ready to get out?”
Leaning forward, I started to climb out. “I’m getting out.”
Before I could grab it, he was holding my towel open for me to step into. Gently, he wrapped it around and dried me. A light kiss pressed to my damp skin as he finished an area. He was driving me crazy, and he knew it.
The wet ends of my hair sent droplets dripping and running down my chest. Following their trail, his eyes heated. A low sound rumbled from him, followed by his tongue catching the drops and tracing their paths along my skin.
His tongue was burning hot. Flames licking under the surface of my flesh. It heated my blood and sent my heart racing in overdrive. Need flooded me, set ablaze by the flickering fires he ignited with his touch.
“We don’t have time for this,” I argued weakly as my fingers threaded through his hair and my head tilted back.
“The fuck we don’t,” he growled.
Dropping to his knees, he tugged the towel until it fell to the tiles.
The rasp of his beard was both abrasive and soothing as it moved over my body. He kissed, sucked, and licked everywhere he could reach. Teeth nipped and scraped, sending shivers skating from head to toe.
“You have too many clothes on,” I gasped, though my fingers clasped his hair tight, holding his mouth to me. When he paused, I could feel his smile against my side.
Like a shot, he was on his feet. Thick, strong arms wrapped around my back and hooked the back of my legs, and we were moving rapidly to the bed.
“I’m wet!” I squealed as he placed me with my head on the pillows.
“Good.” He grinned wickedly.
Despite my initial concern for the bed, I lost my breath as he began to peel his clothing off. My knees pressed together, seeking something I couldn’t find on my own.
Inch by inch, the ripples of his beautiful abs were revealed. When he pulled the fabric over his head, I may have drooled as his inked arms flexed.
A slight whimper slipped from my lips as his fingers flicked his jeans open. That sexy V that pointed to the heaven in his pants taunted me. My tongue slid out and traced my lip the way I wanted to trace those lines.
Twitches plagued my fingertips that itched to make contact with his fierce, towering form. Relief pooled when his jeans dropped. The thick column of his erection was boldly visible under his underwear, and I literally had to fight making grabby hands at him.
Like he could read my mind, a smirk curled his lip.
Then he teasingly hooked his thumbs in the waistband. Ridiculously slow, he moved them downward, pausing and raising a brow when they hooked over the end of his shaft. I whined.
“Oh my God, please hurry. They’ll all get here and we’ll still be naked!” I moaned.
A light chuckle was followed by him pulling them out and over until the glistening tip was freed. Mouth watering, I impatiently stared.
/> “I’ll quit teasing if you tell me what you want.” Eyes heavy-lidded, he raised his chin and waited.
“Hurry. That’s what I want.”
“Hurry back to the kitchen to start the steaks?” He grinned.
“No. You know.” My face heated, because I knew what he wanted. It drove him crazy when I talked dirty to him.
“I’m not sure I do.” The tip of his pointer finger pressed to his lips like he was deep in thought.
“Please?”
His hands shoved the boxer briefs all the way down, then braced his large body on the bed. A single knee hit the bed, and he leaned down to run the tip of his tongue up my leg. “Styx, don’t tease. I can’t handle it.”
Did he have mercy on me? Heck, no.
“Mmm, you taste delicious,” he whispered against my inner thigh.
My breaking point was when his tongue continued up to circle my nub and he pushed a thumb into my core.
Over and over. Again and again. Until I couldn’t think straight and my back was arching off the bed while my hands tried to shred the comforter.
“Fuuuuuuuck…,” mewled from the depths of my soul.
Except he didn’t let up. He’d lifted my thighs over his shoulders, and his palms flattened on my lower abdomen. No matter how hard I struggled to escape his mystical tongue, he held me captive.
In sensation overload, I screamed, “Styx. For the love of God, fuck me!”
He wasted no time. One quick kiss to my pubic bone, and his lips crashed to mine as he impaled me on his throbbing length.
Gasping into his mouth, I dug my nails into his shoulders. Every muscle in his back tensed as he held himself still. Savoring the fullness of him buried deep within me, I wrapped my legs around his thighs.
“Hold still.” He exhaled roughly into my mouth. “Give me a minute.” Except it was impossible not to make at least minuscule movements. He did that to me. Drove my desire to its pinnacle. Pushed me to my limits.
Holding his weight from crushing me, he rested on his forearms. Brilliant blue eyes stared into mine as he slipped his hands under my back to curve over the top of my shoulders. Knowing what that meant sent a thrill from my heart to between my legs.
Withdrawing slowly, he exercised incredible strength and willpower as he hovered above me. Gripping my shoulders tight, he thrust hard and deep. The sheer bliss had my eyes rolling in my head.
Everything tingled and felt so damn good. And he was barely getting started.
Whispered words, soft kisses to the arch of my neck, rasping breaths were what my world consisted of. Plunging into my depths, he increased his pace as I met him thrust for thrust.
Lost in everything good we were creating, I couldn’t get away from the building pressure between my legs. So much intensity flooded to where we were joined, until my entire body was on the verge of exploding.
Blissful paralysis came before I shattered. Bright bursts of light filled my vision as my body attempted to curl in on itself, desperately needing to hold on to that feeling as he continued to power into me. Scattered words of encouragement were mere inaudible hums as I floated somewhere in the atmosphere.
With a final shiver of desire, I returned to my physical body.
“Fuck, Gwen. Fuck. So good. Jesus, you feel so. Damn. Good. You ready?” Breathing heavy out of his mouth, he didn’t stop as he chased his climax. Sweat slicked our skin at every point of contact. Slick and sliding, we moved hard against each other.
“Come in me,” I begged in a ragged whisper. “Please.”
“Yes!” He threw his head back and shouted as he gave a final jerk and buried himself to the hilt. The truth of his orgasm was his thickness pulsing within my walls, followed by the slippery slickness of our combined release with the few shallow strokes he made as he reveled in his euphoria.
He was a beautiful man, but caught in his moment of ecstasy, he was breathtaking.
Once he had control of himself, he rested his face against my neck. Nosing my hair off my sweat-soaked neck, he pulled the skin into his mouth, ending with his teeth sunk into my neck. I sighed.
“We can’t lie here long,” he said as he withdrew, leaving me pouting. When he rolled to his side, he tugged me into his arms. I’d never regretted our plans before, but I did then.
“Is it too late to text everyone and cancel?” I grumbled.
His chest shook under my cheek. “Yeah, probably.”
I sighed. “Dammit.”
For a few moments we basked in our postcoital afterglow. My fingers trailed the lines of his ink as my thoughts began to crowd my brain.
“Styx?”
“Yeah, babe.” His voice rumbled through to my ear.
“What if all of this is the universe’s way of telling us we’re not meant to be together?”
His hand grabbed my hair and tipped my head up to look me in the eye.
“What if we are? Because I don’t believe that. Gwen, there’s a reason we finally met in Galveston after living in each other’s backyards for years. And I, for one, am not going to squander that cosmic gift.”
“Ready To Fall”—Rise Against
I’d all but told her how I felt, but I couldn’t say the words. Slice and Truth had shown up first, then Gwen’s friends. Pretty sure when they left, they split off and ended up fucking later that night, but I wasn’t gonna tell Gwen that.
Then again, she may have already known.
“So when you gettin her a ring?” teased Truth as we stood outside around the grill with cold beers in hand.
“Fuck you,” I’d grumbled.
“How long have you known her?” inquired Slice.
“Technically, since Galveston,” I answered.
“Galveston? When did you meet her there?” asked Slice.
Truth chuckled. “She was one of those schoolteachers that was next door to us.”
“No shit? Talk about crazy coincidences.” Slice chuckled.
“I’m taking things slow this time,” I hedged.
“Slow? She’s living with you, dude.” Truth busted my balls.
“Well, I haven’t married her yet, now have I, fucker?” I pointed my spatula at him.
“No, but anyone can see how much she means to you. We’ve all told you that,” he said.
All in all, the night had gone well. It was a good time. Except, all weekend I’d thought about what Truth had said.
We had family day at the club on Sunday, and the guys had made all kinds of references that had me wanting to deck them. I wanted to be able to talk to Gwen and explain their cryptic comments.
I’d decided to try to explain what being an ol’ lady entailed. Not then, but soon. It was a pussy-ass move, and I knew it.
Walking in to work Monday morning, I was kicking myself for being a chickenshit. It shouldn’t be that hard. I knew what was in my heart, but it kinda made me feel like a pussy thinking like I was. All that emotional shit was stuff guys didn’t talk about, but we sure as hell experienced it.
Grace was likely the reason I was afraid to say it out loud. I’d been burned pretty bad by her.
And I’d thought I loved her enough to marry her.
“Hey, Maddox. Looks like we’re in for one hell of a day. Did you see the waiting room and the room situation?” Hunter asked me as soon as I sat down at the table for report.
“Yeah, Jackie looked like she was ready to run for the hills. She was so happy to see us come walking in.” Sipping my coffee, I waited for John to come in and give report.
“It’s not even seven o’clock,” whined Sabrina. “Where the hell did all these people come from anyway? We were like this yesterday too.”
Huffing, she sat down next to me.
“Well, look at it this way, the day should go by fast.” I shrugged as I tossed her a grin.
Rolling her eyes, she laughed.
“So who was that hot blonde you were with at H-E-B on Sunday?” Hunter grinned as he sat down.
It was impossible not to smile whe
n I pictured her face. “Gwen.”
“So you really kicked Grace to the curb for good?” He tilted his head as he looked at me.
“Hell, yeah. I don’t give anyone a second chance to screw me over.”
“Understand that.” He looked contemplative and a little sad. He’d never said what his story was, but he’d been a gloomy asshole when he’d first started. He’d moved here from Iowa, and something told me he’d been burned. The first time I’d ridden my bike to work, he’d seen me put on my cut and his face had gone white, but he’d never said anything. “So, you seeing this Gwen chick?”
“Yeah, she’s pretty much moved in with me.” Feeling a little giddy and trying to hide that shit, I doodled on the edge of the napkin my coffee sat on.
“Wow. Do you even know this girl? You weren’t seeing anyone at Thanksgiving, but now you have a chick moving in with you? I’d be terrified that I’d end up with a psycho if it were me,” Sabrina piped in. She wrinkled her nose and curled her lip as she shuddered.
We laughed at her dramatic input.
John came in, and we started report. It was hopping all damn day. By the time we dragged our asses out of there, we were literally dragging ass.
“See y’all tomorrow,” I said as we headed to the parking lot.
“Not me,” Sabrina said. “I traded with Bob because I have a couple of appointments tomorrow. Y’all have fun!” she teased.
The rest of us groaned as we split up to go to our own vehicles.
The ride home had my nerves ramping up again. I really wanted to tell Gwen what was going on in my head and heart. But every time I thought about it, my stomach started flipping around like crazy.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was in lust and letting it fuck with my head. Except the thought of not having her around made me sick and my heart hurt.
Before I went inside, I kicked off my nasty-ass shoes. Then, sock-footed, I went inside. After stepping through the door from the garage, I reset the alarm, and a smile pulled at my mouth when I smelled Gwen had cooked for me.
Moving further in the house, I looked for her.
“Babe? I’m home.” Footsteps came from upstairs. She barely cleared the last step before launching herself at me. Catching her, I swung her around.
Styx and Stones: A Demented Sons MC Texas Novel Page 21