0597092001436358459 eveline vine Read online

  “Hi,” I whispered.

  “You’re Evie Vine, right?”

  I feigned interest in the loading sign on my computer and nodded absently.

  “I’m Xena,” the overly-pierced blonde beside me said, snapping her gum obnoxiously as she stared at me.

  “Hi,” I whispered again.

  She snorted and her eyes narrowed speculatively. “Rumour has it that you’re the big man’s latest piece of ass,” she said with a grin. It looked completely foreign on her usually sour face.

  I scowled at my screen. I was not some piece of ass!!!

  “So, are you?” she demanded.

  “Am I what?” I asked quietly, starting this lesson’s tasks.

  She rolled her eyes. “Stone’s girlfriend.”

  “No,” I said shortly and her brow scrunched in confusion.

  “Damn,” she said with a sigh, “Does that mean he really has gone back to banging Chloe?”

  “No!” I growled, glaring at her. Her lips kicked up in an amused smile.

  I shrugged and pulled a face. “We’re exclusive,” I muttered, “But we’re not a couple.”

  Yes, the explanation didn’t sound right to me either.

  She simply rolled her eyes and tapped at her keyboard absently.

  “Good,” she said eventually, “Because my room is next to Chloe’s and it was hell when they were going out.”

  My eyes widened and I swivelled in my chair to gape at her. She snorted with laughter and ruffled my hair. She made a face.

  “She was loud,” she explained, “It was fucking annoying. You should have heard some of the dirty shit she used to say too.”

  I paled and screwed my eyes shut.

  “You’re quiet,” the girl continued, “…but you must be one of those shy girls who turn into wild tigresses in bed. I can’t see why that big, bossy asshole would be interested in you otherwise.”

  I bristled at the insult to Stone, even as part of me shrivelled – worried that I wasn’t wild enough for him.

  “Stone is very sweet,” I told her with a glare, “And our sex life is none of your business.”

  “Sorry, sorry,” she said with another grin, before turning to her screen and getting to work.

  I, however, sat back in my seat and stared at the ceiling, trying not to picture Stone and Chloe together and wondering just how crazy he liked his sex.

  Could I satisfy the big man?

  I no longer knew.

  ***

  I’d expected dinner that night to be awkward. Candy and Mason had been avoiding each other and I didn’t know which of them would be sitting at our table. Donny had been livid when he’d discovered Fredi had stayed on at Jenny’s and she’d only returned early this morning. Briar had been snubbing Donny and trolling the uni club for suitable men, and Alec had taken to spending extra long hours at the gym to burn off his obvious frustration.

  Surprisingly, dinner was much better than I’d expected. It was just the band members and I for the meal and Fredi and Donny didn’t fight at all. In fact, they acted totally indifferent to each other. No, the real problems didn’t start until after dinner…when others decided to crash our dessert.

  Briar was the first person to join our table, pulling along some guy behind her. She sat directly in his lap and grinned at the table as she introduced him as Dean. I felt Alec stiffen on the other side of me, before letting out a resigned sigh.

  Great, I thought sarcastically, Alec is giving up!

  Stone watched Dean with undisguised contempt, until Candy broke the silence by sitting on Donny’s lap with a giggle. It was the first time I’d seen her smile since she and Mason had split.

  “Well, hello Candy-lips,” Donny purred with a grin, bouncing her in his lap and causing her to giggle again.

  “Hi, Don,” she said slowly, her eyes glittering mischievously as she leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, “Have you missed me?”

  “In what capacity?” Donny chuckled, running a hand over her thigh.

  I saw Briar frown with concern and Fredi sit up straight with a scowl.

  Uh-oh. I was getting the sense that Donny and Candy had a history and she was planning on reviving it. To make Mason jealous? I wasn’t sure, but she’d better watch out for Fredi.

  Candy pressed her mouth to his ear and whispered something. I watched his face flash with several emotions. Thoughtfulness, wariness, concentration, intrigue, mischief and finally, what appeared to be lust.

  “It sounds like we have a lot of catching up to do,” he murmured with a wink, gently easing her from his lap, “Let’s go up to your room and discuss it.”

  Candy giggled and accepted his hand as he stood.

  Stone made a very small noise and Donny’s eyes moved to his. He watched Stone’s face for a moment, before grinning and winking at me. “Let’s make that my room,” he amended, nodding at Stone and pulling Candy away.

  “See you tomorrow,” Candy called to me with a saucy wave. I tentatively raised my hand, just as Fredi shot from her seat with a growl. Stone grabbed her arm and pulled her back down, not looking at her as he spooned some more ice-cream into his mouth.

  “Stone!” she hissed in warning, but Mason’s heavy tread cut off whatever she was going to say next. He sat down heavily next to Jamie and shot him a frown.

  “What’s up with Donny?” he grumbled, shooting a glare at the empty seat.

  Briar glared at him, and surprisingly, so did Fredi.

  Oblivious to the tension as always, Jamie laughed and threw an arm around his friend. “Donny’s going to get himself a reminder of just how sweet Candy tastes. Can’t believe you ditched that babe. Maybe when Donny’s done I can sample some of that sugar for myself.”

  “Idiot,” I heard Alec groan very softly beside me.

  “Shut your mouth James!” Mason growled, pushing Jamie’s arm off him and cracking his knuckles.

  Jamie frowned. “Hey, sorry dude,” he said sincerely, “I thought you were through with her.”

  Mason relaxed a little, “I am.” He forced a smile and sat back in his chair, but I saw his eyes flick to the exit several times, as if he wanted to barge up the stairs to Donny’s room and haul Candy out of there. He rolled his shoulders and reached for his Coke, his eyes moving from Jamie’s worried expression as Chloe sat down with her entourage.

  I frowned. The table was getting crowded.

  “Hi everyone!” Chloe greeted with a bright smile, “I hope everyone had a great week off!”

  “We did,” Briar said stiffly, not bothering to hide her annoyance. The man she was sitting on looked awkward, obviously not understanding why so much drama had been happening at the table…most of it travelling in undercurrents.

  “That’s great,” Chloe said, feigning a forced smile and biting her lip as if trying to appear nervous, “Mine was…okay.” She shrugged and looked down at the table, letting ‘sadness’ wash over her features. I saw Briar roll her eyes, but I stiffened in anticipation. Just what did she have up her sleave?

  “Oh Chloe,” one of her friends cooed sympathetically, “You don’t have to be brave. We know how much that asshole upset you.”

  “Oh Kylie, don’t upset everyone,” Chloe said softly, blushing and smiling softly as she played with the neck of her water bottle. She glanced up at Stone with wide eyes and smiled a little wider, “Thank you Stone.” She whispered his name huskily, as if it was a benediction.

  He nodded at her, but looked back at his dessert and continued eating.

  “What happened?” Dean, Briar’s man, asked.

  Great.

  This caused Chloe’s friends to launch into a huge sob story, painting Chloe as the innocent, sweet victim, Jack the hideous ogre, and Stone as the romantic knight in shining armour. I felt him shift with tension beside me and saw Fredi pretend to gag. Chloe kept sending Stone looks from beneath her eyelashes and adding in how grateful she was and how wonderful he was every few sentences.

  Twenty minutes w
as all I could stand. I deliberately yawned loudly and placed my head on Stone’s shoulder, closing my eyes and sighing softly. I felt his shoulders move in a chuckle beneath me, before he rose and grabbed my hand.

  “Night,” I called back softly, smiling smugly as he pulled me towards the stairs.

  ***

  The next morning, after my run and gym session, I paced back and forth, holding my mobile phone and frowning as I tried to work up the courage to call my older sister. I hadn’t slept a wink last night, too busy worrying after Stone didn’t try to initiate sex.

  Did he want Chloe back?

  Was I not exciting enough?

  On my run this morning, I’d decided the only thing to do was to look into this “kink’ business. No way was I asking Briar of Fredi. I didn’t want that to get around and I didn’t think Stone was someone who liked to share his sex life. I thought talking about kinky sex with Candy at the moment was a little insensitive, so I was trying to work up the courage to ask Charlie about it. Charlie had always been the most rebellious and feminine of us girls. Vicky was Miss Perfectly Good At Everything and was way too overprotective to ask about this. I could ask my mum for some of her erotica books…but let’s face it…that wasn’t something you asked your mum.

  Charlie it was. She was a nurse after all, and everyone knows that nurses are comfortable talking about everything. You can’t sit down and have a conversation with them without hearing something gross about someone’s private parts or worse, faeces.

  I dialled her number and waited anxiously for her to pick up.

  “Evie!” she greeted me cheerfully, “What’s up little sister? Why am I the last to know about your man?”

  “You’re not,” I said with a sigh.

  “Zane and Mum don’t count,” she said with a laugh.

  “Paul and the older triplets don’t know either,” I said stiffly, “They just think I’m dressing slutty.”

  Charlie snorted. “You have nothing on my teenage years, girl,” she said proudly.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “So,” she said eagerly, “Dish. I want to know everything about this boy. Did he pop your cherry?”

  “No,” I said with a blush.

  “Aww c’mon sis,” she said with a laugh, “I won’t tell. You have to have had some of that. Cooper sent me a picture.”

  “Are you back in Cairns then?” I hedged.

  “Yeah,” she agreed with a sigh of relief, “Harvey is doing better and I had to go back to work. God, our big brother is the shittiest patient EVER!”

  “Yeah,” I agreed.

  “He bought me a huge bunch of flowers though to say thank you,” she added.

  “Vicky ordered them huh?”

  Charlie laughed, “I think so yeah. It’s the thought that counts I guess.”

  I fell silent, wondering how to bring up the subject.

  “So, are you looking for sex advice then?” Charlie asked with a loud, rich laugh.

  “Yeah,” I admitted, blushing bright red even though no one could see me.

  “It will hurt the first time,” she said bluntly, “And the next few times a bit as well until you get used to it.”

  “Um…no, that’s not what I want to ask,” I said quickly, my voice dropping to a whisper, “I’m not a virgin…and Stone and I have already had sex together.”

  There was silence on the other end of the line.

  “Oh,” she said eventually, surprise clear in her voice.

  I heard her hesitate a second, before she blurted, “Are you worried about some soreness or discharge or something? Do you have any strange lumps? You are using protection right?”

  I gasped and sat on the bed, hiding my face under the covers.

  “No!” I squeaked, “No problems! I’m being safe!”

  “How safe?” she forged on, “Are you on any contraceptives as well? You do know that accidents can happen right? Condoms can have holes in them or break. Oh and are you using oral protection as well? You know, oral dams for when he goes down on you and making sure he wears a rubber when you give him head. You can catch STI’s that way too. Don’t even get me started on how easy it is to contract diseases from bum sex.”

  “Charlotte!” I hissed, nearly dying from embarrassment, “I’m SAFE!”

  “What is it then?” she asked impatiently.

  “I…”

  Oh dear God, how did I ask this?

  “Spit it out little E,” she coaxed.

  “IwanttobemoreadventuorousinbedandIdon’tknowwhattodo,” I said in a rush.

  “What?”

  “I want to be kinkier!” I hissed.

  My lovely older sister burst out laughing and I had to wait several minutes for her to stop.

  “Charlie!” I whined, “Stop. I’m serious. What do I do?”

  “Okay,” she said, still giggling, “But can I tell Coop about this?”

  “NO!” I cried in alarm.

  “Spoil sport,” she grumbled, before firing hundreds of questions at me and overloading me with advice and websites to do research on.

  When I eventually hung up the phone, I realised I’d just spent an hour on my mobile.

  Great, I thought for what must have been the millionth time that day, Can’t wait to see my phone bill.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  To say I was distracted at dinner that night was an understatement. I’d done the unthinkable and skipped classes to spend the entire afternoon researching this ‘kinky sex’ thing. I’d browsed the sex sections of magazines, read some online erotica and even watched some porn (turning the volume of my laptop down very low so that the other people in the building couldn’t hear). Some of it had freaked the hell out of me…

  Some of it had me soaking wet.

  By the time Stone turned up to take me down to dinner, I’d constructed a thick folder of information, colour-coded and labelled for easy perusal. I’d hastily shoved it under the bed when Stone had opened the door and even now I was still blushing. I picked at my dinner and hid my face as another blush crept up my neck. I couldn’t stop thinking about the shopping list at the front of my folder…and the events I’d planned. I took a deep breath and wondered whether or not I could go through with it.

  What if Stone didn’t like the things I’d chosen?

  What if he wanted to delve into areas of kink I wasn’t comfortable with?

  Everything I’d read had firmly said that sex was something a couple should talk about. Unfortunately, Stone and I didn’t talk. Maybe I should try? Communication was key, especially when leaving the safety of vanilla and trying something…darker.

  My pussy pulsed and I rubbed my thighs together, trying not to fidget too much in my seat. Stone glanced down at me, his stony grey eyes taking in the heat in my face, the tautness of my nipples through my thin singlet…and the way my thighs were pressed tight. His eyes narrowed and then glinted silver with both heat and amusement. His huge hand came down on my thigh, holding it firmly as he went back to his dinner.

  I nearly groaned. His firm hold on my thigh reminded me of how he liked it. Firm, deep and strong. He wasn’t rough…but he wasn’t gentle. Everything about him was firm, solid and confident. It felt surprisingly safe, yet wickedly dangerous at the same time. He was like his name. Stone. A steady rock you could rely on, both in the bedroom and out of it…but his rock-hard power had an exciting edge to it too.

  And right now all of that was MINE!

  Of course, that stupid bitch Chloe just had to her open her mouth and ruin my self-confidence yet again.

  “Are your parents going to be at the ball this weekend?” she asked me.

  I looked at her blankly.

  She smirked, but hid it behind a teasing smile, “It’s rude to not answer a question, darling,” she purred, “Surely you learned that at etiquette class?”

  Etiquette what? Oh she did not call me rude!! The stupid bitch probably didn’t even know what the word etiquette meant. As if a trashy slut like her could ever call hersel
f a lady!!!

  I swallowed my rage and attempted a smile back. “Sorry Chloe,” I said softly, forcing the words past my lips, “I wasn’t listening to your conversation. What ball?”

  Briar shot me look and opened her mouth to answer, but Chloe was much faster.