Reese: A Safe Haven Novella

by Terri Anne Browning

  I laughed, although it held very little humor. “Yes, well it is hard to like the man who was attempting to rape me on an almost daily basis…Generous contributor to charity or not.”

  Chapter 6

  I watched the emotions crossing Stone’s face. Shock, disbelief…Followed by anger, white hot rage, and something else…

  I should have been frightened, but something told me that I was safer with Kieran Stone than I had ever been with anyone else in my life. Even though he made a career out of pulverizing men on a regular basis, I knew that he would never raise a hand to me. He reached for me and I went willingly into his arms.

  He was trembling as he held me against his chest. “He touched you?” His voice was dark, and raspy, full of his need to damage something, but still his touch was so gentle on me.

  The images of The Pervert with his hands on me…In me…Touching, squeezing…My gag reflex wanted to make me retch, and I swallowed a few times before I had it under control again. “Yes.” I whispered.

  Another tremble, this time so strong that it made me shiver. “Did he…?” His voice caught on the next words and I spared him from having to speak them out loud, even if they were rolling around in his brain.

  “He never raped me…Not like you think.” I buried my face in his chest, getting lost in the feel of all of his muscles surrounding me, making me feel safe and protected. “But he did…I’m still a virgin, except that there isn’t anything there to prove it.”

  His arms tightened around me. “So that’s why you ran away?”

  I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves, getting used to being so close was hard; it was still a little panic inducing for me. “At first I tried to tell my mother what was going on.” I told him. “But she was so lost in her drugs, which had moved on from prescriptions to coke, that she could have cared less. Then I reached out to Greg…But I just kept getting his secretary, who said that he would call me back as soon as he had a free minute. Once I tried to tell a teacher, but Stephen convinced her that I was just emotionally unstable from the changes going on in my life. Then by chance I found out that he was scared of the Goth kids…So that’s when I started wearing the makeup. It kept him at arms-length for a while.”

  I pulled back a little; the images from that last week at home were too emotionally disturbing for me to be so close to Stone. “Then one night I had forgotten to lock my bedroom door. I fell asleep studying and the next thing I knew he was in bed with me. Touching me…” I gagged at the memory and pushed away from him, needing distance to keep the panic attack at bay. “I screamed, and screamed. I screamed so loud that my throat ached for days. The housekeeper, Petra, she came running from the other side of the house. She saw what was going on…But she was fired the next day.” I raked my fingers through my hair. “And I knew then and there that I had to go.”

  I stood and faced him, a small smile touching my lips. “Eventually I ended up here and Mel took me in. She helped me get my GED and gave me a job…And when she finally coaxed the reasons for my running away out of me, she took me to my first self-defense class so that I would never have to feel so helpless again.”

  The rage was still there in his eyes, but there was a smile on his lips for me. “Mel seems like a special person. I’m glad that you found her.”

  “She’s the mom that I always needed. And because of her past she didn’t look down on me for running away from my problems, or my makeup…” I shrugged. “She’s my family now. Not Greg or my mother.”

  “I can understand that. Family isn’t always blood. It’s who is there for you when you really need them.” He reached for my hand and tugged me toward him again. I went willingly, needing his arms around me. “You are so strong, Reese. Stronger than most people would be in such a situation.”

  His steel gray eyes were intense and I could see the pulse throbbing at the base of his throat. Being this close, knowing instinctively that he wouldn’t hurt me, was helping push all my fears to the back of my mind. All I could see, think, feel was him. “Stone…” I murmured his name.

  “Yes, baby?” His gaze was on my lips.

  “Will…” I swallowed hard, both nervous and excited at once. “Will you kiss me, Stone?”

  A shiver raked his body and I could see the same need that I was feeling in those incredible steel gray eyes of his. “You think you’re ready for that?” He breathed, his head drifting closer until I could smell his sweet, warm breath. “Are you sure?”

  “I trust you.” I told him honestly. “And I want to kiss you.” The last was a soft whisper, but he heard me.

  His lips gently brushed mine and my heart stuttered. The next touch was so careful, so incredibly gentle that it brought tears to my eyes and I reached for him. All my fears, my insecurities disappeared with the taste of this amazing man on my tongue. I opened my mouth for him and his tongue ventured inside. But as the kiss went on and on he never rushed it, was never more than gentle, even as I felt his body tremble with the need to take things faster.

  When at last he lifted his head he was breathless. Resting his forehead against mine he just held me for a long moment. “You taste like heaven.” He breathed. “I’m afraid that I will get addicted to just your taste alone if I’m not careful.”

  “Is that a bad thing?” I murmured, snuggling into his neck.

  “No. Just something different for me.” His lips brushed across my jaw, making me shiver. “The way you make me feel…I have never felt anything so intense in my life.”

  His words along with the soft kisses along my jaw were making me melt in a way I never thought I would soften before. I had always considered myself cold, frigid when it came to romance and sexual arousal. But now I realized that I had just been waiting on Kieran Stone.

  He held me for over an hour, giving me a gentle kiss across my lips from time to time; skimming his fingers down my neck and arms. He told me more stories about his family and I felt like I had known him for years by the time his watch beeped. With a curse he stood and pulled me with him. “It’s eleven.” He grimaced. “And I have to be up early. I would love to stay, baby. But I have to stick to my normal schedule as much as possible until the fight.”

  I didn’t want him to go. I wanted to continue the night as we had for the last hour, which had gone by way to fast. But I understood his need to keep to his schedule. I respected it and him for it. But my chest still ached as I walked him to the door.

  He turned in the doorway and lowered his head to give me a long, lingering kiss. I melted into him, kissing him back. His tongue teased mine and I moaned, wanting more, but unable to ask for it. “Come spar with me tomorrow.” He murmured as he lifted his head and grinned down at me. “I promise not to kick your beautiful butt too horribly.”

  I laughed out loud at that. “You can try, big guy.” Unable to resist I stood on tip toe and brushed a quick kiss across his lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow. And we will see who’s butt will get kicked.”

  ()

  The gym was empty when I walked inside. Empty except for the six men in the back all surrounding a few red mats laid out for sparing practice. Two of the men were in padded body armor: head gear, chest protector, and groin gear. They were all decently muscular, but Kieran stood out among them if not in height then in body mass and a sense of confidence that drew my gaze like a magnet.

  I walked past the treadmills and other machines, watching the men as they joked and shoved each other good naturedly. It wasn’t until I was just a few feet away that one of the men noticed me and gave a wolf whistle. “Hello, hotness.” He greeted.

  I narrowed my eyes at the guy. Taller than Stone by few inches with a head that was covered in more tattoos than hair. His right brow was pierced and so was his nipple, something that was easily seen because he was shirtless. His abdominals were well sculpted and hard, but they lacked a certain appeal for me. As a whole package he was relatively good looking but I was left without the melting feeling that Kieran inspired.

 
“Reese!” Stone pushed the taller guy out of his way and lifted me into a gentle hug that belied his superior strength.

  I gave him a shy smile when he put me down. “Sorry I’m late. I had a few things to deal with back at Safe Haven.” A shipment of liquor had arrived hours earlier than expected and it had taken twice as long to deal with because half the items that I had ordered had been wrong. My supplier was in deep trouble with me to say the least.

  “I’m just happy you could come.” He took my hand and pulled me into the middle of the five other men. “Reese this is my crew. The rude dude you just met is Jake. He is my manager. Over there, the spar twins: Gage is in the red, his brother Simon in the black. They let me beat them up most days.” He grinned down at me in such an adorable way that a giggle escaped me…

  The sound surprised us both. Me because I never giggled. Him, because he liked the sound and wanted to hear it again. The look he gave me said just that.

  He cleared his throat and turned toward the last two of the five men. “Mason is my coach; he’s the best mix martial arts trainer this side of the globe.” Mason was about five-ten with crew cut dark hair and amused hazel eyes. He was lean and muscular all at once.

  “Maybe I will introduce you to my marital arts instructor and let you compare notes.” I told Mason as I shook his offered hand. “Maddox has taught me everything I know.”

  Mason grinned. “Bring him tomorrow. It would be my pleasure to take some notes from him.”

  “And it would be my pleasure to rearrange your face.” Stone muttered as he pushed his coach away. “Reese, this is Corbin.” He introduced the six-five dark man with coffee eyes. He looked like he was a year or so younger than me, but I couldn’t be sure. The muscles made him look older. “I guess you could say that Corbin is my prodigy. I’m sponsoring him in the next amateur cage battles.”

  Introductions over Stone took my gym bag from me and tossed it away from the mats. “Okay guys, enough fooling around. Simon, get Reese some gear.”

  “No, Simon.” I stopped the man when he turned to do just that. “Just a mouth piece, please.”

  Stone shook his head. “No. No way. If you are going to spar with us you need more than that. We get rough, Reese. You could get hurt.”

  I raised my hand and cupped his jaw. His eyes closed for a second, as if he were savoring my touch. Then I patted his cheek roughly. “Don’t worry about me, Stone. I’m a big girl. A little rough play isn’t going to dent me.”

  He opened his mouth to protest again but I turned away from him. “So, Simon…” I took the new mouth piece that he offered me. “…want to go a few rounds?”

  He grinned. “Oh, yeah.”

  “Simon!” Stone’s tone was menacing.

  Simon’s grin grew. “I’ll be gentle.” He promised.

  I put the mouth piece in and pulled my hair back into a tight pony tail before stepping onto the mat. He bowed to me and I did the same, just as a form of respect. We took up starting stances and Gage blew a whistle.

  The first time I brought the man to the mat he let out a gasp. Mostly because I had knocked the air out of him but a little because I surprised the hell out of him. The five men surrounding the mats roared. All of them surprised, even Stone who had already seen me in action with Biker One and Biker Two. The second time I took Simon down he was still surprised, probably thinking that I had merely gotten in a lucky shot.

  But by the time Gage blew the whistle again two minutes after our sparring had started Simon was out of breath and had a different attitude about me as an opponent. I felt bad because Simon hadn’t really tried to fight back…Maybe because I hadn’t given him a chance or perhaps even because he was scared of what Stone would do to him.

  I turned toward Stone and he stood with his arms crossed over his impressive chest. A smile teased at his lips, but his eyes were still hard. “You could have been hurt, Reese.” He muttered.

  “I know how to take care of myself, Stone. A few bruises are nothing.” But I knew what he was talking about, what was really bothering him. I had seen enough MMA matches to know that the end result of either opponent was rarely pretty. Broken bones, swollen body parts, bleeding… I wrapped my arms around his waist. “This is just for fun, Kieran. No one is going to hurt me…Are they?”

  “I’ll rip their fucking heads off if they tried.” He muttered but pulled me close and dropped a soft kiss on my lips. “You were really wonderful, by the way. Simon is the smart one. Always keeps me on my toes. Gage is the brutal one, goes in full force…” He lowered his head, his breath tickling my ear and making me shiver in a very delicious way. “And I have never been more turned on in my life, baby.” He whispered.

  I blushed but was thrilled all the same.

  “My turn.” Gage called out. “I want a go at the hottie.”

  I felt Stone stiffen and stepped back enough to meet his steel gray eyes. “Trust me?”

  He let out a long sigh but nodded his head. “Have at him.”

  Chapter 7

  Work that night was quiet. Typical for a Tuesday night. Bubba didn’t come in. It was biker gang night, or something. Meaning he played poker with a few other overweight, somewhat tough guys that liked to drink and ride on their Hogs.

  The biggest part of the night—the best part of the night—was when Stone and his crew came in for a beer. They set at the bar and talked to me, flirted, and were beyond surprised when they realized that I, the Goth girl with my white face makeup, black lipstick and jet black chic hair, was the same redhead ‘hottie’ that had kicked two of their asses earlier in the day.

  They left about two hours after they arrived, with the reminder that I was to bring Maddox with me to spar the next afternoon. I had called Mad earlier that evening and he had nearly burst my ear drum when I had invited him along. It was a dream come true for him.

  Stone brushed a gentle kiss across my lips before leaving and I was sad to see him go. But it was eleven and he was on his strict schedule. When he was gone things returned to being quiet, and I was bored as hell. I scrubbed everything behind the bar, despite the vigorous cleaning that Biker One and Biker Two had given it on Sunday while Safe Have had been closed. I already had the paper work finished before last call came around and got home before my normal time.

  ()

  I met Maddox at the gym and we entered together. As soon as Stone spotted me he had me wrapped up in his arms. I squealed and hugged his neck tight as he spun me around and around. I giggled, probably his intention. When I was on my feet again he kissed me, this time with just a little more force than his normal gentle kisses, but welcomed all the same.

  “I missed you.” He breathed at my ear, making me shiver deliciously.

  “Me too.” I whispered and watched those steel gray eyes turn to gun metal with desire. His hold on me tightened for a second, but then the voices of his crew introducing themselves to Maddox forced him to release me, and I reluctantly stepped back.

  “So this is your instructor?” Stone shook Maddox’s hand. “You have trained her well. She can really handle herself. If the thought of it didn’t turn my stomach so much I would say she had the potential to join the women’s division.”

  “No worries there.” I assured him with a smile. “I have never had such expectations. Besides, kicking Gage and Simon’s asses yesterday was thrilling enough for me.”

  Gage muttered something under his breath but one look from Stone had him all smiles and respectfully nodding in my direction. Apparently someone was a sore loser, especially when it came to losing to a girl. I sent him a grin and a wink, which had him smiling a little more naturally at me.

  When it was time for me to leave for work Maddox, Mason and Stone were deep in to practicing some of the moves that Maddox was showing them. I felt a little lost when Stone just waved at me when I said I was leaving, but I knew that what he was doing was important and pushed my hurt feelings down.

  Jake walked me out. “Don’t mind Kieran. He gets a little one trac
ked when it comes to this stuff. He’s obsessed. In an hour he will realize that he brushed you off and feel like shit. It happens all the time.”

  I stiffened, not because Jake scared me—because he didn’t anymore. But because his words made me feel the green monster of jealousy. I had never been jealous a day in my life…Yet I had never had Kieran Stone in my life before, either. “This happens all the time?”

  Jake shrugged and opened the door for me. “He usually finds one groupie and invites them out to watch us spar…Never let them spar with us before, but still.” He gave me a knowing grin. “And he always gets deep into practice, forgets about his girl…Then feels like crap and goes groveling.”

  I stood there staring at him for what felt like forever, but was really only a few seconds. I couldn’t stop his words from echoing around in my head. My heart felt like it had lead weighing it down and nausea churned hard in my stomach. I forced a smile to my lips. “Yeah, that’s me. His Phoenix groupie. See you around, Jake.”

  I turned without another word and walked to work in a trance.

  Once at Safe Haven I put on my makeup, braided my hair and put on my wig before going about my usual routine, opening the bar on auto pilot. I had been so trusting, so open, so…Everything that I just normally wasn’t, with Kieran Stone. And I was only his ‘groupie’. New city, new girlfriend. Nothing special….Just nothing!

  When he had another fight in a few months there would be someone new…Someone not me.

  I swallowed down the lump in my throat and forced all the intense feelings that were eating me up inside down. I put up the walls that I had let Stone tear down and was determined that he, nor anyone else would ever get close enough to touch them again.

  ()

  “What’s wrong?”

  I turned to find Mel seated at the bar. She was dressed up: A pretty sundress that really showed off the fact that she still had a smoking body. Her makeup was done and her hair was styled, both things that I had only seen her do a handful of times she had gone on a date. “Wow. Hot!” I gave her a small smile that felt tight and unnatural.