Page 136 of Property of Stone
That meant they were damn good. “Make you wet?”
“Hearing you coming up the steps did that for me.”
Fuck.
As soon as he closed in on where she was sitting up against the headboard, she grabbed his hand and yanked on it. But before he could join her in bed, she froze and inspected his slightly busted knuckles.
“Holy shit! What happened to your hand?” She glanced up at his face, suspicion clear in her narrowed eyes.
He wouldn’t lie to her but he also wouldn’t tell her the truth.
Stone slipped his hand from hers and went over to his dresser. “Told you before, don’t ask questions you don’t wanna know the answers to. Had a job to do and that’s all you gotta know.”
“But—”
“Those fuckin’ jobs pay for the roof over our heads, the food in our kids’ guts, the gas to take them where they need to go.”
“A legit job would do the same.”
He shot her an annoyed look over his shoulder.
She sighed.
“Gotta do this dance again, Taryn? This is my fuckin’ life. You might not like it but gotta accept it if you’re gonna live in my world. Ain’t changin’ for anyone.”
“Even for Sunny?”
“Everythin’ I fuckin’ do ends up benefittin’ her.” His kid wanted for nothing. If Sunny needed something, he got it for her. Being a part of the Kings made that happen.
He unhooked the chain from his wallet, slipped it from his back pocket, and set it on top of his dresser.
Behind him, he heard Taryn put her tablet aside and the bed shift. Seconds later, she hugged her arms tightly around his waist and pressed a kiss to his back. “Not if you lose your freedom.”
He finished sliding his belt out of the loops, set that on the dresser too, and turned within her arms. He dropped his head and captured her gaze. “Would you be upset if I did?”
“Of course, I would.”
“‘Cause you’d be stuck with the kids?”
“I can handle the kids. Especially now that Sunny is warming up to both me and Wren. But that’s not why.”
“Then what would it be?” When her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip and her eyes flicked to the side, one side of his mouth pulled up. Just what he thought. “You’d miss me.”
Her blue eyes flicked back to him. “Okay, I’ll admit it. I would miss you.”
His grin expanded into a smile. “Like hearin’ that.”
“I don’t want to miss you.”
“I like fuckin’ you a lot, too.”
“This has nothing to do with—” She pulled in a breath and blinked.
“What’s it gotta do with?” Stone already knew the answer, even if she didn’t want to say it.
He knew because he might be experiencing the same shit. Only, he tried not to think about it because he didn’t go into this agreement with her in an attempt to change his life.
And, for fuck’s sake, because of her, itwasslowly changing.
