Courageous (Rock Bottom #3) Page 7

Sasha shuffles around the door, whispering my name among a sob.

  Feeling my heart crack, I begin to cry along with her. “It’s okay,” I tell her. “We’ve got you…you’re safe now.”

  “You shouldn’t have come,” she mutters, eyes still locked with mine. “They don’t plan on letting any of us leave.”

  The next few seconds pass in slow motion, as if time is winding to a stop.

  The guard beside me raises a pistol.

  My breath hitches.

  In my head, I watch Sasha’s death play out before my eyes.

  I reach for her with my broken arm, screaming.

  A bullet whizzes over my shoulder, catching the man right between the eyes.

  Stone lowers his gun and lurches over me to drag Sasha inside.

  She falls on top of me as the van roars into reverse.

  “Rook, it’s go time!” Stone hollers.

  Bullets ping against metal.

  Stone shoves me down to the floor along with Sasha. “Stay down! Cover your heads!”

  Sasha and I bow at the same time, wrapping our hands around our heads.

  The roar of an explosion breaches the air.

  Glass bursts above our heads.

  Sasha and I scream as we’re showered with broken shards.

  “Almost there!” Stone reports. “Hang the fuck onto something!”

  Sasha secures an arm around my waist, bracing us as the van jerks from hitting something solid. Stone accelerates. The van’s engine whines in protest. We’re jostled around as the tires thump over something big. Finally, Stone slams on the breaks, and shifts into drive.

  The squeal of our tires on pavement are more deafening than the explosion. I bite down on my lip until a coppery taste coats my tongue. Are we a safe distance away? Are we being followed?

  I start with a thick hand making contact with the back of my head. When fingers comb through my hair the way they had before this nightmare began, my shoulders relax.

  “You two all right?” Stone asks.

  With a hand on Sasha’s battered face, I tilt her head upward.

  “I’m okay,” she confirms, no longer crying. An uneasy smile tugs at her cracked lip. “We sure showed those assholes.”

  With a short cackle, her fingers tug at the sides of my t-shirt as she hugs with a surprising burst of strength. I wrap my free arm around her neck, gently squeezing her back.

  Lifting my chin, I peer up at the storm brewing inside Stone’s beautiful blues, locked on me.

  Knowing my father, we aren’t yet out of harm’s way. Ajax Kennison won’t let an attack like that go unpunished. Depending on the extent of damage done to the compound, Stone and his crew may have started a full-on war.

  But Stone did everything he could to extract Sasha, ensuring no one was hurt in the process.

  A profound sense of something foreign clicks deep within me as I tip my chin in reply.

  I’m completely enamored of this gorgeous, courageous man.

  I tremble beneath a blanket on the hallway floor, pulse racing as the doctor exits Ryker and Zoe’s third guest room. She’s a tall woman with fair skin, thin strawberry blond hair, and eyes big as an owl’s on her narrow head. She’s as graceful and elegant in a pale blue pantsuit as she was the day she came in a feminine skirt and blouse to inspect my arm. And she’s incredibly nice, having tried to convince me to report Diesel to the police but respecting my decision to decline.

  Her pale blue gaze skates from where Stone stands above me down to mine before flickering between Brooke and Liam. “Can we talk somewhere private?” she asks in a high-pitched timbre.

  I brace myself on the floor, attempting to stand. Stone’s strong arm hooks around my waist, bringing me to my feet. The instant I sink against his warm mass, my tremors stop.

  “Is Sasha going to be okay?” I ask.

  “Everyone here is safe,” Brooke tells the doctor, nodding. “We’re all Sasha’s family.”

  The doctor laces her hands together and sighs heavily before addressing me. “She’s been through a considerable amount of trauma, and she’s severely dehydrated. But nothing’s broken, and I don’t believe there was any damage inflicted on her organs.” She glances back at Brooke. “Despite the extensive bruising and tearing that would suggest she was sexually assaulted, she’s refusing a kit.”

  My legs give out.

  “No! OhGod, no!” I wail, falling into Stone’s ready embrace. “That bastard’s dead! Every last one of them! I’ll kill them myself!”

  I’m lifted against a wall of muscle. Among my anguished cries, a range of voices mutter back and forth. The words spoken make no sense as I sort out who will pay for hurting her. My father? Bane? Diesel? What if they all three took a turn to get back at me, making her pay for my sins?

  I should’ve died in that fire with my mother.

  I should’ve died along with Oliver.

  Then none of this would’ve happened.

  Sasha would be safe.

  Unharmed.

  Next thing I know, I’m placed on a soft bed of clouds. An unyielding body molds against mine, and my next gasping cry fills me with the earthy scent of sandalwood.

  My veins blaze with the need to fight. Every single time a man has crawled into bed with me, it’s always ended in an unsavory nightmare. And I’ve never been coddled. My parents were adamant in raising a daughter who wouldn’t need pampering. There wasn’t room for that kind of behavior in the club.

  My eyelids flip open. He’s a massive blob of nothing through my teared vision. “Leave me alone!” I cry, beating on the wall of muscle with my good hand. “Go away!”

  Stone doesn’t budge an inch. Instead he gathers my wild wrist, gently stroking my hair with his other hand. “Not leaving you, lil’ mouse,” he says, his voice soothing and firm. “Calm down.”

  Overcome by a new set of emotions, I quit thrashing and lay still. Everything about the complex, hulking man beside me draws me in closer, wanting to absorb all he has to offer. His inviting scent. His gentle touch. The seductive roll of his timbre. His unrelenting protection.

  “Shhh…gonna make yourself sick,” he whispers, his breath hot against my face. Rough fingers methodically trace along the lines of my cheek, the angle of my jaw. “What happened to her isn’t on you, sweetheart. Not your fault.”

  I slide up against his sturdy chest, letting his ferocity and warmth wash over me as his thick arms cage me in. It’s the first time I’ve felt comforted by a man. It’s the first time I’ve felt true compassion from anyone.

  It’s the first time in my entire existence that I’ve felt cherished.

  And loved.

  7

  Stone

  With the first crack of dawn, I find the world’s most beautiful woman still peacefully asleep in my arms. Thank fuck she eventually passed out. She gave everyone a scare once we discovered what had happened to Sasha. Doc was ready to give her a shot to calm her down until I promised I’d handle it. My guess is Andie wouldn’t have been happy if she’d been knocked unconscious like that. Poor kid’s been through enough. She latched onto me like a little koala bear and didn’t let go, even after breathing steadily in a deep sleep.

  Having not slept much myself the past week, I lost the battle in trying to stay sharp. With her warm little body encased in my arms, I slept like the dead.

  That shit with her old man trying to kill us—his own fucking daughter—was seriously messed up. There’s no question he’ll be held accountable right along with whatever monster hurt Sasha. Just haven’t decided how to go about doing it. Cops around these parts are as corrupt as they come. Wouldn’t be surprised if they let the Martyrs walk. Besides, if we expose ourselves that way, Andie’s old man will learn we’re the ones who blew up their compound and not Terrance.

  A sweet little sigh falls from Andie’s sensual lips as she shifts around against me. The sound vibrates through my gut and doesn’t stop until it’s gripping the base of my balls. I greedily take in the softness of her
face, the gentle slant of her dark eyelashes against her cheeks, the graceful curve of her throat, the fullness of her breasts. Have to bite down on my damn tongue to stop myself from lifting her shirt so I can palm them in my hand. Her beauty’s exotic, unparalleled to anything I’ve ever known.

  Her eyelids drift open, drowning me in twin pools of emerald. I feel the reach of her gaze in the pit of my existence, glowing all the way down to my swollen cock. Fuck me, she’s stunning.

  A decent man would walk away. Her father pawned her off to a spineless coward. Who knows the extent of the hell she’s suffered? I’ve never met a woman who appears so delicate while being so damn brave. She was as tough as steel through everything right up until the men in her life tried to ruin Sasha.

  She deserves someone with all the kindness in the world. She deserves to know how a man should treat a woman. She deserves more than a whack job like me who thrives off anger, and doesn’t do relationships. With my brother’s death, I lost a healthy chunk of my humanity.

  I’m not the kind of man she needs.

  Yet the way she’s devouring me with her sultry gaze, I’m undoubtedly the man she wants.

  Her sweetheart lips part. “You’re still here.”

  Frustration rips from my throat. Fuck it. I cup the back of her head and bring her close, finally stealing a taste of those pillowy lips. Groaning with the heavenly sensation, I sink against her. Andie whimpers and flings her good arm around my neck, plunging her sweet little tongue into mess with mine.

  Electricity crackles through the air around us as our greedy lips tangle, tongues dipping and tasting. Our heady bodies join in the party, bumping and humping like a couple of teenagers behind a set of bleachers. I should be gentle. I should treat her with kid gloves, and take this slow. But the way she’s grinding against my cock is total hell on my control. The few times I beat off over the week wasn’t enough to release the storm that’s been brewing.

  There’s no stopping, no holding back. I go at it with a shit-ton of desire and aggression that’ve built up since the night I brought her here. I’d expected her to shy away, maybe pull back after the first minute or two. But she mirrors my hunger without hesitation, stroke for stroke, sensual lick for lick.

  She’s famished. So am I.

  I hold her face and plunge my tongue even deeper, feeding off her sweetness and bravery. Every little greedy noise she makes while sucking on my tongue makes the room spin. The friction of her pussy rubbing against my swollen dick makes my balls ache to release. The way she liquifies against me makes my heart expand to twice its normal size.

  The blankets and our clothes all at once feel hot and itchy. Too many layers separate us. I need to sink balls-deep into this woman. Now.

  She was meant to be mine. I can feel it in her touch and frenzied moans. I can feel it in the way she fills my arms despite being so tiny. I can feel it in the ferocity of her lips. I can feel it in the way she threads her fingers through mine, guiding my hand down to her heaving breasts.

  Can feel that she’s mine in my fucking bones.

  The second my fingers locate the soft flesh of her breast, she cups my cock and I’m done for. Among a long groan, my dick twitches in warning.

  I jerk back, breathless. “Sweetheart—”

  “Don’t,” she cuts me off, emerald eyes sharp and sinful lips swollen. “Don’t you dare tell me we can’t do this. I’m done letting other people control everything I do. I want this more than anything. I want you.”

  “Hearin’ you say that makes me one happy son of a bitch.” Chuckling, I run my knuckle across her bottom lip. “Was just gonna say at the rate we’re going, I won’t last much longer.”

  Pretty eyes widening and lips slipping into a grin, she fists my hair again, bringing me back for another searing kiss. She hooks a leg around me, using her good arm to hold her up while straddling my cock and destroying my lips. I sit up and carefully scoop her off me at the same time, depositing her at my side.

  Before her stubborn ass can protest the interruption, I hold a finger over her pouty lips and shake my head. Eyes locked on her perplexed pools of green, I lift the sling’s strap around her neck. Pulling her bottom lip into her mouth, she bends her neck forward, allowing me to slip the sling off and toss it aside.

  I reach back with one hand to remove my shirt before stroking a hand behind her head, gently working over the spot where I’d pulled her hair the night before. I wanted to kick my own ass when I realized I’d done the same thing as that Diesel asshole.

  She grimaces slightly, leaning into my hand for a moment with her eyes closed. Elegant neck extended, thick eyelashes brushing over the apples of her cheeks, sweetheart lips parted… goddamn. When she’s this vulnerable to my touch, she’s the very definition of beautiful. Just thinking about finally sinking into her, knowing her on a whole new level has my heart flipping like a fish outta water.

  “Shouldn’t have grabbed you like that, lil’ mouse. Won’t happen again.”

  Pulling my hand down, she kisses the palm. “I know you’d never hurt me like him.” Her emerald eyes catch mine. “I know.”

  This is all foreign to me. The push and pull of wanting to fuck a woman and wanting to comfort her at the same time. Wanting to show her how much I care with every touch, every caress while wanting to mark up every part of her flawless skin with my lips and teeth. She’s strong, capable of taking whatever hellfire I unleash. But she’s had enough of that. All because her old man is a spineless monster.

  Holding her stare, my fat fingers fumble with the buttons on her top. She watches me intently, breaths stuttered. With every inch of beautifully tanned flesh that appears with the release of each button, my cock jerks more urgently. Fucking finally I’m given an unrestricted view of the tits that’ve been taunting me all damn week. They’re perky and the most appealing shade of rosy pink imaginable, pebbling beneath my gaze. Her heavy breasts rise and fall with every deep breath she takes as I reach out to cup them in my hands.

  “Un-fucking-believable,” I mutter, running my thumbs over the hard peaks.

  She moans my name in a melodic sound fit for a ballad. I bend for a taste and she does it again, holding my head and digging her fingernails into my scalp. The primal need to mark her body kicks into overdrive, but I fight it with everything I have, determined to give her an experience unlike any other. Instead I lick and nibble on her breasts with the utmost care, lost in the supple flesh. Driven by her little moans and the flex of her hips, I reach inside her jeans, adding the caress of a finger over her damp panties.

  Fingernails dig into my skull. “Oh god…what are you doing? That feels…amazing.”

  I lean back to study her elegant face, lit with elation. She’s been with the asshole since she was eighteen, and on lockdown most her life. Rage rockets up my spine with the possibility that no man has ever pleasured her the way she deserves. “You ever have an orgasm?”

  Pink dots her cheeks when she dips her chin. “I don’t—I mean I’m not—”

  Trapping her chin between my fingers, I force her to look at me again. “Lay back.”

  She slowly unfurls down, once again holding my hungry stare. I hook my fingers through her tight jeans, slowly pulling them off before tossing them aside. The little satin thong goes next. Suddenly I’m rewarded with the best fucking view of my life.

  I reposition her hips with a predatory grunt. “Spread ‘em nice and wide, lil’ mouse. You probably don’t have any fuckin’ clue how beautiful you are.”

  When I dive in, she gasps. “Stone, what’re you—”

  Protest dies on her lips with my first lick, replaced with a pretty little sigh. She wiggles as I devour her warm sweetness, adding a finger when her noises of delight turn tight and breathy. Don’t know that I could ever get enough of this woman, especially when she tastes even better than she smells. Her sweet, addictive flavor is something I doubt I could ever forget.

  Wish I could watch her face when her hips begin to quiver with the st
art of her climax, but I methodically continue worshiping her body with my tongue, lips, and fingers until she’s babbling and shrieking my name. Chuckling quietly, I prowl up her body to cover her mouth with mine, silencing her with a kiss. The crew won’t stop giving me hell the way it is.

  Once again she sinks into me, answering every stroke of my tongue while torturously brushing her bare tits across my chest. The pressure in my balls builds up even more just as she begins to undo my jeans.

  “That was definitely a first,” she admits, lips brushing over mine with every word.

  “And far from your last.”

  I hiss when her fingers wrap around my shaft.

  “I really hope you have a condom,” she whispers, voice strained. “I can’t wait any longer.”

  Backing away, I take her face in my hands. “Sure you wanna do this?”

  Bottom lip caught between her teeth, those mesmerizing eyes light as she nods. Halle-fucking-lujah. Wasn’t gonna push it unless she was sure. I push off the bed and pluck a condom from my wallet before dumping my jeans and boxer briefs on the floor.

  Gaze catching my strained cock, considerably swollen and red, she lets out a throaty moan.“Oh…my god…Stone…”

  I watch her face blanch as I sheath it, giving it a few healthy strokes when finished. “All for you, sweetheart.”

  Hunger sweeps through her eyes. Her delicate fingers glide up and down her throat. “Get over here.”

  I happily comply, careful not to distribute all my weight when I lay over her. Greedy little breaths fall from her lips as she spreads her legs and digs her fingernails into my back. I take my time sliding into her, reveling in the light of her eyes and parting of her lips as I sink balls deep. I’m given a glimpse of heaven when her muscles blissfully clamp down around my cock. She responds with a throaty moan that seems to be more pleasure-driven than anything, but she’s tight enough that it could be part pain.

  “You okay?” I confirm, nuzzling the side of her face.

  “Never been better,” she mutters, cupping my face and bringing it down to hers.