Heart of Stone - Book 2: Hearts Collide
Chapter 25 - Aubree (Part 1)

Aubree spent the next hour chatting with Gwen, Gavin, and Alistair on the couches in the living room. By the time Stone finished his meeting with Gunner, it was time for the pack to head out.

As soon as they were gone, he ran his hand through his hair before realizing it was coated in dirt.

“Give me a few minutes to shower up and then meet me in our bedroom,” he said.

She nodded and made a mental note to herself.

Their bedroom. Not his bedroom.

She returned to the kitchen and chewed on her thumbnail as she paced around a bit. She had no idea what he was thinking. She couldn’t tell from his expression if they had come to any good conclusions or not.

Gwen had tried to break into Stone and Gunner’s mental conversation and eavesdrop for a bit, but couldn’t.

They were all left in the dark until one of them said something to the other. And apparently, it wasn’t going to be Gunner to spill the beans. Stone was going to tell Aubree first before he said anything to the others—if he was going to say anything to them.

Aubree looked out the sliding glass door to the sun getting lower in the western sky. It wasn’t about to set for another two hours or so, but with night approaching, she was once again reminded of the threat out there looking to kill her.

It had only been a few short weeks since she first met Stone. In about another week’s time, she’d be going south to Arizona with him to meet the Spirit Walker.

She prayed to God, or whoever she should pray to, that everything would work out. That whatever message they received from the Spirit World would solve some, if not all, of their problems. Such a hope seemed almost impossible at this time now, but she dared to hold onto it.

Taking a deep breath, she turned from the sliding door overlooking the patio, and walked through the archway into the living room, across the hardwood floors to the stairs on the other side, and began to slowly climb up them.

The sound of running water drifted over her the closer she came to Stone’s—their—room. By the time she reached the top of the staircase and walked into the room, the water turned off. Knowing that he would be a few more minutes, she went to the shelves next to the bed and looked at the pictures of Gavin and Gwen. She hadn’t taken the time to look at them again since her first night there.

She felt different when she looked at them now. Having lived with them, and gotten to know them better, she felt love warm her heart and she smiled as her eyes took in the details of each picture.

Hearing the bathroom door open, she didn’t turn around, knowing that he would come to her.

She couldn’t help but smile at the picture of Gavin in the fifties, eating his hamburger with his signature little smile. And Gwen, some thirty years ago, laughing at the Grand Canyon.

She could see why these pictures were precious to Stone. They were precious to her too.

While she couldn’t pick up on his silent movements across the room, she could feel his presence as he came up behind her.

“Are you admiring my treasures?”

She hummed in confirmation. They certainly were treasures that could never be replaced. “But there’s no picture of you here.”

“Why would I frame a picture of myself?”

She shrugged as she turned to face him standing a foot away. “You could still have a picture of the three of you together, you know, as a family.”

His large hands came up and held her arms. He rubbed them gently as he looked down at her. “Guinevere and Gawain have pictures like that. But whenever I look at them, I feel as though something is missing.”

“Oh,” she said, realizing that having a picture like that would only remind him of Adelaide and Arthur and how they were no longer in his life. “Sorry, I didn’t think about it like that.”

He shook his head. “Perhaps I dwell too much on the past, but it’s hard to let go.” His voice softened. “When so much has been taken from you, it’s hard to let it go.”

Pressing his forehead to hers, he slid his hands up her shoulders. He rubbed the corner of her jaw under her ears with his thumbs, which sent a jolt of pleasure to shoot up her spine.

“You like that?” he asked when she gasped and closed her eyes.

She nodded as her thrumming pulse continued to race under his gentle caresses. She opened her eyes to see him gazing down at her, a look of adoration and tenderness shining in his deep blues. Her heart swelled, feeling as though he was pulling her in closer to him, despite having not moved an inch. Warmth enveloped her, not a feeling she recognized as desire, but one much deeper. A feeling of complete and utter devotion. He didn’t say it, but he didn’t have to. She could feel the love he had for her coursing through her blood, pumped by her pounding heart.

A smile tugged on her lips as he slid his thumbs slowly down along her jaw. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his, relishing in the feeling of being so close to him and gazing so deeply into his eyes. Her stomach tumbled in excitement when his thumbs reached her chin and he cupped her cheeks in his palms. Her eyelids fluttered when his gaze flicked down to her lips before a spark of desire lit up within her.

“I need practice, Röslein,” he said in a low, husky voice. “We determined that with practice, I might be able to avoid marking you. I can’t finish what we start today, but if I practice enough, I might be able to one day. It will take a great deal of control on my part, but I will need your help in case I lose control.”

“How?” she asked, not liking the fact that he wasn’t kissing her like she wanted him to. Like he wanted to. She could feel his desire building but he was holding himself back.

How much more control did he need?