Evelyn Vine Be Mine (30 page)

I walked forward quickly and stood right beside the tussle, just as the first bouncer tried to grab Stone. Stone shook him off easily and punched Jack again. He was currently pinning Jack to the floor, but Jack wasn’t beat yet.

“GG, stop!” I heard Briar cry out frantically, but Stone didn’t look her way.

Knowing that hysterics and yelling weren’t going to have any effect, I calmly called his name.

“Grant,” I said softly. He froze, his fist in the air and Jack temporarily dazed from the last hit. His head whipped round to look at me and we locked gazes for a long, tense moment. His eyes were wild, but I saw him recognise me.

Let’s go home, I told him with my eyes, standing very still beside him and breathing evenly. The whole club had gone silent, even the bouncers had frozen, not using the opportunity to grab Stone in their shock.

Stone’s eyes clouded over with his decision and he turned back to Jack to leave him with one last punch to the gut, before standing up and walking past me, leaving me to follow him out of the bar.

***

I caught up to Stone at his car, but he didn’t get in. He rifled through his glove box angrily, his whole body drawn tight. He growled when he found only empty boxes of Smarties and settled for a bag of Skittles instead. I shook my head in disbelief, still amazed that super fit Stone had large stashes of sweets everywhere. He locked up his car and started walking the four blocks back to the university without reaching for my hand. Again, I hurried after him, thankful that I’d worn flats tonight as I tried to keep pace with Stone’s angry stride.

I still couldn’t believe Jack had hit Chloe in front of the whole bar. I was certain that, had Stone not jumped on him, several other blokes would have. I glanced up at Stone’s battered face and winced, imagining how badly hurt someone other than Stone would have been. We walked home in silence and, once in our building, Stone tried to leave me at my room with only a brief kiss to the forehead.

I frowned and caught his hand, stopping him from leaving. Are you mad at me?

Stone scowled and shook his head. “I need to cool down,” he gritted out quietly between clenched teeth.

I slowly entwined my fingers through his and gently tugged him inside my room. “I know you won’t hurt me,” I whispered, guiding him towards my bed. He looked at it, then back at me, shaking his head firmly.

Sit, I ordered with my eyes and he carefully sat on the edge of the bed. I moved to my mini-fridge and retrieved some ice from the freezer section, wrapping it in a kitchen towel and handing it to him. I didn’t look at his expression. I moved into the bathroom to grab a wash cloth and quickly returned to the room. Stone had the ice pressed to his jaw, his breaths still short and angry.

I crawled onto his lap carefully and gently ran a finger over his nose, making sure it wasn’t bleeding or broken. Stone shook his head stiffly and I breathed a sigh of relief. He would know - it looked like he had already had it broken a few times. I raised the cloth to his face and gently cleaned his cuts, trying to ignore the way he was watching me.

His face looked considerably better when I was done, but I knew he’d have bruises in the morning and not just on his face. I closed my eyes and hoped that none of his ribs were hurt. Eyes still closed, I leant forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, a little disappointed that our night hadn’t gone as I’d planned.

Stone’s lips twitched in a very small wince, but I noticed it. His bottom lip had been split, but thankfully, all of his teeth were fine.

I kissed his cheek instead and his skin twitched again, but he didn’t try to stop me.

“Where doesn’t it hurt?” I whispered, snuggling a little closer.

Stone licked his lips with another small wince and thought for a moment, before pointing high on the left side of his forehead. I smiled wryly, wishing that his poor face didn’t hurt everywhere. I pressed a soft kiss where he’d indicated and pulled back, asking him where else with my eyes. He tugged on his right earlobe and I giggled, leaning forward again to kiss it.

I didn’t stop with a chaste kiss this time though. I gently sucked the soft flesh into my mouth and flicked my tongue over it. Stone groaned, his hand abandoning the ice so that he could wrap his arms around me. I ran my parted lips over the shell of his ear, up, then down again to lightly bite the lobe. Stone’s hands flexed against my back.

I let my lips rest beneath his ear, swiping the flesh with my tongue and tickling him with my breath. “What about here?” I whispered, delighting in his shiver. He made an encouraging sound, so I moved my way down his neck, taking my time and absorbing as much of his smell and taste as I could along the way.

When I reached his collarbone, I swept my hands beneath his shirt and gently helped him out of it. I sat back to admire him, cursing myself for getting hot from his battered and bruised appearance. I couldn’t help it, even as I thought it was sick to be getting a thrill from how manly he looked, bare-chested, his face cut up from his fight and aggression still clear in his eyes, mingling now with lust.

I gently brushed my fingertips over his shoulders and down the front of his body, taking notice of any red, swollen areas. I gave him a gentle push, silently telling him to lie back on the bed. He obeyed, carefully lowering his upper body, his eyes fixed on me.

“Where doesn’t it hurt?” I whispered again, letting a little bit of mischief show in my face as arousal overcame my concern for him.

His eyes darkened to that glimmering, liquid mercury I loved and his hands left my hips to carefully fold beneath his head. Find out for yourself, his actions implied and I eagerly accepted his challenge.

Again, I took my time, scattering wet, open mouthed kisses down his chest, laving him with my tongue and devoting extra attention to his nipples. He stayed completely still, his only movements coming from the hitching of his breath and the small shudders of pleasure he couldn’t control. I didn’t use my teeth this time, wary of hurting any tender spots. His ribs seemed a little bruised, so I skipped them, my mouth walking a path down his abs instead, stopping to circle his belly button.

My kisses moved further down and I froze when they reached the waistband of his jeans. My breath stopped, then sped up, my pulse hammering in my ears as I realised what came next. I blushed, shyness returning as my hands curled reflexively into his front pockets.

I’d seen him once before, in the car last weekend, but I’d only ever touched it beneath the sheets in the dark since then. Ben had taught me how to please him with my mouth, so I knew how to do it…but I was still nervous. Like the rest of him, Stone’s penis was intimidating and having my face so close to it felt more intimate than having sex with Ben.

Maybe because I wanted to touch it. Wanted to know how it felt in my mouth. Wanted to please him and not just because I was afraid he’d dump me if I didn’t.

I wasn’t afraid he would dump me. I knew that with Stone I had a choice (besides, I wasn’t really dating Stone, so he couldn’t dump me).

Stone’s hands came down to cup my face, then one hand slid through my hair to push it out of the way. I looked up at him when he applied pressure to my chin.

Evie? – His eyes showed a question, some concern, despite the hungry flame that burned within their grey pools.

I took a deep breath and tugged his button playfully.

“Where doesn’t it hurt Grant?” I whispered. I ran my finger down the teeth of his zipper, feeling the hard flesh beneath it surge, fighting to escape its tight prison.

“It definitely fucking hurts there,” he bit out, his voice that dark, scary, wolf growl I loved so much.

“I’ll kiss it better then,” I murmured, easing his fly down with my teeth, marvelling at how bold I was being with him. A little voice in my head laughed, registering that all it took for shy little Evie to turn vixen, was a little vulnerability in her man.

My man, I whispered to myself as I pulled the fabric of his pants down and licked my lips as I examined the bulge in his underwear. My cock.

I ignored the little voice in my head as it mocked my possessiveness. This man wasn’t mine.

But I could pretend for now…A safe little fantasy, without the control-ridden reality of being this man’s woman.

I pushed those thoughts from my head as I reached for his waistband, slowly pulling it out and down as if prolonging the opening of a present. I gasped as it bobbed in front of my face, the tip already leaking as I heard Stone curse under his breath.

I pulled his shoes off and removed the rest of his clothes, stepping back to admire how good he looked lying sideways across my single bed, completely naked. I couldn’t control my blush as I stared at him and I quickly moved to shut off the light, before kneeling back at his feet. I hoped to God Candy wouldn’t barge in as I lowered my mouth to his smooth, hot flesh.

I closed my eyes and groaned with him, enjoying the hot, hard feel of him in my mouth, savouring the salty taste of him, a direct contrast to the sweetness of his lips. I abandoned all the lessons I’d learned from Ben and instead, moved instinctively, selfishly moving how I wanted, the better to feel and taste him the way I needed too.

Stone didn’t seem to have any complaints. His hands wove through my hair, massaging my scalp and tensing whenever I hit a particularly good spot. After I’d had my fill of exploring him, I paid more attention to his sounds, to the guidance of his hands, concentrating on his needs now as I tried to soothe his hurt.

“Evelyn,” he grunted, his voice a rough warning that if I wanted pull away, I needed to do it now.

I didn’t want to pull away.

Instead I increased my efforts, wanting him to enjoy this as much as possible as I sucked him over the edge.

He didn’t cry out, he didn’t yank my hair hard or groan. He didn’t swear or growl. He just exploded in my mouth, his hands leaving my hair to fist in the sheets, his knuckles turning white as he came almost too silently. I swallowed and raised my head.

I actually moaned aloud when I saw his face. His eyes were shut, his lips parted, but his face was clearly etched with his satisfaction, his relief, his pleasure: his bliss.

His thick, dark-blonde eyelashes slowly raised and he stared down his body at me, his eyes shadowed and dark, but still visible in the darkened room. He sat up slowly, grimacing a little at the pain it took to do so. He pulled me to my feet and then stood with me, pulling up his boxer-briefs and pushing back the covers, drawing me into bed with him.

His lips pressed gently against my neck - his tongue flicking out to lick me instead of sucking – and his hand started to push up my skirt, his warm fingers stirring the blood in my thigh. I grabbed his hand regretfully and shook my head, looking up into his battered face. He was injured. His knuckles were bruised and I knew it hurt his mouth to kiss me.

No, my eyes told him firmly.

He scowled, his eyes arguing with mine for several long, quiet moments, before he eventually gave in. I slipped from the bed and went to the bathroom to change into my pyjamas, not wanting Stone to see my underwear like that until he was able to discover it for himself.

I fell asleep quickly, encased in Stone’s arms and feeling happy, despite what had happened earlier.

And when I woke up the next morning, it was to hear my own cries as I exploded in an intense orgasm, my erotic dream slipping away as I realised Stone’s fingers were buried deep inside me. He smirked at me, obviously pleased with himself for finding a way to sneak past my concern long enough to give me my pleasure. My breathing slowly returned to normal and my vision cleared…

Well enough to see the newly formed bruises covering his face and body!

I gasped, my hands immediately releasing the hard grip they’d had of him.

“Grant,” I whispered in shock, tentatively raising a finger to trace some of the damage.

He caught my hand in his and kissed it.

I’m fine, his eyes said, before he leaned forward and dropped a brief kiss on my parted lips. He rolled out of bed and pulled on his clothes, walking into my bathroom to inspect the damage himself.

TWENTY

Chapter 20.

I stood at the entrance to the bathroom and watched as Stone examined himself in the mirror. His face was almost impassive, the mere shadow of a frown on his battered face. He’d propped himself with a hand on either side of the sink and was turning his face slowly from side to side then lifting is chin up to examine the bruise on his jaw. One bronzed, strong – but bruised – hand came up to gently slide over the bristly, purple skin. He hadn’t shaved and I didn’t think he was going to bother until the bruises went down a bit.