Heart of Stone - Book 2: Hearts Collide

As Stone’s body began to relax and the spasms ceased, he pulled her tightly against him and buried his nose in her hair in an effort to calm himself.

He was pissed. He didn’t want to be, but she didn’t listen to him. He needed to know that he could trust her to stop him if he couldn’t stop himself.

“Don’t ever do that again,” he grumbled.

She hummed contently in response.

Growling, he tipped her chin up.

She looked up at him in confusion as she read the anger in his eyes. “What?”

“You completely gave in. You didn’t even try to regain control.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “So?”

“So?” he shot back, his anger rising even more. Could she not grasp the delicacy of their situation?

He pulled himself up on his elbows and looked down at her as he added distance between them. Taken aback, she propped herself up and regarded him with bewilderment.

“Do you not understand the seriousness of what could have happened there if I hadn’t regained control over the situation?” he demanded. “You were supposed to take control, Aubree.”

There was a flicker of hesitancy as his words sunk in. “I’ll do it next time, okay?”

Was she not getting it? This was supposed to be a controlled practice run, an exercise to help prepare them for when their desires did get out of hand. They had to be able to recognize when they were losing control, and how to regain it, as well as how to maintain it when all they wanted to do was give in to it.

He added more distance between them as he tried to keep himself from shaking with anger. “You didn’t even try! What makes you think you’ll be able to next time?”

“Because I wanted you, okay?” she fired back. “Is it so horrible that I wanted to lose control because I wanted you so bad?”

His throat rumbled fiercely at her. He understood, but there weren’t enough excuses to justify turning her into a monster if he lost control and bit her.

“I need to know that I can trust you to take control if I ever lose mine! You have just proven that you can’t and won’t!”

“Fine. Next time, I’ll take control, okay?”

“There won’t be a next time!”

She recoiled at the anger and harshness of his words, but he didn’t care. She had to understand the seriousness of everything. She had to understand how important it was to him that he not turn her into a monster, no matter how much she desired him. She had to be able and willing to take control when he needed her to.

Throwing his legs over the bed, he got up, wiped himself off with his shirt, and pulled his jeans back on before storming out of the room.

“Stone, wait!” she called.

He paused a few feet from the staircase when she wrapped her hands around his arm. Clamping his eyes shut, his fingers curled into fists as he pulled air into his lungs. He wouldn’t look at her. He needed to be firm. She needed to understand that the implications outweighed the pleasures they desired.

“I need to be alone right now, Aubree.”

“No, we need to talk about this.”

He turned and glared at her. “What is there to talk about? You know the dangers, yet you still allowed yourself to lose control. I will not risk your life for a moment of pleasure!”

“I’m sorry, okay! I wasn’t ready—”

“There is no ′ready′ when it comes to this. When the real thing happens, you won’t be ready. You will have to take control when you’re on the brink of losing it.”

She withdrew from him and held herself as she looked away, tugging on the remains of her T-shirt to cover her semi-naked body.

He willed himself to focus on her face and not allow himself to get distracted by the expanse of skin. Only moments ago, he ran his hands all over her soft flesh, had pressed his lips upon it, taken her heaving breast into his mouth as she moaned—

“I’m sorry,” she said again, emotion leaking through her voice.

She was. He could tell, and it tore at his heart. He wanted to wrap her up in his arms and kiss away all the terrible thoughts and feelings she had, even though he intentionally inflicted them.

Dammit! He hated how difficult things had to be. Hated that he had to hurt her with his words to get her to understand how dangerous it was to play with fire.

“Aubree,” he said as softly as he could, though it came out gruff and rough around the edges.

He pulled her shaking body to his and held her as he buried his nose in her hair. He calmed a little while her pounding heart’s rhythm eased as she began to relax in his arms.

“Every time we test ourselves, we’re playing with fire,” he murmured. “I’ve been burned one too many times in my life and instinct drives me away.”

Slipping her arms around him, she sighed. As she held him back, a weight lifted from his shoulders that he hadn’t been aware of carrying.

“I know,” she whispered as she buried her face into his chest. “I just... I couldn’t help it. I wanted you so bad, I didn’t want to stop.”

Under normal circumstances, such a confession would have pleased him. While it did make his heart jump with joy, he knew he had to refrain from basking in the bliss of knowing that she craved him as much as he did her.

“I know.” He tilted her chin up with his finger. He held her gaze, feeling only warmth squeeze his heart now as he caressed her cheek with his thumb. “I could feel your soul pulling me in. It took everything I had to restrain myself—even with the smell of your blood to distract me.”

She swallowed. “Was it enough to distract you?”

He tried not to think about her hot, slick, and wanting core as she gasped his name, and the feel of her fingers clutched around him. Closing his eyes, he groaned as he stiffened and pushed the tantalizing memories away.

He licked his lips, his mouth dry. “Barely. You may have to stab me with the dagger when I do lose control. It might be the only way then.”

Fear flickered in her hazel eyes as she pulled back to meet his gaze. “Seriously?”

He nodded as he grasped her hand and pressed her palm against his chest. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine, as long as you don’t stab me in the heart.”

Closing her eyes, her body shuddered with the thought. The dreadful feeling coursed through her to him, and he pulled her back against him and rubbed the small of her back. He inhaled and exhaled, her scent soothing away the rest of the tension that once wreaked havoc on them moments ago.

He heard the front door open and close softly below as Hector and Rosemary’s scents announced their arrival.

“Come,” he urged in a whisper and applied gentle pressure to her lower back in an attempt to coax her to return to their bedroom.

She allowed him to steer her back into their room, and while she was calmer now than she had been minutes ago, her eyes danced around the space as she chewed on her bottom lip.

“Look,” he said as he closed the door behind him and stood before her, rubbing her arms gently.

His anger gone, he could think clearer now and tried to explain his thoughts to her. He kept his voice low, knowing that Hector and Rosemary would hear them if they spoke normally. He prayed the walls would be thick enough to at least muffle their voices.

“I understand. I do,” he said. “But I can’t take any risks with you. I need to know that I can trust you to take control if I lose mine.”

He swallowed, remembering the lust-stricken look on her face when she refused to take control. It was the sexiest thing he’d seen as her desire for him crashed over him in torrents. How he managed to refrain from taking her then and there, he didn’t know, but somehow he found the will. The question remained, would he always be able to regain his control if and when he lost it?

“You scared me,” he concluded. “I thought, I was going to lose it.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “Please, don’t ever scare me like that again.”