Heart of Stone - Book 2: Hearts Collide
Chapter 19 - Aubree (Part 1)

The next few days fell into a pattern.

Stone, Gwen, Gunner, and Alistair left the house in the evening and came back in the morning. Sometimes, Stone joined her in bed after showering, and sometimes he stayed up for a few hours before going to bed. When that happened, Aubree was up, had breakfast, and joined him in his office. She would sit in the chair across from his desk and read a book, looking up occasionally to watch him work. He made a lot of calls, but she didn’t understand a word he said because he spoke in another language. Sometimes he wore reading glasses when he did some paperwork, which gave him a completely different persona.

“This kind of work is straining on my eyes,” he told her when she asked about it. “Reading glasses helps.”

He’d been more cautious since her period started. Either that or the smell of her blood turned him off. He was more gentle and tender when he touched her. His kisses were sweet and chaste, as if he was afraid he would hurt her.

Everyone seemed more cautious around her, actually. It was embarrassing, like she had a bright red dot in the middle of her forehead that announced she was on her period.

It was also kind of funny. The guys were the most awkward, even more so than human guys when they found out a girl was on her period. They kept asking if she was in pain and if they could get her anything. She’d seen them all blushing and rubbing the backs of their necks with looks of worry, concern, or pure awkwardness like they wanted to do something but didn’t know what.

Gwen and Rosemary were uncomfortable too, but not as much, and they got over it faster.

She spent a great chunk of time alone in the house while Stone and the others slept, and Gavin, Hector, and Rosemary were out. It wasn’t until a few hours before the night crew headed out that she had some companionship for a few hours, followed by a few hours of time spent with Rosemary, Hector, and Gavin.

Aubree was okay with that. She needed some time to herself to reflect.

She called her parents to tell them the news. They didn’t take it well, especially her mother. Aubree had to hang up on her and turn off her phone when she couldn’t get her mother to listen to a word she said.

She mourned the ending of her relationship with Dan. Remembering all of the good times, along with the few arguments they had, had her curling up on one of the sofas in the living room, crying softly to herself.

She read through numerous texts and emails from both her mother, Brooke, and Dan. The messages from Dan were the hardest. Some were angry. Some were sad. All of them reflected his heartbroken state and she couldn’t bring herself to respond to any of them. She’d start, but could never get past the first sentence.

All she could say was, I’m sorry.

She knew it was cruel to not answer, but when she couldn’t tell him the truth, she didn’t know what to say. It pained her to hurt him like this, but she didn’t know what else to do.

He deserved more closure and, like a coward, she avoided confrontation.

Afterward, she would crawl into bed with Stone again and cuddle up to him. In his half-asleep state, he would nuzzle her neck and kiss her before sighing and drifting back to sleep.

She fell asleep often in his arms for a few hours. His warmth and peace soothed away the aches and eased the harsh thoughts that raged through her mind.

She struggled to sleep most nights. Waking up from nightmares involving vampires and other creatures that lurked in dark shadows that she could never see clearly. Or she would dream of Dan being killed by the vampire that nearly strangled her to death. She would wake up, drenched in sweat and gasping for air, and there was no one around to console her.

The morning after her period cleared, Stone came back late, around noon, immediately showered, and went to bed.

He held her close and nuzzled her hair. He sighed contently. “You smell normal now.”

She smirked to herself. “Does that mean everyone will stop tip-toeing around me now?”

He nodded, his nose tickling the back of her neck and making her pull away with a giggle.

“Why did you come home so late?” she asked.

“Mhm. Meeting with Colten, Alpha of the North Fang Pack,” he murmured. “You missed me?”

Heat rushed to her face. “Maybe.”

“Mhm,” was all he could manage to say before sleep took him and his breathing became heavy.

Truth was, she had missed him. She was becoming increasingly lonely with everyone either out or sleeping. With only a few hours of interaction between each coming and going, the periods of isolation were getting harder with each passing day. With only her thoughts to keep her company, the guilt and loneliness were beginning to eat away at her.

She wanted to spend more time with Stone but knew he was constantly busy to keep her safe.

Still, she couldn’t help wondering if this was how her life would be from now on. Living one day at a time, watching the others coming and going while she remained locked behind closed doors?

While she cared for all of them more and more each day, she couldn’t help but feel trapped within the house. It was her own personal prison and it only added to the mixture of emotions she was feeling regarding Dan, the family she would never have, and the life she gave up.

She looked up at Stone’s sleeping face as her eyes welled with tears.

She wanted so much to love him.

Carefully, she slipped away from his arms and went down into the kitchen, where she stared out the sliding glass door and let her tears fall down her cheeks.

I want to love you.

She pressed her palm against the cool glass, then leaned her forehead against it as she closed her eyes.

She knew she had to talk to him. She didn’t know what to say, or how to say it. She understood the varying degrees of danger her life was in, the players involved, and the possible outcomes that all contributed to her current way of life, but there had to be more than this?