Chapter 26

Ivy

Pacing up and down the length of the bunkhouse for the fifth night in a row may make up for all the barbecue chicken and potato salad I've been inhaling at the big house, but it's not doing a damn thing to calm my shaky nerves.

The man is working himself down to the bone, spending all day pitching in where he can on the ranch, dealing with MC business before spending his evenings with me. Mostly, we curl up together in the bunkhouse since it's empty right now, and we have the place to ourselves.

I"m excited over the past few days as Stone opens up and lets me inside. It's like I've gotten to know him all over again. We laugh just like we always did. He tells me his stupid jokes, and then it changes in an instant. He'll take my hand and hold it to his heart while I tell him my stories of life during our time apart.

It"s a lot of togetherness, but I'm not sick of him. The little things, like the way he grumbles when he eats or the mess he leaves in the bathroom after a shower. None of it bothers me. It doesn't annoy me at all.

It's Stone. 100% Stone.

But I'm pacing around the bunkhouse like a wild kitten trapped in a barn. After all day on the ranch and then working with the Reckless Bastards, and after all night laughing and fucking me, Stone slips out of bed. Every damn night.

He thinks I'm sleeping when he presses a soft kiss to my forehead and leaves, but I'm not.

I listen to his careful moves as he gets dressed and pushes his bike far enough away that it's a low hum when he starts it up. And the moment the engine sounds in the distance, I'm wide awake until I hear his bike return. I let him wake me up after his shower with kisses and soft touches, letting him lose himself in my body to wipe away whatever sins he's committed.

And I can pretend to myself that I don't know what he's doing, but even if I don't know the specifics, I know enough. His raw, angry knuckles. The bruises on his chest and back. The slash across his forearm. The blood on his clothes.

I see it all and pretend I don't, but I can't deny my worry any longer. Stone is out there exacting revenge, which is hot as fuck, but he's doing it on his own. He's going at it alone when he has tons of people here who would gladly stand by his side, have his back if only he would fucking ask.

Gorgeous, stubborn, arrogant asshole.

It's just past three in the morning when the bike stops a few hundred feet away. This time, I don't scurry to the bed and slip under the covers to pretend I'm asleep. Tonight, I sit in the middle of the bed, fold my legs, and wait.

He stops abruptly when he realizes he doesn't have to sneak. "You're awake."

"I am."

"Something wrong?" He kicks off his boots and jeans and then hangs his kutte on the empty hook by the door. He's slowly undressing, and I eat up every inch of his beautiful body even as my anger stews.

"Yeah, Stone, something is wrong."

He lets out a heavy sigh, but it's not frustration. More like resignation. "Can we talk about it after I shower?"

"Sure," I say and wave toward the bathroom. "Go wash off the blood and all the other evidence of what you've been doing tonight."

He opens his mouth to speak but reconsiders before disappearing into the bathroom.

I wait, and I stew, worry bubbling inside my gut. I don't want to have this conversation. I don't want to fight with Stone, but I have to. If I don't fight now, I might as well give up because I'll lose him anyway.

Stone strolls out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel. He looks so damn good my mouth goes dry, and all I want to do is scrape my tongue over every inch of his delectable body.

I'm lucky my good sense kicks in, or maybe my eyes simply focus on the details, such as the bruises marring his six pack abs, the butterfly bandage on his left pectoral muscle, the shadow of fingertips seared around his throat. "So?"

"So?" My tone is shrill and incredulous. "Stone, have you looked in a mirror over the past few days?"

He tries for a smile, but even my unflappable, eternally charming best friend can't find it. "Always. Suddenly, you don't like what you see?"

"You," I jam a finger in his direction. "Your beautiful body is covered in scrapes, scratches and bruises, Stone. Don't play that shit with me!"

His gaze darts away for a long moment before a sigh escapes, and he turns back to me. "You know the deal, Ivy. This is the life."

I shake my head. "Don't do that. Don't try to make this like I'm being some unreasonable fucking girlfriend. I know what this life is. Hell, I've known it practically my whole damn life. The difference is that you're going out alone every fucking night, and you come back looking as if you're part of some redneck fight club."

"This is my fight, Ivy."

Ah, fuck. How can I be mad at him when he's trying to right a wrong that isn't his? Or, at least, it's not just his. "You are not alone, Stone. This fight, if it is yours, it isn't yours alone."

"It is," he insists, arms folded defensively.

"No, goddammit. It's not. If this fight is anyone's, it's mine." My gaze darts around the room, and I'm feeling crazy and out of control like maybe I wanna be as reckless as the silly naked man before me. "You know what? You're right. This is actually my fight, and it shouldn't be you out there in the middle of the night fighting my battles."

"Ivy," he groans, reaching for me, but I skirt just out of his reach.

I grab the jeans I wore earlier and step one leg into them with no fucking clue what I'm doing. I only know that I have to do something.

"Ivy." Stone growls my name again, but I ignore him as I struggle to step into my jeans, wishing I hadn't just yanked them off because the other leg is inside out. "Dammit, woman!"

Stone snatches the jeans from my hand, yanking the other off my leg. "Stop!"

"No, you stop!" I shove his chest. "This is somehow your fight but not mine? I'm the reason all of this happened, the reason this asshole is now fucking with us."

His scowl darkens.

"Yeah, that's right. It's not just you they're coming after. It's me and Sage. It's Gray and who the fuck can say who's next?"

He shouts, "I have to do this!" It's so loud those five syllables bounce off the bunkhouse walls. "I have to."

"You don't." I shake my head, tears swimming in my eyes. "You don't have to do this alone, Stone. There are so many fucking people here who have your back."

"And risk them getting hurt the way Gray got hurt?"

"That's your fucking job!" I ball my hands up and slam my fists against his chest. "All of you! You ride together, and you fight together. You live and die together. That's the life, right?"

His nostrils flare, and his jaws clench.

"Right?" I ask even louder and more forcefully.

"Yeah," he shoots back. "That's the life. That's the job."

"Damn right, it fucking is. You have to stop going out like this, Stone. You're gonna get yourself killed, and that's not going to work for me. I just got you back, and I won't lose you again." My chest heaves as the truth rushes out of me.

"You're not going to lose me, Ivy."

I shrug. "With how you're going, you might not make it to next week."

"Don't fucking say that," he growls, reaching for my shoulders.

"Don't make me have to say it."

"Ivy."

"Stone, I'm serious. If you have a death wish, tell me right now because I'll pack my shit and go."

It's the absolute last thing I want, but if he'd rather die than be with me, it's an easy fucking choice.

He doesn't answer, so I say, "Cool. Good to know," and turn away to gather my thoughts. Stone doesn't say a word, so I gather up my belongings. I take another step forward, and an arm curls around my waist, yanking my back against a hard chest.

"Let me go," I say harshly.

"Never," he growls in my ear, nipping the lobe just hard enough to make it sting. "You're mine, Ivy, and I will never fucking let you go. Ever."

I can't stop the shiver that rips through my body at the feel of him, hot and hard against me. "Maybe not, but you're determined to die when our story is just getting started."

"Fuck," he growls, spinning me around so we're face to face and chest to chest. "I am not going any goddamn where. You got that?"

I push his chest. "I guess we'll see about that, won't we?"

"Damn you, stubborn fucking woman." He picks me up, tossing me on the bed with his eyes fixed on me. "I don't have a death wish."

"Are you sure?" I shimmy out of my pajama shorts and toss them in his direction. Next comes my t-shirt. "Because I'll fuck you right here, right now, for as long as you still draw breath. But if you're lookin' to die soon, I'm keeping my heart to myself."

Stone rips off his towel and crawls onto the bed, settling between my thighs. His gaze is deathly serious as he stares down at me.

"I've already got your heart the same as you have mine. You can lie to yourself and deny all you want, but that's the truth."

"Not if I'm gonna lose you."

"You're not," he insists, brushing a kiss against my lips.

I strain to get more of his lips, more of his taste on my tongue, but Stone pulls back too soon. "I'll keep my heart to myself until I'm sure of that." But he's right. He's probably had at least a slice of my heart since we were kids, but this is different. After losing my parents, I can't take another loss.

"That ain't gonna fly, Ivy. You're mine and I'm yours, which means I get to see all of you." He kisses me, from my jaw to my chin and down the length of my throat before swirling his tongue in the hollow of my neck.

I arch into him as a low moan escapes.

"Not just the parts like this," he pants, kissing his way further south until he reaches a hard nipple.

"I love your tits and the way your pussy feels when it squeezes me tight, but I want to see the vulnerable parts, the uncertain parts, Ivy." His lips close around my nipple and sucks just hard enough to make my back arch and my hips roll. "All the parts. You hear me?"

I nod my head and grind my hips against his while he moves to my other nipple.

He sucks it and then blows on it, making me shiver. "Do you hear me?"

"Yes," I moan softly, thrashing my head from side to side while he tortures my nipples. "Stone," I whisper in the throes of passion.

"That's right. It's me making you feel like this, so fucking crazy you think you'll die if I don't get to your cunt, right?"

"Fuck, yes." He can get me to say just about anything right now, and when his mouth leaves my tits and moves south, I know he just might.

His scruff scrapes down my belly and over my hips, before his broad shoulders spread my thighs wide. "This is such a pretty pussy, and it's all mine." Two fingers part my lips, and I push up on my elbows to watch as his tongue slides against my clit.

"Oh, fuck!" My hips buck and my pussy is hungry for more of his touch. "Stone."

"Mine." He slides his tongue up and down my clit, his finger teasing my pussy until finally it slips in.

His finger touches that spot, you know the one. Then a low groan escapes on a sigh containing just one word. "Yours."

"So fucking tight. Fuck my hand, Ivy. Do it."

I don't need more encouragement to roll my hips and bear down to take his finger as deep as I can. "Stone." He hums against my clit, sending fireworks shooting through my body. "Yes!" I'm so close to coming already, but it's too soon, and it's not what I want. "Stop. Stone, stop."

He pulls back, barely a breath away from my clit. "What's wrong?"

"I'm about to come," I pant.

He smiles. "Yeah, I know."

"I want your cock inside me when I come."

Heat darkens his gaze, and his smile grows bigger and darker as he gets to his knees, stroking his long, thick cock in quick, hard tugs. "This cock?"

"Yes, yes," I cry hungrily. I sit up and reach for his cock, wrapping one hand around him and stroking. "This cock." In answer, I flick my tongue over the bead of pre-come at his slit. "Want it. Need it. Now."

"Yes." Stone settles between my thighs, his thick cock pressing into me inch by agonizing inch until he's balls deep.

"Fuck. So good." My head falls back, and I arch into him, matching him stroke for stroke. "So full."

"Such a greedy little pussy," he growls in my ear. "Gripping me tight like she can't get enough. She knows who she belongs to, knows who makes her feel this way."

"Stone."

His cock plunges deeper and deeper, hitting the spot that makes my eyes cross and my toes curl. His body is moving like it's possessed by a sex god, and I cling to him, pushing up to match his every delicious stroke.

"Ivy, babe."

His cock swells inside of me, scraping against every nerve ending in my pussy, making my body overheat. My orgasm builds as it crawls up from my toes and my shins, slowing down as Stone's strokes go longer and harder. "Oh, fuck!"

"Come for me, Ivy."

"Not. Yet." My whole body vibrates as a thin layer of sweat covers my body.

"Now, Ivy," he demands. "Come all over my cock."

"Stone." His name falls from my lips in a low whisper. "Yes, oh, fuck, yes!"

"That's it, babe. Let go for me." He grunts, pulling back with a smile. "Let go."

My entire body tenses and my eyes slam shut as the first wave hits, followed immediately by the second wave. It's so intense that I'm not sure when one orgasm ends and the other begins or if it's one long, endless orgasm. "Yes, oh yes! Yesyesyesyes...Yes!"

"Yeah, that's it." Stone leans back on his haunches, a sexy smile on his face as two fingers smack against my clit in rapid taps that prolong my pleasure. "One more, Ivy."

"Can't," I pant, shaking my head.

"Bullshit. I'm inside you, Ivy, and I can feel you. Feel those soft flutters around my cock that tell me you're not done yet. Come all over my cock. Coat me in your juices, Ivy."

He's so dirty, and I fucking love it. "Stone," I gasp when he applies more pressure to my clit, slamming his hips against mine so his cock rams deeper inside me. "Fuck!"

"Yeah, now give it to me."

"Stone!" My body goes ramrod straight, my toes curl, and my eyes slam shut once again for several long moments.

And then they open wide, and Stone's beautiful face is right there, still pumping into me as he chases his own orgasm. My spasms come wild and strong, pulsing so hard around Stone that I can feel every vein against my walls.

"Ivy. Fuck." His hips speed up, pumping harder and deeper until his body stills, and his cock explodes inside of me.

We match our breaths, harsh and sharp, twining together as we both attempt to come down from this erotic high.

"Holy fuck, Stone."

He pulls back with a grin before kissing me softly and slowly, even as he's still balls deep inside of me.

"That was incredible," he growls.

"You're incredible."

We stare at each other, wearing goofy smiles until my eyelids grow heavy and his cock slips from my body.

Stone rolls away and takes me with him until I curl against his chest. We're slick with sweat, and the night air makes everything cool. I pull a sheet over us and press a kiss over his heart, smiling at how quickly his breath evens out and sleep claims him.

Sleep doesn't come as easily for me because, though that's some of the best sex of my life, it didn't resolve anything. I know without a doubt that I love him, but I'm not sure he doesn't have a death wish that'll take him away from me sooner rather than later.

Nothing has changed except every-fucking-thing.

Again.