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  Jordan's green eyes are a stormy combination of of grays and greens as she watches me kiss her fingertips. Her mouth opens in a small "o" as her brows knit together over her nose.

  Her expression has a hint of worry in it and I close my eyes while I hold her hand against the side of my face.

  What the hell was I thinking? I prepare for hard, cold, reality to come crashing down on me any second but I'm going to stand here and pretend there's still hope in the time it takes before she breaks my heart.

  "I missed you too."

  It's not what I expected to hear and it probably takes a full minute of me standing there like an idiot before I blink my eyes open and see her staring at me. A shy smile curls her lips.

  "Really?" I drop her hand from my cheek but she catches my fingertips and we stand hand in hand. "Because you know, Ninja," I jerk my head toward the truck in the parking lot, "she's been giving me a lot of shit since you left. I finally had to give in and come get you."

  "Come get me?" Jordan looks down at the shiny black eyes watching us from the truck.

  "Yeah, Jo," I take a step toward her and rest my hands on her shoulders. Damn, she feels good. It's all I can do to stop myself from pulling her to me, holding her tight and never letting her go, but I'm too damn nervous to press my luck, "we came to bring you home."

  Jordan

  I can't believe he's here. Standing outside my apartment, holding my hand. Telling me he came to take me home.

  "This is home," I drop his hand and look around my home town.

  I don't know what he's thinking? Does he really think I can just climb into the truck with him and Ninja and go back to Oregon with him?

  "Stryker--" What he's suggesting sounds nice, it really does, but we're back to reality now. This is my life. "I have a ton of shit to get done," I explain, "I have to get out of the apartment by the end of the week and I need to find someone who can help me haul stuff to storage and then I have a pile that needs to go to the donation center and another pile that needs to go to the dump."

  "Jo--"

  I cut him off with a shake of my head, "No, you don't understand, I still don't know where I'm going to live, I have to look for a job, I--"

  "Jo!" Stryker catches me by the shoulder as I start back into the apartment and spins me around to face him, "Really, Jordan?" He looks frustrated now, more like that first day when we couldn't quite seem to get on the same page.

  Stryker frowns and then turns me around to face the inside of my apartment, "Really Jordan? This is home? Cuz it sure as hell doesn't look like anyone's home to me."

  He's right, the apartment is nearly empty, cold, and it feels lonely. There's no furniture left, there are no pictures on the walls, there's no coffee maker on the kitchen counter. There are just piles of boxes stacked along one wall of the living room, neatly separated into groups based on their ultimate fate: storage, donation, trash.

  "Jordan," Stryker moves to the center of the empty room, looks around and then back at me, "What makes this place home?"

  I open my mouth to say something and then realize the answer to his question isn't as simple as I thought it would be.

  "Exactly, Jo," the hard look on his face softens with the tone of his voice, "Where are your parents?"

  "Back east," I confess, "they do the RV thing full time now, I told you that."

  Stryker nods like he's making a point, "Where's your sister?"

  "Her husband got a new job and they moved to Florida last year," I remind him.

  "And your best friend?"

  "She's lived in Iowa since she graduated college." OK, maybe he is making a point.

  "Where do you work?" Styker closes the gap between us and rests his hands on my shoulders again, this time so softly I can't help but take a step closer in hopes that he'll pull me into his arms.

  "Stryke, you know I just lost my job."

  I lay into the sarcasm in an attempt to cover up the quiver in my voice. And then he does it-- his hands slide off my shoulders around to my back and then my cheek is pressed against the cotton t-shirt that's still damp from perspiration. My lungs are filled with the smell of him and my ear is full of his heartbeat.

  "Exactly Jordan," he murmurs against the top of my head, "this place isn't home for you anymore."

  All I want to do is cling to him as his words sink in. He's right, this place isn't home anymore. Sure, it's where I grew up. My high school is here, the little burger joint where I had my first job is here, but it's not like any of that is the reason I've stayed.

  I had a job and an apartment and, for a few years, I had a boyfriend who never wanted to leave this town.

  That part of my life is gone forever and when I really think about it now, I realize this place never felt like home. Not really.

  Home is supposed to be where your heart is, a place that makes you feel safe and happy. Where you always feel comfortable and welcome.

  This town was never any of those things to me. It was just where my job was. Where my stuff was. Where I lived.

  I rode through a lot of towns on my motorcycle trip this summer. I saw a lot of places that felt so much more like home when all I did was see them from 25 miles an hour as I rode by front porches and diners and parks.

  But the only place that ever felt like home was...

  Ninja's sharp bark echoes off the apartment complex walls and interrupts my thoughts.

  "I need to go check on her," Stryker says, pulling back slightly to look down at me.

  I nod in understanding, "You should bring her up," I say, stepping out of his arms and immediately feeling the loss, "it's too hot out there for her to be in the car."

  And I miss her, I don't add as Stryker heads down to get Ninja.

  While he's gone, I scan the apartment again.

  I've been looking at it all week, the empty space growing until it engulfed each room and finally took over.

  Until now, every time I've looked at a bare wall, I've seen the places that used to have picture frames hung there, or that painting I got at a yard sale that I really liked even though no one's sure what it's of.

  The empty space in front of the gas fireplace was a rug, and next to the sliding door used to be the love seat.

  Every inch of the apartment was the place where someone lived.

  Now all I see is white walls, nearly white carpet, light gray counter tops, white appliances. It's sterile and cold and empty and it doesn't look like home to me at all anymore.

  Styrker's place is warm and cozy, even with barely any furniture in it. Something about the way his place is put together says it was built for a family that still spends time together, not sequestered from one another. Even if his place does need a massive makeover, it felt like...

  Ninja barrels through the open door and all 35 pounds of wiggling body and black fur hit my legs with enough force to buckle my knees and send me to the floor.

  ...home. It's like my brain refuses to not finish the thought. I sit in the empty space that used to be where I lived and try to hold on to the excited pup while she licks my face and I know that I was never home here like I was when I was with Stryker and Ninja.

  "I hope you haven't already packed your vacuum." Stryker laughs from the doorway as he watches me go over backwards and give in to his dog's greeting.

  Ninja's rolling on the floor and I see what Stryke means as I notice the black fur she leaves behind on the pale beige carpet.

  "Fuck it," I giggle under Ninja, "the lease is still in Bryan's name."

  Stryker

  It takes the rest of the day for us to haul stuff to the county dump and then take the next truck load of things to the local Goodwill.

  It's after 6 in the evening by the time we leave Jordan's storage unit and head back to the increasingly empty apartment where there are just a few things left that she hasn't packed up yet.

  "Wanna get a pizza?" Jordan asks from the passenger seat of my truck with Ninja sitting on her lap hanging her head out the window as
we drive.

  "Sounds like a plan," I agree, "tell me where I'm going."

  She still hasn't agreed to come home with me. Not in so many words, at least. On the other hand, she stopped making excuses not to come home with me, so I'm counting that as a win.

  I'm glad I was here to help her with all the shit we got done today, but I've been up for 36 hours now though and I'm feeling the lack of sleep. Pizza sounds like heaven right now. Pizza, a place to crash, and Jordan in my arms.

  Jordan pulls out her phone and orders online, then navigates me to a strip mall where I wait in the truck with Ninj while she hops out and picks up the order.

  There's not much left of Jordan's place, she sold off most of her furniture including her bed so we sit on the palette of blankets spread out on the floor, eating pizza and drinking beer. It kinda reminds me of my first apartment, except there's a real live woman next to me instead of a Star Wars movie playing on a laptop computer.

  "So I figure we'll pack the rest of your stuff up in the morning and we should be out of here by noon," I tell her after we clean up from dinner.

  "What?" I ask when all I get in reply is a quizzical stare with a hint of fear in the wide green eyes looking back at me.

  "I don't know," Jordan says, "It's just that you were so adamant that you loved living alone up there, and now you're here trying to take me back up there with you. I don't want to be some charity case," she tells me with more worry in her voice than force, "I don't want to be just another stray you take in." Her head jerks toward Ninja stretched out on the floor several feet away from us.

  "Why would you think you're a stray?"

  Lack of sleep or not, my cock is stirring, preparing to have its own say here in a bit. I shift positions so that my body is facing hers.

  "Because I'm jobless and homeless and my family is scattered across the country," she says with a shy smile, "I'm not a princess, Stryker, I don't need to be rescued. I'll figure it out on my own. I don't want to change your life."

  "Too late," I murmur against her pouting lips as they tremble just slightly at the touch. Her mouth opens for me easily and what I expected to be a soft kiss turns into a hungry assault.

  My weight is braced on one hand but my free hand goes to her face, wrapping around her head with my fingers tangling in her hair as I move my body even closer to hers.

  Jordan's arms go around my neck, leaving her off balance and we tumble down on the blankets with my body pinning hers beneath me.

  "Stryker." Jordan pulls her mouth off of mine and says my name between gasps for breath as I take the opportunity to run my tongue down her throat. "I don't get it," she says seriously enough to make me pause and look up at her, "you said you never wanted something serious? You told me you were never going to make a woman your everything after seeing the way losing your mom destroyed you dad-- I--I--" Jordan wiggled out from under me partially and props herself up on her elbows, giving me a skeptical look with one eyebrow dipped low over her eye.

  I lean back and look at her, waiting for her to finish whatever it is that she needs to say.

  "And then you left," I tell her, spelling it all out as plainly as I know how, "you left and nothing was right anymore. I knew if I didn't come get you back, that it wasn't going to take long till nothing was worth it anymore...just like Dad."

  I straddle her thighs, sitting back and grasping her face between my hands so she has to meet my eyes, "But I could still get you back, Jo," I tell her. "I know what I said. I know what I thought I wanted, but that was when I was too stupid to know what I wanted."

  Jordan's eyes fix on mine, "What do you want then?" she asks timidly, as if she's scared of what I'm about to say.

  And maybe she oughta be. Maybe I oughta be-- I remember she didn't want anything serious either, but here I am, about to show my cards and hope for the best.

  "I want you," I tell her firmly, "I want you in my life everyday and in my bed every night, Jo."

  I watch her throat work tightly and her pupils dilate as she takes in my words.

  "I was wrong, I was wrong to think I didn't need something real in my life, and I was wrong thinking that it wasn't worth the risk. I want you to come home with me and I want to make a life with you..."

  Now it's my turn to swallow hard, "I want to put a ring on your finger, Jordan and--" Am I really saying this shit? "--and then I think we should do our part to make Fell's Valley bigger."

  Jordan's eyes widen and her mouth drops open in shock. I'm pretty sure I just fucked it all up.

  "I don't think I'm ready for that yet, Stryke," she whispers hoarsely.

  I nod slowly, "I get that, Jo," I tell her, "I get that it's a big turn around really fast and I don't want to pressure you-- just come back with me. Work in the store with me. Turn that dump of mine into a home and give it a chance. Give us a chance. I swear it'll be worth it."

  A crooked smile curls one corner of her lips and the lowered eyebrow hikes up high on her forehead in that trademark look I've missed so much.

  "I already know it's worth it, Stryker," she tells me, "I just want to make sure this is really what you want."

  She doesn't get to say another word. My mouth is on hers again as I push her back.

  As tired as I was a couple of hours ago, I'm wide awake now. My cock throbbing as I press against her and hear her stifled moan.

  My hands work under her shirt, kneading her breast with one hand while my mouth locks down over the taut nipple that's peaked atop the creamy flesh.

  I want to touch all of her at once, my hands and my tongue greedy for what's mine, my dick pulsing painfully to plunge into the pussy it's been missing-- not just this last week, but my whole life.

  Jordan's my woman, the woman I didn't even know I wanted until she rode through my life and made me realize just how much room there was for improvement.

  I'm taking her home with me, and I'm never going to miss this pussy again.

  Jordan

  We had a lot of naked fun when I was laid over at his place up in Oregon waiting for the gas tanker to show up, but this is different.

  Something's changed between us. It feels different this time, not like we're just having fun, it feels like we belong to each other.

  Stryker pulls my shirt off over my head and I scramble to undo his pants. In a few movements we're naked and my hand is wrapped around his thick erection.

  Damn! I forgot how good he feels. How hot his skin is and how he shivers slightly where ever my fingers graze his body.

  I want to push him back, roll him over, and slide my mouth down his body like he's doing to me right now but he resists. Instead, he moves lower, trailing hot kisses down my skin on his way to the source of my need.

  His destination means his cock is out of my reach. It slips from my fingers and I whimper slightly in disappointment.

  "Don't worry, I'll give it back," he mumbles into the cleft of my lower lips with a devious laugh.

  Then his tongue slips between my folds and circles my clit and I forget all about not getting my way.

  My thighs drop open without instruction and my back arches, pushing to meet the sweet torture of his tongue with each flick over my sensitive nub.

  Tiny bursts of light explode behind my eyelids and I beg him for more.

  Stryker complies with more torture, sucking my clit firmly between his teeth and then releasing just when the sensation becomes too much. Over and over till I'm squirming so much that he has to hold my hips to keep me in place.

  I'm already half senseless when I feel his fingers slide through my wetness and sink deep into my core. The pressure and the way he strokes me from inside while he's eating my pussy is more than I can handle.

  My hands clench into fists, first gripping the sheets under my ass, then seeking a grip in Stryker's hair before finally landing on the pillow above my head.

  The world comes apart around me and for a second I think I've blacked out. I can't feel anything but the explosion of my senses all battling
for dominance at once. Then reality starts to reassemble around me, I hear my own breath coming hard and ragged, and despite feeling like my entire body has just been wrung out and every muscle is slack, I'm still desperate to be filled by Stryker's cock.

  I regain my breath in time to lose it again as his mouth climbs back up my body. His tongue tastes like me when he kisses me but I don't mind.

  "God, you're wet for me, Jo." His voice is a strained rasp as his length slips against the dampness coating my thighs. Then he lets out a tortured groan when I tilt my hips, pressing my folds to his shaft in a motion that doesn't require me to say what I'm thinking.

  "Just for you, Stryker," I say anyway, "I just want you."

  The wide tip of his dick lines up with my entrance and pushes my body open and then he slides home.

  I feel my body making room for him, my walls contracting in a greedy attempt to pull him farther inside me until there's no farther he can go.

  It feels so good. I feel full and satisfied, like I've been empty all my life in a way I never recognized until Stryker filled the void.

  God, I forget how well we fit together. For every moment I've missed him since I left his store that morning, I can't believe I forgot how fucking good he feels inside me.

  Stryker moves, drawing back till just the tip of him rests inside me and then he thrusts forward, setting a rhythm that I match easily. We move together, my nails digging into his biceps as he fucks me with deep strokes till I feel another orgasm building.

  "I'm going to come, Jordan." His voice is dark and gritty against my ear. I love the sound of it. I know he's on the edge with me, about to lose control and pour his seed deep inside me.

  "Do it." I manage to grind out the command just before both of our bodies give in to the need for release.

  I feel my pussy clenching down on his shaft even as I feel the hot force of his spend as he pumps into me.