by Faith Gibson
SIXX
Stone Society Book 7
By Faith Gibson
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
The author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners of the wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction.
Copyright © 2016 by Faith Gibson
Published by: Bramblerose Press LLC
Editor: Jagged Rose Wordsmithing
First edition: July 2016
Cover design: Simply Defined Art
Stock photos: 123RF
ISBN: 978-0996366465
Dedication
To Candy – for making me laugh
Acknowledgements
To the man – for being you and for loving me enough to indulge me in my charmed life
My writing posse: Alex, Candy, Kendall, Jen, and Nikki – can you believe this is book number 10? I wouldn’t have made it this far without your love and support. Thank you all.
To all the Beta readers, again there are too many to list. Thank you for being so into my books that you can’t wait to read and give me your feedback.
To the members of Faith’s Furies... thank you for loving my books enough that you want to be part of my group. I love you all.
Jay Aheer, another great cover! Thanks for all your patience.
Thank you, again, to everyone who buys my books and follows along with this journey. The Stone Society is an adventure that I created out of my crazy mind, and it has taken me down paths I never thought I would have the pleasure of seeing.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Epilogue
Cast of Characters
Coming Soon
Playlist
About the Author
Other Works by Faith Gibson
Prologue
Southern California
2024
The bite marks on Desirae’s neck didn’t appear to have come from human teeth. They looked like vampire marks. Was her lover a monster? Get a hold of yourself, Desirae. Michael might be a lot of things, but a monster he is not. When Desirae was awakened just moments ago from a deep sleep, it only took one glance next to her at the two-hundred pound man still in her bed from the night before to know why she was so heated. What the hell was he still doing in her bed? Never once since they began seeing one another had he spent the night.
Michael Gentry was sex on toned legs. How she managed to catch his eye was beyond her. She was cute at best with her straight black hair, skinny body, and arms covered in ink. Before she met him, she had a limited social life between working and going to school. She surfed with friends as often as possible, but once she met Michael, that changed. From the first morning he sat at her table at the diner, he instantly became smitten with her – his words– and had invaded all her spare time ever since.
Damn, her body ached. She smiled when she remembered the reason she was sore. Michael was one hell of a lover, and he proved it over and over the night before. The fact she was standing naked in front of the mirror was another indication Michael had stayed. He didn’t allow her to wear clothes when they were alone together. He said it was so he could admire her ink, but his eyes stayed glued to her small boobs and her crotch, so she knew better. For a man who was obsessed with tattoos, he didn’t have a single one. Said he was allergic to the ink.
Taking a closer look at the fading marks on her neck, she smiled. At some point during the night, she begged Michael to get rough with her. He protested, but then she bit him, so he returned the favor. At the time, she had been so jacked up on adrenaline and endorphins, she had barely registered the pain. Now, the area on her neck was throbbing. Just as she was about to grab for the silk robe hanging on the hook on the back of the door, the door opened and a sleepy, gorgeous man stood as gloriously naked as she did. His body was chiseled and she knew every single inch of it. Some much better than others.
“Rae...” The sexy timbre sent chills up her spine. She rubbed her hands up her arms to wipe the goosebumps away. Over the few months they had spent together, her name on his lips could mean a variety of things. Rae, I’m hungry. Rae, I’m leaving. Rae, you did not just change the radio station when I was listening to Mötley Crüe. But her favorite was Rae, I want you. Now. This was his Rae, why are you not in the bed? voice.
“I had to pee,” she explained as if it should have been obvious.
Michael’s eyes caught the area on her neck she had been inspecting. His mood instantly changed. “Rae,” he repeated, only this time it was a voice she’d never heard him use.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, afraid of the answer. They’d had a good run, and she had told herself not to get attached. Her head was smart. Her heart? Not so much. She had fallen madly, deeply, for the man standing in her bathroom.
He pulled her to him and wrapped her in his arms. He rested his cheek on top of her hair and said, “I’m sorry, Doll. I have to leave for a while, and I’m not sure when I’ll be back. My work has transferred me to the East Coast.”
Desirae blinked back the tears. She waited on him to say ‘come with me’ but he didn’t. Instead, he said, “I’m leaving this afternoon.”
He must have heard the intake of breath because he tightened his arms around her and kissed her hair. It’s why he spent the night. He knew he was leaving Cali. Leaving her.
She hitched up her big girl panties and pulled away from his embrace, tilting her face to his. “I understand.” She stood on her tiptoes and pulled his face down to hers for a tender kiss. She poured all the love she felt for him into their mouths, begging him to take that love with him and not forget her.
The first few days were the hardest. Desirae kept expecting Michael to call. At the least, she expected a text stating he had arrived safely and was settling in. Nothing. After a couple of weeks, she got back into her pre-Michael routine and did her best to continue life without him. She would never be able to forget him, so she didn’t even try.
The morning she was supposed to start her period, she put on a pad like she always did. Her monthly cycle was the most reliable thing in her life. By the end of the day, Desirae was beginning to get worried. As soon as she walked into her apartment, she went straight to the bathroom and opened her birth control pill case. She hadn’t missed any, so she chalked the lateness of her perio
d up to stress. Two days later when she still hadn’t started, she went to the corner pharmacy and bought a pregnancy test. Even though she had been raised Catholic, she prayed to every known deity there was for the test to be negative as she paced her bedroom waiting for the five minutes to pass.
She couldn’t afford a baby. She didn’t have time for a baby. She didn’t know anything about babies, other than they were smelly and loud. God, please, let this be negative. When the timer on her phone chimed, she crossed herself and added in another please for good measure. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she picked up the plastic stick. There in blue and white were two solid lines.
“Goddamnit!” she yelled as she threw the test into the garbage can. Instead of totally panicking, she grabbed her purse and headed back to the pharmacy. These tests were wrong all the time. She would take several more before she would completely lose her shit.
One hour, five tests, and a phone call to Michael that told her the number had been disconnected later, Desirae Rothchild completely lost her shit.
Chapter One
Present Day
2048
Michael “Sixx” Gentry flipped absentmindedly through a Hard Rock magazine searching for an article about his son, Desmond Rothchild. Rafael and Kaya snuggled on the sofa of the Stone Society jet. Kaya’s hand was on Rafe’s thigh while his was on her stomach, subconsciously protecting the heir inside his mate’s belly. The King and Queen were ecstatic over their impending parenthood, but Rafe was worried about the fallout with his uncle, Alistair. The older Gargoyle had been targeting the mates of their Clan for a while now, and Jasper had sent a booming message to the King of the Greeks. Sixx couldn’t blame Jasper for taking Theron’s head. If another Gargoyle, or human for that matter, was targeting his mate, Sixx would defend her to the death. Not to mention Theron poisoned Jasper, leaving him for dead. Slaying the only heir to the Greek throne left the Stone Society wide open for the possibility of retaliation. Their only insurance was having Alistair’s adopted daughter locked away in the depths of the penitentiary in New Atlanta.
Urijah, sitting in one of the leather Captain’s chairs, had on headphones, as he had the whole flight. Something was bothering the Goyle, but even if Sixx didn’t have his own issues to think on, he wouldn’t pry. Uri had been part of the East Coast Clan for a long time. Even though they were a tightknit group and they all got along well, most had a best friend they spent their time with. Uri’s best friend had transferred out west, and the Viking had been restless ever since. Hopefully, Uri would get to spend time with Finley while he was in California, and he would find his place once again.
Sixx couldn’t say he had any one particular Clan member he hung out with on a regular basis. He transferred from the West Coast many years ago when he was falling in love with a hot little brunette human. Sixx immersed himself into his job, doing his best to forget Rae and the way she made him feel alive. Even though he spent time with all the Clan, working his magic with each one, investing their money and ensuring they were secure for centuries to come, Sixx never had the kind of relationship Urijah had with Finley. He’d only ever felt that type of closeness when he’d been with Rae. Now he was on his way to try and get that back. To get her back.
As adept at computers as Julian was, Sixx had that same type of gift when it came to purchasing properties and investing money. When the world almost came to an end at the hands of the religious zealots back some thirty years ago, Sixx began buying up properties on behalf of the Stone Society. Small islands that otherwise would have been abandoned, he snatched up for pennies on the dollar. Large companies going bankrupt lost thousands of warehouses that Sixx knew would eventually be needed when the world rebuilt itself. With Julian’s help, he created holding companies that couldn’t be traced back to the Clan and purchased resorts and hotels. Only Sixx, Rafael, and a handful of Clan members knew exactly how wealthy the Stone Society truly was.
Staying busy eased the pain of saying goodbye to Rae, but he never forgot her. He also never dated another woman since he’d fallen for Rae. Sure, he had taken lovers. He was a full-blooded Gargoyle after all. But the one woman who stole his heart still had it after all these years. At the time, he had no idea Gargoyles could mate with humans, so when he started falling for her, he did the only thing he knew to do – he left. When it was brought to his attention that he had a doppelgänger out in the world, he chalked it up to coincidence until he realized who his look-alike was. Desmond Rothchild, lead singer for the band Cyanide Sweetness, not only looked like Sixx’s twin, but he had Rae’s name. It didn’t take Sixx long to do the math. Once he read up on Desmond and found out his age, Sixx knew he was staring at his son. Their son.
Now, he was on his way to California to face the one woman he thought he could never have. The love of his life. The mother of his child. His mate. At Sixx’s request, Julian had run a background check on Rae. Not to invade her privacy, but so that Sixx would know what he was up against. She was still living in California. Her address had changed to New Lomita, a suburb of New Angeles. The house was better than the apartment she’d been living in, but it was still in a crowded neighborhood. Rae shared the home with Desmond. All research indicated she had never married, but how could she? How did a forty-seven-year-old woman explain how she still looked twenty-three? He knew from meeting Tessa’s mother, Elizabeth, that the mates didn’t age. Tessa and her mother could pass for twins.
Sixx almost felt bad for Rae having to live a lonely life of never finding love. Never being able to settle down. If Rae was still the feisty, stubborn woman he remembered, he had his work cut out for him in regaining her trust. She may never forgive him, but he would at least be honest about the reason he left. He wanted her to know his reason for leaving the way he did had been for the best at that time. Even if she never loved him, he wanted a chance at being a father to Desmond. If he had known he had a son, he would have come back sooner. Had he not disconnected his phone upon arrival on the East Coast, he probably would have known. That was something he couldn’t change. What he could do was try his damnedest to make up for lost time.
When the pilot alerted them they were preparing to land, Sixx’s stomach clinched a little tighter than it had before. He decided to meet with the other Clan members and get settled in before charging into Rae’s life like a bull.
The California weather was something Sixx had missed. He loved the sunshine and balmy days spent at the beach. If things went the way he hoped they would, he would pull his old surf board out of the storage room in his garage and hit the water in the next few weeks. One of the good things about being a Gargoyle was the cooler water temperatures didn’t bother you, and most days you had the surf to yourself in the winter months. Before he could think about that, he had a little problem to take care of.
Rafael and Kaya were staying at Sinclair’s home while they were visiting, but Urijah had taken Sixx up on his offer to stay with him. Sixx had bought the home several years ago in case one of the Gargoyles needed it. The house had been in foreclosure, and it was such a good deal, he couldn’t pass it up. Since no one had needed or wanted it, Sixx claimed it as his own, and now was glad he had. When he purchased the property, it had been one of a handful of times he had returned to California. Now, he was wondering if he might not be staying for good.
When they touched down at the airport, Sinclair was waiting for them. Sixx had forgotten how much he and Rafael looked alike until the brothers were standing side by side. “Welcome to sunny California,” Sin said when the four of them reached the bottom of the stairs. Rafe and Sin held each other for almost a full minute before pulling apart. It was apparent Rafael had missed his brother.
“Sin, I’d like to introduce you to your Queen. Kaya, my brother Sinclair.”
Sin fisted his heart and bowed to Kaya. “On my honor,” he said, pledging his loyalty and life to his sister-in-law before taking her hand and kissing her knuckles. When he released her, he turned to Sixx and Uri. “
Sixx, it’s wonderful to see you again. And you must be Urijah. Finley talks about you all the time,” Sin said. At those words, Uri frowned, but quickly masked his features. After shaking hands, Sin led them to where two vehicles were parked.
“When Rafe told me you were staying in your villa, I took the liberty of bringing you a car to drive.” He held out the keys to a Bugatti Veyron almost identical to the one Sixx had back in New Atlanta. “I’ll have your luggage delivered momentarily.”
“Thank you, Sin,” Sixx said, appreciative of his old friend’s thoughtfulness.
“Why does he get the shiny sports car and I get an SUV?” Kaya asked, drooling over the expensive vehicle.
“Because you are carrying my son, Bella Mia.” Rafael kissed her while caressing her stomach. “Now, let’s get on with it, shall we? I’m ready to slip into something more suited for this beautiful weather.”
Sixx and Uri said their goodbyes and promised to visit Sinclair’s home that evening for a small dinner party. After they angled into the sports car, he asked Uri, “Are you sure you want to stay with me?”
“Yes. I prefer the solitude as opposed to a houseful of cheerfulness.”
It was an odd way of thinking, in Sixx’s opinion, but his home was the perfect sanctuary. The five thousand square foot villa sat on the New Malibu hillside overlooking the coastline from Broad Beach to Zuma Beach. Even though there were houses on either side of his, they were spread out in such a way he never saw his neighbors. After he bought the house, Sixx installed a fence around the property along with a security system that Julian designed. One thing he forgot to mention to Uri was that Finley had lived in the house while he was looking for his own place to call home. He wasn’t there now, but he still had a key and checked on the home often in Sixx’s absence. Since the two were friends, Sixx didn’t see where it should be an issue.
Sixx had lived alone his whole life, so he understood solitude, but he didn’t prefer it. He longed for the day he would have a mate and children filling his house with love and laughter. He prayed to the gods that he wasn’t too late to have that with Rae. Sure, they had a child together, but Desi was a grown man for all intents and purposes. Sixx had missed out on so much with his son. He was ready to remedy that, but he also wanted to have another child with his mate. One he could help raise, watch grow, and be there for all the milestones in their life.
