Reese (10 page)

             
I gave him a cool look in return. “Want a beer?”

             
The smile disappeared, replaced with a frown. “No. I want to know what’s wrong.” His tone was concerned, his gaze
penetrating
.

             
I shrugged. “Let’s just say that I’m one groupie that doesn’t want to play the game any longer.” I
pushed away from the bar. “If you don’t want a beer, or anything else, I need to get back to the customers that are drinking.”

             
I heard Jake groan as I walked away. A h
eated argument ensued behind me
:
Low hard voices, a
few
brutal swears
;
but I
tuned
them
out
as I mixed drinks. I glanced over once and found everyone but Stone gone. He just sat at the bar watching me. I ignored him. Even though my heart cried out for me to go to him, I stayed away. If someone wanted a drink they realized soon enough that by going to
his
end of the bar they were out of luck.

             
Eleven o’clock came and went. But Stone remained even though he had a
stringent
schedule. He didn’t try to talk to me, nor did he order anything to drink. He just sat there, patient and never tiring. I felt his eyes following me, caressing me. A few times I was tempted to kick
him out. But I knew that would be useless. He wouldn’t go, and I didn’t have the energy to tangle with him physically tonight.

             
Bubba and Biker One eventually left, leaving large tips. Not for the first time I wondered how Bubba could afford to drink at Safe Haven so often and leave me such nice tips. Last call found the place nearly dead and then the bouncers were
showing the last of the hangers-
on out. And still Kieran Stone remained.

             
I cleaned up behind the bar, washed the last of the glasses and
started counting my drawer. When I was finally finished with everything else I grabbed my gym bag and he followed me to the door. I locked up and walked away.

             
“You are not a groupie!” He finally exploded, following me.

             
I kept walking.

             
“Reese…
P
lease stop and talk to me.” He urged. “I know that Jake made you think that I am just playing around with you. He’s a dick and the only reason I keep him around is because he is the best manager and promoter out there.”

             
Nothing he said made me want to turn around. But the sound of his voice...That deep, dark, enticing voice made me ache.
I refused to be drawn in again
, however,
and kept walking.

             
“Yes, I invite a few fans to come and watch us spar from time to time. Yes, those fans are usually female…And sometimes I…” He broke off and muttered a few curses. “
But that isn’t the case with you, dam
m
it! I care about you, Reese.”

             
Those last five words hurt more than anything. To me, now that I was onto his playboy games, they were just lines. I closed my eyes, squeezing back tears. I swallowed around the lump in my throat and continued on. When I reached my apartment I unlocked the door and slammed it behind me
; l
ocking it before dropping down on the sofa, not even bothering to turn on a light.

             
His fist hit the door. “Reese!”

             
I just sat there in the dark. He could have knocked the door down if he wanted to, but I somehow knew that he wouldn’t go that far.
He didn’t want to scare me.
Instead he stood on the other side and kept talking. “You are special to me Reese. You make me feel things that I have never felt before in my life. Never! I want to be with you, I want to hold you. Please, baby. Please just open the door.”

             
A tear slipped from my eye and I sat numb and alone. Eventually he quit pounding, quit talking. I must have fallen asleep sitting up because the next thing I knew morning light was pe
e
king at me through my living room window.
I felt
empty
, my heart ached, and my head was throbbing. That muscle that had been
quiescent
, and
then had come alive when Stone had come into my life hurt in a way I could
not
even begin to explain.

             
Stretching I stood and started down the hall to my bedroom when a thump against my front door startled me. I
rushed back and pulled it open…
Only to
gasp at the sight before me.

             
Kieran Stone, who I had thought had gone hours ago, was sitting in the corridor floor, his head leaning against the wall. He looked exhausted, his eyes bloodshot with dark bags underneath, which stood out
all the
more because he was so pale. His short hair looked as if his fingers had been repeatedly running through it.

             
“Hi.” He muttered, his voice hoarse.

             
“Hi.” I knelt down beside of him. “Shouldn’t you be in bed? Or working out?”

             
He shrugged. “None of that matters right now. Getting you to listen to me, talk to me, that is what matters. If I have to sit here forever then I will.”

             
“Kieran…”

             
“You’ve been crying.” He murmured and reached out to trace a finger down the
tracks
the tear
s
had made through my makeup. “I can’t stand that I’m the reason for your tears, Reese. I don’t deserve them. I’m such a fuck up.”

             
“Don’t say that.”
Even as
hurt as I was I hated for him to put himself down like that.
I stood and offered him my hand. He
climbed to his feet
and I led him into the apartment. I dropped back down onto the sofa and he followed, sitting close.

             
“Reese…I’m sorry.”

             
“What for? You were just being you. I’m the one who was stupid enough to imagine that you were different.”

             
“No! That isn’t what I’m sorry for. Damn it, I want to be with you. You are different from any other woman I have ever met. You are not a groupie, or whatever else it is that
you imagine
I want you to be. You are th
e first woman I have ever cared this
deeply about.
Even though I have only known you a short time I know that you are going to be a big part of my life.
 
Hell Reese, you are t
he only woman that I have ever considered introducing to my parents.” He raked his hands through his hair, disheveling it even more. “I told you more about them and myself than I have ever told anyone.”

             
I bit my lip. His words, along with that voice that I loved so much, w
ere
touching those new walls that I had erected the night before. And the more he spoke, the more I remembered the things he had told me about himself and his family. Along with those memories came the realization that he had been so gentle with me
;
had been taking things as slow as I needed them to be…That wasn’t exactly the things a man did when he was just looking for a few nights in a new bed.

             
“I care about you Reese.” He whispered and pulled me into his arms.

             
I went, meeting his lips willingly. He tasted sweet, just the way I remembered. But the kiss was
nothing like
I remembered. His gentleness was gone, replaced by an almost desperation. I held on tight, met each demand of his mouth. His teeth
nipped
at my bottom lip, his tongue delved deep.

             
I whimpered as his fingers drifted down my arms and caressed my nipples. The sound made him raise his head. “Okay?” He was out of breath. “Want me to go slower?”

             
“No.” I cried, knowing that if he stopped now I was going to die.
“Don’t stop, Kieran.”

             
His eyes locked with mine and he tried to read what I was thinking, to see if I was really ready for what was about to happen. After a few seconds he seemed to find the answer he was waiting for
. W
ith me still in his arms
he
stood. I wrapped my legs around his waist and leaned into him. He felt so hot, so strong, so…Devastating!

             
I trailed little kisses down his neck as he walked. The door to my bedroom opened and then my back was against my mattress. For a split second I was glad that I had remembered to make my bed, but then all thoughts of being tidy
vanished
as he followed me down. His weight felt both comforting and delicious, his lips warm and wet against my collar bone.

             
“Are you sure, Reese?” He murmured as he reached for the hem of my tee.
His eyes were liquid metal and I found myself lost in their beautiful
depths
.

             
“I have never wanted anything more than I want you, Kieran.” I told him honestly. My shirt disappeared in an instant…But I stopped him before he could reach for my jeans.

             
“What’s wrong?” He was both concerned and a little impatient.

             
“I need a minute.
Let me
shower. I smell like booze and my makeup is like dry mud.” I pushed him onto his back and he reluctantly let me go. “Ten minutes.” I promised as I got up and moved toward the door, walking backwards so that I could continue to feast my eyes on his sexiness.
He looked good laying there on my bed, his head on my pillows.

             
“Five.” He countered with that smile that I had hated so much just a few hours ago. Now it just made me want to jump back into bed with him and forget about anything and everything else.

             
But I didn’t want our first time—my first time ever!—to be with my hair smelling of smoke, my clothes stinking of alcohol and Goth makeup caked on my face. “Seven.” I
recounted
and rushed across the hall to my bathroom.

             
I had shampoo in my hair when I felt the shower door open and big, strong hands pulled me into a
hard,
naked body. I gasped, the only sound that was allowed to leave my mouth before he captured it with his lips.
My momentary fear disappeared before it even had time to register. I kissed him back, loving the feel of his hard body pressed so intimately against my own.

             
“I couldn’t wait two minutes.” He rasped in my ear. “What is it about you that makes me want to just be close to you?” He demanded, but didn’t give me time to even attempt an answer before he lifted me off my feet and pressed me against the shower wall.

             
My legs wrapped around his thickly muscled waist. His erection pulsed against the inside of my right thigh. It was hot, hard and quivering against me. I wanted to reach between us and caress it, but I had no clue what to do with it once I did touch it. Instead I held onto his shoulders and let him devour me with his
scorching
mouth.

             
When his teeth scrapped across
one a
ching nipple I cried out. Never in my life have I ever felt such pleasure! He rolled the hard nub around with his teeth, and with each little bite I felt a tug on nerve endings that had never before came to life deep between my legs.
I couldn’t
stand it, wanted him to stop…
Yet at the same time feared that he would
;
dreaded the end of such mind numbing pleasure.

W
hen he raised his head I
whimpered
, wanting his mouth on me once more. He smiled a new smile, this one full of such longing and desire that I knew he wasn’t done giving me what I wanted. “Let’s get you clean, baby. And then I swear that I will make you all dirty again.”

             
He pushed me under the shower spray and gently rinsed
the
soap from my hair. Then he added my conditioner. He washed me from neck to feet with my vanilla scented body wash, lingering on my breasts. When his hands drifted lower, across my stomach and pausing at the junction between my thighs I caught my breath. His steel gray eyes locked with mine as he urged my legs apart and skimmed his fingers across my red and gold curls there. I didn’t have time to be shy as he parted my folds and skimmed his thumb along the ball of nerves at the top of my entrance.