“How close is the town? Close enough that someone will notice us?”
“I don’t think so.”
He nods, mostly trusting my judgment, but the moment I pull the sandwiches out of the bag, all thoughts of small towns and gas station shopping sprees seem to fade away, and I watch in disbelief as he puts the sandwiches away faster than common sense bailed on Ash all those years ago.
Once the wild beast’s hunger has been sated, I force him to take a shower, and he reluctantly agrees, despite knowing just how bad he needs it. While I did a good job cleaning him up through the night, it wasn’t great. There’s still blood coating his skin, and to be honest, he just stinks. He’s a man who’s been deprived of a thorough shower for far too long, and he spent the night sweating in a hot car. It really doesn’t make for a good mix.
I find him a change of clothes, a clean towel, and go as far as to step outside and shake them out, losing any dust particles that have called them home for the past twenty or so years. Once they’re as clean as they’re going to get, I place them inside the bathroom, unable to keep from stealing a glance at this machine of a man.
He leans against the wall, his arm braced over his head as he closes his eyes. He’s fucking stunning, a literal piece of art, but now the bruising has completely come out, and with the naturallight pouring in through the old cottage, there’s no denying how much pain he must be in.
“You’re staring,” he murmurs, his eyes still closed.
“Just be happy it’s me and not one of the assholes in prison. I bet they all liked stealing a glance every now and then,” I say with a smirk. “Tell me, is the wholedon’t drop the soapthing real?”
Stone opens his eyes and turns his attention on me before flicking his fingers through the water and watching as the drops splatter across my face. “Get lost, perv.”
I laugh and turn on my heel, giving him the privacy he needs so he can stop pretending for just a moment that everything is going to be okay. I might need him to be that sounding board for me, to always be the hero I know him to be, the man who’s going to swoop in and save the day, but in reality, he’s human. He still gets scared. He still hurts. And fuck, he must be hurting badly, but he’s not the kind who enjoys vulnerability.
Leaving him to shower, I make my way into the small bedroom before stripping the sheets off the bed and shoving them in a pile to burn before ransacking the linen cupboard for new blankets, and while there isn’t much to choose from, there’s enough that can get us by.
After I finish fixing up the bed, Stone eventually emerges from the bathroom, looking like a brand-new person. The hot water did him a world of good, and when he lies down on the shitty bed and closes his eyes, I see a version of him I haven’t seen since I was a kid. Carefree, calm, happy, but most importantly, at peace.
He wraps his arm around me, and I rest my head against his side, being careful not to hurt him. “How are you feeling?” he asks. “Bruised?”
“Not as badly as you are.”
He nods and takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he says a moment later, anguish thick in his tone. “Seeing you hangingfrom those chains. I let you down, Aria. I should have protected you better. You never should have been brought into this shit, and that’s on me. I should have kept you far from the city. I knew they would come looking for me, but it never occurred to me how much danger I was putting you in. I never thought—”
“Just like how you tell me what happened with Ash wasn’t my fault, this wasn’t yours,” I tell him. “What happened in that restaurant basement, it sucked for both of us, but I don’t want you holding on to guilt for that and beating yourself up over it. I’m okay, and you’re okay. That’s all that matters to me.You’rewhat matters to me.”
“Aria, I—”
“Riley,” I say, cutting him off, only to watch as his brows furrow and he gives me a curious stare. “I think I’d be okay with you calling me Riley again. I remember everything now. All my memories have been flooding back in, and I don’t . . . I don’t feel as connected to Aria Ashford anymore. She was a placeholder, and now that I know who I am, I want that back.”
He watches me for a moment, a softness in his eyes. “Okay,” he says a moment later. “Riley it is.”
A stupid smile stretches across my lips, and I push up higher on the bed, dropping a kiss to his lips before settling back into his arms, more content than ever before. “Thank you,” I whisper.
“Menace,” he says a moment later, that heaviness creeping back into his tone. “I can’t keep doing this to you. What kind of life is this? Always on the run. Being stolen off the street at gunpoint and tortured in basements. You deserve better than this.”
I shake my head, knowing exactly what he’s doing. It’s not the first time he’s considered sending me back to the life I had built, but while he thinks he might know what’s better for me, he fails to realize just how critical it is to my health to be right by his side.
“I’m not going back to that life, Stone,” I say, sitting up on the bed and holding his stare, making sure he truly hears me. “This right here? This is where I’m meant to be. You are my home, and I’m not walking away from that again. I’d rather have this wild life on the run than any other life I could possibly have on my own. I want to be here. I want to belong to you. You keep saying that you’re too selfish to ever let me go, but have you ever considered that I’m too selfish to even let you try?” I crawl across the bed, the mattress creaking under the shift in my weight as I set myself over him, my lips only a breath away. “I wouldn’t give you up for anything, Stone Blackthorne.”
A low groan rumbles through his chest, and he reaches up, curling his hand around the back of my neck before pulling me down to him, his lips locking onto mine and kissing me deeply. Hunger ripples through me, and I moan into his mouth, needing his touch more than I need the air I breathe.
Stone reaches across the bed and takes my waist, straddling me over his hips until I feel his thick cock grinding against my core, and I suck in a breath as I hastily pull back, breaking our kiss. “We can’t,” I rush out, shaking my head, all too aware of his injuries. “You need to rest.”
“No, Menace. What Ineedis to be buried inside you,” he murmurs, reaching up and brushing my hair off my face, his soft gaze roaming over my face. “What Ineedis to be consumed by you. I need tofeelyou, Riley.”
My tongue rolls over my bottom lip, and without another moment of hesitation, I lean back down toward him, dropping my lips onto his and letting him have exactly what he wants, not daring to hold back. If he wants to be consumed by me, that’s exactly what I’ll give him.
My lips move over his, and I take it slow as my hips gently grind against him.
This is different. It’s not like the hot, tension-filled fuckfest on the floor of the farmhouse. This is slow, sensual, and somehow so much more.
Desire burns through me, and I sit up on his hips as I reach for the buttons of the old plaid button-down that’s like a dress on me. I hold his heavy stare as I slowly pop one button at a time.
