Stone: At Your Service (Carolina Bad Boys #1) (23 page)

Kinks, fetishes, costumes lined the walls as Missy led me to the BDSM section.

Taking down a crop, she slid it across her palm. I smiled and grabbed a bigger one.

“
It’s not always about size, Stone.” She plied her instrument in an arc that whistled beside me.

I performed a Zorro move in front of her.
“Oh yeah? Tell that to my last conquest.”

The slap-slap
-slap of the crop on her palm rode the fine line of my nerves. I danced back as she sauntered forward. “It’s about the exchange of trust. The power lies in the one who gives it up. The person who submits has all the control in a D/s relationship.” Plying the slim weapon, she slashed the air between us.

On her next pass, I grabbed the crop and
cracked it in two. “I don’t submit to anyone.”

“
You’ve never let yourself lose control.”

M
y teeth snapped together. I bent forward until we were nose to nose. “Yes, I have.” I’d given up my control with Leelee, no one else. I looked at the broken pieces of the crop in my hand. “I’ll pay for this.”

“
Yes. You will.” Her look was intense. “Don’t miss your chance, Stone.”

Shit.
She knew about me and Nicky, me and my feelings for Leelee. She had to, to keep making comments like that. I stalked away from the whips, chains, and nipple-clamps. Just in case, I picked up a box of Magnums—ignoring the hot pink size-and-style chart above the shelves, because really? I squinted at a sleeve of pillow-packet lube and decided to purchase that too, to keep up appearances.

At
the register, I found Felicity haggling with the cashier as if this was a frigging flea market.

“
Write-offs. These are write-offs, right?” She waved a handful of—
whoa
—crotchless panties in front of my face.

I
batted them away. “Anything having to do with the conference—write-off. Booze, food, your registration as the assistant of an attendee. Call this research for your husband’s stories and you’re golden.”

“
Oh-em-gee! Thank you, Stone.” Felicity whipped out her plastic and collected her bag. “I can’t wait for tonight.”

****

Later in the hotel room, Nicky was in the bathroom. Steam poured from beneath the door, and it was a strong possibility he’d fallen asleep standing up in the shower. I left him to it. Condoms, lube, and crap I might never use waited in a bag by my duffel to be packed up and lugged back to Mt. Pleasant in the morning.

I kicked my feet up on the desk, opening Leelee’s dog-eared book. If I couldn’t get back in Leelee’s bed, I was going to get inside her head.

After their first night when Jase showed super-human restraint, he went to bed in briefs, Ave in panties and one of his T-shirts that hung huge on her. He kept everything top shelf—and, man, she had a rack on her—above cloth, except when his tickles on her belly pulled his wandering fingers closer to the generous bottom curves of her tits.

They lived together, loved together,
and for the first time, Jase took a girl, his girl, on dates.

That must’ve been where I got it all wrong with Leelee. Snatching a dance, a kiss, a fuck whenever no one was looking was no way to treat a lady. I’d probably made her feel cheap and tawdry instead of cherished and treasured.

The night Jase hoped to make love to Avery, he took her to a nice restaurant. It was nothing flashy or expensive, but the food was great, the place cozy. He was murmuring into her ear, describing what he wanted to do to her later when her eyes dropped the hooded look of pleasure. Her troubled blue gaze flashed across the restaurant.

Jase inched away and turned his head to look at the tableful he recognized from campus. They all thought they were hot shit. They
whispered and giggled, pointing at the couple. Jase thought they were talking about him until he heard Ave’s choppy sigh.

“What’s that all about?” He jerked his head in the direction of the other table.

Ave pulled
her sweater back on. With her armor back in place, she cowered. Hands tucked inside the hems, fingers curling over, she cast her eyes down. “Nothing.”

The fact
that she could withdraw from him so completely pissed him off. “Bullshit it’s nothin’.”

“
I’m not a virgin, okay?” She hissed, head still down.

Shit. He wouldn
’t have expected any twenty-one-year-old to be a virgin, but given how chaste Ave had been when he’d first started rooming with her, he’d let himself hope so.

Swallowing his instinctual reaction, he said,
“Oh-kay?” He tried to find her hand within the folds of her sweater but she flinched away. “And what’s that got to do with them?”

Her hands appeared on the table from the loose cuffs but only to
compulsively fold and unfold the cloth napkin. “He told them, he told
everyone
, it was consensual.”

Jase sat erect in his seat,
fists forming, his heart thundering. “Who exactly is
he
?”

Her voice was almost too quiet to be heard.
“Their ringleader, Duncan Locke.”

Jase
knew Duncan. He hadn’t liked him before, and now he was gonna kill him. “Are you saying Duncan raped you?”

Oh hell. My little piece of escapism just turned serious. I was only glad the same thing hadn’t happened to Leelee, that she’d stood up to LaForge and given him the verbal smackdown before anything bad happened.

“I don’t expect you to believe me. My RA didn’t. That’s why I had to get out of the dorms.” She still wouldn’t look at him. In fact, she scooted her chair back, ready to walk out.

Jase grabbed her hand
s, the napkin falling unheeded to the floor. He pushed up her sweater cuffs and pressed her palms to his face after giving a gentle kiss to each center. “You think I don’t believe you, Ave?”

“
Why would you?”

“
Because I love you.” His voice was hard, unyielding.

Her eyes shot up. Her lips fell open before she pursed them tight, shaking her head.

“Don’t believe
me
?” Jase’s nostrils flared. When he received more silence from her, he shoved back his chair and stood. “Right.”

“
Jase, I’m sorry! Don’t, don’t leave me.”

He swung toward her, dropping a deep, full
kiss on her lips. “Never leaving you. I’ll be right back.”

Rolling up his sleeves, he stalked to the table full of twats. He watched their shock as th
ey took in his angry expression. His violence was barely held in check. Knuckles rapping down on the table so hard their water glasses spilled and several of the girls gasped, Jase got into each and every one of their faces.

“
Are you talking about my girlfriend over there?”

The dumb fucks
stared at him.

“
That’s what I thought.” His voice vibrated with rage. “Listen up, you preppy, prissy little shits. I don’t care who your daddies are, I don’t care if you’re varsity-this or sorority-that, I’ll fuck you up. I’ll ruin your social lives. I’ll destroy your academics. I will run you out of this school. You know who I am, right?”

One of the
letter-jacket wearing pricks answered, “Yeah, you’re Jase Everly.”

“
Fucking bingo. So you know what I can do, right?”

Bingo nodded and the others followed suit.

“And that is Avery Greene. She’s worth more than any of you can imagine. I love the shit out of her. You mess with her, you deal with me.” Straightening up, he crossed his arms over his chest. “You can tell dickhead Duncan, I’m gunnin’ for him.”

Jase
pivoted around and returned to Ave. Her face was burning, her eyes trained on the floor. Watching the group of shitheads rush to pay up and get out, he felt a little bit of satisfaction. But he was still enraged, so angry his ears buzzed. He couldn’t handle the idea that some guy had hurt Ave, had raped her! There was going to be hell to pay, but he had to look after her first.

He pulled her from her seat into his lap, holding her against him. Her breathing was erratic.
“I didn’t want any attention. Never wanted anyone’s attention after what he did to me.”

That
was why she dressed the way she did. Why she kept up the quiet mouse routine, except with Jase.

“
Well, you got my attention now, Ave.” Tunneling his hand under her hair, he tipped her head up. Her eyes met his, so bright blue they reminded him of tropical waters, revealing a little less hurt, a little more hope. “You’ve got all my attention. I love you.”

When I’d first started reading
Ride
the story had fueled my fascination with Leelee, a sexy-shy woman I wanted to fuck. Not anymore. I was searching for pieces of her within the pages, looking for a way to reach her heart. Because if tomorrow came and I let her go without knowing the truth, her words would be all I had left of her.

Saturday
: Big Bang Banquet

THE BALLROOM WAS SET to perfection for the final night of the RAWRing Twenties LitLuv convention. Decorated in black with hints of gleaming gold and rich pops of burgundy, I embraced the
flair
of the moment. Cigarette girls held wooden trays strapped to their necks, handing out programs instead of coffin nails. The room felt as off-limits as a true blue speakeasy.

I noted the Widows with a nod, swerved away from the
LolliPOP Grrrls, and almost crawled under a table to hide from Jules Gem. I’d dressed with care for Stone’s Last Stand in the fedora and a well-fitting suit, garnering wolf whistles from my bros, the Coverdale crew.

Nicky swaggered beside me as we
wound through the high-tops at the back of the room to a six-top reserved near the stage.

Jacqueline
stood up, shouting, “It’s Nicky Fucking Love and Stone!”

Nicky grinned behind the two fingers curled into the corners of his mouth, pealing out
a whistle worthy of a construction crew . . . or all the horny ladies at the Magic Mike Noon/Night male revue. “It’s that Big Name Author, Jacqueline!”

Shaking my head, I
helped Janice down from the top of the table where she’d whoop-whoop-whooped at us. They sure did love their spectacle.

She
grabbed my biceps and then my ass. Her feathered headband slid over the sky blue Lennon glasses. “Holy shit. Your ass is
so
tight!”

She passed me over to
Jacqueline. Her jet beads glinted against the soft coffee of her skin. “This g’on be a good night.”

I dipped away from Missy
’s forthcoming embrace with a feint to the left. “Fight the good fight, Stone.”

Yeah, all right.

I held out Nicky’s chair, waited until everyone else was seated, then pulled up between him and the sole remaining seat. Leelee was MIA. Again. Or maybe not. For all I knew she could be wearing yet another wig, hiding behind her protective veil. The longer her chair stayed empty, the more I felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin.

There was a big bulb-flashing brouhaha when the publishing BFD
of the moment swanned up to the table next to ours, complete with entourage. Janice’s head coiled back. Missy smacked her crop across her palm. Jacqueline, the classiest of the group, spat into her palm and rubbed her hands together.

Romance writer turf wars.

Bubbly was served, lukewarm appetizers too. I ate like an automaton—food, mouth, chew, swallow, get it down. A few drinks later, a warm buzz spread to my stomach. I held Nicky’s hand, even kissed his knuckles.

His eyes caught mine.
“Watch it.”

“
Or what, you’re gonna drag my suit off and screw me right here?”

“
Oh my.” Janice flipped her program into a fan.

Jacqueline
’s gaze was glued to us. “Yes, please.”

“
Get that in writing, Nicky.” Missy went one step further.

Nicky
’s cheeks burned bright. I laughed from my belly, letting all the worry and stress go. If I had to play gay or go home, I was going brass balls homo tonight, especially since Leelee wasn’t lurking around to catch me out.

Fuck it all.

Several courses later, Nicky was announced the winner in the Paranormal category-established author. When he strode off the stage, straight into my arms, I felt the heat of the moment. Stone’s Last
Gay
Stand. With one hand curled behind his neck, I kissed him full on the mouth, sucking in his pouty bottom lip. Our tongues touched for an instant before I reeled mine back and sealed that shit shut tight.

We broke apart, shock written
on both our faces. The room erupted as if the University of South Carolina Gamecocks had scored a last-second touchdown to beat the Clemson Tigers, and I stared into his violet eyes.

“
That was weird.” Nicky juggled his bronzed plaque in one hand.

“
Yeah.” I resisted the urge to scrub my mouth with a napkin.

He sat down. I grinned beside him.
With my lips to his ear, I murmured, “Just so you know, rimming is still off the table.”

“
Frotting too?”

Douche
. I’d have to look that one up.

What seemed like hours later of fidgeting with my wineglass, fiddling with Nicky
’s hair while daydreaming about silky red-gold curls, I startled when Nicky nudged me. “This is Leelee’s award.”

“
Come again?”

“
She’s a shoo-in for this one,” he whispered.

Bat ears Missy heard him
. “Our baby girl’s got this in the bag.”

I slapped both palms
onto the table and half-stood, performing another sweep of the room. No Leelee that I could see. I hated that she was missing this, her big moment, possibly because of me.

“
And the 2013 Award for Breakout New Adult Author, self-published or traditional, goes to . . .”

Fuckin
’ A, get on with it.

Th
e presenter opened the envelope. She glanced around then coughed. “Um, yes. The five-thousand-dollar award for this prestigious new genre goes to Georgie Saunders!”

I growled at Nicky,
“I thought you said it was a sure thing.”

The room was alive and buzzing, apparently I wasn
’t the only shocked by the outcome. Maybe it was a good thing Leelee wasn’t here after all. I could only think of one reason Leelee could have been passed over and that reason started with L and finished with Forge.

Jules took the stage amid shouts for a recount—Hens, Widows, and the like sounding the same as they had the night I
’d lost the Guys with Whatever contest, but this was more serious. This was Leelee’s career.

Jules called
out, “Let’s not be rude, friends. I believe Ms. Saunders deserves a standing O for her win tonight! Yes?”

She
clapped ferociously, and everyone followed suit. Jules might be a bulldog in a cocktail dress but she had a fair point. Saunders collected her award and the big check, looking a little flummoxed.

“
Now, let’s keep this party going! In the tradition of LitLuv, slideshow time. A faaaantastic presentation of our fave moments from the past four days of writers, readers, romance, and RAWR!” Jesus. If nothing else, Jules could go into UFC announcing after she finished her gig here.

Lights dimmed. T
he show proceeded through the craziness of arrivals and registration to some shots of the more popular panels. Then there was a flash of Leelee and me in the bar, dancing before closing time.
What the fuck?
Jules hurriedly clicked to the next frame. More innocent photos—the book fair, the loco writers and fans at The Golden Banana. Then the goddamn tango-kiss.

My
face hardened. I felt a million eyes pinned on me. Nicky slid down in his seat.

Jules clicked the
PowerPoint. Again and again. And all the photos on the frigging massive screen were of me and Leelee in almost every compromising position possible. Kissing, touching, dancing, kissing, goddamn
gazing
at each other. Me coming out of her room looking well fucked. Her slipping from mine wearing my shorts and shirt. Every private motherfucking moment had been photographed. Making me out to be a big bad liar in terms of my gay cover story.

Pretty much the only thing not being big-screen-revealed was
me actually making love to her while we burned up the sheets.

“
Gotta be fuckin’ kidding me!” I pounced to my feet.

“
Holy shiznit!” Janice stared at me.

Jacqueline
smirked. “I knew.”

“
You did not!” Janice threw down her glasses and full on glared at me. “You’re gay, right, Stone?”

Missy stifled a snort
and patted my clenched fists.

On stage, Jules was shutting
down the slideshow as quickly as possible. “Well, that was interesting, no? We do pride ourselves on providing the
very
best in entertainment, people!” She waited for applause, teeth gritted. “However, there seems to have been some tampering with the presentation, and never fear, I will get to the bottom of this. No one messes with my PowerPoint and comes out alive.”

An almighty
scream splintered my ears and shivered down my spine. “You son of a bitch!”

My head whipped to the left. Leelee was with LaForge, coming down hard with her heel on his instep as she choked him with his own tie.
“You said you wouldn’t go after Nicky and Stone.”

Oh, no. My woman was not protecting me against that
dickhead.

Total pandemonium ensued. Through the blood pounding in my ears and
the rage blinding my vision, I saw Jules leap from the stage, beckoning her cameraman after her. The Widows scrambled in her wake. The LolliPOP Grrrls grinned at the spectacle, one tonguing her gum, the other swirling her fucking sucker in and out of her mouth.

The Hens tweeted. I heard:

#LitLuv13 #popcorn

#
AgentTakedown

I was gonna break their
damn smart phones, after I broke LaFuck’s neck.

“
The rules changed, Leelee, after you publicly humiliated me.” LaForge’s voice was tight due to his strangulation by tie.

Leelee glared at me when I stormed up to them.

“What the fuck’s goin’ on here?” Every muscle in my body tensed and my jaw pulsed dangerously.

Leelee yanked hard at the silk in her hands.
“Why do you think I blew up at him at the book fair? He showed me the photos, told me he was prepared to take them public if I didn’t agree to sign with him. Ruin me, Nicky, and you.”

Every single moment of LaForge
’s dirty tactics brought me to boiling point. Punching one hand against his chest to keep him back, I got down in Leelee’s face. “And you didn’t think to tell me? You didn’t think I’d want to protect you?”

“
I was trying to keep you, Nicky, and your son off the radar, you jackass!”

Yeah, enough with the talking.
I pulled Leelee behind me to keep her safe.

Small hands beat at my back
and Leelee shouted. “You have no honor, Stone. How do you expect to defend mine?”

“
Like this.” My fist slammed into LaForge’s jaw.

A low moan clattered between his teeth. Not for long. I shut his trap with a fast uppercut to his chin. Satisfaction came in the echoing snap-crunch connection of my knuckles
against his face. It came in his boneless body, crumpling down to the floor.

I swiveled around to Leelee.

With her hair down and wild around her face, her green irises absolutely spitting, she hissed, “I saw you kiss Nicky.”

I nodded. There was no way around that.

“Remember what you said I get to do if anyone touches you again?”

You can call me out and kick my ass, babe
.

“
Yeah. Do it,” I answered.

She primed her fist and kept her
thumb tucked inside. Her dad had taught her well. One fast snaky jab to my midsection and another to my shoulder made me grunt with surprise at her force.

Suddenly everything was dead quiet ap
art from Jules commentating in hushed tones and the tap-tap-tapping of fingers on phones.

Leelee stepped onto one foot and I knew what was coming next. A kick to the gonads would have me writhing on the floor, hocking up my testes. I placed my palm on her thigh
to block that particular blow, but she twisted away from me.

A
thin voice piped up. “Leelee? Is Leelee Childes—I mean Leelee Songchild here?”

Who the hell else now?

“Patrick?” Leelee looked around.

No way
has Patrick Pin Prick Waddell turned up on our final night.

A tall dude
, all pink-faced and scrubbed clean with no rough edges what-so-fucking-ever, parted the crowd. He fell to his knees in front of her.

I pushed off the wall, but Leelee
’s hand on my chest stopped me from stomping his face in with my boots. Suddenly, absolute emotional terror sliced through me.

“
You came all the way from Shreveport?” Her fingers grazed his face.

“
I was so wrong. I’m not gay.” Patrick glimpsed up.

Oh, now you
’ve gotta be shittin’ me.
I was the one who wasn’t gay, goddammit.

“
Tell me this is not happening.” I grabbed Leelee’s hand before she made another pass over his face. “Tell
him
this is not happening.”