Stone Cold Charade (A Stone Family Novel) (8 page)

The long sequined red dress that Amanda
wore appeared to have been spray painted on her very elegant, willowy body. She
was around the same age as Ty and he obviously preferred her type. Amanda was a
lot more sophisticated than Alex would ever be. The fact that he couldn’t even
be bothered to be polite to her anymore, drove that point home.

Why it surprised her after he hadn’t
even come over to congratulate her at her graduation ceremony, she didn’t know.
It stung, realizing that he cared so little for her. It was her big day.
However, he had made it abundantly clear that he had been there only for Jenny,
not for her. Just as he made it clear that he was now here for Amanda, and not
her. She was so tired of arguing with him all the time. She missed her friend.
If Alex couldn’t have his love, she at least wished she could have his
friendship. Now even that was slipping away. Ty and Amanda were dancing as if
they were the only ones in the room, so absorbed in each other that nothing
seemed to matter but holding one another.

Dane noticed her eyes filling with
unshed tears as her gaze followed the couple on the dance floor and placed his
arm around her. “Cheer up. He doesn’t know what he’s missing,” he wiggled his
eyebrows in an attempt to distract her.

Alex laughed at his antics.
Dane is a
real sweetheart, his girlfriend is one lucky girl
, she mused. Leaning over,
she placed a kiss on his reddening cheek.

Seeing the kiss, Ty felt as if someone
had punched him in the gut, hard. He wanted to take the kid’s head off with his
bare hands, but knew it would just cause a scene. Instead, he drew Amanda
closer into his embrace and tried to forget about Alex making cow eyes at the
kid.

“You’re sweet. Thanks for trying to
cheer me up, but I don’t think anything can help. It was nice that you gave it
a shot though,” she smiled, still looking hopelessly at Ty.

She thought bitterly,
Ty won’t be
spending the evening alone in bed judging by the way they’re carrying on
.
They had been seeing each other for the last year, and she wasn’t a child
anymore. She knew what went on between a man and woman in the bedroom. She just
hated the idea of Amanda and Ty together in that way. Whenever she thought
about it, a piece of her seemed to shrivel and die.

“Don’t eat your heart out over him. You
can do much better ya know.” Alex’s face registered her shock. “It’s pretty
hard to miss how you feel, it’s written all over your face,” he stated
sympathetically.

“I didn’t know it was so… obvious!” she
whispered, looking at Dane.

“Hey, don’t sweat it! Besides, I don’t
think he’s as unaffected as he pretends. When you leaned over to kiss me, I
think he was contemplating ways to have me killed! And slowly too if that
murderous look was any indication,” he replied softly near her ear.

Giving her hand a quick squeeze, he
strolled away.

Not wanting to stand around eating her
heart out, Alex left the living room and walked down the hall in search of some
fresh air in the back yard.

Passing through the kitchen, she decided
to get a drink of water from the porcelain sink. She
opened
a white painted cupboard she suspected held glasses and reach for one. Hearing
the swing of the door behind her, she closed the cabinet.

“Playing with the big boys will get you
into trouble little girl,” Ty’s voice warned coldly from behind her. Seeing her
body go rigid from the tone of his voice, he stormed further into the low-lit
room, grateful they were alone.

“I know how to take care of myself,
thank you!” Alex stated dramatically. Placing the clear glass on the tile
counter she turned around to glare frostily at him. She raised her chin
stubbornly and crossed her arms over her chest. “If I want to play with the big
boys I can handle it. I’m not a child,” she leaned casually against the
counter, wanting to show him he couldn’t intimidate her.

Ty stalked purposefully across the short
distance, his gaze sliding down her figure and back up again, a visual touch
that made her body sit up and scream! No one had ever looked at her like that!
It was as if he had actually stroked her. The way his eyes were roaming over
her held a heat in them she had never seen before. It was causing her heart to
speed up and her nerves to quiver.

For the second time that night she
wondered what had gotten into Ty. If she didn’t know better she would think he
was jealous, as Dane suggested. Or, had he finally realized she was not a kid
any more, that she was now a woman and could date whomever she liked, whether
he liked them or not?

Crowding her, he placed his large,
tanned hands on the surface to either side of her, imprisoning her against its
hard surface. Alex straightened, trying to move further away from contact with
his body, only to find she was trapped as she felt the cold counter pressing
into her back.

His gaze relentlessly probed her face,
looking for some sign that she longed for him as much as he burned for her.
Looking at her soft young mouth he silently confessed how much he wanted it
under his. But, he knew that if he kissed her, he would never get enough of her
sweet taste.

Alex could smell his spicy cologne and
the mouthwash he used as he leaned forward, placing his frame along hers. She
knew he was trying to intimate her, but she didn’t understand why. He was
standing so close that she could see his eyes change to a blue so dark they
were almost black. She couldn’t let him know that his nearness was causing her
body to respond, just not in the way he wanted. If anything, her body was
screaming for her to lean into him and let him hold her like he used to. She
wanted to feel him just one more time, as if he still cared for her.

His breathing turned ragged in his chest
as he realized her body was responding to the nearness of his. He caught her
hand and raised it to his mouth slowly, nipping at her fingertips, intrigued as
her eyes darkened and flared with desire and surprise through the lenses of her
glasses. Her breath caught in her throat, and he could see she was as affected as
he was by the desire that sparked between them.

“Still think you want to play with the
big boys? You don’t even know what playing is little girl, but I’d be more than
happy to show you,” he growled huskily.

His eyes were steady on her bow shaped
mouth, waiting for them to part for his kiss. He bent his head so that he was
positioned just above her, leaning forward he bit softly on her alluring lower
lip, and traced them with his tongue. Holding her gaze and stepping closer he
let her feel his desire for her as he watched her eyes flare with passion.

Feeling as if her legs would give out,
she reached up and laid her shaking hands on his broad chest to steady her
quivering legs. Was this his way of punishing her, or was he as incapable as
she was to stop what was happening between them? As she felt his heart pounding
uncontrollably through his sports jacket, she marveled in the knowledge that he
was just as powerless as she was!

Was it possible that he had deeper
feelings for her? It’s what she had waited, and longed for, for so long. He
gaze was fixed on him, feeling as if the world was spinning slowly out of
control and the only thing that mattered was his hungry mouth on hers.

Taking her by surprise he lifted her
onto the counter and reached up, removing her glasses to place them beside her.
Nudging her legs apart so he could place his body between them, he slid his
hand to the base of her spine bringing her hips forward into an embrace that
was as intimate as they could get with their clothes still on. He groaned as he
let her softness absorb his hardness.

Looking into her eyes, he said, “Open
your mouth little one. I may not get to be your first lover, but I’ll be damned
if I’ll let someone else teach you this! I’ll at least be the first to taste
that sweet mouth.”

Reveling in her moan as he placed his
lips over hers, he slid his tongue over her lips and then penetrated the soft
recesses of her mouth. The intimacy of the kiss shook him. He made a gruff
sound deep in his throat and dragged her hips closer to his. He had dreamt
about her mouth for so long it was heaven and hell to have it under his as he
taught her how to return his kiss.

He was going up in flames, but he
couldn’t seem to control himself, wanting all of her in that moment. He knew he
couldn’t let things get out of hand, but he had to experience her just this
once. He had to know if she was as soft as he had dreamed. He slid his hands up
her rib cage feeling the under swell of her breasts through her blouse.

His gentle touch was making her ache in
exquisite places. She had never in her wildest dreams thought it would feel
like this. She had always wondered what it would be like to have him kiss her.
She couldn’t believe it was really happening. The feel of his mouth on hers,
and his hands on her body, was causing her breasts to ache with a sweet pain.
Breaking the kiss to catch his breath, he leaned his forehead against hers and
looked into her desire glazed eyes.

“I know what you need, and I know you
can tell how aroused I am, but I’m not going to hurt you little one. I just
want to share a little loving with you. I won’t let things get out of hand,” he
whispered softly to her.

She watched his lips move, and didn’t
understand what he meant until he moved his hands under her blouse. He studied
her eyes to gauge her reaction to this new intimacy they were sharing. She was
astonished by the emotions rising through her body because of the way he was
touching her. She knew she could trust him with her body and her heart.

“Just relax baby let me touch you,” he
said coaxingly.

When she didn’t protest, he skimmed his
hand over her tender breasts, barely touching her to allow her time to adjust
to his caresses. Her eyes closed in pleasure, her head falling back on her neck
as if she did not have the strength to hold it up any longer.

Moving her bra out of his way so he
could reach her bare breasts, he said hungrily, “God, it’s so sweet.”

Gripping the back of her head, he
brought her mouth under his again. His fingers grazed the hard tips of her
breasts. He heard her whimper as she twisted her upper body trying to draw his
whole hand over her breast.

When he finally took the weight of her
in his palm, Alex felt like her heart was going to explode. It was too much.
Her whole body was shaking from the force of her desire. Her fingers were
biting into his arms and she was shivering and making noises deep in her
throat, amazed at her own abandonment in his arms. Her body felt so alive! She
moved her hips, slanting them up to meet his. Trying to get closer to him, to appease
the hunger that gripped her for the first time in her young life, she clung to
him helplessly.

He had barely touched her, and she was
quickly losing control. He knew he could take her right here and she wouldn’t
do anything to stop him, she was too far-gone. Anyone could walk in on them any
minute, but God she was sweet and uninhibited in his arms!

She is so willing and
giving
,
he thought, and knew he had to call a halt. Breaking the kiss, he pulled Alex
into his arms holding and rocking her while she came down from her desire,
taking advantage of the time to steady his own heart rate.

“Easy little one, it will pass. Just try
to relax. Breathe deeply honey,” he said softly.

She heard what Ty said, but her brain
was finding it hard to understand why he had stopped. As her breathing started
to slow, she opened her eyes and was horrified when she realized where they
were. She was painfully aware of how close she had come to completely
surrendering to him. She tensed in his arms and tried to push out of his
embrace.

He looked down at her confused face and
knew she was coming down from the desire that had been pulsating between them.
He could barely breathe, his gut still on fire. Groaning, he released her and
stocked away. Once he was safely across the room, he ran a frustrated and angry
hand through his hair, glaring at Alex with a frightening look in his dark
eyes.

“Think you still want to play with the
big boy's little girl?” He was silently dealing with the frustration eating
away at his insides and was powerless to do anything other than take it out on
her. He noticed how she slid slowly off the counter, her legs still not quite
steady under her, watched how the color rose in her flushed cheeks. She lowered
her head to hide her embarrassment, ashamed by what she had allowed him to do
to her body just moments before.

“That’s what this was about? Teaching me
a lesson? Was that it?” she asked in disbelief, not wanting to believe that he
was capable of that much cruelty, which is what he was implying.

She raised her head, a look of
uncertainty in her eyes as she faced him. She turned away quickly, scared he
was going to see how much his answer meant to her. She picked her glasses up
from the counter, feeling her hands go numb in shock. For one telling moment, she
tightened her hold around them, and then with mock calm placed them carefully
on her face. Alex felt all her dreams shatter to dust at her feet when he
replied.

“What did you think it was about, that I
was in love with you? It’s just sex, little girl. I could have taken you right
there on that counter without you making a single protest. Half the party could
have walked in and you wouldn’t have cared. If you don’t want to find your
pretty little backside on the front page of the gutter press, you may consider
where you take off your clothes. Just something you should think about if you
want to play in the big leagues.” He said it laughingly; mocking her, himself,
and his own stupidity for what he had almost let happen.