Chapter 13
She stared at me, and as much as the words were true, there was no way she was going to believe that I was tying myself to her-for life-simply because of lust.
And she’d be right.
However, there was no way to explain what I felt around her. There was no way to explain feelings unless you’ve felt them yourself. Still, since everyone loved differently, there was no way to ever explain your unique brand of love in a way that someone else could really grasp.
Now, was I in love with Rylee? I wasn’t sure. However, I knew that the more time I spent with her, the more I couldn’t shake that buzzing under my skin. And as much as my dick wanted to fuck her, I couldn’t deny her backbone and snarky attitude kept drawing me in deeper.
“Do you propose to all the girls who you find attractive?” she challenged.
I grinned. “No,” I replied. “But then I never said anything about being attracted to you.” I leaned forward again, my elbows on my knees, my fingers intertwined. “I mentioned how you made me feel while I was holding you. I never said anything about your attractiveness or my dick.”
She blushed, but she didn’t back down. “You’re asking me to marry you, Stone,” she said, ignoring my statement. “While you have everything planned and ironed out, you’re asking me to go into this blind.”
“Blame me for blindsiding you, but don’t blame me for the decision you made to marry me, Rylee,” I responded seriously. “You admitted to letting your pride get the best of you, and that’s all on you. I had nothing to do with that one.”
Rylee looked like she was mulling my words over in her mind. After a bit, she finally said, “That’s fair. However, it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t even know you, Stone. You could…I don’t know. You could be a serial killer, for all I know.”
“I’m not,” I assured her.
“You know what I mean,” she snapped quietly.
“You want the truth?” I offered because I knew anything less wasn’t going to get me anywhere with this girl. Rylee wasn’t a follower. And while she might honor the contract, I wanted her to love me back at some point in our lives.
She nodded. “That’d be nice,” she replied, the sarcasm not missed.
“When I was told what I was destined for, I was only fourteen-years-old,” I told her. “My parents had sat me down and told me what was expected of me and why. Since that day, my entire focus has been on The Order and my place in it, and I’ve always known that I wasn’t going to become one of their puppets. I refused to be.”
“Then why join at all?” she asked.
“Because I have a definitive plan for my future and The Order serves many purposes in getting me there,” I told her honestly.
“And how do I fit into all of this?”
“As fucked-up as what I’m about to say may sound, it’s the truth.” I waited for her to give me the go-ahead to continue. “My parents are so wealthy and powerful that they’re famous. Same with Ross, Saxton, Fox, and August,” I told her. “All my life, my last name has been Lexington. My parents’ wealth, power, and status coat me like a second skin. Now, I’m not complaining or pretending that I haven’t and don’t enjoy the benefits that come with my last name, but I’m trying to make a point here.”
“Which is?”
I smirked at her attitude. “Ever since I realized just what I could do with a hard dick, girls have been throwing themselves at my last name.”
Rylee’s shoulders dropped. “I’m sure you’re more than just your last name, Stone,” she remarked quietly, and all she did was make me more determined to have her.
“I am,” I agreed. “But I’ve never been interested in a girl long enough for her to learn that about me. While I’ve been selective-because I refused to get caught up-I have taken what’s been offered when I’ve been in need. But never repeats and never any relationships.”
“That’s the rumor,” she muttered.
I grinned. “Until you.”
Rylee shook her head a bit. “That’s the part I don’t understand.”
“I’ve had girls try damn near everything to be the one who lands me,” I replied. “Every girl thought she was different. She thought she would be the one to stand out above all the others. That there’d be something about her that would finally open me up to a relationship.”
“That’s also another rumor I’ve heard.”
“They’re not rumors, Rylee,” I replied. “It’s the truth.”
“So, why me?”
“Because you crashed into me, and holding you in my arms, I felt more than just my dick getting hard,” I told her truthfully. “All those girls, all those tricks they used, all those games they played, and you did nothing but smack into me. You did nothing to entice me, yet you felt like a goddamn lightning bolt to my chest.” I made sure to hold her gaze as I added, “I felt more during that brief encounter with you in my arms than I ever have in bed with another girl.”
Her eyes broke contact as she glanced at her hands in her lap. “That’s crazy,” she whispered, but there was something more in her voice. She was telling me it was crazy, but she didn’t sound completely convinced that it was.
“Look at me, Rylee,” I commanded, and when she did, I looked into those sapphire eyes of hers, and asked, “Am I the only one who felt it?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she hedged. “That’s still no reason for you to want to marry someone, Stone.” She avoided answering the question, but that was answer enough.
“Let me ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“If I had asked out you that day, what would you have said?” She let out a soft sigh as she looked away. “That’s what I thought.” She would have said no because my name intimidated her.
Rylee looked back at me. “I still don’t see the leap to marriage, Stone.”
“Holding you in my arms, I knew I wanted to peruse something serious with you,” I told her. “Not a one-night stand, not a casual hookup, but something serious. I couldn’t do that and keep something like The Order a secret from you. And since sponsors and supporters can’t engage in a relationship without the benefit of marriage, there’s your leap.”
Her brows shot up. “Are you saying that you’re marrying me just so you can sleep with me?” she choked out. “Are you serious?”
I shook my head. “You’re not listening,” I replied, frustration lacing my tone. “I’m marrying you because I want a relationship with you seriously enough for it to be all or nothing.” I leaned back and shrugged my shoulder. “It’s all.”
“Stone, I-”
“Come here,” I commanded.
She jerked. “Wh…what?”
“I said, come here.”
Rylee stared at me for a long moment before finally complying. I didn’t say anything as she scooted her tight, little ass across the couch cushions. I just sat back and watched wariness and indecision playing in her eyes. However, there was no longer a decision to be made. Rylee signed the contract, and that was that.
Once she was close enough for me to grab, I latched onto her hips and hauled her over my lap. She let out a yelp, but she didn’t fight me, and I was counting that as a plus.
With her legs on either side of my lap, my hands encased her hips, and I held her firm. Her palms against my chest, she looked down at me and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Showing you why you should marry me,” I answered right before my hands left her hips to tangle in her silky black hair, then pulled her lips down on mine. Rylee let out a deep moan, and that’s when I slid my tongue in her mouth and tasted her for the first time.
Her hands fisted in my shirt as she began kissing me back, and that simmering, that buzzing, that electrical current sizzling just below my skin magnified like I knew it would.
And this was just a kiss, for fuck’s sake.
If I was losing my mind over one kiss, I couldn’t imagine what was going to happen to me once I slid inside her body.
And I was going to.
There was no doubt about it.
I was going to do whatever it took to get Rylee to marry me. The contract notwithstanding, I wanted Rylee to more than marry me. I wanted her to want me the way I wanted her. I wanted her to love me, too, if possible.
Minutes or hours later-I wasn’t sure-I finally broke off the kiss. Staring up at her lust-filled expression, I said, “That’s why you should marry me.”