31. Wren
WREN
Stone’s fingers stay intertwined with mine the entire drive to Camwell, the little town right outside of Maysville. Evan opted to stay in Shadow Valley, knowing if his parents found out we were this close to home, they’d be upset that we didn’t stop by.
If we went to visit, they’d want to know why we made the drive for just an evening. I refuse to tell Rebecca and Stephen what’s going on. They are no longer my foster parents, and they are the last people I want to drag into this mess.
I smile when Stone’s lips brush against the back of my hand. He parks the car and turns it off, but neither of us rush to get out. I peek at the sky, watching the gray clouds disappear.
“What are you thinking?”
His voice is soothing but not enough to ease my dread. I shrug instead of saying anything. Stone tugs on my hand, and somehow, I end up straddling his lap in the driver’s seat. My knee digs into the seatbelt when Stone slowly slides his seat backward.
My hair is a curtain around us, shielding the way he’s looking up at me like he wants to pull every last thought out of my head.
“What’s on your mind, Sticks?”
My lips part, and his eyebrow rises.
There is no point in hiding things from him. Stone recognizes all my defense mechanisms now, and he’s starting to know all my secrets too.
I sigh. “I’m nervous. There, I said it. I’m nervous to see her.”
I fail at my attempt to climb off Stone’s lap. His fingers dig into my hip bones, keeping me hostage. His blue eyes look darker than normal against my shadow, yet I can’t stop falling into them like they’re some sort of trap.
“You’re nervous?” he asks, leaning back farther against his leather seat.
My lip is sore from all the nibbling I’ve been doing during the drive. I don’t even realize I’m doing it again until Stone reaches out and pops it free from my teeth.
“I can help with that,” he whispers. He drags his finger across my lower belly.
“Stone,” I chastise.
My stomach clenches, and I swing my gaze around to see if anyone is looking through the windows.
“They’re tinted.”
Not only is he starting to know my secrets, but he can suddenly read my mind too.
“We shouldn’t.” I hear the strain in my voice.
Stone smirks.
“We should.” His neck works with a slow swallow, and my thighs squeeze around him. “Let me calm you down.”
I laugh. “This is the opposite of calming me down.” My heart is thumping wildly with thoughts of his touch, and it only gets worse when he tilts his hips to meet the throbbing between my legs.
I am not someone who likes public displays. Unless I’m with Stone.
“Shit.” I arch my back when his finger slips in the front of my pants. “ Stone .”
He shushes me and creeps past my panties.
“You’ll be calmer after I make you come, so don’t hold out on me.”
I gasp and thrust my hips forward. His finger dips inside, and he curses. My cheeks flush when his nostrils flare.
“Your cunt is always so wet for me, and I fucking love it.”
God. I move against him, and it doesn’t take long for me to crave the rough heel of his hand scraping against my clit.
“That’s it,” he encourages, moving his fingers in and out of me, playing with my pussy like he owns it.
I dig my nails into the leather seat behind his head and work my body, chasing the high. He is right. This is a total distraction.
“Fuck,” he groans.
My nipple puckers when air brushes against it, and Stone’s hot tongue flicks it before he tugs the bud into his mouth.
“I want to fuck you.”
“Do it,” I whisper. “I’m yours.”
My words are lazy with pleasure, and my eyes start to close. I rock my hips, and my hair tumbles down my back.
“Then I couldn’t watch you come all over my hand like you’re my own dirty little slut.”
His words send me over the edge, and I break. The tugging of my hair burns my scalp, and Stone hooks his fingers inside even farther, sending another bout of pleasure down my body.
“Oh my God,” I cry, still grinding against his hand until my high fades.
Stone’s breathing is labored, and when he pulls his hand out of my pants, I’m slightly mortified at how wet his fingers are. His eyes harden when he puts his fingers in his mouth, and the hollow parts of his cheeks deepen right before he pops them out.
“Fucking delicious.”
I am a total fucking goner for him.
“Feel better?”
I nod, and it takes me a minute to remember where we are.
“Then let’s go see this Mary-Lou woman and figure out who’s trying to get information on my girl.” He buttons my jeans and taps my leg, flicking his head to the passenger seat.
I climb over the center console, flushed and sweaty and completely dazed.
Stone opens his door and is on my side before I can even step out onto the pavement.
His damp finger lands on my chin, and he tilts my face. “It’s not your fault.”
“What isn’t?” I rasp.
“Mary-Lou being assaulted.”
I go to argue, because it is my fault, but he pushes me against the side of his car and presses his hard length into my stomach. “But this…”
My hand is suddenly cupping him.
“Is.” He winks and pulls me forward, leading us to the hospital entrance. “Just think of your reward for later.”
A smile plays against my lips, and that’s when I notice my belly isn’t full of nerves anymore but something else entirely.
Stone knows me better than I know myself.
* * *
It is worse than I thought. Stone’s hand lands on my lower back when we step into her room, because he knows that I need stability even if I refuse to admit it.
Mary-Lou’s blackened face peeks up over her book, and she freezes. “Wren? What are you doing here, sweetie?”
Sweetie. If I were her, I’d hate me.
The gray-blue shade beneath her eyes is the first thing I see. My mouth opens but quickly snaps closed when I see her wince. She’s climbing out of her bed, and she’s in front of me before I can even fathom a word.
“I’m sor—”
Stone’s hand never leaves my back, even as I’m wrapped in Mary-Lou’s familiar embrace.
“It’s not your fault, Wren.”
“That’s what I keep telling her.” Stone’s smooth voice commands the room.
Mary-Lou smiles at him. “Stone Foster.”
“That’s me,” he answers, leading me to the chair off to the side.
Mary-Lou slowly walks back to her bed and sits on the edge.
“How do you know Stone?” I ask.
“I know his father. I’ve seen him command a courtroom like no other.”
Stone’s growl isn’t noticeable to her, but it is to me.
“Please tell me you didn’t come all this way to tell me sorry, Wren.”
I open my mouth, prepared to apologize once more, but Stone stretches his legs out in front of himself and drops the bomb.
“We came to figure out what was in her file.”
What wasn’t in my file is the real question.
Mary-Lou nods. We all stay silent as a nurse waltzes into the room and has her sign some paperwork. She’s being discharged, which is a relief to me.
As soon as the door clicks shut, Mary-Lou goes into social-worker mode and asks the same questions she used to ask when I was in her care, but I stop her.
“My dad is still in prison, but I’m certain this has something to do with him.”
Even through the swelling along her face, I see the hesitation. I squint, and Stone stiffens beside me. Wait.
“What do you two know that I don’t?” I bounce my attention back and forth between them. My pulse thrums violently.
Stone won’t look at me.
“He’s appealing his conviction.”
The room spins. It takes Stone’s palm on my thigh to bring me back. “H-how? No. Is he out?” I turn to Mary-Lou. “Was he the one who assaulted you?”
“No, not that I would be surprised if he did. I’ve taken you away from him too many times to count.” Her soft laugh is sarcastic.
I can’t muster up the energy to match it.
“Did they take the entire file?” Stone asks. His hand stays on my thigh as it bounces up and down.
She winces with the shake of her head. “No. They took one sheet. The rest was thrown at me.”
Thrown at her.
I picture her bleeding and crumpled on the floor of her office with papers covering her bloody body. I tremble, and Stone briefly looks at me with his heavy brow and disapproving scowl.
Mary-Lou interrupts our moment. “They took the sheet that had your previous foster parents’ information on it. I suspect he’s looking for your address, thinking you’re still living with the Mitchells.”
Stone and I know that can’t be accurate. My dad knows exactly where I am, and the same men who broke into her office were probably the same ones who ransacked my bedroom.
The rest of the time spent with Mary-Lou is a blur. She asks me about school and makes an obvious effort to avoid bringing up my father. He may be the reason I’m face to face with my old social worker again, but she’s never been one to spend much time talking about the negative.
After giving her a gentle hug and apologizing for the hundredth time, which she and Stone reprimand me for, Stone leads me to his car. I sit in the seat and stay silent, focusing on the revving of his motor.
“Did you know?” My voice is a rasp.
“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t?”
I suck in a breath. Boyfriend? Is that what he is? I’m well aware of how concerning it is for me to smile, but I do it anyway. I only let the slip in my emotions last a second.
I wait until he presses on the gas to mumble, “A lying one, I guess.”
His neck snaps. I fly forward when his foot hits the brake, halting us in the middle of the parking lot.
“What did you just say?”
“Don’t hide stuff from me, Stone. I don’t like it.”
He stares at me with his soul-sucking blue eyes and then smiles like the devil. “But you like it when I call myself your boyfriend, don’t you?”
“No.”
“Now who’s lying?”
I cross my arms in defeat, and he presses on the gas, flinging me backward.
“Don’t worry, baby. I fully plan on making you admit how much you love the idea of me being your boyfriend later.”
I press my lips together at the same time my thighs clench.
Boyfriend or not, I kind of hate him.