Lie to Me (18 page)

“You’re naked,” she said, a rush of excitement jazzed along her nerves. As a teen she’d dreamed about being in his naked arms. As a woman, she’d never allowed herself to traverse that road.

Stone brushed hair off her face and neck, before cupping her neck, his thumb swishing back and forth along her jaw. “You’re safe with me.” He kissed her forehead. “No one will ever hurt you again. I swear.”

Kella buried her face against his chest, sniffling back tears. That he offered her protection after all they’d been through surprised her. Had their roles been reversed, she wouldn’t be forgiving or show compassion.

“I’m a big girl. I don’t expect you to keep that promise come tomorrow.”

“Nothing’s changed, sunshine.” His lips moved against her forehead in an erotic kiss, a novel sensation for her. “You’ve been mine to protect since you were six.” The heat of his lips resulted in a surge of moisture between her thighs. “You’ve always been
mine
, Kella. I still want you, but I’ll let you go because that’s what you want. We’ll have to do it slowly, carefully, and together so there’ll be minimal questions, but even after you’re free, I’ll protect you.”

Finally, she’d have what she’d always wanted. Legal freedom. So why’d it unsettle her? And why would he make the offer? What was it in for him?

Of course he probably lied about granting her freedom. The perfect mind-fuck, giving her hope and then ripping it away cruelly.

Even if he told the truth, when he learned of the revolution she plotted against the spooners, he’d be singing a different tune. Probably leading the mob against her. To gain her liberty, she’d paid the hefty price of her virginity. Freeing all Xeno’s would most likely come at a higher price...her life.

“How do we move forward from here, Stone?” she’d asked a similar question earlier, and he’d avoided answering it.

“We’ll figure it out.”

She was sure anything they figured out, it’d be to his advantage, but she would survive whatever happened because she was a survivor. Her one goal was her freedom...and the liberty of other Xenos. But if independence were all that mattered, why’d she feel more alone than ever before now that he claimed he’d grant her one wish?

“Is that a vehicle? In the rain?” He tilted his head as if to improve his hearing.

“Probably Feeders. They’ve special wear for crimson rain.”

Stone shifted a little and retrieved a gun.

“Rest easy. If they’re out there, they already know we’re here. They’ll recognize my buggy, and know I’m taking shelter inside.” She’d put a chalk mark on the side near the door with an X and line drawn through the letter. If the Feeders were someone she knew, they’d recognize it as code that she wasn’t alone and to stay away.

“You seem sure of that.”

And he didn’t seem inclined to believe her. “Trust me, I’m knowledgeable about this world. They won’t hurt us, we’re safe, and Xeno’s are toxic to them anyway.”

Long moments lapsed. The rain pelting the airplane, and the drone of engines moved away, before he finally spoke. “Who hurt you, Kella?”

He’d been quiet so long she’d thought he’d fallen asleep. “How’d you know?”

“Easy to deduce. During your nightmare, you were...screaming and clutching at your stomach. I’ve never heard anyone scream like that.” Shifting his hand just slightly, he cupped her chin and tilted her head back. The soft glow of the heli lights gave him a gentle appearance, but she knew how intense he could be. Hell, her body thrummed just from her proximity to him. “Give me his name,” Stone demanded, his tone even, but she detected the rough edge to his request.

“What does it matter?” The beating she’d endured wasn’t something she wanted to talk about. “I was the victim, and now I’m a survivor, stronger for the attack.”

“I’m going to kill him.”

“Reaper beat you to it.”

“Unfortunately, I find myself suffering from a smidge of respect for your friend.”

A startled chuckle fell from her lips. “Trust me when I tell you he’s not seeking your respect.”

In response, he grunted. His thumb created circles on her throat, and he shifted their placement so that his other arm served as her pillow.

“I don’t know why, but I’m glad you kept your hair long.”

“Didn’t do it for you.” The funny quirk to his lips had her questioning the truth of that statement. “Are you still a virgin?”

“No, but I’m not interested in men either.”

“You really
are
a lesbian?”

It’d be so easy to say yes. Maybe his interest would wane if she lied, but for once in her life she elected to stick with honesty. “No. I’m not a lesbian either.” Kella sighed. “I sold myself a handful of times. I hated it, but it was the easiest way to get money and a lot of it. It’s how I kept food on the table and saved up enough to start my first dig.”

He stared at her, a hard glint entering his eyes, while his forehead smoothed out, and a white outline rimmed his mouth. “That makes me so angry I don’t know how to process it.”

“Yeah, it pissed Reaper off too. But the first time I did it, I cried the whole way through it, swore I’d never do it again, but we had to eat. And I was so hungry.” She shrugged. “It was easier the second time.”

“God, Kella, I never wanted that for you.”

“At least this way I got to pick who I was whored out to.”

He reached over her and slammed the fist of his other hand against the metal floor.

Kella flinched at the anger reflected in his eyes. “Wasn’t trying to make you mad. I thought you wanted the truth of what I’d become.”

“I want the truth.” He rolled to his back, dragging her against his side. “I just don’t like the truth.”

Snuggling into the crook of his arm, she wrapped an arm around his waist. Didn’t matter how much she told herself to put some space between them, this felt right, like old times. She missed these idle moments with him.

They were silent a long time, only their breathing, and the kippy’s whimpers as she snuggled at Kella’s backside breached the metal chamber.

“I want to understand why you took off, but I can’t justify your actions when I know what my intentions were. Can’t justify them when you should’ve known my intentions were honest. We were best friends. I’d promised you no one would ever buy you.”

She lingered on the memory of his father’s words that evening and what he said Stone intended for her. Those claims were in direct contradiction to Stone’s. Creating discord between him and his dad wasn’t going to weight her shoulders though. She knew Stone idolized his parent, so she gave him a portion of the truth. “I can’t help I felt betrayed. If I’d waited and talked to you, I’d have been trapped. I seized the moment.”

The back of his knuckles slid along her shoulder. “I did
not
betray you.”

Gooseflesh erupted along her flesh, and she throbbed between her thighs.
My husband stirs this response in me with a distracted touch
. She very much feared she’d made the worst mistake of her life ditching him. Then she thought of the girls in the video that would be released to the public soon. Those women had paid more than she had for their X-gene. She’d vowed to them that other Xenos would have a different future. She owed them for their sacrifice. If she’d done the safe thing and stayed with Stone, their lives would never have mattered.

“I want to be an asshole,” he said when she remained quiet. “I want to hurt you the way I’m hurt.”

She could tell him she was sorry, but the apology wouldn’t change anything. Wouldn’t ease his hurt even a little.

“James could be man enough to do it, and he wouldn’t lose sleep the way I would.”

“James
is
an asshole.”

“Unlike some, he’s loyal and trustworthy.”

She couldn’t argue with him there, nor did she miss the jab that she was neither. Ignoring the prod, she changed the subject. “Why’d you tattoo my name on your bicep?”

When he stripped down to wash the crimson rain off, she’d caught sight of the tattoo. A gray piece of work with a female angel kneeling, head bowed, and wings rising upward, with Kella’s name penned between them. Stunned by the ink, she’d also felt a surge of happiness.

“Did it on the morning of my twentieth birthday before being sworn in as Regent.” He’d inherited the position on his twentieth birthday because of a health issue Peter suffered. Kella had thought of him that day, a bittersweet moment since she’d felt like she should’ve been there to celebrate with him. “I wanted you to be there with me at least in spirit since you were
dead
. The irony. I memorialized you while you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“It fucking was, Kella.” The tension in his stomach testified to his anger simmering below the surface. “No matter how you try to spin it, fleeing was a very explicit rejection.”

“I didn’t want to be your wife!” Kella sat up. “Not like that. Not because I could bear you super babies but because you wanted me.
Me
.” She smacked her chest. “Just me, Stone, and not the X-gene. That’s not too much to ask of a husband.”

She gave a high-pitched squeak of surprise when he shoved Retro aside and flipped Kella to her back. Cool air hit her front after he jerked the blanket open. Stone settled over her, his pelvis coming to rest between her spread thighs. His erection pressed against her soaked core, wrenching a shocked gasp from her.

He sounded pained when he ground out, “Don’t move.”

She hadn’t realized she was until his fingers bit into her hip, immobilizing her. His other hand braced on the floor beside her head.

“Fuck, you’re soaking my cock, and I’m not even inside you.” Stone shook his head as if to clear his head. “I never gave a shit about the X-gene. I only ever cared about you. Only ever wanted you. You’re too caught up in social differences to see what you gave up.”

Her frustration was so high, she yelled at him. “Those social differences are unjust to my people! Get off me.”

Kella shoved at his shoulders, but he responded by pumping his hips, his dick slipping through her folds, drenching his length in her arousal. His crown caught her clit, and she whimpered. A grin curled the corners of his mouth as he pushed back through her crease, careful enough he never penetrated her. “You want me. You just don’t want to admit it.”

“I want you as much as I want to be your chattel.”

“Fucking liar.” Abruptly he lowered his upper body to cover hers, his chest mashing her breasts flat, and she had to bite her bottom lip to halt any moans of pleasure at their contact. His fingers tangled in her hair hard enough she gasped at the sting to her scalp. Instead of eliminating her desire, his rough treatment excited her. The gentle glide of his lips over hers caused her toes to curl and her breath to speed up. Their pants mingled as his eyes held hers...and his hips executed that slow pump causing his dick to slip along her pussy once more.

“Stone—” He cut her off with his mouth melding over hers. Without any thought into her actions, she opened beneath him, and his tongue thrust inside. At the first touch, he groaned, jerked her head to a harsher angle, and slid his tongue across hers. The kiss went on forever, but not long enough. Much too soon, he withdrew and kissed down her neck, and across her collarbone. Lower, his breath made damp, hot puffs against her nipple, but he froze there poised over her breast with one hand in her hair and the other clutching her hip.

“I want to fuck you,” he finally said as he released her hair and lifted his gaze to hers. His clenched jaw and the angry slant to his mouth demonstrated his wrath. “Fuck you silly. Use you for my own needs and shun you afterward. Give you a taste of your own medicine. Or better yet to decimate you with pleasure to show you what you rejected and then spurn you. It’d be the sweetest revenge.”

Tears stung her sinuses. The harsh words reminded her of the high price for freedom. In the end, none of her trials mattered. She was right back where she’d started owned by a man she wanted but couldn’t have.

“Every spooner I know eventually hurts me, Stone. I’m used to it, so do your best.”

Life had taught her to trust no one. First Stone had betrayed her. Next came her attacker. The streets had been rough, vendors throwing stones at her to run off the ‘scrabble’ as they’d called her because she was bad for business. In the beginning it’d seemed her own people didn’t want her, but the spooners only wanted to use her.

Thankfully, Reaper found her and taught her how to survive the streets, but even with him survival had been touch and go for a while. She’d been attacked a total of five times by men who thought she owed them something because she was poor and female. Reaper put two of them in an early grave, but the defensive skills he’d taught her aided her escape with the other three. And one of them had been her first kill. Not once had she ever regretted taking his life. It’d been a kill or die situation.

All men are pigs, except Reaper...and Creed
.

Regent Jones stepped up to the plate when things were finally looking up only to knock her down again. Her archeological digs had been her own, until he’d realized she had a talent for ferreting out the lucrative sites. Then he’d made her a deal. For the low, low price of fifty percent of her profits, he’d allow her the privilege of remaining in business. If those terms weren’t agreeable to her, he could set her up in another business more suited to her gender. She interpreted that to mean whoring.

All Regents are pigs.

Others of the privileged lowballed her with claims to Regent Jones’s “friends with benefits”, demanding a cheaper cost for high-priced goods. Like the frugal bastards couldn’t afford her price point. None of them cared she needed the cash to survive. If she refused, they’d inform the Regent of her refusal to work with them. She needed no one to spell out how that would end.

All spooners are pigs.

No one could be trusted, least of all Stone.

Stone’s sudden grip on her chin jerked her from her pensive thoughts. “All spooners hurt you. What does that mean?”

“I’d think it pretty obvious. But forget it. It’s mostly a pep talk to keep my chin up. Don’t give up just yet, I’m positive you’ll get creative and find another way to exact your revenge before we’re over.”