Typhon, p.17
Typhon, page 17
I needed to erase them all.
Guilt was quick to make an appearance when I thought about Kincaid, though. She had done so much for me last night that it didn’t feel right to just pretend like she didn’t exist. However, I didn’t know if I could be friends with her and still maintain complete distance from the others. And since she and Saxton were obviously close, there’d be no avoiding him if I chose to still associate with Kincaid. And if I couldn’t avoid him, was it plausible that I could avoid the others?
I didn’t have those answers, and quite frankly, they weren’t what was important right now. I needed to find a place to stay. That was what I needed to focus on.
Heading to the door, hoping there weren’t too many people around to see me in my robe, I opened the door, only to be brought up short by a sight I was hoping never to see again.
Stone Lexington was standing at my motel room, his fist poised to knock on the door.
And while I looked like I’ve just had the worst night of my life, he looked quite the opposite. His dark brown hair was styled, per usual. His face wasn’t pale. There were no circles under those piercing brown eyes of his. There were no red veins spidering around those chocolate orbs, and he was dressed in clean clothes; a black Fendi t-shirt, dark navy jeans, and a pair of tan Timberlands. No light jacket to distract from what I, now, knew was beneath those t-shirts of his. The image of Stone Lexington in a pair of jeans only, bare chested and bare-footed, will forever be etched in the back of my mind.
Stone’s perfect looks were just another reason to hate him.
I quickly snapped out of my astonishment at Stone standing before me. “What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice cold, not bothering to ask him how he found me. I had used my real name with my real credit card, so it wouldn’t have been that hard to find me with all the resources this asshole had. So, my surprise was in that he had bothered looking for me. Why would he do that?
His face gave nothing away as he simply asked, “Can we talk?”
Wow.
My surprise turned into shock at the amount of audacity that money, power, and status could instill in someone. How entitled did you feel that you could treat someone like trash, then show up a few hours later, and face them as if you hadn’t just treated them as if they were subhuman?
I thought nothing could make me feel lower than Stone fucking me, believing I was a slut, then throwing me out with extra strips of condoms. I thought nothing could humiliate me more than showing up at Kincaid’s and spilling my shame in front of her and Saxton, two virtual strangers. I thought nothing could hurt me more than the desolate feeling of loneliness that had me crying for my family until I had fallen asleep.
But this?
Stone showing up, casually asking to talk while I was at my worst, put all those earlier feelings to shame. I couldn’t even articulate what I was feeling, looking at him now.
Still, no matter what I was feeling, weakness wasn’t one of them. And even if it were, I’d slit my own wrists before I’d let him see what he’d done to me. I’d already given him too much when I let chemistry overrule common sense and let him take me without demanding answers first. There was no fucking way I’d give him any more pieces of me.
“No,” I replied. “We can’t.”
“Rylee-”
“What is wrong with you?” I asked, still in disbelief at this nerve. “Why would you show up here?”
“Rylee, I-”
“You need to leave,” I told him, cutting him off. “I don’t know what you’re doing here or why, but I can assure you that I don’t give a fuck.”
“Even if it’s to remind you that the contract is still valid?” he replied coolly, and I knew I never hated someone as much as I hated Stone Lexington in this moment. “Now let me in, so we can talk.”
“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m letting you insi-”
“Let’s get something clear, Rylee,” he said, his voice going dark. “If I have to break down this fucking door, I’m getting in there, so we can talk. It’s up to you.”
As much as I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, it was my credit card on file, and the room was rented under my name. I couldn’t afford to pay for any damages or go to jail for destruction of property because, let’s face it, it wouldn’t be a Lexington getting in trouble for it.
Against my better judgement, and to the horror of my rage and humiliation, I stepped back and let Stone inside the room. Plus, there was also the fact that, if he was telling the truth, I had to find a way out of the contract between us.
I shut the door behind me, and while I should get dressed for this, my pride was doing its thing again, and it didn’t want Stone thinking that I needed to prepare myself for a showdown with him.
We faced each other from across the room, Stone standing in the middle, me near the door. The look in his eyes was all the warning I needed. “So, talk,” I bit out.
After a long moment, he said, “I’m sorry.”
Chapter 29
Stone~
She looked a mess, though still the most beautiful thing my eyes have ever registered.
Her beautiful hair was down, straight around her pale face. Her eyes were red and puffy, and shooting hate my way.
Still, I could work with that.
I could work with hate because everyone knew it was indifference that was a harder defeat. Hate meant she still had feelings for me. Hate meant I was still able to make her feel something for me. I was still important enough to incite some sort of emotion from her, and I could work with that.
Her blue eyes rounded, and her reaction was exactly what I’d been expecting. “Do you honestly believe I give a shit if you’re sorry or not?”
“The contract-”
“Fuck the contract!” she yelled.
My chin went up and so did one brow. “Are you sure about that?” Then the girl went straight for my balls, and I would have been impressed had I thought she was bluffing. However, Rylee hated me enough that I was positive she wasn’t.
“If I have to let Alexander George fuck me up the ass to get out of that contact with you, I will. If I have to let Alexander, Donovan, and Jacob all have at me to ensure I never have to see you again, I will,” she seethed. “You can come after me, and you can come after my family, but don’t think I won’t fight you with everything I have, Stone, because I will. Because I’m prepared to.”
Staring at her, I remembered thinking I needed a Bonnie to my Clyde or a Mallory to my Mickey in order to achieve all the goals I’ve set for myself, but Rylee wasn’t a Bonnie Parker.
Rylee was a Mallory Knox.
The only thing that didn’t have me reacting violently to her declaration was, because for all his faults, Alexander lived and breathed The Order. Alexander would never threaten his place within the organization for interring with a Hera contract. No one would.
I went with directness because, not only did Rylee deserve it, but I didn’t want there to be any confusion between us. No anymore. “I was wrong.”
“I don’t give a shit,” she immediately replied.
“I’m not letting you go, Rylee,” I told her. “I was wrong, and I can own that.”
She let out a choked laugh. “How magnanimous of you,” she scoffed. “You’re a real class act, Lexington.”
“I’m serious, Rylee.”
Her blue eyes held my gaze, and the girl wasn’t scared, that’s for sure. Rylee had the backbone I’d been hoping for. She was the perfect mix of the girl-next-door and a fighter. She was the entire package with her looks and personality.
She was also mine, whether she wanted to be or not.
“So am I, Stone,” she shot back. “I don’t care about your apology. I want nothing to do with you.”
“Well, that’s just too fucking bad, because you’re going to have everything to do me for the rest of your life,” I fired back.
Rylee crossed her arms over her chest, and she looked angrily adorable in that oversized robe, taking a serious stance against me. “Are you done?”
“Done with what?”
“Are you done with what you had to say?” she asked. “Because I’ve got shit to do today, and none of it includes wasting my time with you.”
“I’m not walking out of this room until you forgive me,” I told her. “So, you tell me if I’m done here.”
Her arms dropped, and she slid her hands inside the robe’s pockets. Tilting her head, she said, “Do you really think you deserved to be forgiven for what you did?” She didn’t let me answer. “For all the things you’ve done to me since the first threat to my family to get me to the initiation night until you threw me out of your condo with enough condoms to be dangerous, and you’re standing there, demanding forgiveness? Seriously?”
“The alternative will make us miserable for the rest of our lives, Rylee,” I pointed out. “We’re too young to be miserable for the next fifty years.”
“You say that as if I’m really going to marry you,” she replied. “And I’m not.”
“Even to the detriment of your family?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” she said, and her voice sent a dark tingle down my spine. “And you know what? I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that my family would rather be poor and homeless than let me marry someone who treated me the way you did. And if you think I’m too embarrassed to tell them what you did to me, you’re wrong.”
“And you would repay that loyalty by ruining their lives because you’re too stubborn and prideful to accept an apology?” I posed because I knew she wouldn’t.
Her back straightened at that, and I knew I had her. It was manipulative as hell, but I never said I was a good guy. I never said I wasn’t ruthless. I never said I wouldn’t do everything it took to win. I never said I wasn’t an asshole.
“You’re a real sonofabitch, you know that?” She said it without any inflection, whatsoever.
“Anything to win,” I replied, my statement the absolute truth.
“Anything to win,” she muttered.
“Anything to win,” I repeated. “Anything. Besides, you already signed the marriage certificate. It was part of the Hera contract package. You’re already mine.”
Rylee didn’t say anything for a long while, and I was surprised-and suspicious-when she finally spoke. “So, just like that? I forgive you and all is forgotten?”
I shook my head. I was still in the wrong here, and I understood that. “No,” I told her. “You forgive me, and I work on earning your trust back. You give me the chance to make it up to you.”
“And what makes you think you can do that?” She cocked her head to the other side. “What makes you think there’s anything you can do to make what you did up to me?”
“Come here, and I’ll show you.” Was it arrogant? Yes. Was it manipulative? Yes. Did I care? No. Sex wasn’t everything, but our chemistry was intense enough that it would make a difference in our relationship.
Rylee shook her head. “No,” she replied. “You come here.”
I had her face in my hands and my lips on hers in three strides. I swallowed her gasp, but she quickly began kissing me back. With the girl pressed up against me, my knees almost gave out with relief that Rylee was willing to forgive me for what I’d done to her. I knew she was doing it primarily for her family’s sake, but I’d take it.
Anything to have her.
And while I was prepared to fight dirty, I didn’t want Rylee hating me for the life of our marriage. I loved my parents individually, but I didn’t want a marriage like theirs. I didn’t want a cold business partner. I wanted a wife. I wanted a wife who respected me and loved me enough to put up with my bullshit. I wanted a wife who loved me enough to give me children and was still with me to enjoy our grandchildren.
I wanted forever with Rylee.
Breaking off the kiss, my lips began to travel down her neck, and Rylee’s head fell back to give me more access. “Fuck, baby, I thought I’d lost you,” I murmured against her soft skin. “I thought you were going to hate me forever.” I felt her hands go to my jeans as she let out a throaty moan.
My lips found hers again, and I let out a deep groan as I felt her small hand wrap around me. Last night, I had cheated us both out of some explosive foreplay, but not today. Today, I was going to taste every inch of her, and I was going to mark her like a possessive bastard, too.
Then lust really threatened to drop me to my knees as Rylee broke off the kiss and sank to her knees. Desperate like a motherfucker, I helped her push my jeans down over my hips, and Rylee wasted no time taking me deep into her hot mouth.
Motherfucker.
People really didn’t realize how different sex was when it was with someone you care about versus a hookup, but it was. Rylee’s lips wrapped around my cock was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, and I’ve had some spectacular blowjobs in my life. But this? This blew everything I’ve ever experienced before Rylee out of the water.
My hands in her hair, I couldn’t control my hips pushing forward to get deeper down her throat, and all Rylee did was moan and open wider. I couldn’t say how long Rylee sucked me while on her knees, but soon, I was ready to just release everything I felt for this girl. And as much as I wanted to shoot down her throat, I had a lot to make up for, and I was determined to make this all about her.
I stopped her, then pulled her up by her shoulders. “I don’t want to cum in your mouth just yet.” Rylee just nodded, but when I reached for her, she stopped me.
“Hold up,” she said breathlessly, and I stood there as she rushed over to her purse and pulled out on the of strips of condoms that I had given her. Flagging them in her hand, she smiled. “Now we’re ready.”
Chapter 30
Rylee~
Stone blanched a little, and I probably should have felt a little guilty, but I didn’t. I was in this to win, and everyone knew the only way to do that was to fight fire with fire.
I ripped a condom off the strip, then toss the rest on the bed because I knew we wouldn’t be using them. If we didn’t kill each other by the time this was over, I seriously doubted I’d ever see Stone Lexington again after today.
However, I wasn’t so far gone that I didn’t remember how sizable he was. I also didn’t forget that, even as awful as last night had been, I’d been soaked for him. If I could get off and get my point across at the same time, all the better.
I rushed back to my spot against the motel room front door and handed Stone the condom. He hesitantly took it, and he looked wary. So, to distract him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and started kissing him underneath his jaw. “Hurry,” I begged, making sure he could hear the desire in my voice.
“Fuck,” he hissed out, and I felt his arms and hands moving around as he put the condom on.
Once he was wrapped up, I pulled back, and asked him, “Do you think you have what it takes to hold me up against this door?”
He took the challenge like I knew he would. His chin lifted, and his upper lip curled as his hands parted the lower half of my robe, grabbed the back of my thighs, then lifted me as if I weighed nothing. With my legs wrapped around his waist, the force of Stone’s thrust had my back slamming against the door, and the stretch was more painful than last night. However, that made sense, considering how sore he’d left me after the brutal fucking he’d given me.
“Fuck,” he rasped in my ear, his hips like a powerful piston, invading my body repeatedly. The awful thing was that I couldn’t lie and say it didn’t feel great.
Great and dangerous.
“Goddamn, baby, you feel so good wrapped around my cock,” he grunted in my ear. “But I want to see you. Take that robe off, so I can see you.” And those words were the very thing I needed.
Rising above the pleasure he was inflicting, I asked, “But isn’t this the way you like your sluts?”
His entire body froze in mid-thrust.
Check-fucking-mate.
My arms were like tentacles wrapped around his neck, and my legs were anchored around his waist. “We don’t need to be undressed, right?” I asked, my lips by his ear. “We just need to be on our knees with our mouths open or on our hands and knees with our panties to the side, right?” His hands left my thighs, and his hard grip grabbed onto my waist as he pulled out of my pussy and pushed me away from his body.
There was no mistaking the fury in those dark orbs of his. Not a word was exchanged as Stone ripped off the condom, tossed it on the floor, then stuffed himself back in his jeans. The gaze he had locked on my eyes never faltered, and steady on my feet, my back was straight as an arrow, and my chin was cocked and challenging.
He finally spoke, though he sounded like he was on the verge of breaking something. “Payback?”
“I thought you were into dirty sluts,” I replied. “Hot, tight fucks, was it?” His jaw ticked, and the man looked hot as hell when he was furious. “I was just doing my part.”
“You know damn well that’s not what this is,” he bit out.
I arched a brow and stepped around him. I walked over to the corner of the room, near the nightstand, then grabbed my clothes from last night off the floor. Turning around to face him, I tossed the clothes at his feet. “Need me to put that back on to get you into the mood again?”
“Be careful, Rylee,” he warned.
“No?” I asked mockingly. I walked over to the bed, grabbed the strip of condoms, then tossed those at his feet, too. “But what about those? Seems like a waste of good condoms.”
“So, this is your strategy?” he asked. “If it is, you’re going to have to try harder than that.”
“Because being the perfect slut isn’t working for you all of a sudden?” The corner of my lip lifted. “Because I can be a really good slut, Stone,” I promised in a lustful whisper. “I can make sure to always wear skirts and bend over whenever you need me to.”
