Inevitable (Stonewood Brothers, #1)

by Shain Rose

“How do you look away?” Her brow was furrowed like she thought she would be lost in the view forever. Stepping in behind her, I whispered into her ear, “I put something in front of me that’s better.”

“This is nonnegotiable, Sweet Sin.”

“We don’t have a lot of time and this isn’t us getting over anything or being friends. It shouldn't be happening.”

They were so fucking green in that moment, I could have written a song about the damn vividness of the color. I almost stopped everything to try to capture that damn look, this woman, with words in a song. That scared me enough to shake me into commanding what I knew would be a moment I'd never forget.

“That's all you get, Sweet Sin. If I want to take my clothes off, then I will. You, on the other hand, will do what I say.”

“Is this what you mean by putting something better in front of your view? You bring women here and just command them around like you own everything in this city?”

“You're so wet. You want to stop just because someone might catch a glance of you out the window?”

When her hands began to slide from the window, I slid my hand from the small of her back all the way to the nape of her neck and leaned in to tell her we weren't finished yet. I was starting to realize we would never be.

His hand slid up my thigh and rubbed the inside of it with his thumb. Back and forth. Back and forth. Like he used to do so many years ago.

I had no control in the situation, I was at his mercy and his disposal. Yet, it was the most liberated and alive I'd felt in so long. My heart pumped blood under his thumb on my neck, and I swore it pumped stronger than it ever had before. My skin tingled where he pushed at my back, and I could feel his breath on my shoulder, the air around us shook with tension.

He'd trumped every other male in the world with just the way he looked at me. The dominance and hunger in that stare was enough to make me sacrifice everything.

“You choosing to be polite when my cock's still in you, Whitfield?”

“Not happening. You with someone else while we're doing this …” He growled and ran his hands through his hair. “Don't do it, Whitfield. I don't handle jealousy well when it comes to you.”

“Fine. Logically, I'm territorial of you. Even though it was six years ago since you were exclusively mine.”

“Logically, I only want to fuck you even in the midst of fucking someone else …”

“Logically, the idea of you fucking someone even if you are thinking of me makes me see red, Sweet Sin.” He dropped his pants and pushed his body against mine to walk me back into his bed. “Logically, you're mine and I don't share.”

“The timing always matters, Jax. Our timing will never be right. This could be perfect for us. You and me, getting over each other by keeping it casual and—”

“You have your demons, and I have mine. We couldn't possibly do well tied to each other exclusively. You have to know that, considering all your relationships.”

“How? How can I see where we’d go when where it went before wrecked me? You go to see him still, Jax. And every time you go, it nearly kills me. There are so many unknowns and so many questions.”

“You did. You overcame him every day by surviving him and being there for your mom. I met my worst fear and that monster when I was eighteen, running into that fire. Before that, I’d only been scared to let my dad down or scared my mom would ground me for some shit. One day I was living an easy life, the next I was standing between you and death.”

“I chose to let him die too. It just ended up being your mother who we lost instead.”

“Father always kept the keys on him, and you’ve never—not once—done something without calculating the odds. I knew, Jax.”

“It wasn't just about knowing you could move on without facing him because I couldn't. It started out like it was about you, and now, it’s an addiction to bring him to his knees, to leave him with nothing.”

“Don’t make me carry you out of here.” “I’d love to see you try.”

“So, I guess I should leave with you both.” Her voice was resigned like it was the only option. “I’m fine with a threesome but it won’t be the best PR.”

"Oh, yes. We have breakfast with my brother in an hour or two and you have to shake some of this hangover."

“Put on the damn clothes before I decide to take advantage of you in my shirt instead, Whitfield.”

Inevitable. He’d said it before in describing us. And so had I. Inevitable.

“If another man calls you ‘little dancer’ or touches you the way Bastian did in front of me again, Whitfield, there won’t be any force needed for me to dismember him slowly and deliberately.”

“A lot of time has been wasted and I’m not willing to waste anymore. You see her, you’ll be seeing me.”

“Jay, if we could have forgotten each other, maybe we would have. But she wasn’t ever okay without me. Just like I wasn’t okay without her.”

“Everything she does without me is an act, a fucking way to get through the day. I know it because I do the exact same thing. You want your best friend, you get me along with her. And you damn well know it.” Jay pushed his plate away. “You think I don’t know that I only get half of Brey when she’s mourning the loss of you after you can’t fucking pick up the phone and call her? You think I don’t know her pain when you go visit that fucking guy in prison with no explanation?”

I’m not a fucking fly on the wall. I’m a woman, or maybe still a girl, but I get to be as reckless or conservative as I want because it’s my life.” I stared both of them down. “Mine. No one else’s.”

He looks at you like the sun on the water.”

“Plus, he’s gotta be phenomenal in bed. For that alone, give the happily ever after a go for even the story of it.”

“I’m not in the mood to drag you to this car, Whitfield. Especially after traipsing all over Chicago for you today. Move your ass.”

“I can hear Aubrey just about to get off, and Jax, I know exactly how you look with your clothes off. I can picture everything. So, I suggest you both stop to discuss this.”

“Isabel, no one gives a fuck what you hear.”

“Alice, end call.” She gazed up at me and questioned, “I thought you wanted an audience?” “I want what turns you on, and thinking someone is listening, makes you fucking crazy.” She smiled. “But you only come for me.”

“I’m not moving my hand until you tell me what’s going on. You’re jumpy as hell and it’s making me jumpy. I don’t do jumpy, Whitfield. This is supposed to be a vacation before my app launch this weekend.”

“The kids there can handle just about anything. Okay? But they can’t handle having a celebrity come in and make empty promises or anything like that. If you come with me, you have to remember that. And ... just ... they mean a lot to me.”

“They should mean a lot to everyone, really. They’re kids. Kids are the next generation, and they have so much to offer. They just haven’t been given a chance. And plus, they’re still growing ...”

“Getting answers and making him move. He’s only going to listen to what he thinks is another man’s reason.” She was vibrating near me with rage as she walked quickly toward my car. “You better be right, Jax. I swear to God, she’s only seven and if we can’t find her …” “I’ll tear apart this whole fucking reservation if we can’t, Whitfield, starting with that man sitting in my car.”

“I’ve never been so close to wanting to leave someone for dead than I was with him.” I didn’t look away from her. “I have. And I’ll do it again and again for you if I have to.”

It felt the exact same. Time slowed. Sounds faded away. The red-and-blue lights from the squad car lost their color. I heard her breathing, mine synced to it.

And what if? What if we hadn’t come today? What if Jax hadn’t schmoozed the cop? What if her mom didn’t remember what had happened?

“Are you threatening a man in uniform?” “I never threaten anyone.” “Then, what would you call that?” “A complimentary warning that you won’t get again.”

“Jerry was wrong to hit you,” I

“This is your daughter. You are her mother. You are all she has. Don’t do what my mom did. Don’t lie for him.”

“Jurisdiction is tricky when it comes to kids on the reservation. The Tribal Police will most likely have to charge him.”