Stone Walls (37 page)

“Long Beach. We’re about a mile up the beach from Rob and Andrea’s place.” He turns me slowly. “Bedroom.”

It has a bay window with a built in window seat. It’s decorated in pale beiges and subtle grays. A huge bed faces the window. Otherwise, there isn’t any other furniture in the room. We walk through a door. “Bathroom.” The bathroom is quite large, modern, minimally decorated. The main focus is the shower for two. I smirk at him, and he shrugs. “I warned you that a large shower was a priority.”

“I remember.” Sitting in the corner of the stall is a small bench with handicap handrails built onto the sides. “You thought of everything.”

“I tried to.”

He turns us toward the bedroom and then into a short hallway that extends to the left and right. Directly in front of us is another door. He opens it slowly to reveal a small empty bedroom. “This is where we’ll set up your PT room.” Another bath sits at the end of the short hall, decorated similarly to the master bath. He walks us past the bedrooms and says, “Close your eyes again.”

A few seconds later he says, “Okay, open.” We stand in the center of a large, great room. It’s a combination of a family room, dining room, and kitchen. There’s a navy suede sofa that sits facing the sliding glass doors leading to a small deck. The house sits on the beach, gifting us an unfettered view of the ocean.

Behind the sofa is a square dining table with four upholstered chairs. Facing the view is a modern kitchen with white cabinets, stainless appliances, and a small island with a beige granite countertop sporting a breakfast bar. The flooring is made of a dark knotted pine and matches the beams in the ceiling.

It’s stunning.

He settles me on the chaise part of the couch and sits beside me.

“Ben, this place is amazing.”

“I know. I had a pretty long list. I can’t believe they found this. After about a million text messages and pictures from Andrea, when I saw it for myself, I instantly fell in love. It’s small, but perfect for us.” He kisses me gently and adds, “It’s also ours.”

“Ours?”

“I bought it.” He shrugs and adds, “Well, almost. We’re renting it for now. The closing is in a few weeks.”

I’m stunned silent. I can’t believe he did this.

“Ella?”

“Ben, I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you love it and you’ll share it with me.”

“This had to have cost you a fortune.”

“I’ve wanted to move to the beach for a while now. I guess I never took the step because it’s meaningless to make such a move alone. Since meeting you, I’ve never been more positive. This is where I want to spend my time with you.” He searches my face and then frowns in doubt. “Ella, too soon? I know we only briefly talked about living together.”

“Ben.”

“Shit, I should have asked you first.”

“Ben.” I slip my fingers into his hair, holding his head still. “Shut up and kiss me.”

He concedes willingly. “Does that mean you like it?” he asks, once I end the kiss.

“I love it. I more than love it. Thank you.”

“We can change anything you want. I bought the basics. I’m sure there are things you want to bring from your apartment.”

“You did a perfect job. It’s just as I’d want to decorate it myself. You have good taste.”

He leans closer to kiss my lips. “I have amazing taste.” Somehow, I don’t think he’s talking about the house or the decorating. His eyes sear through mine. I haven’t seen this look on his face in weeks. It’s primal and needy…and then it’s gone as quick as it came.

Without warning he stands and says, “Don’t move.”

He leaves me alone and returns a few minutes later with our bags and my crutches. Silently he fumbles through my bag, finds my medication, and shakes a pill into his hand. After grabbing a bottle of water, he comes to sit beside me. “Take.”

I obey. The last thing I want to happen right now is to feel throbbing in my leg. I need him to take me into that bedroom, strip me down, and make love to me.

“Do you need another nap?”

“No.”

“What do you want to do?” He points to the TV and adds, “I picked up some sappy romance movies.” When he turns back toward me, his eyes become hooded as he watches me slowly unbutton my blouse. “No, Ella. Not yet. It’s going to be hard to maneuver with your leg brace.”

Wordlessly, I slip my sleeveless blouse off my shoulders and throw it onto the floor.

“We really should wait, Ella. I don’t want to hurt you.”

My bra is the next thing to hit the floor.

“Sweet Jesus, Ella.” His voice becomes raspy as he runs a hand through his hair.

His eyes shift to watch my hands unbutton my shorts and lower the zipper. When I try to shimmy them over my hips to the tops of my thighs, he watches open-mouthed, wide-eyed, and speechless.

“Are you going to help me? Or just sit there and watch?”

His response is to lift me and carry me to the bedroom.

“Baby, I don’t want to drop you, but if you keep licking my ear like that I may.”

“Sorry,” she says as she moves lower to my neck.

“That’s no better,” I mumble, tagging on a groan at the end. It’s a legitimate concern. Even with the short distance from the couch to the bedroom, I can’t get my limbs to work right. All the blood flow has shifted to my cock. Thankfully, I have her on the bed before my arms give out.

Her shorts still sit at the tops of her thighs, stuck on her brace. Her bare breasts beg to be sucked, as her erect nipples mockingly point toward me. Maybe it’s from the lack of sex or the anticipation that it’s finally happening, but I’m having a hard time with basic motor skills.

She points to her shorts. “Ben? Can you help me?” she asks as I continue to stand at the foot of the bed gawking at her like a creep. She sighs and tries to remove her shorts by herself, struggling as she does.

“Ben!” she calls out in frustration. “Please take off my damn shorts.”

Before I do, I remove my clothing. I know once I touch her, get near those exposed breasts, I won’t be able to stop for even the few seconds it would take to strip. My brain has me still standing there like an idiot. My cock has me stroking myself, without even realizing I’m doing it.

She quickly swipes at her bottom lip, the only indication that tells me she’s nervous. Is she in pain and just too stubborn to admit it?

“Ella, you should be resting.” I voice my thoughts, but my cock screams
Dude, shut the fuck up
.

“Oh my God, you’re killing me,” she says with a huff, agreeing with my cock.

“We have to be careful.”

“Ben, the doctor cleared me and said we could have sex if we were creative enough to figure out how. I’m determined to figure out how. Now get your gorgeous, naked body over here, take the rest of my clothes off, and fuck me.”

Her commands break through my confusion. With great difficulty, I finally remove her shorts. “I think I need to wear dresses from now on for better access,” she says pragmatically.

“Good idea.”

Thank fuck, her panties are easier to remove. By the time I finally have her naked, I’m a sweating, throbbing mess. She reaches for me, and like a magnet to metal, my lips instantly find my favorite spot on her neck. It’s right below her ear, where her skin feels like silk, right above her scar. It’s where her scent is intoxicating. It’s where I first kissed her on the day we met.

My lips slowly travel down her throat, until I reach the swell of her breast. Her body is like a minefield. At any moment, my cock can explode just from my lips touching her smooth skin.

I trail my lips gingerly over her breasts, her torso, avoiding her new scar. Her flesh is angry and puckered where the stitches were removed. It’s shorter in length than the one on her neck, but the mere sight of it causes fury to bubble within. I quickly extinguish it. I don’t want to upset her, especially now. I move past it toward her belly button, concentrating on the feel of her skin.

With two hands, I lift her thigh and place it a few inches to her left, trying to better expose her pussy for what I have planned. The brace makes it a tight squeeze down there. It stretches from her inner thigh to her calf. Flustered, I try again, this time lifting her right leg and hoisting it over my shoulder.

“Much better,” I say, mostly to myself. With my mouth inches from her clit, I stop to announce, “Once we get the hang of it, next time should be easier.”

“Ben.” She rolls her eyes and says, “You’re seriously killing me.”

“Sorry,” I mouth against her. She bucks beneath me as if I touched her with a live wire. I immediately lift my head to tease her further. “Are you okay?”

“Ben!” she yells as she holds my head and forces me to her.

She feels my smile when I take her clit into my mouth. Her fingers tighten in my hair, and she mewls like she’s been in pain. I feast on her by nibbling, licking, sucking, and probing her with my tongue and fingers. When I reach my free hand out, she links her fingers in between mine while trembling beneath my mouth. Her orgasm consumes her from head to toe, and then she finally relaxes with a lengthy sigh.

“Are you tired? Do you want me to stop here?”

“Definitely not.” She tugs on my hand until I settle in between her spread legs.

“I missed your taste,” I admit before slipping inside her tight, wet pussy. “I also missed being inside you.”

She gasps, responding with a breathy, “Me, too.”

I’m not able to hold her like I usually do. My arms are busy keeping my weight off of her and not roaming her smooth skin. Her hands on my back, her right leg wrapped around me, and my steady thrusts are all I need to bring us both into a tandem climax. She comes again - I follow right behind. It’s all too soon, but perfect nonetheless.

It’s the perfect way to christen our new bed and our new home.

I collapse on my back beside her to catch my breath. We’re both staring straight up at the ceiling when she asks, “Huh, we have a ceiling fan in here?”

She makes me laugh out loud. “You are so adorable.” While still staring up, I blindly search for her hand. “Did I hurt you? Is your leg okay?”

“No, no hurt, only greatness. I’m great…so great.”

“Mmm, me, too.”

She raises her head to look out the glass doors. “Can people see us?”

“Mmm, who cares?”

“True,” she responds with a giggle.

I turn onto my side to look down at her. “You’re so beautiful.” She smiles warmly, making my heart swell with lust, love, and happiness. She evokes every damn emotion I’ve stifled for so long.

The just fucked look suits her well. Her hair is fanning around her, her lips are pouty and pink, her cheeks are flushed, and a strand of hair clings to her chest from the perspiration that coats her skin. I’ll never tire from looking at her. The memory of the first night we met comes to my mind. Now that I have her, I can’t fathom how I walked away from her that night I met her. I must have been a self-centered prick to be able to fight what she stirs within me.

“Ben, thank you for being the sweetest, most considerate, most loving boyfriend that walks this earth. I’m so happy.”

“Your happiness is all I want, Ella. That is, besides you.” I distractedly remove that one lucky strand of hair that continues to cling to her skin. “Ella, I’ve been thinking.”

She stares up at me expectantly.

“I have no right to tell you how to gain some closure. My situation is very different from yours. I may have been a victim of Politto and his immorality, but I’m still me. I was born Benjamin Stone, and I’ll always be Benjamin Stone.”

Her mouth opens to respond, but nothing comes out.

“Even though you are and always will be Ella Parker, I understand your need for information. It took me a while. I can be dense. I just want to protect you, and my methods may not be conventional. I’m sorry.”

“Ben, don’t apologize. I know you act the way you do because you love me. I’m sorry I sometimes give you a hard time.”

“Well, in any case I was wrong. So I arranged for a Skype session with you and Razzo.”

Her eyes widen as she asks, “You did?”

“Yes. In a few days, he will be taken to a secured room within headquarters, and you will be able to ask him anything you’d like.”

She cups my face with a shaky hand. “I don’t know what to say. I know this was very hard for you to do.”

Shrugging, I say, “It’s the right thing to do. I’m sorry I was so stubborn.” I kiss her lips gently before adding, “I can’t promise there won’t be other situations that arise causing me to slip back into my prickness. I’ll probably do so without apology. This is a blanket
I’m sorry
for future incidences.”

“I accept your apology. Just as there will be times, I will be a stubborn pain in your ass. I’m also sorry.”

“You’re forgiven for being a pain in my ass.”

She shoves me playfully. “You’re lucky I love you so much, Ben Stone.”

“That I am, Ella Parker.” I kiss her passionately, leaving her glassy eyed. “I’m the luckiest prick in the world.”

“Stop fidgeting, baby,” I try to calm her by taking one of her hands.

“I can’t help it. I’m nervous.”

“He can’t hurt you.”

“I know. Just the truth can.”

Thus, my issue with this whole thing, but I keep that to myself. She’s heard me say it too many times. She knows it’s true deep down inside, but she still needs to do this. I get it, and I’ll be here to pick up the pieces if it devastates her.

The FBI secured laptop is powered up on Skype, waiting for Farley to dial in. I’m sitting beside her at the table, out of the Skype shot. The only thing behind us is the blank beige wall. Farley thought I was a bit neurotic when we discussed the details of this call. He reiterated Razzo was not going to harm her, and there was no way anyone could know where we were calling from. I told him I didn’t give a shit.

Now that it’s upon us, I’m here for support and nothing else. This is between her and Razzo. He was very happy to hear Ella wanted to speak to him. Farley said that Razzo hopes he can help to settle the ghosts that are haunting her. I do, too. If nothing comes of this, I only hope she can live with the truth and put it behind her once and for all.

The screen starts ringing with Farley’s call. Even though she is expecting it, she jolts from the sound. I squeeze her hand reassuringly as she hits the answer button.

“Hi, Ella,” Farley says as his face fills the screen.

“Hi.” She swipes her tongue over her bottom lip, her telltale sign of nervousness.

“You ready?”

She nods and swallows. “Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll be here beside Mr. Razzo. You can end the call whenever you want.”

After another nod, Farley shifts the laptop to reveal Razzo. His boisterous presence fills the screen. He smiles warmly, making him more like the grandpa figure that she has conjured up in her mind.

“Beautiful Ella.”

“Mr. Razzo.”

“Please call me Gianni.”

She smiles shyly. “Okay, Gianni. You’ll have to excuse me, I’m very nervous.”

He furrows his brow. “No need to be nervous with me. Ella, I was there the day you were born. My wife was the first to hold you after your parents. You were the most beautiful baby. We all knew you would be a knockout when you got older.”