Rebuilding Stone (The Stone Brother Series Book 2) (11 page)

I can’t believe I'm doing this. Maybe it’s a mistake. I
mean, ten minutes ago, I realized I didn’t completely trust him. It’s Maddox,
though. He's stood by me and not rushed me. I’ve wanted him just as much as
he’s wanted me. Only I didn’t think our first time would be like
this—hot, raw, and fast—but I’m not complaining. He feels
incredible inside me. Maddox is bouncing me off his upper thighs—I can’t
even describe the feeling. All I know is, it’s a long ride, sliding up and down
his dick. He's kissing my neck, his breath touching my skin, sending shivers
down my body. I lean my head back on the tree, completely lost in the moment. I
can hear every desperate breath he takes. I feel his heart pounding against my
chest.

“You feel so good on me, Kerrigan….” Maddox grabs my ass and
slides me down further on him. He stills for a moment, and a deep growl leaves
him. I think it’s because he's taking me so fast, so hard, and so desperately
that he realizes he's not going to last. It brings a smile to my face to be so
wanted that he can’t control himself. A fever is building inside of me and I
clutch at his back—nails digging in. I smile again as he his thrusts get
even harder and deeper. He's lost any control he'd been holding onto.

“Maddox...” I cry out.

 
Sex has never
felt so good or meant this much to me. I don’t think I’m going to last. I’ve
never been so turned on or so excited to find my release. I’m hoping she's
close. Looking at her face, I know she is.

“I’ve dreamed about this day forever!” I growl out.

“Maddox! I’m so close....” She bites her lower lip. Her
breathless moans pick up and her pussy lets me know she's there. I thrust as
hard as I can a couple more times, going as deep as I can inside her. I hope
she finishes quickly so I can pull out. While she's riding out her orgasm, she
gets a look of ecstasy and parts her perfect lips. Dammit—not going to
last. Her pussy keeps clenching my dick and it won’t release me. Fuck! I
squeeze her ass hard as I fill her with my cum—it’s an endless stream.
Just when I think it’s over, another jet of cum shoots inside her. I wonder if
it’s going to stop.
FUCK
, I think to
myself. I want to live in this moment forever. I don’t want to pull out of her.
My heart and soul found it’s home a couple years back, and now, my dick has,
too. I press my body against her and continue to kiss her. I’m desperate for
any connection. I kiss along her neck and place a kiss behind her ear.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“Maddox, I need to go,” Kerrigan says, and it makes my heart
sink. I slowly pull out and set her back down. My hand reaches for her panties,
and I put them back into their proper place. I make sure to run my finger over
her clit. Another soft moan escapes her lips. That moan stirs something in me,
the sadness of her leaving and not knowing when or if she’ll come back. My
heart is shattering right now.

“Please,” I beg her, “stay the night with me. I can take you
to the airport tomorrow.”

“We shouldn’t, Maddox. The thought of leaving you kills me,
but I
need
this, Maddox. Don’t make
it harder than it already is….”

I want to scream right now. Rip this tree up. Fight fate. I
look her in the eyes. I know she can see the anguish in mine. I’m trying to do
what she needs me to do, but it’s tearing me apart. I won’t ever accept that
she’s leaving.

“I love you. Tell me you know that. Tell me you believe me.
God, Kerrigan, knowing I won't see you everyday hurts.”

“Maddox, I do believe you, I can feel it. For the first time
in my life, I feel loved. I–I love you, Maddox.”

Did I just hear her right? She said she loved me?
Kerrigan loves me.
I take a step back so
I can look at her. This amazingly beautiful woman loves me? No one has ever
said those words to me. I know my brothers do, they don't need to say it. But
to hear these words right now closes a hole in my heart that I never knew
existed. She fucking loves me.

“Kerrigan, do you know how long I’ve waited to hear those
words from you?”

“I mean it, Maddox, I love you. But...we should talk.”

Hearing her say it the second time feels just as amazing as
it did the first time. The need to be near her is overwhelming, so I pull her
flush against my body. I run my thumb down her cheek and place a gentle kiss on
her lips.

“You’re beautiful,” I say to her. “Do you want to head back
to my place? I left without my keys or wallet.”

“Sure, but I’m not staying, okay?”

“Okay. Right now all I want is more time with you.” I grab
her hand, and I am so grateful for more time—whether it is ten minutes,
or five hours.

We walk hand-in-hand back to his apartment. We don’t say
much. I think both of us are trying to figure out what needs to be said. I
wasn’t lying when I told him that I love him. I do, but I know I can’t move
forward. I still question my judgments. Aaron is still very much in my mind. I
have a trial to get through. I know Maddox will be at the trial so I want to
get things out into the open now. I want him to hear the things that will be
said about me. That way, he has time to cool down. Maddox is a quick trigger.
He protects and fights for the ones he loves.

When we get back to his apartment, that barely dressed girl
is sitting on his couch. She looks comfortable, and it makes me jealous. That
jealousy is quick to end when Maddox makes the introduction.

“Donna, this is THE Kerrigan,” Maddox says, grinning from
ear to ear. Donna’s face lights up so brightly that I instantly feel better and
realize Maddox was telling the truth.

“Kerrigan, it’s so nice to finally meet you! To say I’ve
heard a lot about you would be an understatement!” She smiles and shakes my
hand.

“It’s nice to meet you. Sorry about earlier.” I say feeling
foolish for my behavior.

“No sweat. I can only imagine what you thought. I’m only
still here because he didn’t take his keys. I’ll get going,” she says, as she
punches Maddox in the arm and walks out the door. He comes over to me and grabs
my hand again.

“See? There will only ever be you.”

I want her to start talking because I know we need to do
this. If we are ever going to move forward, we need to lay it all out.

“What did you want to talk about?” I ask. She looks down at
the floor. I take her hand to lead her to the couch and we sit down.

“The trial—things that are going to be said about me.
I just would rather you hear it from me.” She looks disgusted. I can tell she
still feels embarrassed. I’ve wanted her to talk to me. I want to help bear
this burden.

“Kerrigan, before we start, can I apologize for that day at
the bar?”

“You don’t need to say anything. I know you’re sorry.”

“I do, Kerrigan, I do. At least, let me try to explain.
You’re the only girl I ever obsessed about, who I needed to be near. It scared
me. I thought I didn’t want anything serious, and still, I kept going back to
the bar to see you. I was scared. Scared that once you knew me, you’d want to
leave. I felt as though I was forgettable. Maybe I still feel that way, which
is why I am so scared for you to leave.”

“I get it, Maddox,” she says, “I do. The day you told me
about your parents, I figured it out. You make yourself forgettable to the
women you sleep with. You need to stop. I won’t forget you. I’m not going to
lie, it hurt. For months, I couldn’t look at you because I still wanted you. I
didn’t grow up with the physical abuse that you did. I grew up being a nobody
to my parents. I lived in the same house with my mom, and she never really
acknowledged I existed. With my dad, I think it hurt worse. From time to time,
I’d see him, his wife, and Ari doing family things—shopping, going to the
movies, and once, I saw them at the pool. I was there with Lani; we had set our
towels down and gone for a swim. When we needed a break, we went back, and
there they were, sitting right next to us. Ari said hi and tried talking to me,
but my dad didn’t even look my way.

“I think that’s why that day at the bar hurt so much,” she
continues. “We had planned a date the day before, and then you did
that
. It made me think something was
wrong with me. No one except Lani at that point had ever made an effort to get
to know me. When Aaron started coming around, he did, and with my low-self
esteem, I jumped all over that because he was the first person to ever want
me.” I feel like daggers are being thrown at my heart. It’s a piercing pain to
know I hurt her so deeply.

“He wasn’t the first person to want you, Kerrigan, I was. I
was too dumb and scared to admit what I was feeling for you. The second I saw
the hurt in your eyes was when I knew there was no going back to the man I was
before. I wanted forgiveness, even though I knew I didn’t deserve it. I’m so
sorry I hurt you that way, Kerrigan. That’s why I came in every day and sat at
the bar—to say I was sorry. I knew it wasn’t working, but I still needed
to say it because you deserve it.”

“I forgive you,” she says. “I forgave you a long time ago,
Maddox. I could see you were torturing yourself and I hated it.”

“Thank you.” I’m at a loss for words. I sit there in silence
because I can’t express what’s going on inside of me. The depth of love I feel
for this woman, the fear that she won’t return, the hatred for the man
responsible for this, are just too much.

“Maddox,” Kerrigan says, breaking the silence. "I want
you to know and to understand that my leaving has nothing to do with you.”

“I know, Kerrigan. It’s killing me, but I get it.”

“Do you remember the night of the Police Officers' Ball?”
she asks, and I think, “Yes.” That was the night I knew for sure my heart no
longer lived inside of my chest, it was in hers.

“Yeah, I remember. I was so jealous that night. Seeing you
smile while clinging onto his arm. It was a tough night.”

“That was the night I realized he wasn’t the man for me,”
she says, “that I was nothing but bragging rights to him. He caught me looking
at you that night before our run in.” My heart stops, and I look her in the eyes.
“That evening, when we got home, was the first night he hit me.” Fucking
bastard. Trying to remain calm is going to be difficult.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, or be the man you could
turn to. I think everyone knew, but you wouldn’t say anything. I can understand
you not trusting me.”

“That night,” she says, “when he hit me, I felt as though I
deserved it—almost like I had cheated on him. I know I didn’t, but that
night, I knew that I loved you. Then he threatened me, saying if I left, he’d
kill you. So I knew I loved you when I didn’t walk out that front door. I
wanted you safe.”

“Fuck, Kerrigan, we’ve wasted so much time. If I hadn’t
fucked up that day, we’d be married, living in the burbs, with our sons running
around. You wouldn’t have been in the arms of that animal.”

She gives me the same smile that always ignites me whenever
I see it.

I see that same future with him even now. I just can’t
commit to anything until Aaron is just a fading memory.
 

“Would you come to Kentucky?” I ask. “We could have our
first date?”

“Kerrigan, I’d walk to Kentucky just for a glimpse of you.
You get settled and tell me when.”

“Alright, I should get going. We can talk more later. It’s
getting late.” I can’t stop thinking of the way he felt inside me. I still
don’t know what he looks like underneath his clothes.

“Let me take a shower really quick. You can watch TV, and
then after I finish, I will take you home.”

“Can I join you?” I ask. The look on Maddox’s face is
priceless. His jaw dropped, his eyes widen, and he rubs his hand over his five
o’clock shadow. It’s our last night for God knows how long, and as much as I
enjoyed the first round, I want something sweet. Something I’ve never had.

Did I hear her right? She wants to join me in the shower? Fuck
yeah she can join me!

“Kerrigan, I told you before to kiss me when you feel like
it. I’d like to extend that invitation to shower with me when you
want—fuck me when you want. You own all of me, Kerrigan.”

“Alright” is all she says. Now what? I feel like a fucking
teenage virgin. Do I take her by the hand? I’ve never given much thought to
what I wanted sex to be like. In and out has always been fine by me. With
Kerrigan, I don’t want fast. I want to spend the night buried inside her. I’ve
been told I am a sweet guy. I’ve never had to be romantic, though. I want
Kerrigan to have that. I take her by the hand and lead her to the bathroom. I
turn the shower on and walk over to her.

While the water is warming, I look her body over. I can’t
wait to see what she looks like completely naked. I place my hands at the hem
of her dress and slowly start pulling it over her head. Along the way, I make
sure my fingers graze her skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. As I graze
past her breast, I can’t help but lean down and lick each nipple. They're
perfectly rounded, and her nipples are hard. I flick my tongue around them a
couple more times before moving on. Once her dress is off, I look over her body
again. She is even more beautiful than I imagined. Fuck me! She is wearing a
baby blue lace matching bra and panties. It’s perfect next to her tan skin. I
start working her bra and lean down to kiss her neck. I can feel her vein pulse
against my lips. My dick is trying to claw its way out of my pants. I feel
Kerrigan’s hands go to my shirt; she lifts it and brings it over my head. I
watch a smile form on her beautiful face.

“I wondered what you looked like under this,” she says
nervously.

“I hope it’s what you hoped for,” I say, as she runs her
silky smooth hands up and down my abs.

“Yes, Maddox,” she whispers near my mouth, “it’s exactly
what I hoped for.”

We finish undressing and get into the shower. I take my time
washing her body, making sure I feel every part of her. Kerrigan is tall and
slender. Her tits are on the smaller side, but a perfect B cup. I can’t wait
any longer, so I pull her against me. With Kerrigan’s wet, hard nipples against
me, I start kissing her. I place my hand at her slit and make contact with her
clit. I hear Kerrigan let out a small gasp. Hearing it has my dick impatient. I
have to remind it, that this moment is for her.