Page 8 of Stone

He got close enough to her to be able to smell the blood again when she smacked him on the nose. Sitting up, she looked at him with so much fire in her eyes that he felt his cock get hard. It was the stupidest reaction that he’d ever had before. Being turned on by a woman’s anger.

“You just left me here.” He nodded, backing away from her, when she got up on her knees. “What would have happened had the person come up behind you and killed me?” Stone thought that he’d be better off without saying that she was an immortal again. He might just be able to have sex again someday if he didn’t. “I know you can talk to me. You did it already—and that’s another thing. What makes you think that I’d be thrilled to death knowing that all you had to do was to lick my face and be able to speak to me? You didn’t in the event you were going to say something stupid.”

He watched her as she sat on her knees. Stone also thought that it was best if he didn’t mention that he thought that she was sexy, being as pissed off as she was at him. He also thought it was cute. He might be in love with her, but he wasn’t going to mess up his body when he happened to tell her that.

“Well?” he shifted, thrilled beyond words that he was dressed. There was no telling what she might have done to his poor body had he not been. “You’re human again. I asked you a question.”

“I don’t know what it was. I’d have an answer for you if I knew, but I don’t.” When she stood up, he realized that someone was still out there and begged her to sit down. “While I have no doubt that you could take on someone who is trying to kill us, I’d rather you didn’t do anything but sit on your pretty bottom and wait for my brothers.”

She growled at him. It was adorable but scary, too. Again, he kept his mouth shut and decided that he’d let her cool down—another thing he wasn’t going to tell her—before he mentioned that he loved her and found her growling at him to be off-the-charts sexy.

It was then that he decided to contact his brothers.“I’ve been shot at. So has my mate.”It was Garfield who asked him if it was Sage.“Yes. She’s none too happy with me right now but I’m not going to mention to her how beautiful I think she is right now. But we’re now hiding behind my car, which has been shot up, waiting for someone to come and save the two of us.”

Edwin told him that he was coming into the driveway now. Almost as soon as he said that, he could hear the crunch of gravel as someone pulled into the house. Not standing up, he was glad that his family was there for him but he didn’t know what to do about getting someplace safe. Edwin didn’t get out of his truck but did tell him that the police were on their way as well.

They were ushered into the house in a very short time, and he was glad, too, that they were safe from the shooter. At least, he hoped they were. As soon as the door closed behind them, he pulled Sage into his arms and held her. She started crying then, and he was at a loss as to what to do next.

“Storm and Rain are looking for him. Whoever he was, he won’t get far now that they’re looking.” Stone believed that. “The good news is that you have your mate, and you’re both all right.”

“All right? Did you just say, all right? You’re saying that someone shoots at us, and it’s no big deal because we’re all right?” Edwin took a few steps back when Sage started for him. “I got cut, you moronic fuck. From someone shooting at me. How is that remotely no big deal that—I think I’m going to be sick.”

Stone was glad that she remembered where the bathroom was on this floor, as he had been drawing a blank. When the door slammed behind Sage, he looked at Edwin, telling him that he might have a clue as to who it might well be. He thought it was the principal of the school, Roland Jorden.

“Because you quit or because he’s going to get fired?” He said he’d not known about him being fired. “Mom contacted me a little while ago. The board voted to have him fired because he gave you such a hard time that it caused you to quit. Are you going back if he’s gone?”

“To be honest with you, I don’t know. I’ve been teaching since before I graduated from college, and I never take a vacation unless it’s over the summer months. I don’t know, but I think I don’t want to—I found my mate, and I find that I want to do things with her that we did today. Just hang out. We won’t be able to do that if I have to work too.” He asked him if he was going to buy this house. “I think we are. We both love it very much. And it’s perfect for the two of us.”

When Sage came toward him, her hand over her mouth like she was going to be sick again, she told him how she had puke breath and didn’t want to breathe on them. Nearly laughing, he caught himself just as he was about to let it burst out. Christ, there had to be something wrong with him if he thought that pissing off his mate was funny.

Chapter 4

Her cuts were superficial. By the time she was in a better frame of mind, she was nearly healed up. A person could get used to this if it was something that everyone could have. Sage looked over at Stone and asked him if he was ready to take her home.

“I’m hoping that we’re both home.” She asked him what he meant by that. Sage didn’t want to get her hopes up about the house they were currently hiding out in. “I called Odel and asked him what he wanted for the house as it sits, including the furniture. I figured that if we wanted to change things out later, we could do that, too. But for now, it’s move-in ready.”

“What would you have done if I hated this place?” He told her. “You’d give up your dream home simply because I didn’t like this place? That’s stupid. You need to have a say in things, too, you know.”

“I do know that. However, in this, I’m very happy that we both love the house. I think that’s the way the fates or whoever is in charge of us finding out other halves took that into consideration. That we’d have the same tastes and such.” She asked him if he had been dropped on his head as a child. “Not that I’m aware of. But I have gone toe to toe with my brothers occasionally.” He laughed then, and she thought it was a sound that she could get used to. It was an uninhibited sound that brought a smile to her own face.

When his cell phone rang, he answered it quickly. After asking if it was all right that he put it on speakerphone, Odell said it was fine with him. Suddenly, she thought that she could hear a pin drop in the room, things were that quiet. After laying the phone on the coffee table that separated them, Odell started laughing.

“I had me a price in mind when you went to see the house. With and without the fixings to make it into a home. Now, I need to rethink things. I believe that I was going to charge you too much after thinking about how much trouble it was going to cost me to get the place emptied out. But why don’t you just take the furniture and we’ll try and negotiate a good price between us.” After telling him how much he wanted for the house, stating that it would be enough to settle up his mother’s estate, Sage looked at Stone. “I don’t want you to think that I’m selling it to you at a higher price because it’s you, Stone. But you and your family have done a great deal for this old man, and I couldn’t be happier either with the way you taught my children.”

“What about your family? Won’t they be upset for the price you’re giving me?” He told him that his only sister had passed a few years ago from cancer, and she was all he had left but his mom. “Odell, you know you could get twice what you’re telling me if you were to put it on the market.”

“I do know that, but now I don’t have to. I’m getting a fair price on the place, and I don’t have to do much more than sign my name in a few places and have it taken off my shoulders. I like that more than you can know.” Stone said that he’d pay the closing costs. “All right. I forgot about that. You do that, and we’ll have us a good relationship if you keep me in mind when you need some food in that place.”

“Deal.” They were going to meet in the morning at the bank. The two of them decided that they couldn’t have done any better than the deal that they had, and Sage was excited to have the place. She was afraid if she was honest. Just meeting Stone, there was plenty that she didn’t know, but it felt right. Like it was in the fates for her not just to meet Stone but to buy this house with him as well.

“I don’t have any money.” She blurted that out, and he told her that was all right. “No, it’s…you know what? I want you to stop saying that. You use it entirely too much. But I don’t have a pot to…the only clothing that I have besides from the few things that I took to the Danielsons—holy shit, I’m supposed to take Hailey back to them when that’s all settled.”

“We’ll get it worked out.” She wanted to tell him that he smiled too much but thought that he really didn’t. She had a feeling that he didn’t get the opportunity to smile at all until now. “I have more money than we can spend in a hundred lifetimes. Buying this house will not put a dent into what I have. Even on some of the investments that my family and I have together is more than enough to see us through.”

“Not to sound too greedy, but just what sort of number are we talking about?” He told her that if she were to put sand from the beach into her hands, and each grain was a dollar, it would be less than what he had. “You’re kidding me.”

“No. I wouldn’t kid you about something as important as money. Also, while we’re talking about that, you should know that I can’t lie to you either. Nor will I ever cheat on you. You are my one and only true love.”

Instead of asking him what that meant, she asked about his family. Sage knew they were a huge part of his life and was again jealous about the relationship he had with them.

---