Stone (Knights Corruption MC Series Book 2) (17 page)

“Jesus, Dr. Weber. What is it?” I cried out.

He turned his body fully in my direction, his green eyes pinning me. Steeling his nerves, he blurted, “You’re pregnant.”

I zoned out for a brief moment, shutting down any reaction I should’ve had at him telling me I was going to have a baby. Would I have been happy if he hadn’t told me the other news? Would there have been a smile on my face and hope in my heart otherwise? I simply didn’t have an answer for such silly questions. The only thing I had to focus on was how a woman could carry to full term while having that poison inside her.

“That’s impossible,” I finally responded, a comforting numbness wrapping its cold arms around me, shielding me from feeling anything at all. Except surprise and denial, of course.

“Unfortunately, I’m afraid it’s not.”

Wanting to flee from his office and process the news in private, I urged him to finish. “So, what do we do now? Can I have treatment while I’m still pregnant? Will the chemo kill the fetus, or will it cause birth defects instead?” Being a nurse, I knew a lot about the human body, but this was definitely not my area of expertise, so I looked to him to guide me to the next step.

“Well,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. It was then I realized it wasn’t easy for him to have this talk with me, any more than it was for me to hear it. In that brief instant, I felt bad for Dr. Weber. “If you decide you want to keep the baby and try to carry to full term, we won’t start treatment until the second trimester, to help prevent birth defects as much as possible. I believe you’re around eight weeks pregnant, so that gives you a small window to make your decision. If you decide it’s in your best interest not to have the baby, then we can perform a therapeutic abortion and start treatment almost immediately.”

His words hung heavy in the air. I wanted so desperately for him to take them back but he couldn’t.

Fate had decided my future, or possibly the lack thereof.

Stone

I tried to not freak out, to not rush back to the hospital and kidnap her. To force her to come to me. I wasn’t a patient man by any stretch of the imagination, but I was smart enough to realize that, if I acted irrationally, I ran the risk of pushing Addy further away. Then I wouldn’t have a shot in hell.

To help ease some of my frustration, I took a quick shower, rinsing away all the dirt and blood from earlier, being careful not to ruin Addy’s handiwork. But the soothing water hadn’t helped, so after throwing on some clothes I took to pacing in my living room. When that didn’t work, I resorted to throwing back shots. But after four, I stopped. If . . . no,
when
she showed up, if I was drunk it would have the same effect as if I’d gone and stolen her from her job.

She wouldn’t give me the time of day to try and work things out.

Plopping down, I rested my head on the back of the couch and tried my best to calm down. Anxiousness gripped me tight, and I knew if she made me wait much longer I was gonna crawl right out of my goddamn skin.

The clock ticked by slowly and painfully. It was nearing ten at night, and although I didn’t like the thought of Addy traveling when it was dark out, I had no other choice if I wanted her to come over. Having forgotten to ask her what time she finished her shift, I reached for my phone and quickly dialed her number.

It rang only three times before her breathy voice caressed my eardrum. “Hello?”

“Where are you?” I asked, a sternness in my voice I hadn’t even realized was present. It was extremely frustrating waiting for her and I took it out on her in the first two seconds of hearing her voice. Berating myself, I instantly corrected my tone. “Are you done with work yet?”

“Yes,” she responded right away, but something seemed off. Her voice sounded raspy and raw.

“Were you crying, Addy?”

“I’ll be there soon,” she told me before disconnecting the call, completely ignoring my question. I redialed her number but it just rang and rang before going to voicemail. Trying two more times to reach her, I finally stopped and waited for her to show up.

Eighteen minutes later, I saw her headlights pierce the dark as she drove up my driveway. Striding toward the door, I thrust it open and jogged down the front steps, coming to stand by her driver’s side door before she even shut off the engine. Impatience was certainly something I had to work on, but I knew something was wrong and the quicker I found out what, the quicker I could fix it.

I held the door open for her to exit the car, extending my hand to help her. As soon as the warmth of her palm hit my own, I led her toward the front entrance of my home before either of us said a word. Once inside, I ushered her toward the leather couch in the living room, images of the two of us suddenly springing to life. Her pinned beneath me as I thrust inside her over and over. Her on top of me and riding me until we both came undone. Bending her over the arm of the sofa, grabbing her blonde locks as I ruthlessly fucked her hard from behind, her moans so loud I was thrilled there wasn’t a neighbor for miles.

“Do you want something to drink?” I asked, praying she’d accept so she could at least relax enough to have a real conversation about what was going on between us. If she remained as closed off and uptight as she had been, then I doubted the evening’s visit was going to do anything, other than irritate me even more than I already was. “I think I still have some of that wine you like.”

She nervously played with her hands, averting her beautiful blue eyes from me. “Just water, please.”

“Are you sure? Looks like you could use something to take the edge off.” I tried to joke, but it fell flat.

“I can’t drink,” she offered, a response I knew she hadn’t meant to say simply because of her sudden reaction. She looked scared, fear crossing her face before she could hide it.

Forgetting all about trying to get her liquored up, I approached and sat down next to her, keeping a small distance between us. “Why would you say that?”

Completely ignoring the fact I’d just asked her for an explanation, she jumped off the couch and headed straight for the door. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.” Before she disappeared outside, however, I caught up to her and stopped her. Wrapping my arm possessively around her waist, I hauled her back into the living room. No way was I allowing her to leave before we hashed out whatever this was between us.

“I don’t think so, sweetheart. You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.” I was already anxious and she hadn’t told me a damn thing. But maybe that was why I was all worked up, because she chose to remain tight-lipped.

“What do you want from me? Huh? You want me to lay all my issues at your feet? Ask you to save me? To be there for me when I’m not sure if I’ll even make it?’’ Clutching strands of her hair, she pulled, as if the pressure was a relief for her somehow.

Something was really wrong, and I doubted it had anything to do with the original reason she gave me for not wanting to continue to be with me, mainly my explosive temper. No, whatever she was spouting off about was something much more dangerous, or sinister, or some shit I didn’t even have a word for yet.

Grabbing her shoulders, I gently shook her, the dazed, far-off look on her face starting to scare me. “Addy, what are you talking about? Tell me now before I start to think the worst.” Then something dawned on me. “Does this have anything to do with why that doctor wanted to see you?” I tried to keep my voice free from rage when I referred to
that
man, and hopefully I’d been successful. Realizing my anger was the last thing she needed to deal with drove me to calm my tone even more before speaking again. “Did he tell you something bad?”

Not one second passed between us before she answered. “Yes.”

Moving closer, I cradled her to me, gifting her my support in the absence of words. At first, her arms remained at her sides, a stiffness holding her captive from accepting what I so freely offered. Then, before I knew it, light sobs tore from her throat while she clutched onto me as if her life depended on it. A fear, the likes of which I’d never known, ripped through me with such intensity it shook me to my core.

Pushing her back so I could see her face, I asked with trepidation, “What did he tell you?” My breathing kicked up a notch, adrenaline coursing through my veins in case I needed to react accordingly. Was she attacked and never told me? Was there something wrong with her I didn’t know about? The questions were endless, but instead of torturing myself any longer, I asked my question again. “Baby,” I soothed, “what is it? I need you to tell me.”

Instead of speaking, she reached up on her tiptoes and crashed her mouth to mine, an action which completely caught me off guard. I knew what she was doing, though—she was deflecting my question by trying to lose herself in me. When I felt her tongue press against my lips I readily opened for her, tasting her sadness as well as her need for me. It was exactly how I’d hoped things would end up when I demanded she come to my house earlier—without the secret upsetting news, of course.

“Are you going to tell me what the issue is?” I asked, surprising myself by breaking free from her intoxicating kiss.

“After,” she whispered, wrapping her hands in my hair and trying to pull me closer.

“After what?” My tone was cautious but hopeful.

Sinking back down to her natural height, she placed her hands on her hips and frowned, the initial fear in her posture gone for a brief moment. “After you fuck me.” Biting the corner of her bottom lip, an action she knew drove me insane with lust, she smiled and leaned up to capture my mouth again. But before I gave in, I wanted to see if she would agree to something first.

“Do you promise to come back to me? To be mine? For good? For real?” I kept pushing, but I couldn’t hold back. I needed us to claim each other, to declare it publicly. I knew there would be issues with her uncle, but I’d deal with Trigger when the time came, as well as anyone else who had anything to say about it.

“Stone . . .” she warned, releasing her hold and taking a step back. “I can’t do that and you know it.”

“Do I? Everything tells me the opposite. You want me. You
need
me, or else you wouldn’t be looking for solace in my arms. Right?” I insisted she answer me or I wasn’t gonna give in. God help me, no matter how hard I wanted to sink inside her, she wasn’t getting anything from me until she finally agreed to give me what I wanted.

Once and for all.

When she finally spoke, her words floored me. More accurately, they amused me. “I can’t protect you from my uncle.” She was dead serious, which made me laugh out loud.

“I think I can handle your uncle,” I promised, moving closer because I knew she’d just admitted she would be mine.

Before I could pull her toward me again, she placed her hand on my chest and looked deep into my eyes. “Stone, if we’re going to do this for real, I need for you to make an honest effort to control your temper. With everything else going on, I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it.” Her words weren’t lost on me, and I’d push her to tell me everything, but only after I gave her what she wanted.

“I promise. Don’t you realize the fact I couldn’t claim you as mine only fueled my fury? Knowing whenever Tripp lounged all over you, or Hawke said that shit to you about the club, that I couldn’t say a damn thing, couldn’t warn them to back off because you were mine, killed me. You denying me made me react even more harshly than if you had allowed me to tell them you were my ol’ lady.”

“Your old lady?” she asked, the frown on her face telling me everything. Even though she didn’t care for the terminology, it was exactly what she was.

My fucking ol’ lady.

It meant something to her status in the club, which meant something to me, and hopefully to her once she became accustomed to it.

“Yes, my ol’ lady. Better get used to it, sweetheart,” I teased, placing a lingering kiss on her lips.

“Can’t you just say I’m your girlfriend? Or your woman? Anything is better than ol’ lady.” Pursing her lips only made me want her more.

“I’ll say those things as well, but ‘ol’ lady’ is here to stay.” A genuine smile splayed big and proud on my face as I realized what I’d been pushing for between us was finally coming to fruition.