Stone

THINGS HAPPEN IN THE BLINK of an eye. Death, life, and sickness are all things that changed our lives. From the time we are born, we learn to expect the inevitable end. We fear it, anticipate it, and learn to live with the outcome. However, until I walked into the Van Allan kitchen and my eyes locked on Beulah for the first time, I’d never realized there was one more thing that could happen in a split second. Was it love? I can’t say that it was. Calling it attraction was too weak of a description. I was drawn to her. As if an invisible thread was pulling at me.

Then I’d seen the look in Jasper’s eyes. He’d been instantly attracted. He fought his attraction because his hate for Portia made him want to hate anything connected to her, and she’d also hired Beulah. As much as he wished that he couldn’t stand her, that he could be cruel to her, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. She couldn’t stop looking at him either. I read people well. I often knew what they felt before they did. It was easy when you didn’t need to speak. Staying silent and observing left one to study things others missed.

I held myself back. Waited. Hoped that she saw just how different Jasper was from her. Not his money or wealth, that wasn’t the issue. She was strong where he was weak. She had been raised by a woman who had given her courage, self-worth, and an appreciation for the things often overlooked. Jasper hadn’t. He was still similar to a boy. He leaned on me for more than I should have allowed. Yet he’d been my family for most of my life. It had always been Geraldine and Jasper. The only two who I knew were there for me.

I wanted to believe my words. I wanted my diligence in finding the truth about Beulah and Heidi to have been for Jasper. Telling myself I was doing it for him eased the guilt when I searched harder, pushed past barriers in my way, and broke a few laws. The truth was, deep down I knew the entire time I was doing it because of her. Part to protect her from unseen pain and danger. Part to make sure she wasn’t being taken advantage of. And lastly to prove my gut was right. The Van Allan’s had a secret. One that would make her and Jasper an impossibility. That was my darkness. I’d wanted her so damn bad, Jasper hadn’t been my concern.

He didn’t deserve Beulah. She didn’t know him. She thought he was someone he wasn’t and he led her to believe that. My jealousy began to build disgust from his lies.

The guilt I should feel for having Beulah here with me never came. Even when Jasper accused me of the truth—wanting her. I didn’t feel guilty because I wanted her to heal and for her heart to realize it wasn’t love she felt for Jasper. I had waited for her. Given her the time she needed.

When her eyes began to look at me differently, I knew I couldn’t ignore that pull inside me. The hunger to touch her, inhale her, to be free to hold her.

Jasper leaving was it the last step. He was leaving. Running. If I had a doubt about his feelings for her this made it clear it wasn’t enough. A man that walked away from Beulah didn’t deserve her.

My time of quietly living in torture was over.

Lowering my head until my mouth covered hers for the first time was as close to a spiritual moment as I’d ever experience. The air around us stilled. Her breathing stopped. My heartbeat pounded steadily in my ears. The heat from her lips seared me and I knew it was me trembling from the connection.

Beulah’s left hand reached up and covered mine as I caressed her neck. My right hand slid around her waist applying pressure until we were pressed together from head to toe. Every inch of her body touched mine. She leaned in with complete trust. My kiss hadn’t scared or surprised her. She’d responded with the same urgency I had rushing through me.

I wanted to look into her eyes and tell her everything. To explain it all to her. But not now. She didn’t require it. Like me, she seemed to have been waiting. Anticipating this moment.

Pressing my thumb against the pulse in her neck, I felt the rapid beat that matched my own. My right hand slid down to cover her perfectly round bottom. I squeezed gently and a moan escaped her as she shifted closer, spreading her legs slightly. The subtle invitation made my already hard dick throb. This moment was one I had imagined, planned, fantasized over. I wanted to take my time memorizing every kiss, sound, and expression in her eyes.

What I wanted and reality were beginning to become two different things. The build up from the moment I saw her. The moment she spoke. The moment that damn smile squeezed my chest, it had all brought me to this.

She lifted a knee and slid it up my leg until it was at my hip. Another invitation. Grabbing her thigh, I growled in frustration. My hunger for her was growing out of control quickly. With more force than I intended I squeezed her thigh and jerked her legs open wider and pressed my erection as close to her center as I could. She wasn’t tall enough to give us the heated connection we were both craving. With both hands, I grabbed her waist and pulled her higher.

Without instruction, she wrapped her legs around me. My cock was pressing against her where she pulsed with excitement from the connection. The warmth between her legs cradled me and made my knees slightly weak. It felt as if an animal had broken free inside me causing any softness and gentleness I possessed to fade.

“AH!” Beulah cried out as her head fell backward and she lifted her hips then lowered them to rub my hardness against her aching clit. She grabbed my shoulders with both hands, her eyes closed tightly and she began grinding against me.

“Uh, oh, oh,” she panted. Her body moved with eagerness for more.

I wasn’t a religious man, but watching her I began to understand devotion. Her voracious response was stirring my lust. I’d dreamed I’d worship her. Now I wanted to own her. Lose myself inside her. Reach a level I knew I’d never been. One that would change me as much as the woman in my arms had.

Unable to stand still any longer as she pleasured us both with her moans and pure abandon, I moved toward the bed. Quickly. Every ounce of blood in my body felt as if it were moving to my growing erection. It was more sensitive than it had ever been. I couldn’t wait. I couldn’t take my time. Not anymore. My desire was controlling my actions.

I pressed her into the bed, pulling back to shove her legs apart. Her eyes were hooded and her chest rose and fell as if she were out of breath. “I was going to take my time.” My voice sounded like a growl. The crazed animalistic need had taken over. “But you rubbed that sweet pussy on me.” I lowered my voice and bent down to press a kiss to the exposed skin beneath her ear. “Your reaction made me snap,” I added.

Pulling back, I looked into her eyes to see if I’d frightened her. But all I saw was excitement. A craving that matched my own. My hands were still on her inner thighs. Holding them open as wide as they would go. I reached up and hooked my fingers in the waist of the pajama shorts she was wearing. “When I take these off and see just how wet you are, smell how fucking sweet your desire is, I’m afraid I will lose any small portion of control I still have left.”

I was warning her. Even now when my body was literally shaking with my desperation for her. I was giving her a chance to stop me.

“Good,” the soft challenge came out in a breathless pant.

If there was any thread of sanity left in me, it vanished with that single response.

Beulah

IN ONE BRIEF MOMENT, IT crossed my mind that this was another me. This wanton woman inside me had come unleashed at Stone’s touch. I didn’t know her and she frightened me. But she knew what she wanted. The eagerness to hold nothing back and take it all. Everything I knew Stone would give me I became desperate for. I didn’t understand my reaction. I knew the hedonism Stone could provide was what I desired above all else.