Fortitude (Heart of Stone) (10 page)

“What? Why?” he asked with a furious frown.

“Just… no. It’s the only thing I demand. You can do
anything you want to me but my top stays on.”

“Ava,” he sighed when I flattened myself further into the
mattress. He knew why, he could read it in me, my shame at the way I looked.

I stared at him over my shoulder. “You either fuck me or
I leave.”

His face grew furious as his chest heaved. He grabbed my
hands and held them in one of his huge ones above my head. “Do not fuck me
off.”

“Why?” I smiled cockily at him. “You wanna fuck hard,
then fuck hard. Fuck me with anger because that’s what I need.”

I gasped when he impaled me in a single thrust, the width
of him burning my walls, stretching me unforgivingly after months of nothing.
“That’s what I deserve,” I finished under my breath when he started to move.

His hands gripped my shoulders firmly as he pounded into
me. He fucked with so much anger and hatred that as soon as his fingers circled
my throat I was coming violently and loudly.

Each of his hard thrusts shifted me further and further
across the bed until I was literally hanging off the edge, the palms of my
hands on the floor to support myself.

He clutched my shoulders and yanked me back until we were
both kneeling with him behind me. “Ride me, Ava. Show me how fucking hard you
fuck.”

We were both sweating liberally, our bodies wired and
strumming with pleasure as we groaned and grunted together loudly. I worked him
so hard I swore I would be bleeding when we finished. But I didn’t care, I
needed the pain his fingers and cock offered. I deserved it. I warranted every
single agonising jolt of pain that he gave me.

He pushed me forward until I was on all fours. I yelped
when his palm connected with my backside so hard the sting made my eyes water,
but I came like a fucking animal, growling and snarling through it.

Steed yanked at my hips, pulling me onto him even further
when he roared out my name and climaxed as brutally as I did. His hips bucked
and jerked, forcing his cock even more cruelly into me as he fell onto my back
and sank his teeth into my neck, generating another orgasm to shudder through
me faintly.

We both collapsed in a heap, Steed rolling off me before
he could crush me. I stared at the pillow as I lay immobile and vibrating in the
aftershock.

We were both silent, the enormity of what we had just
done hitting us now the arousal had died. “Shit,” Steed uttered as he pulled
himself upright and sat on the edge of the bed. His hands raked through his
hair in distress.

I climbed off the bed and pulled my shorts on, “Don’t
worry. He won’t find out.” I muttered as I pulled on my heels.

“What?” he stared at me in confusion. “I’m not worried
about Mason, I’m worried about you.”

“Why?” I shrugged as a numbness flowed through me. “I’m
fine.”

“No, you’re not.” He whispered as he tenderly cupped my
cheek. “You weren’t emotionally ready for this. And I took advantage of that.”

I laughed at him but pulled away and trotted down the
stairs, swiping my bag from beside the front door. “Steed. Chill out. I won’t
be back for seconds. I’m afraid you were there to be used, and I used you.”

I watched as shock covered his face. “Right.” He blinked
back his stunned reaction to my honesty.

“I won’t plague your life by knocking on your door, and I
won’t be asking for a repeat performance so you needn’t worry.”

“Ava!” he shouted as I opened the door and left him
staring after me.

I was silently humoured by the fact that I had watched
two naked men stare at me through my rear view in a single night.

But there was only one that had broken me. There was only
one who had torn the remaining pieces of my soul apart. And there was only one
who made me go home, get high and sob myself to sleep.

Again.

She had slid the chain on the back door to try and keep
me out. That didn’t stand a chance when I kicked at it and it flung open, the
force of it banging loudly in the silent house.

I took the stairs two at a time and slammed open her
bedroom door. “Ava…” I froze when I found the room empty, the duvet still
perfectly pulled over the bed and the many prissy cushions she always had
scattered perfectly in place.

“What the…”

She should be home by now, she’d had a good thirty
minutes on me. I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialled Steed. He declined
my first call and I tried again. He picked up on the fourth ring, “Hey, Mase.”

“Are you with Ava?”

He hesitated and I frowned to myself when I sensed his
unease. “No.”

“Well she’s not home and you get paid to fucking shadow
her. So would you like to tell me why the fuck my wife doesn’t have a shadow at
the moment?”

“I, ummm…”

The front door opened and closed with a quiet click. “Got
her.” I told him and ended the call abruptly as I went down to find her.

As soon as I exited the bedroom, my face was squashed up
against the wall, both my arms pulled behind my back and a gun crushing against
my temple. “Ava! It’s me.”

“What the fuck, Mason.” She declared as she let me go.
“You stupid bastard. I could have killed you.”

I grinned at her, my little warrior still had it. “Where
the fuck have you been?”

She stared at me, her head tilted to one side. “Are you
for real?”

“Yes,” I nodded to confirm her question. “You should have
been home ages ago.”

“Get out!” she snapped as she pushed past me and flicked
on her bedroom light, dropping her bag to the floor as she walked into the
en-suite she’d recently had fitted and started the shower. “Go home, Mason. I
don’t want you here.”

“I wanted to check you were okay.” I told her quietly,
shame at my behaviour coursing through me.

She scoffed loudly. “You wanted to check up on me? Why?”

“Well because… you know…”

“Because I found you with that fucking whore again?
AGAIN!” she suddenly screamed, her face flushing with anger.

“I…”

“You what Mason? You what?”

I was just about to answer her when I caught the mark on
her neck. I swear something invisible hit me in the face and chest
simultaneously. I gripped her face and moved her head aside to make sure I
hadn’t imagined it. “What the fuck is that?”

She rubbed her finger over the mark as though she hadn’t
been aware of it until I mentioned it. I watched her throat bob as she stared
at me resolutely. “It’s a bite.”

I curled my fists into themselves as my brain started to
fume and my gut hissed angrily. “Who?”

I didn’t want to know but my sick curiosity did and I
closed my eyes as I waited for her answer. “It doesn’t matter who. You have
your new fuck, well now, I have mine.”

I tried to control my wrath but it was spinning
dangerously out of control with her coolness. “Ava…” I ran my tongue over my
teeth. “I’m really trying hard to hold the fuck on here.”

I jerked when her hands hit my chest and she pushed me
back harshly. “How dare you! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!”

I spun her round so fast, the air left her lungs in a
hiss as her back thumped the wall. I pinned her hands beside her head and
leaned into her. “You are mine. MINE!”

She glared at me, hatred and anger heaving from her in
huge quantities. “And who do you belong to, Mason. Eh? It is definitely not me,
it never really has been, has it? You’ve always been
hers
.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” I spat back at her as
I pushed her further into the wall.

“Is it?” Her face was furious, her chest heaving angrily
and her eyes glinting hatefully but then everything changed as devastation
overwhelmed her, “Is it?” she repeated with a choked whisper. “Because she
always seems to win, Mason. Whatever I do, she always wins.”

My heart broke at her pain and I rested my forehead
against hers, breathing her in and shivering as my soul cried out thankfully.
“She hasn’t won, baby. I will always belong to you.”

She sighed and inhaled heavily, getting her fix along
with me but then she pushed at me again and slipped under my arms. “No, Mason.
You have already proved that you were never mine. Go.” She turned away from me,
her shoulders heaving as she tried to control her tears. “Go back to her. I
told you, I set you free. You are free to fuck who you want, as am I.”

“NO!” I roared as I grabbed her arms and spun her to face
me. “You will never be free. Your body belongs to me, as does your heart and
soul and I will never let them free. I will never let you take them from me.” I
leaned into her until I was hovering over her, “I will find out who he is Ava,
and then he’s mine!”

I let her go just as abruptly and left her staring after
me. If I didn’t leave then I would have trashed something and I couldn’t have
guaranteed her safety.

***

“What the hell?” Steed glared at me when he opened his
front door and I pushed past him.

“Get dressed.”

He widened his eyes on me to remove the sleep then
squinted, “What? Why?”

“You have a new job.”

“Which is?” he asked as we walked into the kitchen and he
flicked on the kettle after checking the water level.

“You are now my wife’s soul.”

“Eh?” He barked as he spun round to gape at me.

“She’s fucking someone. I want to know who he is.”

He froze and stared at me. “And… ummm, I can help with
that how?”

“I told you. You stay with her at all times, you don’t
leave her side. She takes a piss, then you take one with her. She works, you
sit at that fucking bar… which by the way, thanks for telling me she was
working there.”

“I… sorry,” he stuttered. “I didn’t think it was
relevant.”

“Not relevant!” I scoffed at him. “My wife just found me
in one of the privates, snorting coke with her nemesis.” His jaw dropped and he
closed his eyes with a deep sigh as though something now made sense to him.
“What?”

He shook his head, “Nothing.” He turned back around and
spooned coffee into a cup. “Okay, I get it, I’m now your wife’s soul.”

“I mean it Steed, I want his name by the end of the
week.”

He nodded as I turned to leave, then spun back round to
him. “She’ll put up a fight at this, but you want to get paid, then you work
around her stubborn side.”

He didn’t reply, just gave me a nod before I left him to
his coffee.

“What?” I stared at him as a bubble of laughter
threatened to burst free.

“He wants me to watch you, and then report back to him
who you’re fucking.”

I rolled my lips and rubbed at my eyes as I tried to hide
the humour at the situation. Steed was staring at me with a stunned expression.
“Okay, umm…” I couldn’t hold it in any longer. My laughter broke free loudly
and hysterically. “Jesus… fuck…” I snorted as I held onto the kitchen table.

“It’s not funny, Ava!” Steed declared but I watched as
his lips twisted. “It’s not!” He flung my blonde wig at me. “This was also on
the back of the fucking kitchen chair while your bloody husband was dictating
orders at me.”

My mouth opened and closed but then I was snorting yet
again. “Ava, stop it!” Steed laughed with me as he flopped into a chair.
“Fucking Christ. This is beyond surreal.”

“What are you two laughing at?” Kade asked as he stepped
into the kitchen.

I spun round to glare at him. “I do have a doorbell you
know.”

He smirked at me and nodded. “Need a word, sweetheart.”

Steed stood up and grabbed his coffee cup from the side.
“I’ll give you some space. I’ll be right outside.” He narrowed his eyes on Kade
as if warning him that any trouble and he was with me. I rolled my eyes as the
testosterone flew around my kitchen and Kade grinned smugly.

“Yeah, you do that, we wouldn’t want you venturing too
far now would we.”

Steed tipped his head and narrowed his eyes on Kade,
“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” Kade pursed his lips and held up his hands.
“Nothing at all.”

He sighed and pulled me into a hug when Steed left us to
it. “You do know he’s had your car tagged, and your house is bugged?” He
whispered quietly in my ear.

I pulled back and stared at him. He lifted a finger to
his lips and flicked his eyes to the corner of the kitchen ceiling. My eyes
widened as nausea flooded me but he shook his head before dragging me into the
walk-in pantry at one side of the kitchen. “You’re fucking lucky I have the
software connected to my laptop and it’s me he asked to monitor you.”

“Kade…”

“You’re walking on ice, Ava.” He glared at me, his eyes
angry and heated. “He will kill him.”

“Then make sure he doesn’t find out. And while you are
here, you can disconnect bloody Big Brother. How dare he? What the fuck is
wrong with him?”

He stared at me and scoffed, “What the hell Ava, you are
shagging someone other than him, maybe that’s a reason for him to go slightly
off the rails!”

I narrowed my eyes on him and shook my head in disbelief,
“He didn’t tell you, did he?”

“Look whatever he’s…

“He’s fucking Rebecca.” I lifted a brow at him when his
knees buckled and he palmed the wall for support. “I guess that’s a no then.”

“What the fuck! Are you sure?”

“Mm-hmm, I found them together at the club.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” he whispered when my eyes filled up.
His hand cupped the back of my head as he pulled me into him. “He’s a damn
fool.”

I clung to him, using him for the comfort I had missed
during the last six months of hell. He sighed heavily as he held me tighter,
his lips brushing across the soft hair now growing rapidly on my head. He
tipped my head back with a finger under my chin to look at me, “You’re both
damn fools.”