The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone

by D H Sidebottom

  Ahh, shit. I had forgotten about Connor. Good job Ava hadn’t or the man would be walking in on something that would be a little difficult to explain.

  I took a glance at the clock and was relieved to find it was only a little after 4 o’clock. That should give Heidi enough time.

  I wasn’t cancelling tonight, Ava needed a bit of fun and attention and hell, if a threesome didn’t give it her I don’t know what would.

  Me:

  9 is fine, baby. I’ll give you a call in an hour. Love you xxx

  Ava:

  And me, you xxx

  She hadn’t asked, but then again, I knew she wouldn’t. She understood my life, her life as well now, but I don’t know what she would have done if she had seen . . .

  I blew out a breath and continued in my mission to shroud Ginny. I just hoped it had been quick for her, but looking at the gaping wound across her neck, I knew, I knew she had suffered.

  “Holy fucking Christ!”

  I needed this bastard. I need to find him fast, and damn, what I was gonna do to the prick when I found him; nice and slow came to mind and I smiled malevolently as an image of my claw knife and his cock came to view.

  Chapter 22

  Ava

  “WHAT THE HELL is going on?” Courtney asked as she wiggled out of her black skirt. I sat on her bed watching her change out of her funeral clothes as I sipped the coffee she had made me after I had burst through her front door.

  I blew out a heavy breath and she narrowed her eyes on me and pointed one of her long talons in my face, “You know more, indulge me.”

  “You know Mason owns Allure, well . . . I’m gonna be running it from now on.”

  Her eyes widened to saucers as she stared at me with disbelief, “What the hell, babe. With Rebecca?”

  It was my turn to widen my eyes as the mouthful of coffee I had just swallowed found its way back up my throat and erupted from both my mouth and my nose with a forceful torrent.

  “Christ Courtney, do I look like bloody Mother Teresa. No way in hell am I a good enough person to forgive that bitch, as for working with her, yeah, that’d work.” I choked out a laugh as I pictured Rebecca’s face when Mason would tell her she would be answering to me.

  My brow lifted and my lips bowed with the idea, “Ooh but . . .”

  Courtney’s head slipped from side to side as she read my thoughts and glowered at me, “No, you’ll end up killing her.”

  She shimmied out of her shirt but continued with the death glare as she pulled on some joggers and a plain white Tee.

  “Yeah but wouldn’t that be fun. I could place her with the oldies that have no teeth and smell of fish shit.”

  She pursed her lips but her eyes lit with her laughter, “You are such a bad person.”

  I nodded gleefully, “I know.”

  She sighed and disappeared through the bedroom doorway and down the stairs. I followed and sunk into one of her kitchen chairs as she refilled the kettle and flicked the switch. “Carry on” she gestured with her hand for me to continue as she spooned coffee granules into fresh cups and I rolled my head around my neck.

  “Someone’s targeting Allure, beating the girls, even killing one and I can’t, as Mason’s wife, let anything more happen. Rebecca is out and I’m in.”

  She nodded as she placed the steaming mug on the table in front of me and settled opposite, her eyes still thin but inquisitive, “And today?”

  I shrugged as I blew the hot liquid with eagerness at tasting the amber nectar, and took a sip, “We got home, Mason stepped through the door and then shoved me out of the way. Got me in the car and told me to come here. That’s all I know as yet. Something had happened in the house, I know that much, but what? I have absolutely no idea.”

  She frowned deeply; faint laughter lines creasing the skin at the side of her eyes as her brow puckered and I suddenly realised how down and weary my friend looked. “You okay, hun, you seem tired.”

  She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Greg and me . . . we’re . . . having a few problems.”

  Jesus Christ, how did I not see this? She was my best friend, she needed me and all I had given her was more bullshit from my own fucked up life.

  I slid a hand across the table and cupped her slightly trembling one. Her eyes rimmed with tears and I climbed round the table and crouched before her, “Tell me.”

  The tears spilled in shallow rivulets down her pretty face as she sucked in a hiccup and gulped before her guilty face scrunched tight. My intuition racked up a slight concern and I suddenly found myself glaring at her, “Courtney?”

  “I . . . I’m sorry, Ava, I . . .”

  I reared back at the guilt in her voice and regarded her, “What? Tell me.”

  “I, uhh . . .” She palmed the table and pushed herself upright, her body stiff but resigned as she turned and gazed out of the window. “I didn’t mean it to happen, Ava but . . . I . . . Fuck, I love him Ava, more than god damn life. I couldn’t help it, I’m so sorry.”

  I rolled my lips and stood behind her, my heart beating frantically, whilst I waited. Silence encompassed us for what seemed like forever before she turned to me and closed her eyes, “Kade.”

  “Oh, wow, I wasn’t expecting that.”

  How did I feel? I didn’t know to be honest.

  “But, since when?”

  I was stunned, not sure what to say or how to feel. I was angry with her but I tried to filter through the other emotions and came up blank.

  “The cottage—Mason’s birthday weekend. We . . . invited him to . . . and well, I felt something there that I have never felt with Greg. It was like . . . like he fit me perfectly.”

  “I bet he did” I scoffed bitterly.

  “Ava, please, I . . . I wanted to tell you but . . .”

  I snorted, “But you were what Courtney? Frightened I would lure him away? Just . . . fuck!”

  Her face paled and she swallowed harshly as she reached out to me but I shook my head and held a hand up to her, “I . . . Jesus, I dunno what to say. Does Greg know?”

  “He knows I’m seeing someone else but he doesn’t know who. It will kill him when he finds out it’s Kade, it was his idea for Kade to join us and I know he’ll blame himself.”

  I needed to get out of there, away from the hurt I felt. What Kade did or whoever he saw had nothing to do with me but . . . just, Shit!

  I hoisted my bag off the floor and walked out, desperate for solitude and silence. My brain screamed in frustration as my heart thumped a slow ache.

  I floored the accelerator in anger, the screech of the tyres on the ground feeding my resentment as I manoeuvred expertly between the slow moving traffic in my sleek Porsche, well Mason’s Porsche.

  Why was I feeling like this? I didn’t love Kade—did I?

  No, I knew I didn’t, I loved Mason wholly and entirely, but . . . Christ, why did it hurt?

  I pulled through the gates to the house as a van with Heidi, one of the cleaning crew that did the clubs, pulled out. She waved and smiled and I lifted a hand to her but returned her smile with a frown.

  What the hell had happened if we needed a cleaner?

  I couldn’t deal with this shit now.

  I slammed on the brake and stormed into the house, avoiding everyone who hovered around and went straight to the freezer and pulled out the vodka. I downed the first then refilled my glass and took a sip as I palmed the counter and looked out to the garden.

  “Ava?” Mason queried my mood quietly and hesitantly.

  I plastered a smile on my face and turned to him, “Hey.”

  “Hey” he echoed as his lips landed gently on my forehead. “You okay?” His face was a mask of suspicion but his eyes held fear.

  Why did his eyes hold fear?

  “I’m okay, you? Something you need to tell me?”

  He frowned deeply but I didn’t miss the glint in his eye, “You know better than that, Ava.”

  “What the fuck, Mason. This is my bloody house; if some
shit has happened here I think I have a right to know.”

  He moved forward and into me, each of his firm thighs flanking my own as his stare pinned me down. “If I thought you needed to know then I would tell you.” His fingers gripped my chin and he tilted my head back and scrutinised me intensely, “What happened?”

  “Nothing.”

  “A bit quick and blunt there, baby. Tell me.”

  “Nothing’s wrong, I just . . . I just . . .”

  Greg caught my eye as he walked through the doorway and into the kitchen. His eyes held me, silently questioning me as to what I knew and I gulped, my heart hurting profoundly for him as I read the heartache in his gaze.

  I returned my eyes to Mason and softened my stance, “Can you give me a minute with Greg?”

  He frowned and flicked a quick glance at Greg before he backed off from me and turned, “Greg?”

  Greg rolled his lips and shot a look from Mason to me then back to Mason before he nodded with a faint grimace and a slow blink.

  Mason frowned and cocked his head at his friend before he took a step towards him, “You need to talk?”

  Greg sighed heavily but shook his head as he gestured towards me with his chin.

  Mason shot me a confused look but honoured Greg’s wishes and left us to it after he gave him a pat on the shoulder, silently supporting him and offering his friendship as an emotional crutch.

  “You know then.” Greg voiced sullenly as he sank into a chair at the table. I nodded as I slipped out another glass from the cupboard and filled it for him. He picked it up and downed it in one before tipping it towards me in request for another.

  “Yeah.” I sighed and enveloped his hand with my own. “I . . . shit Greg, I dunno . . .”

  He shrugged and laughed bitterly, “My own fucking fault Ava, I should never have invited him into our bed.”

  I gasped and he frowned at me, “You did know about Courtney and Kade?”

  “Yes I knew, but I didn’t realise you knew it was Kade, Courtney doesn’t know you know who it is.”

  He scoffed and shook his head, “I’ve known since the onset.” I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he scratched his eyebrow, his desperation to hold back the tears gripped my throat and threatened to rip out my heart.

  “I can’t reprove her, Greg, hell I made the same mistake, but that doesn’t mean I agree with it. I . . .”

  “She says she loves him, Ava, what . . . how can I compete with that? Does Harry or I even come into the equation? She . . . shit Ava . . .”

  His tears and desolation hit like a tornado, his hot tears spilling forth and threatening to take his last breath as he sobbed uncontrollably, his face contorting with each rapid draw of breath he tried to take.

  I slid on the floor beside him and he immediately slid his arms around my neck and held on to me so tightly I thought he would crush me. I held him, frantically trying to take the hurt for him, steal his ache and pain as he finally accepted what was happening.

  What the hell was my best friend playing at, in fact what the hell were they both playing at? Was my affair with Kade not enough for him that he had to get involved in another woman that was unavailable? Did he live for this sort of relationship, seeing which marriage he could smash to pieces next?

  I held onto Greg for a long time, whilst he poured out his despair and devastation. Mason came in once then immediately turned back around to give us more space.

  “You gonna be okay?” I asked when he stood and drained his glass.

  He shrugged but nodded, “Yeah, I’ve booked into a hotel for tonight.”

  “No, stay here.”

  He shook his head and scrunched his nose, “Thank you but I . . . need to be alone for a while.”

  I nodded and gave him a final hug before he kissed the top of my head then left. I stared at the door for long moments until it opened and Mason walked through, his face full of confusion and worry for his friend.

  “Is he okay?”

  I pursed my lips and shook my head, “No, not really. Courtney is having an affair.”

  “Holy shit.” His eyes widened in shock before they narrowed, “Kade.”

  I reared back and stared at him, “How the . . .”

  “That fucking bastard, I knew it.”

  “What? How?”

  “Just little bits, something between them the day after my birthday at the cottage, I could read it between them, then seeing him leave Courtney’s the day I went looking for Greg when he disappeared off the radar.”

  “Now I know why you’re good at what you do” I smirked.

  He smiled and stalked over to me. “I told you I was good at reading people, baby. How are you with all this?”

  I lifted my eyes to him as he burned through me with his gaze. “To be honest, I’m not sure. I need to be honest Mason, I’m sick of the lies between us.”

  He nodded and I regarded his face but he didn’t hold any animosity with my words, almost relief at my honesty. “Connor’s here.”

  I glanced at the clock in surprise at the time and my stomach clenched with nerves as my blood pumped with excitement.

  “You don’t have to do this, Ava. It’s fine if . . .”

  I silenced him with a finger on his lips, “To be honest, I need this right now. I need you to take my attention away from all this bullshit.”

  His lips twisted with a full on sultry smile, “Oh baby, I can promise you that.”

  I gulped as my belly pooled with delicious heat and my pussy twitched. I pulled in a heavy breath as Mason took my hand gently and led me from the room.

  The moment I laid eyes on Connor’s dirty grin my nerves disappeared and my arousal burst through my bloodstream with a force that caught my breath.

  “Hello, Ava” he greeted as he stood and instantly lifted his shirt over his head, giving me a damn fine view of his magnificence. “We’re gonna make you scream, baby.”

  Holy fuck, I nearly passed out.

  Chapter 23

  Mason

  I COULD FEEL the frantic beat of Ava’s heart through her spine as I pressed against her back and Connor stood directly in front of her, cupping her chin and tilting her head back until she looked all the way up his hard body and into his eyes.

  This man, all 6 foot 5 inches of him, was the epitome of male rawness, his primal sexuality burnt straight through me and I licked my lips as my eyes skimmed over his hard chest and down to the deep ridges of his abs.

  I frowned at myself, finally admitting to myself that I was bi-sexual. My breath caught and Ava turned her face into me, her eyes shining as she lifted her hand to my cheek and stroked her finger along my jaw. “I want to watch you blow him, Mason. I want to watch you take his hard cock into your mouth and suck him deep, baby.”

  I closed my eyes and shivered. How much more could this woman, this beautiful stunning woman understand me? Her intimate knowledge and acceptance floored me every time and I crashed my mouth over hers, burying my hesitation as I went with the flow of the room, accepted all that would happen and finally accepted myself.

  “You know, don’t you?”

  She smiled softly as her tongue slicked across my bottom lip, “I’ve always known Mason, you just needed to know it.”

  Connor’s hand cupped the side of my head before he leant into me slowly, his eyes piercing me and silently asking me for permission.

  “Kiss him” Ava breathed from beside me, her voice tight with arousal as Connor hovered over me. His eyes glinted as he sucked in a breath then softly moved his lips onto mine. A deep groan rumbled through me as he pressed into me harder, his kiss growing more demanding and powerful whilst his hand reached around the back of my head and kept me prisoner beneath his mouth.

  “Jesus, that is so hot.” Ava whispered and I reached round and grabbed her hair, holding onto her as Connor held onto me with a kiss so raw I couldn’t breathe.

  A hand cupped my erection hard and I knew it was Connor from the large rough hold. He pulled away as h
is hand rubbed me over my trousers, the friction nearly bringing on my orgasm before I had even managed to get my cock free.

  “On your knees” he ordered harshly and fuck, if his dominant tone didn’t make my blood pump more.

  I eyed Ava, who nodded, her eyes dark with desire as her lips parted so she could draw in a heavy breath.

  Her chest heaved as I sank to my knees, my gaze locked on her all the time. Her tiny hands reached out to unbuckle Connor’s belt, then pop the button on his jeans before she moved behind him and pulled his jeans and shorts down and over his hips.

  I sucked in a breath as his cock sprang free and the tip caught my lips before instinct took over and I licked the crown of his huge erection with the flat of my tongue. He hissed and palmed my head, his fingers sinking into my hair as he groaned and his head tipped back. “Holy fuck, yeah, so good. Suck me, Mason. Take me in, all the fucking way.”

  I returned his groan with one of my own as I sheathed my teeth and sank my mouth down his thick length.

  Ava released a moan as she sank to her own knees behind Connor but she watched me with heated eyes and her teeth in her bottom lip. I locked eyes with her again as I slid back up Connor’s cock then back down, sucking hard at his steel cock as Ava’s hand came around and cupped his balls, her fingers massaging his sac delicately as I roughly fucked him with my mouth.

  Connor’s pants were becoming harsher with each of mine and Ava’s caresses, his groans loud in the room until he pulled back and grabbed Ava’s arms, pulling her up and kissing her with a frenzied passion that had my own cock twitching at the sight of their tongues duelling angrily.

  I stood and moved behind her, my hands reaching round and palming her large breasts. Her nipples peaked immediately, the hardness of them pressing against the cotton of her black dress.

  “Take off her dress” Connor demanded as his mouth and tongue ventured down Ava’s throat. Her heavy pants were laboured with desire, her chest heaving with each deep pull of air and her thighs had just started trembling, a sign I knew as arousal flooding her system.

  I slid the zip of her dress as I gripped her hair harshly, knowing she needed my rough with Connor’s soft. The thin straps of her dress slipped off her shoulders and exposed her heavy breasts to Connors mouth, the plump softness squashed tightly in her black strapless bra.