Heart of Stone

  Slade almost always had that wry, amused look on his face that actually made him especially handsome. But an unusual serious expression met me this time. “He’s hurting, you know? He misses you.”

  “Really? He told you that?”

  “Not in those exact words—”

  I turned back around and waved him off, but he took hold of my hand. “Street, you know how he is. Anyhow, look at him. He doesn’t even have any chicks around him tonight.”

  “That’s because he’s wearing that big, angry Hunter scowl, and everyone, even his horny regulars, are afraid to get near him. Slade, I’ve got a lot to do. Jack is still out with a bad back. And now that Jade is working on her real estate license and interning with that realtor, she’s only working two nights a week. I’ve still got orders to fill and I’m closing up alone. So go over there and sit with the big grump. I don’t have time to worry about him.” I picked up a glass and looked at Slade. Just like Hunter and Colt, it felt as if I’d known Slade forever. We’d all survived bad childhoods together. It had made the bond between all of us something that was everlasting and impossible to break. Even now, with wanting to distance myself from Hunter for sanity’s sake, I still knew that he was a huge part of my life and of who I was as a person. And he always would be.

  I pressed my hand against Slade’s cheek. He seemed genuinely upset about this rift between Hunter and me, and it only made him that much dearer to me. I kissed his face. “I just need to get out from under this, Slade. I need to stretch and find out who I am, without the massive shadow of Hunter Stone looming over me.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, all right. Just don’t stretch too far O.K., Street?” He got up on his tiptoes and reached behind the counter for a bowl of pretzels. “I figure if I keep the beast fed, he won’t take his grumpiness out on me so much.”

  Barbara, the new server we’d hired to fill in for Jade, had told me she needed to leave early to pick her husband up from work. She waved to me as she walked out with her purse and coat. She’d been waiting on Hunter and Slade.

  It was still a half hour until closing, but I was down to just three tables. As the crowd thinned, it grew harder to avoid their table. When Slade slid out and pulled some money from his pocket for a tip, I nearly crumpled in relief. They walked out together. I conveniently walked into the office as they strode through the bar.

  It hadn’t been easy, but I’d managed to avoid talking to Hunter all night. I had no idea how long this silence between us would last. It felt incredibly strained and awkward, but at the moment, I was sure I couldn’t talk to him without breaking into sobs. And the last thing I wanted to do was show him how hard this was on me.

  By the time the last customers had finished their beers, the dishwasher and other server had clocked out for the night. I was left alone to close up. If Jade had been there, she would have stayed to help, even if she wasn’t on the clock. But I couldn’t expect it from the others. Jack had thrown his back out. His health seemed to be deteriorating with each passing month. He was close to seventy, and retirement was definitely pulling at his heels. He’d talked to me about taking over as manager, but I wasn’t sure. Lazy Daze had kept me from living in complete poverty, but I’d never really seen it as my future or career.

  I flipped over the open sign and pulled down the shade on the front door. Deciding some music would help the cleanup go faster, I programmed my favorite tunes into the jukebox. Eddie Vedder crooned into the empty room, a space that always looked much bigger after the customers had left for the night. I swept up any tips from Barbara’s tables and stuck them in an envelope with her name on it.

  I walked into the office to lock up the cashier box for the night. A light tapping sound startled me. Someone was knocking on the glass door. I walked out to the bar. “We’re closed,” I called.

  Jack kept a gun under the bar counter for emergencies. I had no idea if it was loaded because that kind of emergency had never come up. I also figured I was more the crack someone over the head with a bottle type than the pistol wielding type.

  I couldn’t see past the shade on the front door. Another knock. I grabbed a full whiskey bottle and walked closer to the door. “We’re closed.”

  “Street, it’s me.” His voice was deeper and sadder than usual.

  The usual heart flutters tickled my chest. I took a deep breath and unlocked the door.

  Chapter 6

  Hunter

  I’d gotten into Slade’s car, but as the front light went out and the parking lot went dark, I knew there was no damn way I was leaving Amy by herself. Even knowing I was the last person she wanted to see, I got out of the car and stomped toward the bar. Slade had warned me that my pissed off mood was only going to make her madder, but I couldn’t cool myself down. She’d been acting like a damn kid, and I was done with it.

  Amy opened the door. Her bottom lip turned down in a pouty frown, a face I knew too well and a face that I missed even now as she wore it in front of me. It had only been a few days, but it already felt as if she’d been ignoring me forever. I was done with this silly dance.

  “I’ve fucking told Jack that he can’t let you close up alone.”

  She stared up at me, silent at first but then she twisted that pouty bottom lip, a sure sign that she was pissed. “You talked to my boss? You fucking talked to my boss? What right did you have to do that?”

  “I’m just looking out for you because you don’t seem to understand that being in here alone at night, especially in this shitty ass neighborhood, isn’t safe. Anyone could show up here—”

  “Yeah, I see that.” She walked to the first table and started piling the chairs on top. “But as you can see, I’m fine. I can use the broom to beat back any attackers. So get out and stop intruding on my life.”

  I pushed the chairs off. They clattered to the floor. She stared at them for a long second. The angry, twisted bottom lip quivered slightly. She rarely ever cried in front of me, and I was always thankful for that. Seeing her cry made me soft as fucking pudding, and I didn’t need that. “Shit, Street, it was a pair of fucking panties. I tossed them. I never even called the girl.”

  “Well, you’re like a damn saint then. I thought I saw a halo floating over that big head of yours.” She moved to slide past me, but I took hold of her arm. She froze in my grasp but kept her face turned away.

  “Look at me, dammit.” She reluctantly turned her face toward me. Amy could be standing in a sea of beautiful women and hers would be the only face I saw. It was something I would have told her if I hadn’t been such a fool. But I was a fool. “You know how it is with me, Amy. Nothing’s changed. Why are you acting like this?”

  The lip quiver dissolved into a sob and tears filled her eyes. I was just about to pull her into my arms, but as quickly as she’d broken down into tears, a rush of anger surged through her. She pulled her arm from my grasp and began pounding my chest with her fists. And I let her. I stood there and let her swing at me with every ounce of rage she could muster.

  “Everything’s changed. I’ve changed.” She hit me again. “I’m tired of waiting for a human being to peel out of this steel suit of armor,” she sobbed as she pounded me again.

  I grabbed her wrists and stared at her. I knew everything about her, and she knew everything about me. I’d been there through it all with her— her crappy childhood, her dad’s drowning, her mom’s sharp turn toward insanity, and she’d been there for me too. More than once, she’d spent the night with me in the shed out behind her house, hiding me from my dad’s wrath and leather belt. She always knew everything I was feeling, but she had never understood just how important she was to me. “No matter what else I do, Street, you know at the end of the day, it’s you. You have to know that. I’m sorry if I can’t promise any more. I just don’t have it to give.”

  “It’s not enough.” She turned away from me. “You’re turning me inside out, Hunter.”

  She stood facing the back wall of the bar for a few seconds. Her thin should
ers lifted and fell with shuddering breaths. Then she swung around and pressed herself against me. I slammed my mouth down over hers. It was always raw and easy and natural with Amy. No pretense or fake shit or worrying about pleasing the other person. The connection was solid and real.

  I lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around me as my mouth devoured hers. She’d left me wanting her like a fucking madman that night, and I hadn’t realized until right now how badly I needed to finish what we’d started. “Fuck, baby, when you walked out on me the other night, I thought I would go nuts.” I sat her on the table. She leaned back on her hands as I shoved her skirt up to her waist. Her perfect handful-sized tits pressed against her blouse. I made an honest attempt at unbuttoning it, but impatience and the insane throbbing in my cock made me grab hold of the two sides of her blouse. I ripped it open and the buttons went flying. Other girls would have been pissed, but she groaned sweetly at having her shirt torn open. The only time I didn’t use a condom was with Amy. When I was with her, I wanted nothing between us. It had always been that way when I was with her. She wasn’t just a girl I met and fucked and walked away from. She was Amy, a person who had been part of me for so long, I couldn’t remember a time without her.

  Only a few lights were left on in the place. They glowed down on her making her look almost unearthly. To me, there was no one more beautiful, more funny, more goddamn irritating than Amy, and if she ever walked out of my life, I would be ripped wide open.

  The round swell of her tits pushed up over the lacy pink bra. Her eyes drifted shut and her head lolled back as I yanked off her panties. “Why can’t I say no to you, Hunter? How did you take hold of me like this. I can’t shake the thought of you . . . ever.” Her voice came out on a soft mewl as I pushed her thighs wide open.

  “There’s only one place in this world for me, baby, and that’s right here between your legs.” I opened my fly and pushed my pants down just enough to free my straining cock. She cried out as I pushed my cock inside of her. She was hot and slick with cream.

  A tight, involuntary groan rolled up from my chest. “The only fucking place in the world for me,” I grunted.

  Her eyes opened slightly, and she gazed at me from beneath long, dark lashes as I thrust my cock into her. A mischievous smile curled her lips. She wrapped her long legs around me to pull me closer. “More,” she whispered, “I need more of you.” Her head dropped back and the table wobbled beneath her. “I want you to split me in two, Hunter.” She reached forward and grabbed my face. “Make me scream, damn you.”

  Still buried inside of her, I grabbed her arms and put them around my neck. My fingers dug into her perfect round ass as I lifted her off the table. She squirmed in my arms, her small, lithe body moving against me as her pussy frantically grasped my cock, not wanting to let it go, wanting more of me.

  Crazed and nearly drunk with need, I stomped toward the office and kicked open the door. It cracked off the opposite wall as I carried her inside.

  The only light came from a small lamp on the desk and the computer monitor. I didn’t need more. I had Amy’s body memorized like a poem, I knew every line, every rhythm, every word. And I knew when she wanted it wild and unchecked. The feverish look in her face assured me that was what she wanted now.

  It took all my will, but I lifted her off of me. She groaned in disapproval as her feet touched the ground. “I need you naked, Street. I need you completely fucking naked right now.” I pushed the ripped shirt off of her shoulders. Her smooth cheeks were blushed pink as she reached back and unclasped her bra. She let it slide to the floor and then reached for my shirt.

  “Nope, just you. Naked. Completely mine.” I reached forward and pushed her skirt to the ground.

  She stepped out of it and kicked off her shoes. She jumped into my arms and lifted her mouth to mine. My tongue dragged across her bottom lip, that lip that changed with every mood, that lip that I just needed to think about for my cock to grow hard. She was so small and thin in my arms, there were times when I had to hold back, afraid I might crush her. I needed that restraint right now.

  I lifted my mouth from hers and stared down at her face. “This is where you belong, baby. Right here in my arms, silky hot and willing. You’re the sweetest damn fuck in the world, my Street Corner Girl. You are mine. Do you fucking hear me?” I kissed her hard, sure that I was leaving her lips swollen and bruised but unable to stop myself. I took a breath. “Say it, baby. Tell me your mine.”

  “Hunter”—her warm breath brushed my mouth—“I’ve always been yours.” The tremble in her voice made me pause but then she reached down and took hold of my cock. All rational thought left my body.

  Her small hand stroked me long and tenderly at first, then with an urgency that made me nearly spill my seed right there in her grasp.

  I took hold of her wrist. “I need to be inside of you right now. I want you screaming out my fucking name.” I lifted her onto her toes for another kiss.

  “So what the hell are you waiting for?” she muttered against my mouth. “I’m yours.” Her last words took me past the edge of control. I took hold of her hand and pulled her along to the desk. I spun her around so her back was to me. It was hard to hold back my strength when I was feeling like this, nearly out of my mind with wanting her. I reached forward and grabbed her wrists and braced her hands on the desk. I grabbed her hips and positioned her so that her smooth, round ass jutted out toward me. I shoved my foot between her feet and urged her legs apart.

  I leaned back to look at her bent down over the desk, her pussy and ass begging to be fucked. “God, baby, just looking at you like this is going to make me come right here on this office floor.”

  “Don’t you fucking dare.” The despair in her tone made my chest and cock ache.

  I walked up behind her and reached around, pressing one hand between her legs. My fingers curled through the moisture pooling in her pussy. I stroked her clit. She responded with a soft moan that made my cock strain to be inside of her. Using the hand between her legs, I lifted her ass higher, putting her pussy at just the right position. I couldn’t hold back any longer. “Hang on, baby.”

  She gasped with anticipation, a sound which turned to a cry of pleasure as I jammed my rigid cock inside of her. Instead of moving with me, she moved her ass against me, bracing herself hard against the desk to receive the full impact of my thrusts. It was one of the things that made me nuts for her, no matter how hard I gave, she always wanted more. As if she couldn’t get enough of me.

  She closed her thighs around my hand, wanting more pressure on her clit. I had to take my mind off my cock and keep it focused on her or I would be done before she came. With my free hand, I reached down between our bodies and pushed my finger into the tight hole of her ass. A low, appreciative mewl rolled from her mouth.

  I rocked against her, and she took me in deeper with each thrust. Her body trembled beneath me, and she moved feverishly against my assault. “Yes, Hunter, fuck yes!” She clenched her thighs around my hand as her pussy climaxed around my cock milking me even closer to the edge of no return.

  She softened in my grasp and whimpered as I continued to push against her. Her arms were no longer able to hold her up.

  I pulled my hands free from her pussy and ass and, reluctantly, pulled my cock free as well. Weak, tiny sounds of exhaustion came from her lips as I wrapped my arms around her waist and hauled her back against my chest. “I’ve got you, baby. I need you in my arms.” It was always like that when we were together. When I held her it felt as if I was holding her heart and soul in my arms. There was no existence past the girl in my arms and that was what had me so fucking scared. I wanted her without question, but the idea of ever losing her was too much to think about. Everyone in fucking town was scared shitless of me, yet I was a big fucking coward when it came to Amy.

  She spun around in my arms and crumpled against me. “I’m defenseless when I’m in your grasp, Hunter.” She peered up at me with glossy eyes. “I should ha
te that. I should hate being so vulnerable, and yet, all I want to do is melt into your arms.”

  I lowered my face and kissed her gently. My cock was so tight, so erect, I could hardly walk, but I swept her into my arms and carried her to the couch, exercising the last bit of control I had left. I lowered her down and braced my hands on the couch so as not to crush her beneath me. “Give me your pussy again, baby. Take me all the way this time.”

  She reached back behind the arm of the couch and grabbed hold as she lifted her legs up and around my waist. I pushed inside of her, and seconds after my cock was sheathed in the warmth of her moist pussy, I came in a long pulsing wave of ecstasy. It took awhile for our ragged breathing to ease.

  I pulled her around next to me and held her tightly against me on the small couch. She always felt so small, so frail in my arms that sometimes I was convinced that I’d just imagined her, that I’d just conjured up this wild, funny, beautiful girl in my fantasy. But she was all too real, and the potential for heartbreak between us was so fucking daunting it seemed the only way for me to survive was to freeze my heart against her. It was what I’d been doing for years, and it had worked . . . so far. No commitment from a man who had a dirty, fucked up past and who had done little to turn things around. I didn’t have a damn thing to offer her. She deserved so much more.

  She was quiet as she kept her face pressed against my chest.

  “Hey, you all right?” I squeezed her. “I’ll help you clean up out there.”

  She nodded but hadn’t lifted her face to look at me. “Baby? Everything all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said as she lifted her face from me. I knew from her tone that she wasn’t fine.

  “Street?”

  “I’m good. Let me get dressed. Then I’ll take you up on the offer of helping me close up.”