The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone

by D H Sidebottom

  We stood immobile just staring at one another and I wasn’t sure if I was scared of his reaction or if I was angry he had followed me.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked without emotion as I pulled my car keys from my bag.

  He lifted a wet eyebrow at me. “I could ask you that very same question.”

  I narrowed my eyes on him and pursed my lips, “What business I have here has nothing to do with you Lucas, and if I’m honest I’m not really sure I like the fact that you followed me like you don’t trust me.”

  He barked out a bitter laugh, his face tight with anger and I lifted both eyebrows at him. I really wasn’t in the mood for this, it always hurt me too much to leave Ryan and I couldn’t be dealing with Lucas’s umbrage as well.

  “Like I don’t trust you . . .” he mocked then shook his head in amazement, “You told me you were working at a bar. Don’t tell me Red, the inmates wanted a piss up?”

  My anger was surfacing and I bit back the harsh reply I wanted to toss at him and attempted to open my door but Lucas refused to move. “Just let me in Lucas please, I’m not in the mood for your childish behaviour.”

  He inhaled deeply and I noticed his fists clench beside him. “Are you gonna fill me in then?” he barked out the question and I snorted but ignored him as I persisted on my mission to enter my car.

  “Will you just fucking move.” I spat at him.

  He pinned me against the car underneath his heavy frame as his face came within inches of mine. “You lied to me, Red. I have a thing about the women I love lying to me.”

  I smirked as my temper sliced straight through my subtlety. “Don’t tell me Lucas, some poor sap of an ex lied to you and now you have a fixation about women lying to you” I sneered back at him.

  He reared back as though I had slapped him and narrowed his eyes on me. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he hissed.

  I gave him a humorous laugh. “Me? Me? You are the one that turned up here out of the blue, you are the one that obviously doesn’t trust me, you are the one needing an appointment with the school anger management team and you are the one who obviously needs to pick a better choice in the women you fall for!” I exploded, not really filtering anything that came out of my mouth anymore.

  He scrunched up his face and sucked air through his teeth in anger before he pushed off me and turned away but then spun back, his eyes dark and furious. “Nice, Red. Just tell me who it is who’s obviously more important than me.”

  Oh my God, how childish!

  “Ryan will always be more important than you will ever be Lucas, always, so you need to stop with the jealousy because I will never give him up for you!”

  “Ryan?” he scoffed and pulled in a heavy breath, “And who the fuck is Ryan?” he snarled.

  I shook my head sadly at his possessive behaviour.

  “My husband” I told him as I climbed in my car, started the engine and pulled away, leaving a stunned Lucas staring after me.

  He was still stood immobile, the rain pelting down on his hard and angry body as I pulled out of the heavy gates of the prison yard.

  Chapter 22

  Lucas

  THIS FUCKING WHISKY bottle was rapidly becoming my best friend and I nodded my head at it in greeting as I unscrewed its lid and decided to leave it off, already finishing the first measure and moving on to another.

  It didn’t last long though as the glass went sailing across the room and shattered all over the music system. “Sweet fucking Jesus” I roared to nobody in particular.

  ‘My husband. My husband. My husband.’

  “Arghhhh.” My arm swept the contents of the cabinet on the floor. The place settings on the stupid overlarge, underused dining table followed and smashed across the floor.

  Red was fucking married! She hadn’t said ex-husband so I presumed she was currently a married fucking woman!

  Who the hell was Ryan and why was he currently residing at her majesty’s pleasure?

  I was arguing with myself in my head as I approached my study and flipped open my laptop. I had not done this in a long fucking time, but what was the point of being head of IT at NSC when you couldn’t use their system to hack a classification or two.

  Firstly, I needed to find out the name of who Red had visited at the prison, so my first point of call was Bellmarsh Visiting orders list.

  Oops! That was easy and I scanned the list until a name, Kayla Winters, popped up next to a name; Ryan Winters.

  Winters? Seriously? Kayla Winters—Layla Summers!

  I then Googled Ryan Winters.

  Holy shit!!!

  There were tons of newspaper clippings, internet news sites and court reports about him but there was one that grabbed my attention.

  Ryan Winters, 18, of Redgrave Road, Sheffield, was today convicted to 18 years imprisonment for the murder of Tony Reed, 28, also of Sheffield, at Sheffield Crown court today.

  It came to light over the previous two weeks high profile case that Winters stabbed Reed a total of 12 times over numerous parts of his body.

  Winters gave statement that Reed had raped and brutally beaten his wife, Kayla Winters, also aged 18. Winters had murdered Reed in a fit of rage when he came home from work and discovered the violent act.

  During the court case Winters refused to accept remorse and told the judge and quote, ‘I would do anything to protect Kayla, and I would kill that bastard over and over again if I had to . . . ’

  Judge Ralf Treybourne had simply nodded and in today’s sentencing he said and quote, ‘Mr Winters, this case has been very difficult for me to sentence due the grounds you give justification for your actions. However, we all acknowledge and the evidence has been clarification, that your wife was indeed subjected to a highly distressing ordeal but, and this is a very large but Mr Winters, you took matters into your own hands instead of letting the law deal with Mr Reed and because of the method of Mr Reeds death, I have no other choice but to sentence you to 18 years imprisonment with a minimum of 12 years to be served.’

  Winters wife, Kayla, then proceeded to scream and weep from the stands to which Winters turned to her and blew her a kiss, and then winked before he was escorted back to the holding cells.

  Kayla then had to be restrained and sedated all the while shouting ‘He didn’t do it . . . ’

  I’ll let you distinguish your own thoughts from this, but I can tell you it came up during the case from the prosecution that some evidence in the case didn’t hold and it was suggested that it had in fact been Kayla that had stabbed Reed.

  The defence had thrown that story to the wolves, but it makes you wonder what lengths a man will go to, to protect the woman he loves . . .

  Tricity Mavers reporting from Sheffield crown court.

  Holy fucking hell!

  Shit!

  My mind was having an overload and I couldn’t compartmentalize the thoughts. Everything seemed to fly through my brain at once and I swallowed back the bile when the notion of what Red had gone through came to the forefront.

  I jumped in my seat when a knock came on my front door and I rubbed my hands over my weary face before I opened the door.

  My heart stuttered as a red eyed Red stood before me, her face pale and the pain she felt was openly displayed all over her.

  “I’m sorry” she whispered and I swallowed heavily before I took her hand and pulled her into me, needing to inhale her scent.

  “You should have just told me, Red. I want to be there for you, I wanna help you, protect you and just fucking love you.”

  She stared up at me with those gorgeous large eyes of hers and I took her instantly under my mouth, kissing the damn life out of her like I wanted to absorb every inch of her.

  She moaned and took my bottom lip between her lips. “Make love to me, Lucas. I need to feel you inside me. I don’t fucking care if it hurts, I just need you to take me.”

  I swallowed deeply and closed my eyes as she took my hand and led me to the bedroom.

>   We stood a foot apart as we drown in each other, told each other how we felt without words as Red grabbed the hem of her jumper and pulled it over her head. She was braless and the sight of her incredible tits had my dick already geared up and ready to go.

  Then went the jeans and knickers and she stood before me completely naked.

  She took a step into me and gripped my t-shirt before she pulled it off me; her hands palmed my chest as the shirt dropped to the floor. “You are so fucking hot . . . just . . . fuck, you make me want it hard Lucas, intense and wild.”

  I groaned loudly at her words and the way her soft lips were brushing every inch of my body as her fingers unbuckled my belt and undid my jeans before she slid them off me.

  She took a step back and let her eyes roam my body, her eyes dark and heavy as she nibbled on that plump bottom lip and her gaze came to rest on my rigid dick as it stood to her attention. I twitched it at her, in a wave, and she giggled deliciously.

  I walked her backwards towards the bed and she fell onto it, her amazing tits bouncing as she landed and I climbed on top of her, trapping her underneath me before she changed her mind and ran.

  She yanked at my hair as I took her hard nipple between my lips and pulled at it with my tongue, triggering a long groan from her.

  I removed my mouth and looked up at her, just gazed at her as my heart beat hurriedly and my blood fired rigorously.

  She gave me that soft smile of hers, the one that made my heart swell and my gut clench as she cupped my face. “I don’t deserve you” she whispered sadly.

  I pursed my lips at her, “I’m never gonna let go. Never gonna give up, Red. I don’t wanna hear no, only yes, yes, fucking yes.”

  She smirked at me before she lifted her breast back towards my mouth and I obeyed her silent command and sucked on it hard. Her eyes rolled back and her back arched as I slid my hand down her stomach and gently slipped my little finger into her to check her pain level.

  She was very wet and she moaned, in an aroused way not a painful one, so I followed it with my middle finger, still torturing her breasts and testing her soreness.

  “I’m good, Lucas; honestly . . . I’m ready for you. I think I’ve always been ready for you” she breathed on a moan.

  I positioned myself at her and she frowned, “Condom?” I just shook my head and nudged into her slowly.

  “Oh god” she breathed as her teeth sank into bottom lip.

  “Okay, baby?” I asked and she nodded and gripped my arse, pulling me further into her depths until I was so far inside her I could feel her pulse in my dick.

  “Christ, Red. You feel fucking amazing.”

  Her beautiful face tightened as she lifted her hips and clenched her internal muscles around me and the act of it made me fight against the ejaculation already threatening its demand for release.

  Not yet Lucas. Make her feel you. Make her fucking delirious first.

  She opened her eyes and stared straight into mine, searching for my soul and I let her see it, let her have it, it was hers, all of it.

  I slid into her so slowly she gasped and when I pulled out just as slowly, her bottom lip trembled as a huff of air left her mouth.

  “When it’s just you and me, like this, my cock buried so deep inside you, then I feel fucking invincible . . . and you feel bloody fantastic” I told her as I drove back in more powerfully.

  “Lucas . . .” she whimpered as I let loose on her. She seemed to be coping with the pain so I slid my hands under her arse and lifted her slightly then began to pound into her so fucking ferociously I even impressed myself when within two thrust she was tightening around me and blasting to pieces with her powerful orgasm.

  I grit my teeth against the electricity that shot through every nerve in my body as I erupted just as vehemently as she did.

  “Fuck . . . Christ . . . Jesus, Lay” I spluttered as my whole body jerked in pleasure and the exquisite pain only Red delivered.

  She pulled my head onto her shoulder and planted a tender kiss on the top of my head. I sighed in pleasure at the intimacy of it as we submerged into each other.

  “I’ll always love Ry, but not in the way you think, Lucas” she stated out of the blue and I tried to pull back to look at her but she placed her hand behind my head and held me to her.

  She sighed deeply and I closed my eyes when her fingers drifted softly up and down my back, my dick still immersed in her warmth.

  “We met at school, fell in love instantly, got married at 16 and by the time we were 17 Ry was fucking everything with a skirt and I met Tony so we separated.”

  I remained where she wanted me, silently urging her on as I took hold of her hand and brought it to my mouth, giving her a small kiss in encouragement.

  “When I met Tony, he was funny, kind and gentle until he started going to these weird sex clubs and he took an interest in D/s relationships. It didn’t take him long to figure out that’s where he wanted our relationship to go and at first, I’ll admit, I enjoyed it. The control and choices that were taken out of my hands was . . . euphoric. To just take and not have to decipher everything, to not have to think about how to pleasure and please someone, knowing that they would tell you exactly what they wanted was . . . liberating and soon, I was totally in the dominating relationship with him.”

  I slipped out of her now and drew her trembling little body into me, holding her tight as she divulged her secrets and truths and opened up to me.

  “Then he got violent and then utterly, horrifically violent. Really gross nasty stuff and I tried to leave him but . . . Ry and I were still good friends at this time and he was aware what was happening. He turned up one day when I was covered in bruises and bleeding as Tony had finished with me. Ry went mad, shouting and screaming at Tony over the state of me . . .”

  She pulled out from under me and stood, approaching the window on shaky legs as she deliberated how much to tell me. She wasn’t aware I had figured it out but I let her tell me her own way and remained silent.

  She flicked her thumb furiously on her finger and my heart wept at her anguish but I ordered myself to keep calm and let her slowly release it.

  She kept her back to me as she carried on and I knew her eyes were closed as she relived that day, probably for the millionth time in her head.

  “Ry hit Tony but . . . Tony was a strong man, huge, muscles that could squash a fucking sumo and he rounded on Ry and just started beating the shit out of him.” She gulped. heavily and gripped the window frame when her legs wobbled and I slowly approached her and scooped her up and brought her back to bed before she collapsed.

  “I tried to pull Tony off but he was so powerful, I couldn’t move him and I knew he was gonna kill Ry so I . . . I . . .”

  Her hands gripped her hair tightly in her pain and I placed my finger over her lips as a single tear rolled down her cheek. “Ssshhh, I hear you, you don’t have to speak, I hear you.”

  Her eyes widened at me as she pleaded for understanding and I nodded at her “I know. I knew before you told me.”

  She looked away, shame and guilt consuming her but I gripped her chin and turned her back to face me, “You’re hurting yourself baby, nobody but yourself with this guilt you carry around. You need to let it go. What Ryan did for you, is what any man would do, and Hell, I bet even you wanted to do it to protect him.”

  She nodded her acknowledgement and then a thought occurred to me. “Is that why you chose Diablo, cos’ you think you need to be punished?”

  She bit into her lip and closed her eyes against my accuracy and I groaned loudly. “It doesn’t work like that, Red. Life doesn’t dish out what we deserve, we take what we think we deserve. In your case, pain, but that’s about to fucking change. You hear me, Red? I’m gonna give you what you deserve and it definitely isn’t fucking pain.”

  She swallowed slowly as she regarded my words and I stroked my finger across her delicate cheek. “You deserve to be loved, purely, wholly and fucking immeasurably and I’m go
nna make sure you take every bit of it I give you.”

  I leaned in and ordered the kiss from her; gave her my all and took what she gave me. I tasted her tears as I showed her how much love I was going to give her, bared my soul to her as she absorbed it and I took her own as she echoed everything back at me.

  “I love you Lucas, but you need to see what I am before you fall, cos’ I promise my life will drag you deep and hurt you. It’ll consume your very spirit cos’ that’s what I am . . . a death sentence.”

  I narrowed my eyes on her and shook my head. “You’re like this fire inside me, Red. Hot, intense and so fucking formidable that I burn for you with every breath I take. But I don’t care, I’ll watch myself reduced to ashes before I let you go . . . so tough, really. You don’t get a choice to push me away cos’ I’ll keep on coming right back at ya’ and I’ll hold on tight until the next time you decide to push me away, and then I’ll hang on all over again.”

  She gave a little soft gasp before she took my mouth again, her passion and emotions spilling into me as she held me tight to her.

  “I’ll always be your prey, Hunter and I’ll let you capture me time and time again” she whispered over me before she showed me how much she loved me all over again, and fuck me, did she show me!

  Chapter 23

  Layla

  LUCAS GRINNED AT me as he reached across and plucked another garlic infused prawn from my plate and I scowled deeply at him and yielded my fork. “One more and this fork will be buried so far in your dick; you’ll resemble a watering can when you piss!”

  He laughed loudly and smirked at me but as he was about to reply his phone rang.

  “Yeah?” he barked into it.

  I watched his face darken and his eyes narrow. “Fuck!” he spat out and threw his napkin on the table, “Gimme half an hour.”

  He turned to the waiter with a deep scowl, “Make sure Miss Summers gets home” to which the waiter nodded and disappeared with Lucas’s credit card.

  “I have some business to deal with, Red. Finish your meal before you leave and make sure the maître d’ calls you a cab, and go straight home.”