Heart of Stone - Book 3: Souls Entwine

The incessant buzzing of a bedside alarm clock woke Stone from a dream of him and Aubree cuddling at the top of the Crest and watching the sunrise.

Various other sounds began to drift into his waking senses: birdsong, traffic, and Aubree’s mother stirring from her bed on the other side of the house.

He despised the idea of waking his mate and pushing her out of his bed, but if Sandy discovered Aubree out of her own, she’d come after them for sure.

“Röslein,” he whispered into her hair, nuzzling the silky, tangled mess with his nose. “Your parents are waking up.”

He had been holding her, her back against his chest, but now she rolled over and snuggled up against him, her nose pressed against his collarbone.

“Mhm-kay.”

“Should you return to your own bed?”

“No.”

A grin tugged on his lips. “Aren’t you afraid of your mother finding us?”

“No. Let her.”

His grin widened. “She might bite.”

“Stop talking and go back to sleep. I’ll handle her.”

He nuzzled her hair again and placed a kiss on her forehead. “That’s my Luna. I love when you get feisty.”

“Keep it in your pants.”

“I’m not wearing any.”

Her lips pulled back against his skin. “I know.”

He heard her mother get off the bed and walk across the room to the master ensuite.

Closing his eyes, he tried to tune out the sounds around him and fall back asleep, but the walls seemed paper-thin and every little noise caught his attention.

The chattering of a squirrel somewhere outside had his stomach growling about ten minutes later when Sandy left the master bedroom across the hall and began to make her way toward the staircase when she stopped.

Had Aubree left her door open, or closed?

Regardless, Sandy’s pause only lasted a moment before she continued on her way to the stairs and headed down.

In an effort not to wake Aubree, he slowly filled his lungs with air to try and pick up Sandra’s emotional scent, but it was too weak among the smells of his room and those coming in through the window. Her emotional state would have to remain a mystery for now.

Until he heard her grumbling to herself once she was in the kitchen.

As he suspected, she figured it out and was none too pleased about it.

“...Too soon to be sleeping together... better not find any presents in those sheets... or condoms in the trash...”

She let the dog out to the backyard.

Stone thought about leaving an empty condom wrapper in the trash can and hide the actual condom. How long would she hunt for the damn thing?

Too bad he couldn’t stick around to watch her come apart at the seams.

Aubree’s father started stirring now, getting up to use the bathroom, shower, and get dressed before going downstairs.

He didn’t hesitate in the hallway.

While her father had been getting ready, Sandy was prepping breakfast. The oven was turned on. Ingredients poured into a glass bowl and blended together. Fifteen minutes after she popped them into the oven, he could smell the muffins baking. Blueberry.

When Steve went downstairs, she got started frying up some bacon and sausages.

The smells made his stomach growl so loudly, it woke Aubree up.

Her brows pinched together, tickling his flesh, as a little moan crept up her throat. [Was that your stomach growling?]

[Yes. Sorry, Love. I’m hungry and am craving that bacon your mother is making.]

He needed to go for a run and let his beast out as well. He didn’t know when he’d get to do that. If the werewolves hadn’t interrupted their evening yesterday, he would have done so when night fell. Now, he wasn’t sure when he’d get a chance, and the more he had to contain his beast, the more aggravated he’d become. He couldn’t afford to lose his patience with her mother.

[Do you have a basement?]

She hummed a yes.

[After breakfast, I need a chance to shift. You remember how stressed Guinevere became when she was living with you in the city and wasn’t able to shift as frequently as she was used to?]

She groaned. [I remember. Let me know when you need to. How much time do you need? An hour?]

[An hour would be plenty.]

[’Kay. I’ll tell my parents you’re using the treadmill. Dad won’t mind.]

[If I actually use it, I would probably break it.]

[It’s just an excuse.]

[Very well.]

His stomach growled loudly once more.

Groaning again, she pulled away. [Alright, alright. Let’s get up and get some food into you. Mind your manners, Mr. Wolf.]

[Don’t I always?]

Her sleepy eyes caught his, crinkling in the corners. [Sometimes. You lost points yesterday.]

With a growl, he pulled her roughly against his chest, making her squeal as his thick arms wrapped around her and smothered her against his rippling muscles.

[Mine. Mine. Mine.]

Giggling, she nuzzled her nose against his warm flesh. [I seem to remember a time when you didn’t want me.]

He growled again. [Don’t remind me of my foolishness. I’d rather forget those disastrous weeks.]

[If you forget, then I’ll remember.]

[Why?]

[Then I’ll have something embarrassing to tell our kids!]

He groaned as she attempted to laugh like an evil villain. Gwen and Alistair sometimes laughed like that when they were up to no good.

She pulled back as her fingertips caressed his cheek, now sandpaper-rough. Her precious hazels gazing back at him with warmth, tinted with sadness.

[Because all memories, even bad ones or sad ones, should be cherished. They help us to understand. How we see and understand the world is reflected in our experiences,] she said.

Drawing her forehead to his lips, he kissed it as his eyes closed, relishing in the grace the Goddess had blessed him with. [You sound wiser than your years, Love.]

She hummed. [Not really. It’s something I picked up from a movie.]

[We should watch this movie together sometime.]

[I’d like that.]

Despite the ceaseless growling of his stomach, he let her get ready first and go downstairs to face her parents. He suggested they shower together and get ready together, but she brushed it off.

“I’ll need a few minutes with my parents, so take your time getting ready.”

Relenting, he urinated in the bathroom before returning to the bed in an attempt to relax muscles that trembled for exercise. It failed and he grew more restless as she showered, listening to her hum a tune, a few words fluttering out from her lips here and there.

He imagined her standing under the streaming spray, her hands gliding over her soft skin as the cascading water washed away the foamy suds he could smell on her body.

His stomach growled again, and he groaned as he pushed the tantalizing images from his mind.

He couldn’t wait to get her back home.

[Mind if I use your phone to call home and check up?] he asked.

[Go ahead. It’s in my purse in my room.]

Getting up, he realized he would have to put some pants on. Even though he’d be able to hear anyone coming, walking around naked with a hard-on seemed disrespectful.

After pulling on a pair of jeans, he slipped out of his room and down the hall to Aubree’s. He found her purse on the dresser and after she gave him the four-digit passcode, he called his phone back home.

Alistair answered, teased him for a bit, and reassured him that everything was fine. Still no sign of any vampires anywhere in the Twin Cities.

“Stay alert,” he said. “Just because we haven’t found them, doesn’t mean they aren’t there. They could strike the moment we let our guard down.”

“Don’t worry, Alpha. We got this.”

Stone hung up a moment before Aubree came into her room with only a fluffy blue towel wrapped around her.

He’d been sitting on the edge of her bed, the thin blanket tossed to the side when she sauntered in with a grin.

His eyes took in her exposed bare legs where the towel stopped mid-thigh before continuing up to the curves of her chest. Water droplets sparkled across her bare shoulders and arms with a few trickling down her chest and seeping into the towel around her breasts. His mouth grew dry with the urge to lap the water up with his tongue.

Closing the door behind her, she wiggled her brows at him. “Getting a little hot under the collar, are ya?”

He was on his feet in an instant and standing over her, his hands itching to rip the towel from her body and bend her over the edge of the bed.

“I knew we should have showered together. I could have taken my fill and given you yours.”

Desire began to pour off her as he brushed her dripping wet hair off to the side, away from his mark on her shoulder. His skin singed as it brushed against hers.

“Dammit, Stone,” her voice a breathy whisper against his flesh. “I need a clear head right now, not images of riding you.”

Fingers tangled in his hair as her mouth grasped his. Her intensifying need swallowed him and he was drowning, unable and unwilling to pull away. Her flesh was hot as his hands caressed her cheeks, lifting her deeper into the hot enclave of his devouring hunger. Her breasts heaved against him, the friction between their bodies loosening the towel around her.

A primal growl of desire rumbled within him as his hands slid down her slender neck. Her thoughts echoed his own. Want. Need. Now.

The towel fell and with it, his hands slipped around to grab her ass and lift her up.

She gasped as her arms and legs wrapped around him and his mouth nipped and sucked on the sweet spot.

“Give me two minutes in the shower,” he rasped.

“Make it five,” she said before clasping his lips with hers again.

His lips broke with hers as they curved up. “Greedy mate.”

“Uh-huh,” she hummed before stealing his grin with another hungry assault as he carried her to the bathroom.