Page 8 of Ensnared By the Stone Freak

“This isn’t protection, Thorne!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air in frustration. “This is obsession! This is stalking! We are done, and I am free to choose who I want to date! You have no say in that.” It felt good to get those words out—freeing—and it was poetic that,at that moment, Halvard shook his shadow chains with a grunt. His glasses had fallen in the struggle, andhis eyeswere wide and pure as they locked with mine. In them, I saw all the things I had been missing with Thorne: the love, the protection, the desire to help me be my best self,and the willingnessto support me like a true partner.Case in point, he tempered his desire to fight when he realized that I was in control of this confrontation, simply moving to stand at my side—a silent, supportive figure.

“I don’t understand…” Thorne muttered, but he was smart enough not to look Halvard in the eye and,by extension, never raised his gaze to my face. “Not needed?” he asked, and when I nodded firmly, he shuddered. Then, without a backward glance, he turned and began walking away. Shadows skipped and warped along the ground and the walls where he went, reacting unnaturally to his presence, but the shadows beneath Halvard’s truck were normal now.

Chapter 9??

Halvard

“You were amazing, Cammy!” I whoopedafterthe warlock had turned the corner anddisappearedwell and truly from sight. Gone at last. My body thrummed with a battle high,though it felta little dissatisfied that the scufflehadn’t given itmore of a workout. None of that mattered, because,in the end, itwasCammywhohad put a hard stop to the warlock’s obsessive behavior. It didn’t workthat way withmost stalkers, but it was the warlock’s shadowed nature that had led him down this path in the first place. I was so proud of her. She was magnificent.

Her startled, pleased smile made it clear she had not even realized what she’d done until now. “That was pretty cool. Do you think he’ll stop now?” When I nodded, she did not seem to fully trust the answer, staring in the direction the warlock had gone,as if she expected him to come back. I gave her a moment to come to terms with the new situation, but when she shivered,she was out of time. I swept her into my arms and turned to my truck to put her inside.

“Your shoes? And your purse as a weapon, really?” I teased. “MyAmazon.” That made her laugh and slap my shoulder,but her eyes turned serious again when I located her heels and tucked them into the well at her feet. “Home? I think I owe you another dinner and dessert.” She must have paid the tab to come out after me, and that didn’t sit right with me. I wanted her to know I could take good care of her, provide for her.

“Deal,” she agreed. “I don’t suppose you have any chocolate at your trailer, do you?” She patted her purse.“I stuck an apple in there. Does Hogzy mind if it’s a little bruised?” My heart started pounding furiously in my chest. Did those words mean what I thought they meant?

When she cupped my cheek, I dutifully leaned in, smiling when she kissed me. Oh yeah—she did. She wanted to come home withme. If she were anyone else, I would have thought she just wanted to complete the fantasy—to sleep with the carnival freak in his mobile home. But this was Cammy. I knew she was my mate—and now, I could feel that she knew it too. Breaking the kiss was hard when I was ready to burst at the seams. If she’d asked me, I would have fucked her right there in the parking lot—privacy be damned. But my Cammy deserved better than that—a bed, my bed, and all the pleasure I could give her.

Jogging around the truck, I climbed into the driver’s seat,my cock straining against my zipper. As we sped from the lot toward the Carnival’s temporary home, I had to ask,“Are you sure about this? About us? I am not Thorne.”By that, I meantI was not filthy rich,did notown a suit, or even a house with a foundation. Though I could not promisetoavoid a little obsession myself, Iwasalready obsessed with her.

“I don’t want Thorne. We didn’t work for many reasons. I want you, Halvard. I don’t know how this is going to work between us,but I know I don’t want to miss my chance.” That was good enough for me. Skidding my truck to a stop as close to my Airstream as I could get, I leaped out and ran to get her door. She was still shoeless, so I picked her up again, enjoying the way she curled herself against my chest and tucked her head beneath my chin.

My door wasn’t locked—I didn’t need to lock it. Nobody would ever dare to set foot on the private camping grounds. They wouldneverdare to enter my domain or steal what was mine. And now, that included Camryn. When I shouldered my way inside, Hogzy snorted from his sleeping mat and rose with a happy, squealing greeting. “Hey, buddy,” Cammy greeted him, and though I was loath to delay what I planned to do to my girl, I set her down so she could greet my pet.

There were some scritches, the bruised apple from her purse was eagerly accepted, and then Hogzy,thankfully,saw the writing on the wall. With a snort and a swish of his short,bristly tail, he squeezed himself out the door and began rolling in the dewy grass outside. I swung the door shut behind him with an eager grin and turned to my girl, pulse pounding, mouth dry with excitement. “And now, you’re all mine,” I told her.

***

Camryn

I felt a hint of nerves shiver along my spine when Halvard closed the door behind his pet boar. Now,we were well and truly alone, and I wasn’t quite sure if we both expected the same from this relationship. Rebound? Ihadreally been fooling myself for thinking that when we met. Halvard was nobody’s rebound guy—he was too much for that: a little dangerous, all adventure, but also kind and generous.

When he swept me intohis arms and claimed my mouth, any worries about the future—about crazy, messy feelings—were swept aside. There was no time to think when he tangled his tongue with mine and made me back up with every smooth step he took to glide us across the room. It felt like a dance—one where he was in full control. The master of his domain, I was his puppet,mystrings pulled and tugged until my body was singing with pleasure.

I knew what his mouth could do now, knew what his fingers were capable of, and even knew the power that hid in his black eyes. So,when he swept me onto his bed, with sheets that lookedsuspiciously tangled from our last round here, I let him do whatever he liked. My dress was slipped from my shoulders by rough fingers, then pooled around my waist when he impatiently yanked up my skirt. There was no undressing for this first round, and I loved it all the more. Urgency pounded in my pulse and throbbed between my thighs, and I loved knowing he felt the same.

When he began sliding my silk stockings down my legs, I shiveredat the sensuality of it. Our eyes locked, his fingers rough as they trailed along my skin. Then he found my feet, which were still a little cold and damp from standing in theparking lot without my shoes. He hissedsoftlywith displeasure and then spent a long momentgently rubbing my cold toes until they were toasty warm. “So brave you were,” he murmured, liftingmy foot to his mouth and pressinga gentle kiss to my arch. “So beautiful,” he added, ashis lips glidedalong my flesh, kissing my instep, my shin,andthe ticklish spot behind my knee.

My breath shuddered, then hitched when he pressed warm, open-mouthed kisses to my bare thigh—so close to where I ached for him, wept for him with desire. Halvard’s eyes gleamed, the jet-black orbs like shimmering mirrors. “Ah, you smell so good, my sweet Cammy.” Then he licked me, his tongue pressing against the gusset of my panties, warm breath ghosting over my sensitive nerves. I shouted, my spine arching, and he laughed—a dark, almost sinister soundthat made my veins singwith adventure, with life. That sound was a reminder that I was not in bed with a man—I was about to be fucked, pleasured, loved by the Stone Freak.

I was so lost to the pleasure he drew from my flesh that I barely noticed how he skimmed my panties down my legs. All I felt was his tongue as he lapped at my clit with expert precision. I spiraled higher and higher, buoyed by the knowledge that Halvard would keep me safe—that he was my rock, my shelter. Close to falling off the precipice, I clutched at his hair and drew him closer, shattering beneath him when he curled one finger into my core andstroked it. “Aaah, Halvard…” It soothed something inside of me, like last time, to know that,to this man, I responded like wildfire. The passion between us was intense;it was powerful.

When he rose between my thighs, his smile was smug, his eyes dancing with satisfaction. My body still trembled and shook, but I knew this wasn’t over—not this time. There was only one place I wanted to be: right here. Halvard was exactly who I wanted to be with. He was gorgeous and all mine. His leather jacket had been discarded, and the black long-sleeved shirt he wore strained around his muscular arms. His leather pants hugged his thighs and clung to the thick bulge of his erection.

My mouth actually watered when he flicked open the button and began to undo his zipper. He wasn’t wearing underpants—going commando beneath that leather—and his cock was a work of art: thick as my wrist, the mushroom head ruddy and weeping with precum. Thick veins ran down the shaft,prominentenough that I imagined I might feel them. Licking my lips, I flicked my eyes from thatimposingcock to his face, and my body pulsed with desire. No man had ever looked at me the way he did right now—as if I werethe most precious, most beautiful being on the planet. And I was all his, because there was no mistaking the claim in his eyes.

When he lined us up, the thick head of his cock kissing my entrance, I knew what this was. After this, I wouldn’t be the same woman—I would be Camryn, Halvard’s other half. That should frighten me, but I spread my thighs for him instead, canting my hips so he began to slide inside. I hissed;he growled—a deep rumble I felt in my bones. At first,it was too much—he was big,and I had not been with anyone in quite some time. Then,my body adjusted. He slid deeper with each breath I took, with each push and pull of his hips.

I was right—Icouldfeel the thick veins on his cock, the texture rubbing along my walls with perfect friction. My nerves were on fire for him, my body slick and wet. When he lowered himself above me, his mouth finding mine, another orgasm was almost within reach again. I loved the feel of his pants against my legs, how I was almost bare while he was still dressed. When he cupped a breast and squeezed my nipple, I was done. Screaming his name, I came apart—and this time he was right there with me.

Halvard came with a shout, followed by a deep moan thatsoundedvery much like my name. I felt his cock kick deep inside me, almost certain I could feel it ashisseed erupted from him in hard bursts. My body felt like liquid around him—soft, ready to float away, and still warm with pleasure. Warm with him braced above me, surroundingme, protecting me. The kind of protection I knew wouldn’t smother. It was perfect, and I wanted this moment to last forever—or to repeat it as many times over as we could.

Chapter 10??

Halvard

Lying side by side on my bed, I forced my breathing to slow, but my heart still thundered inmy chest. Cammy was a warm, soft weightagainst me, her silky brown hair tickling my chin. She felt perfect there—aperfect fit. If she said she wanted to go home now, I knew I’d never sleep peacefully in this bed again, not without her in it. Thankfully, my Cammy was a brave,adventurous soul—just likeme.

“I want to stay,” she said in the darkness of my mobile home. We had not bothered with any lights, and I liked how intimate it made the moment, how only the lights from the other homes and the carnival filtered in through my windows. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, Halvard. But I want to come with you… I hate my job.I want to go chase my dreams. I think my dreams have you at my side.” She snapped her mouth shut,as if she feared she’d said too much. Formost men, this probably would have sent them running for the hills. Not me, because I knew she was my mate, and I wanted what she was saying so badly I could taste it.

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