Carved in Stone (The Stone Series) (7 page)

Inhaling
calming breath, I coolly continue, lifting my chin in defiant stubbornness.               “And second, I don’t have anything to say to you right now.”

             
“Good because I’ll be doing all the talking. Now get in the car Gabriella.”

             
“No.” I snap back like a petulant child.

I hate sounding like
a spoiled brat but really!

Who does he think he is?

Demanding, bossy insufferable man!

             
“Get. In. The. Goddamn. Car. Gabriella!” Barks Aidan, taking one long stride towards me putting us face to face, his body caging mine to where we are almost touching. I can feel the heat of his breath ruffling my bangs on my forehead.

Cautiously
I take a small step back holding his glare in challenged.

             
“If you don’t get in the fucking car this second, swear to Christ Gabriella, I will pick you up and haul your sweet little ass in there myself.” His tone is low, forceful, unyielding.

             
“Fine,” I huff, breaking our standoff and stomping towards Aidan’s Porsche.

I guess we’ll be talking now and at his house apparently.

Whatever!

             
Aidan rounds the car to the driver’s side, slides in, slamming his door, the sound making me jump.

             
“Buckle up,” he orders tersely, not even looking in my direction.

Whatever
!

             
Rolling my eyes, I refuse to respond verbally but mentally I’m calling him every curse word I can think of as I buckle up my seat belt.

             
The next twenty-five minutes pass in a long uneasy silence, neither of us speaking to the other. As usual Aidan drives like a skilled professional race driver; fast, practiced and edgy. The silence between us is killing me but this time I refuse to give in and be the one to speak first.

             
The raw carnal thrill I experience from just watching his long gracefully masculine hand move ever so efficiently over the gear shift and the stolen glances I indulge in, do nothing to eschew the rising tension that grows between us.

             
Aidan’s amazingly exquisite scent within the confines of his expensive Porsche is driving me freaking crazy. Five days away from this beautifully arrogant, dominating man hasn’t dulled my feelings for him in the least. How can one person both infuriate and enthrall me to a level I never knew existed all at the same time.

             
For Aidan’s part, he remains aloof, detached, completely focused on the road ahead but there is no denying the primal energy radiating out from within him. He reminds me of a caged lion at the circus, pacing, barely restrained and ready to pounce on it’s prey once the cage doors are released. God, what was I thinking when I got in the car with him! Although it wasn’t like he gave me a choice on the matter.

Damn caveman!

              Lost in my internal stewing, I don’t notice Aidan pulling into the driveway of his home until the sound of the engine shutting off breaks into my thoughts. As I glance through the windshield towards his palatial house, my stomach twists franticly in knots of churning nerves.

             
The resounding slam of his car door pulls me out of my haze and I hastily reach to release my seatbelt grabbing my purse from the floor.

             
Flinching when Aidan opens my car door, I snap angrily. “What am I’m doing here Aidan?”

             
“I’ve already addressed this Gabriella. We need to talk. Now get out of the car.”

             
His tone is brisk which only serves to piss me off even more than I already am.

             
Crossing my arms across my chest, I narrow my eyes at his ridiculously handsome face. “And I already said… I have nothing to say.”

             
Not missing a beat, he raises his ever so smug and ever so perfect eyebrow and counters. “And I believe I have already addressed that too. It will be
me
doing the talking.”

             
Taking a calming breath, and in a much softer tone he adds wearily, “It’s late Gabriella, we’re both tired and we both have work tomorrow so would you mind please getting your sweet little ass out of my car and into my house now.”

             
“Fine!” I huff immaturely.

             
“But only because you said
please
.”

To
my response, I notice Aidan’s lip twitch ever so slightly.

             
I guess, if all else fails the word
‘fine’
encompasses a whole range of words a woman wishes to convey like
‘I’m so mad with you right now’
or
‘I’m letting you get your way… this time’
and my personal favorite at this very moment –
“up yours asshole… but God how I’ve miss kissing those gorgeous lips of yours’
.

             
A sense of deja vu washes over me as I stomp crossly into Aidan’s family room dropping my purse on his brown leather couch.

“Would you like something to drink?” He asks walking towards the kitchen.

“No thank you.”

             
Stopping at the floor to ceiling glass doors that lead out to the patio, I gaze beyond the large sparkling infinity swimming pool to the majestic vista of the Pacific Ocean. The view before me is gloriously serene however I am anything but. Aidan’s sudden presence behind me tugs me back and glancing over my shoulder I gaze up into his beautiful face wishing more than anything I could reach out and caress my fingers slowly across his chiseled cheekbones.

“You wanted to talk?” I prompt
hoarsely.

“Yes.” He replies but doesn’t say anything
more.

             
Staring into each other’s eyes, the silence is deafening. Biting the inside of my lip, I consider saying something first just to break the tension that’s mounting between us.

             
Turning around to face him, I note his middle finger is tapping steadily against the bottle of water he’s holding. Absently I wonder if Aidan could be just as nervous as me.

             
Signing he places the bottle on the coffee table then straightens himself taking a step closer to me and bringing us mere inches apart from each other.

             
“Gabriella, I was wrong to push you away last Saturday. Letting you go was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made”

Chapter Six.

             
Have you ever wanted to hear something from someone so damn much that when they do finally tell you, your brain just can’t process it?

             
This was how I was feeling right in that precise moment. I heard the actual words spoken through those beautiful lips of his however I was struggling to catch them, hold onto them, to absorb them.

             
“Sorry?” I ask, a foggy cloud muddling my thoughts like I’m suspended in a hazy surreal reality.

             
“I’ve never been the type of man who’s coveted any real sort of intimate relationship with a woman before, other than physical… sexual, of course. In fact, I went out of my way to avoid any intimate entanglements in my private affairs. I’m a man who requires, who needs control Gabriella, in every aspect of my life. I’m guessing this is something you already know, however what you also need to understand is, in the past the idea of love, the notion of having that level of intimacy solely with one person has been a superfluous concept to me. A concept I’ve abhorred to be frankly honest with you.”

             
Well yeah, no shit Sherlock, I got that message loud and clear.

That’s
what I was thinking, but what I found myself saying cautiously was, “Okay…”

             
Aidan pauses for a minute as if giving me time to process his words then he continues, his eyes fervent and fixed steadily on mine.

             
“Meeting you, getting to know you,
Christ
just being with you Gabriella has changed that particular stance in my life. I’m not a man that cowers from a challenge but the… feelings I were, I
am
experiencing for you are… provoking to say the least.

I
now find myself in unchartered territory – on one hand, I’ve never envisaged myself in a relationship with any long-term commitment but on the other hand, the connection we have, this all consuming desire I have for you Gabriella, these feelings I have for you
baby,
completely annihilates that position. I now don’t see a future without you in it.”

             
Wow… Ohmigod wow!

             
Tears of hope sting the back of my eyelids and I fight desperately to hold them back in fear that if I move, if I blink then what I’m hearing won’t be real. My heart is thumping a million miles a minute and it literally feels stuck in my throat. Every inch of my body is trembling, I swear even my toes are shivering.

             
Nervously I lick my bottom lip then drawing both lips in I bite down, hoping, wishing, praying silently that this moment is not an illusion but very, very real.

             
Aidan’s eyes follow my actions, his gaze narrowing slightly with such intensity, such scorching heat; it triggers another tremble to roll violently through me.

             
“I want to be with you. No games, no trying this time and no going back for either of us. I want you Gabriella.”

             
“You really hurt me Aidan.” My voice sounds small, no more than a whisper.

             
“I know,” he says closing his eyes, but not before I catch the flicker of pain as it flashes through them.              

             
“I’m so sorry baby,” he murmurs softly, returning his gaze once more to mine.

             
“Forgive me, please.”

             
My head might be spinning in a thousand crazy directions but one thing I am certain of, Aidan Stone is not a man that apologizes often. He’s a proud, powerfully formidable man, commanding a hugely successful empire of his own making and I sincerely doubt he got this far both professionally and personally by being vulnerably exposed and yet he stands before me being just that: vulnerable and totally exposed.

             
The utter sincerity blazing brightly in his emerald green eyes instantly obliterates all my defenses tugging violently on my bruised heartstrings. I am hopelessly, completely head over heels in love with this glorious man.

             
“I want you too Aidan. More than you know. I want
us
too.”

             
“Good”, he whispers, drawing closer, cupping his warm strong hands around my face. Slowly leaning down, his eyes penetrating mine with such raw hunger my breath catches as his lips brush tenderly across mine.

             
“Thank you button,” he murmurs against my mouth, our breaths mingling.

             
I feel a traitorous tear trickle down my cheek followed by another, then another. A tidal wave of sensations bombards me – fear, relief, hope, pure joy, exaltation, and disbelief. This confusingly enigmatic beautiful man has real feelings for me.

Me! And I want him too. More than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.

              Wrapping his other arm tight around my waist, Aidan hauls my body flush against his strong warm chest. As his heat surrounds me, a sense of rightness, perfection washes over my heart and I relish in the sensation of being held by him, my tears flowing freely, refusing to be held back anymore. God I love this man. How is it even possible to love someone this much?

             
My stomach plummets as it suddenly occurs to me – what happens if he gets cold feet again? He could decide that he doesn’t want to do this again and then where will I be.

             
“Aidan,” I call, pulling back from his embrace, the loss of his warmth instantly leaving me bereft. “What if you decide –”

             
“I won’t,” he interrupts, answering my question before I finish asking it.

             
“Another thing you also need to understand about me Gabriella is that I’m a decisive man. When I set my sights on a course, I am resolved - absolutely. I don’t waiver from that course. Ever. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I did. And what I want is you -
all of you
. This past week, you’re all I’ve thought, there’s nothing I want more, nothing I need more than you in my life Gabriella from now on. You are mine baby. I’ll protect what we are building together with everything I have. Ruthlessly. Now what you need to decide is – can
you
handle that? Because I will warn you now, after tonight, there is no going back for either of us. Are you with me Gabriella?”