Chapter Nine TOUCH her . . . there? Lily had never used the word Stone had just uttered in her life. Truthfully, only Axel had ever touched between her legs. Somewhere in the back of her head, she’d never been able to forget that he had done it to be helpful, out of far more pity than desire. But the sexual heat in Stone’s eyes, the flush of red slashing down his cheeks, the seduction of his words—they all promised that sympathy was the last thing he felt for her. He’d been so patient, so encouraging. With him, she felt free and sexy. Not like a burden but a woman. She’d been desperate to feel this way for the past three years. “If you want me to touch you and make you feel even better, all you have to do is relax and let me slip my hand under those lacy panties,” he muttered gruffly. His edge of impatience turned her on. “I’ll do the rest.” The pull of his mouth on her nipple again electrified her. She wanted to feel him everywhere, wanted to know just how much pleasure he could give her. But as badly as she ached, the flashes of the past simply wouldn’t be banished. Horrific images of Erin’s last hour on this earth pelted her, those moments Canton had ripped away her jeans and her innocence with a terrible glee before he ended her life. She still heard the screams, still smelled the blood . . . “I-I can’t,” Lily sobbed as she tried to push him away, shoving at his hands and clamping her legs together again. “It’s too much. I don’t—” “Shh. Okay.” Stone shifted all his attention from her body back to her face. Their gazes connected. He stroked her hair so gently, she almost cried. “It’s all right. Do you need your safe word? Or can I keep kissing you? Touching your breasts?” He wasn’t angry or impatient? He wasn’t annoyed that despite the slow way he’d prepared her body, she was freaking out? Those damn tears she’d never been able to shed welled in her eyes again. Just a few moments without his touch and already she was missing it. Maybe . . . Could it really hurt to let him continue a little? Yeah, she’d never reach orgasm from kisses and caresses to her breasts, but the moments of indulging her sensuality like a normal woman, of feeling wanton and lovely and connected to him? She couldn’t pass that up. “Please. Yes,” she cried out. “Are you mad at me?” “Mad?” He sent her a look of such exquisite understanding. It utterly dismissed her anxiety and vowed she’d never have to worry. “Why would I be mad? I’m trying to make you feel good, not uncomfortable or defensive. If you’re comfortable here for now, we’ll stay here.” His assurances made her want to try more. So did the ache between her legs. She didn’t want to give up without seeing if she could let loose enough to enjoy pleasure with a man who aroused rather than coddled her. “I don’t want to stop,” she sobbed. “That’s good.” He tongued his way up the side of her breast and plucked at the nipple with his fingers until a little shudder ran under her skin. “If you’re not ready for me to touch your pussy, you’ll have to do it. I’ll help by talking you through it, Lily. Can you do that?” Talk her through it? That sounded shocking, sensual, and intimate all at once. “Can I keep my panties on?” “If you need to.” Lily nodded. Removing them would make her feel too vulnerable and reveal too much of her body. Not that Stone wasn’t perfectly capable of ripping them off himself if he wanted to take advantage of her. She took comfort in knowing that if he did, the line to detach his balls from his body would form behind Axel, and it would be long. “What should I do?” “Don’t tense up, baby,” he coaxed. “This is the good stuff. All you have to do is slide your hand between your legs and look at me.” That might be all she had to do in his mind but since she’d never really masturbated successfully, much less in front of a man, it seemed like a tall order. Still, she wanted to share pleasure with Stone so badly—and wanted him to be pleased, too. Heck, she wanted him enough to push past her discomfort and try. Dragging in a steadying breath, she slid her hand down her stomach, under the elastic of her waistband, over the smooth mound Axel had instructed her to keep bare, and between the plump folds. Problem was, she didn’t know what to do next. Lily choked back a cry of frustration. What grown woman knew so little about the way her body worked? One who’d been afraid of sex since age sixteen. “Where are your fingers, baby?” “On my vagina.” He flicked his tongue across her nipple. “‘Vagina’ is something you say when you visit the gynecologist. That’s your pussy. Are your fingers on it, playing with your clit? If not, that’s where they should be.” Right. She knew where to find that. Axel had introduced her to that part of her anatomy. When she touched the bundle of nerves between her legs, she yelped, shocked by its surprising sensitivity. Every so often, Axel touched her there. She didn’t feel much at first. The sensations took time to build. Then again, they’d never been to bed with passion in mind. Apparently that made everything different. “You can feel that, huh?” He smiled. “Do it again—drag your finger right over the top. Then make sure it’s wet before you rub it in small circles.” Lily shoved her self-conscious thoughts aside and pursued the sharp jolt of pleasure she’d felt just moments ago. Stone seemed to know how a woman’s body worked. She disregarded the jealousy that stung her. The fact that he had clearly had a mountain of sexual experience worked in her favor right now. Since he didn’t mind sharing his knowledge, she intended to savor how juicy these moments felt. She slid her finger between her folds and drew more moisture up to her aching button. When she touched it, pleasure jabbed her again, bright and shocking. Almost against her will, she gasped and arched, jerking her gaze to Stone. She fixed there, blinking, panting. “Yeah, you can feel that. I see it on your face, baby. Hmm, I can’t even tell you how sexy it is to watch you the first time you learn how much pleasure you can give yourself. It’s, like, the biggest deposit in my spank bank ever.” Despite the edge of need gouging her, Lily couldn’t help but laugh. The worries that had been building in the back of her head evaporated, leaving behind a comforting warmth to go with the heat permeating her entire body. This man totally got to her. She tsked at him. “Are you serious?” “Absolutely. You know you’re sexy, right?” Lily had never truly felt sexy before today. But Stone changed everything with an ease that surprised her. “I like that you think I am.” “Believe it, baby.” He cupped her breast, thumb teasing, as he bent to whisper in her ear. “When I came into this room tonight, I already wanted you like mad, but now that I’ve seen just how damn much you turn me on, I’m going to be after you morning, noon, and night. You’re free to say no and I’ll listen. But I’m not giving up. Now get busy and come for me.” He made it sound so easy, as if it was perfectly natural for her to engage in self-pleasure. And that, of course, he would watch. How badly she wanted to be normal. How much she wanted to please him. How desperately she needed this climax. She spread her legs a bit wider and set her fingers over her slippery clit, then started rubbing gently. Electric tingles slid through her body. The ache turned so vicious she could feel the walls of her sex tighten and clamp down. Once they did, she felt so empty, as if she needed someone—Stone—to fill her. With her free hand, she reached out to him. He took it in his own. His dark, focused stare pinned her, slammed down her spine, the impact making her suck in a rough breath and clutch him harder. As she rubbed the nubbin a little slower, with a bit more brush and tease, the need surged again. The muscles of her thighs tensed. Her sex clenched. A hot flush rolled through her body. Then suddenly, her heartbeat roared in her ears. Lily swore she could hear her blood pumping. This was big and thick and encompassing. Whatever sensation gathered wasn’t like the orgasms she’d had in the past. When all this pent-up fire burst, it would burn her alive. “Stone,” she keened. “Oh, fuck. You’re so beautiful. You need this now, don’t you? Yeah,” he agreed when she nodded frantically. “Let it take you under. Let me hear you scream.” Lily couldn’t think of anything she wanted more. As she circled her hyperaware nerve endings again, her body jerked. Desire surged. When Stone bent to take her nipple in his mouth, she clasped the back of his head and anchored him to her. Not that he’d do anything except help her drown. But this time nothing would be sweeter. He dragged a hand up to her other nipple and tangled his fingers with her own. Together, they manipulated the tip of that breast while he sucked the other hard bud and scraped the very tip with his teeth. Sensations mounted again. She felt like a vessel filling up with blood, with need, with an imminent explosion. It was right there . . . Her legs shook. Her hips jerked. She whimpered, strained for it. She tasted need. But she couldn’t seem to fall over the sweetly sharp edge. Lily pressed harder against her clit, narrowing her circles, focusing on just how good this was going to be. The seconds ticked off in her head, slowly becoming minutes. The exquisite need was its own form of hell, and she couldn’t seem to escape. The torture dragged on, and she saw no way out. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling defeat begin to creep in. Stone sprang into action, popping her nipple from between his lips and grazing her ear with his lips. “You got this, baby. Focus on my voice and close your eyes. Yeah, I know that’s hard, but I’ve got you.” Oddly, she already believed that. “Picture yourself naked and me standing over you, stroking my cock. You know I’m going to tell you how sexy you are and how much I want you. Imagine that I’d fall to my knees between those pretty thighs. When you hold your arms open to me, I’ll go right into them. Then I’m going to kiss you, touch every lush, tingling curve of your body, and when you’re begging, that’s when I’ll slide inside you. Deep. That’s when I’ll stroke you slowly and thoroughly and make you claw my back as you come.” As he spoke, her desire and racing blood clashed, merged. Everything inside her roared to a screaming crescendo. The wall she’d been slamming into, preventing her from falling over, disintegrated. She envisioned exactly what Stone told her to picture. She saw herself being not just perfectly able but eager to lie back and welcome him inside her as he gave her mind-blowing pleasure and she surrendered herself completely. With a guttural scream, she careened into a thick thrall of pleasure, her fingers still working with a gentle firmness that prolonged the agony for seemingly endless moments. The climax didn’t merely embrace her but sent her soaring into a breathtaking realm of dizzying euphoria. The rapture she’d been avoiding? Amazing. Knowing her body was capable of all this? Astonishing. As she crested, the crush of sensations was suddenly cushioned in a lovely velvet embrace. The tight grip of climax loosened with a sigh. Everything once sharp now felt golden, meant to be. Perfect. No wonder people enjoy orgasm so much. The grip of pleasure finally began to release its hold. Of its own volition, her body shuddered and twitched with the last vestiges of bliss. Then she sighed and melted into the mat. “Lily, baby . . .” Stone groaned above her. Lazy and sated, she cracked her eyes open to find him staring at her with both pride and reverence. He wasn’t smiling as if he was relieved that, after dredging up his patience, he’d managed to do his good deed for the day. Axel would be horrified if he ever figured out that she’d read him so clearly. Instead, Stone was proud of her for taking steps forward and taking charge of her sexuality. He looked at her as if only she alone existed for him. Nothing and no one else mattered. “You just tilted my world on its axis,” he murmured. It took her a few moments to process his words. She frowned. “I think that’s what I’m supposed to say to you since you worked so hard to help me.” “You always had the ability inside you. I just nudged until you saw it. You’re a whole, normal woman, Lily. You were a kid when Canton did something appalling that terrified the hell out of you and bruised your psyche. He bent you but he didn’t break you. I needed you to see that. And you did. It’s your job well done.” She knew she could never have given herself such an experience if he hadn’t been right there, helping her along. But the point wasn’t worth disputing. In fact, she didn’t feel like arguing about anything just now. Instead, she gave him a heavy-eyed smile. “I’m still patting you on the back.” “I was hoping for something a little lower.” He winked her way. Lily froze. She’d managed to find ecstasy, sure. And she’d left him in blue-ball hell. “Okay. I-I should warn you though. I’m not sure what to do—” “I’m teasing, baby.” “I can . . .” What? The few times she and Axel had progressed this far, they usually had sex. She’d once offered to relieve him with her mouth or hand. He’d told her that he didn’t want her to confuse the issue—whatever that meant—so she’d still never gotten a man off without penetration. “I can try to give you a blow job.” She could hear the hesitation in her own voice and winced. Stone eased down on top of her, caressing the hair back from her face. Lily felt his weight pressing on her, the hard column of his erection jabbing her mound. Panic began to creep in. She sucked in air, tried to tell herself to stay calm, that Stone wouldn’t hurt her. She focused on the pleasure she’d just experienced, the tenderness of his expression. All she could see in her head was Erin fighting as Timothy Canton held her down with his superior size and strength and raped her. Lily couldn’t help it. She lost her calm, fighting and bucking and shoving, screaming all the way. Stone jumped off of her instantly and scrambled to his feet, putting distance between them. “It’s all right. I’m backing off.” But he looked worried. She sat up, realized how crazy she probably looked, and hung her face in her hands. Damn it. She was worried, too. After tonight, she would have sworn she’d broken through some mental barrier. “It might take more than one night, you know?” He crooked a finger under her chin. Even as she tried to resist, he gave her his quiet resolve and patience. “I’m not giving up. Neither are you.” “It’s been years.” She wanted to cry, and the fucking tears still wouldn’t come. “But not with me. We’ve tried this once. Tomorrow is another day, huh? Smile for me.” “I can’t leave you like this, wanting and aching and . . .” “Without relief? Baby, that self-pleasure thing is a breeze for me. I mastered it at twelve. I can spend a few minutes in the shower and be fine. Would I like it as much as sex in any form with you? Fuck, no. You have no idea how much I’d give up—one eye, a nut, and my entire Star Wars collection. But I won’t give you up. We’ll get there, if that’s what you want.” “Isn’t sex supposed to be about give and take? I only took.” That devastated her. So much for normal. “You gave, too. Besides great spank-bank material, seeing you in pleasure will linger longer than any fleeting climax of my own. I’ll remember that moment and replay it over and over in my head.” She chewed on her lip, trying to hear what he said. Guilt and disappointment stifled her. “But—” “Shh, I’m good with tonight being about you.” Even as Lily wondered if he was right and she wasn’t ready for sex, oral or otherwise, she felt almost disappointed that he wasn’t insisting on more. “Can’t it be about you, too?” “I hope it will be soon. But don’t sweat it now.” Before she could argue again, his phone buzzed insistently, cutting off the music that had filled the background and added to their mood. Stone jumped to his feet and grabbed it. “Just a minute,” he said into the device, then held out his free hand to her. “Baby, why don’t you go to bed? You look exhausted.” In other words, their time together was over and the real world was calling. Why couldn’t she have kept her shit together and opened her arms and body? He’d done nothing to freak her out or make her wary. Once she’d gotten over her violent-ex-con misunderstanding and realized she’d never met a gentler man, she really should have been able to share herself with him. Was she even more broken than she’d thought? Lily ignored his outstretched hand. On shaky legs, she got to her feet and headed for the door, feeling somewhere between embarrassed and broken. “Good night.”
* * *
STONE watched Lily walk out of the playroom with her head hanging and her shoulders slumped. It fucking hurt his heart, but she always said she needed time to think. Maybe some of that now would do her good. He wasn’t sure how she would have handled it if he had tried to . . . What would he have done, given the chance? He wanted to do more than have sex with or fuck her. He didn’t merely want to mount and take her. No, he wanted to make love to Lily. Shit, he’d never really done more than scratch an itch with a woman before, and now he wanted to use his body to tell Lily Taylor how crazy he was about her. Oh, hell. A) He had it bad. B) It would crush him if he tried to make love to her again and she freaked. And C) What the fuck should he do next? All of the above was swirling through his head when he heard the familiar male voice call from the phone in his hand. “Hello?” Stone jerked the device to his ear and shut the door so Lily couldn’t hear. “Here. Sorry. What’s up?” He hoped it was quick because he really didn’t want to leave her alone and dejected for long. “Lots, and none of it good,” Jack Cole said, his tone almost apologetic. Motherfucking son of a bitch. “Lay it on me.” “I’ll give you the ‘good’ news first. We can’t find Canton. No one has seen him near Galveston, at least not camping. We took his picture to every state park and campground within a fifty-mile radius. Nothing. I think Hunter really wanted to pound someone’s face because the baby’s still not sleeping and he’s grouchy, but we couldn’t find anyone who seemed remotely suspicious.” If that was the good news, Stone wasn’t sure he wanted to hear how terrible the bad was. “So Canton is out in the wind somewhere?” “Yeah. I had my buddy Tyler call a few contacts back in Los Angeles from his LAPD days. There’s definitely no one at the house except a maid and a pet sitter. His car is still in the garage. He’s locked his phone and I haven’t been able to trace it. You might try.” Jack rattled off the number and the e-mail address associated with the device. Stone didn’t want to know how the other man had gotten the info and he didn’t care. “Depending on the phone, I might be able to hack and track it. Some have operating systems designed to enable a full lockdown unless you have the password, but I’ll see what I can do.” “Since we don’t know where Canton is, he could be anywhere. It’s possible he’s nowhere near Lily.” But Jack didn’t sound as if he believed that. Stone didn’t, either. “What else?” he prompted. “The bomb that blew up Lily’s car was grade-A professional stuff. None of this homemade shit thrown together with PVC pipe and household chemicals. My guess is that whoever he’s employing had some military training—the elite kind. Hunter said he saw the pictures of what was left. It looked like something he would have learned in advanced demolitions training after becoming a SEAL. It was also programmed to detonate via remote control, not a simple timer. Which means that whoever pressed the button was probably watching her.” Stone replayed the sequence of events in his head and frowned. “If he had eyes on her, he waited too late and missed his window of opportunity. She’d just climbed out of the car a minute before it exploded. Why wait?” “Malfunction? Fuckup?” Jack sighed. “Don’t know. We should count ourselves lucky and move on. Do you remember seeing anyone hanging around outside at her apartment complex? Anyone who might have been watching her?” Not really. He hadn’t been thinking about anything except reaching Lily before she fled for good. Pacing, he mentally replayed his drive to her complex and into the parking lot. “I remember seeing gardeners and thinking I felt sorry for the poor bastards out there in the middle of the day because it’s August. But they all had lawn mowers and edgers in their hands. Nothing that could detonate a bomb.” “Yeah. I’m not surprised you didn’t see anyone who looked suspicious. It is fucking hot out there, and the guy who blew up her car wouldn’t want anyone to notice—” “Wait! I did see someone else.” Stone suddenly remembered. “A guy on one of the balconies. I didn’t get a good look at his face since he was wearing a ball cap. Dodgers, I think. I remember him holding an iPad. When I drove in, he looked up and saw me. I didn’t think anything of it at the time because I was driving like a maniac. But now I’m wondering . . .” “Where in the complex did you see him? Can you describe which balcony?” Stone reconstructed the drive in his mind again, mentally slowing down the sequence of events. Doing his best to explain what he saw and where, he told Jack everything he recalled. “Sorry it’s not more detailed. That wasn’t my focus.” “I’ll send Sean over there to check it out, see if he can lay eyes on this guy, maybe figure out what he saw or where he’s gone. Maybe he was a random resident out there enjoying the choking, wet heat while he played his solitaire or whatever.” But probably not. “That would be great. Keep me posted. This whole fucking mess gives me a bad feeling.” “Can’t say I blame you.” Jack sighed. “Now for the really crappy news.” What? “Because you’ve been a bundle of cheer so far?” “Oh, yeah. That was my happy voice.” He sounded anything but. Stone shook his head. “Well, if you’re going to piss in my cornflakes, then let it all out.” “Axel landed in Dallas an hour ago. He wanted to drive out there tonight and see Sweet Pea. I mean Lily. After talking to him, we realized how much he really didn’t know about her past. Out of respect for their . . . friendship, we wanted to give her the opportunity to tell him everything, but he’d guessed enough to punch holes in our cover story. After that, we had to give up the rest of the truth. So Axel is up to speed now. He knows exactly who Lily is and about our plans to coax her to testify—and he’s pissed.” “At her for not confessing all of her past?” Sure, the guy might have wanted to know it, but Lily didn’t owe shit to the man who hadn’t loved her. “Or at us?” “At you for using her to get out of jail.” Stone didn’t care what the ex thought. “That’s not why I saved her or why I’m with her.” He might have started this because he’d wanted out of prison. Now he only wanted Lily to be happy and free. When had that change happened? “Axel doesn’t see it that way. But his first priority is reassuring himself that she’s all right. Thorpe talked him out of driving the five hours to you by convincing him that he’d never find the cabin at night. Sean is trying now to persuade Axel that they need boots on the ground to help ferret Canton out more than that girl needs her former overprotective mentor to watch over her. I don’t know if the argument is working.” “Axel is that determined?” Stone had hoped that the guy would merely call or want to be close by in case Lily needed him. He could picture Axel demanding that Stone bring her back to Dallas, in which case he was more than happy to tell the ex to fuck off. But Axel coming to this cabin and getting in Lily’s personal space would only mess with her head. “More,” Jack murmured. “If I were you, I’d prepare for incoming. We’ll do our best to hold him, but don’t expect that we can keep him away from her for long.” How the fuck was he supposed to surpass nearly three years of the trust and loyalty Axel had built with Lily and become her number one in a couple of days? With a psycho on the loose who knew a shitload about making bombs? “Son of a bitch. You got any good news?” “The sun will come up tomorrow . . .” Jack mimicked the song from that musical about the redheaded orphan. “Shut the fuck up, Annie.” Jack barked out a laugh, then sobered. “I’ll keep working here. Thorpe, Sean, and the Edgingtons are on your side, too, man. If that’s any consolation.” Not really. Helpful, maybe. But he didn’t care as much about suddenly having brofriends as he did about keeping Lily safe. “Keep me posted. Thanks.” “Will do.” Jack ended the call, and Stone marched out of the playroom and into the hall. His gaze was immediately drawn to the bedroom door. Lily had left it slightly ajar. She’d killed the lights. When he stuck his head in, it looked as if she’d already fallen asleep. Out in the living room, he hunted up her phone, which he’d temporarily hidden in an empty cookie tin in the back of one of the cabinets. He turned it on. Sure enough, Axel had texted about ten million times and called nearly that many in the last twenty hours—with a nine-hour gap in the middle for his flight. Stone could hack into her phone and listen to her messages, but she’d see it as a betrayal of trust, and he could guess what Axel had said. He was just surprised that the guy hadn’t actually called him. Right on cue, Stone’s phone began to buzz. Axel. The number on his display matched what Lily had in her contacts. His first instinct was to answer so he could growl into the phone and cuss out the son of a bitch for so obviously not loving Lily and for abandoning her, leaving her uncertain of her own future and appeal. He also wanted to chastise the bastard and tell him not to drive the fuck to Louisiana. He would get in Lily’s face—and mess with her head. She’d backtrack. And admittedly, Stone didn’t need her attention on the other man when he was trying so hard to reach her. But he stopped himself. Stone didn’t know Axel well but from everything he’d gleaned, probably nothing he said or did would keep the big bruiser away. If the guy had flown back from Europe, he was clearly determined to set eyes on Lily. Whatever. Stone would rather spend his time and energy on a cause that did matter—cementing his bond with her. Declining the call, Stone pocketed the phone and headed back to the bedroom. If he had forty-eight hours or less to earn Lily’s trust and a place in her heart before Axel crashed in, then he intended to put every moment to good use.