Stone Romance (Stone Passion #2) Read online

  Stone Romance

  by

  A.C. Warneke

  Copyright©2012 by Andrea Warneke

  All rights reserved

  This book wouldn’t have been written without the support and encouragement of those who read Stone Lover and wanted to know what happened next. Stone Romance is for you. Thank you.

  ~

  I also want to thank my wonderful Beta Readers – you are amazing; thank you!

  I wish to thank my children for dragging me outside to throw a disc around to clear my head when the words were stuck. And I want to thank my husband for encouraging me to continue writing.

  ~

  And to the members of the Armed Forces: thank you.

  Always.

  This is book 2 of the Stone Passions Trilogy.

  Stone Lover is Melanie and Vaughn’s story and introduces you to the world of Gargoyles.

  Stone Romance is Jenna and Rhys’s story, delving deeper into the mythology of Gargoyles.

  Stone Destiny will be Armand’s story.

  ~

  While it isn't absolutely necessary to read Stone Lover to enjoy Stone Romance there are certain events that may not make as much sense if book 1 is not read before book 2.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Jenna Jacobs stepped out of the shower and cringed as she caught the sight of her image in the mirror. Instead of looking away as she usually did, she forced herself to look at her reflection and see the wretched creature she had become. A shudder wracked her frail body as she barely recognized the stranger staring back, whose long, black hair hung in wet strands to her waist.

  Her eyes were still blue but they were no longer shining with mischief and laughter. Nope; her eyes were hollow and had been ever since Jeremy had been taken from her over a year ago. And despite having given birth nearly six months prior her body was that of a skeleton: skin pulled tautly over sharp bones. It had the added bonus of a few silvery stretch marks on her abdomen.

  Pushing her hair out of the way, she placed her hands over her meager breasts; the once perky B’s were now depressed A’s and completely dry, unable to even provide the baby with any nourishment. Her milk had come in but the baby hadn’t wanted to latch on and Jenna hadn’t the desire to try very hard to make it happen. By the time she got home from the hospital after a slightly extended stay, the baby preferred Melanie and the bottle. Jenna hadn’t cared because she hadn’t wanted to breast feed anyway. Another example of how she was failing as a mother and another reason she would forever be indebted to her sister.

  Her hands smoothed over the protruding ribs, the indented stomach and the silvery stretch marks, the flaring hip bones; she knew that if she didn’t start eating, if she didn’t get some help, she would cease to exist. And she just wasn’t sure if she cared anymore.

  Her head whipped upwards and she met her shaken gaze in the mirror as memories flooded her numbed brain, memories of a happier time when the world was laid out before her as a bountiful feast. She and Melanie had been seventeen when they graduated from high school, a few months shy of their eighteenth birthdays and eager to begin their real lives. Melanie was going to be heading off on some grand adventure, studying cuisine in Paris while Jenna was content with the thought of going to the local college and getting her degree in something, probably business, and a minor in art history.

  She and Jeremy had made plans for their future and during a private celebration he had given her a ring, making their long-standing engagement official. Of course, they weren’t going to get married until after she graduated from college and he had put in at least four years in the military but their future was mapped out and it was a wonderful future.

  And then a few weeks later her period was late and she called Jeremy in a state of shock and panic, not knowing how they could bring a baby into the world when they were still so young and not settled. He took a long weekend to rush home so they could have a hasty wedding so she wouldn’t have to face anything alone. She had told Melanie that they were going to elope and asked her sister to help convince their parents that they were doing the right thing. By the time the two girls were done, her parents thought it was romantic and foolish but they supported the decision.

  Everything was set up: a quiet ceremony before a justice of the peace, a small celebration with the families, and a weekend honeymoon. But Jeremy never made it.

  Now she was not even nineteen with a baby, no college credits, no Jeremy and no will to continue on and she hated it.

  Jenna stared at her reflection and a wraith stared back, its black hair in such contrast to its white, skeletal body. Fury welled within her and without a thought she grabbed a pair of scissors and started hacking off the long black tresses that Jeremy had loved, tresses that belonged to a different Jenna. Tears of rage and grief spilled over her cheeks but she didn’t make a sound.

  Staring at the lifeless clumps of hair on the ground, Jenna slowly raised her gaze back to the reflection and gasped as she saw the extent of the damage she had wrought. Her hair was sticking up all over her head making her eyes look huge and bewildered in her pale face. Grabbing the thick robe from the back of the door, she quickly wrapped herself up in it and left the scene of her madness, her heart racing in her chest. What had she just done?

  Barely able to catch her breath, she froze when she heard the sound of her sister’s voice coming from her room. Slowly, she pushed open Melanie’s door and saw her sister gently rocking the baby, weaving a fantastical tale about a sleeping princess and an enchanted castle that was guarded by magical gargoyles. Tears filled Jenna’s eyes as she listened, Lenni’s natural ability with the baby a painful reminder to how unnatural Jenna was. A terrible reminder at how much Lenni gave up to stay at home and help because Jenna hadn’t been up to the task.

  As if sensing her, Melanie looked up, the brilliant smile faltering only slightly when she saw her sister standing there with her butchered hair. “I was just telling Ferris a story.”

  “I know,” Jenna said, forcing a smile as she clutched the front of her robe together. Deliberately moving into the intimidating room, she sat down on the edge of Melanie’s bed, trying to keep the illusion of being all right. “But don’t you think she’s a little young for tales of fairies that steal one’s soul or dragons that devour virgins?”

  Melanie chuckled, her gaze steady on Jenna’s face instead of the mess she had made of her hair, which Jenna appreciated. “Ferris loves my stories and I haven’t told her about the fairies and the dragons since she was four months old. I like what you’ve done with your hair; the short cut makes you look so sophisticated.”

  With a smile that was almost genuine, Jenna ran her hand through the cropped hair, “I needed a change.”

  “Yeah; I know the feeling.” Lenni smiled but there was sadness in her eyes that she was no longer able to hide as she carefully watched her sister. “I slept with Peter.”

  Jenna’s eyes widened as her sister blurted that out. Melanie had been planning on saving herself for marriage and Peter was someone she would never marry, no matter how nice he w
as. “Why?”

  Insouciantly, Lenni shrugged her shoulders as she stood up and carefully laid the baby down in the bassinet. Lovingly, she ran a finger along the baby’s cheek and sighed in contentment, “Why not? I like him and it just happened. Ferris is so beautiful, Jenna.”

  The change in subject was jarring even though it was a tactic Melanie perfected to get out of discussing something that she didn’t want to discuss. Jenna was going to say something but seeing the expression of love and devotion on Melanie’s face as she gazed at the baby tore a hole straight through Jenna’s chest and she had to turn away before she crumbled to dust.

  She felt the bed shift as Melanie sat down next to her. As Melanie wrapped her arms around her thin body, Jenna stiffened, unable to bear Melanie’s compassion when she was so damaged. She held herself stiffly until Melanie’s lips pressed against the top of her head and she whispered, “It’s okay, Jenna; I’ve got you.”

  Her lower lip trembled a moment before the tears began to spill once more, before her body broke and began to shake uncontrollably. As Melanie continued to hold her, rock her, love her, Jenna could only cry harder.

  “You’ve had to be strong for so long,” Melanie whispered, the words a poisoned dart to Jenna’s heart. “But you’re not alone, Jenna; it’s okay to ask for help.”

  “You’ve already given up so much,” Jenna managed to choke out, clutching onto her sister as the world careened out of control. This was what she feared by giving in to tears, this chaos and despair that engulfed her.

  “I’d give up everything for you and Ferris,” Lenni vowed with such passion, such conviction, it shattered Jenna’s soul because in truth Melanie had already given up everything. And every time Lenni had reached out to help, Jenna had ignored it. But no longer; she was no longer going to be a wraith sleepwalking through life.

  And some day, she would learn to smile again, laugh again. And she would find a way to pay Melanie back for holding onto the life line and never letting go, never giving up, until Jenna was ready to be saved.

  Chapter 1

  Jenna scrubbed her fingers through her chin length hair and stared at her sister as if she had finally gone mad. “What do you mean you invited Vaughn’s brothers to go with us? I thought this was just going to be the three of us tonight?”

  Melanie looked up, pausing a moment from putting Ferris’s long, brown hair into French braids. “Well, Ferris and I thought you might like to meet Rhys but it seemed rude to invite only one of Vaughn’s brothers so we invited both of them. Though I doubt you’ll have to worry about Armand; he will probably refuse to join us. He’s not a big fan of fun. Or me.”

  Jenna closed her eyes and took a couple of slow breaths to calm the tide of irritation and trepidation that was rising in her chest. “I highly doubt my daughter had anything to do with your mad scheme to set me up with Rhys; you’ve been talking of little else all month.”

  Melanie tied off Ferris’s hair and then wrapped her arms around the little girl in a hug. With a dazzling smile curving her lips, her blue eyes sparkled mischievously and Jenna wanted to groan in exasperation knowing that her sister was going to get her way, as she usually did. Ferris wore an eerily similar expression and once again Jenna had the thought that Ferris was meant to be Melanie’s daughter and not hers. “I’m sure I’ve talked about other things, Jen; it just so happens that Ferris and I agree on this. Rhys is such a great guy and Ferris already adores him.”

  Jenna ground her teeth together, not ready to just dive right in to the dating scene again. It was only a few short weeks ago that she decided she was ready to test the waters and if Rhys was anything like his brother, he was an entire ocean. “I told you that I’m not interested in meeting him. If I start dating, it’s not going to be with your boyfriend’s younger brother. Has he even graduated from high school yet?”

  Melanie snorted, taking absurd delight in Jenna’s question. Ferris looked over her shoulder at her aunt and the two of them started laughing maniacally, their minds linked by some invisible thread that Jenna would never understand. Flinging herself onto the couch, she sighed in resignation, knowing she was going to have to wait for her daughter and her sister to stop giggling before a normal conversation would be allowed to continue.

  God, Melanie and Ferris even looked like mother and daughter, with their similarly elegant noses and the shape of their eyes and their long, chocolate brown hair, though Ferris’s hair was a shade or two darker. The only difference between Ferris and Melanie was the color of their eyes; Ferris’s eyes were an unusual shade of bluish-green, while Melanie had blue eyes the color of the summer sky, the same shade as Jenna’s

  Though she shared similar facial features with Melanie and the same shape and color of eyes, Jenna’s hair was black as midnight and short, just brushing her chin. Even though she had chopped off the locks in a moment of bleak despair it was simply easier to keep her hair short, especially with a baby.

  Jenna’s eyes moved between Ferris and Melanie, a slight smile tipping her lips. It was impossible not to love the two of them, even if it drove her nuts trying to understand them. They believed in fairy tales and magic, mystical creatures and happy endings; Jenna no longer did. She knew that reality wasn’t nearly so wonderful and she couldn’t pretend, no matter how badly she wanted to at times. Granted, it had its moments but life was dark and painful and some days it was all she could do to get through the day without worrying about the bottom being jerked out from under her again. And she wasn’t sure if she would have the strength to struggle back from the abyss again.

  Of course, Melanie could never understand Jenna’s reservations. Her sister had never loved someone so much, planned to spend the rest of her life with him, only to lose him in a heartbeat. Lenni led a charmed existence, untouched by the darker side of life, blissfully unaware of the harsh realities most people experienced. Throughout high school, Melanie was the imaginative one that everyone wanted to protect and shelter; she was the one with a dreamy smile on her lips as she waltzed through a life filled with magic.

  Even now, she found the perfect, albeit tiny, apartment and she was madly in love with a drop dead gorgeous man that was madly in love with her. Vaughn worshipped Melanie, looking at her as if she hung the stars and the moon, watching her as if he would protect her with his life. It would shock Jenna if the man didn’t propose within a fortnight, three weeks tops.

  And Jenna wished her sister all of the happiness in the world; she just wished Melanie wouldn’t try setting her up with Vaughn’s brother. She had barely just made the decision to dip her toes in the water again; she wasn’t ready for anything serious. Serious simply hurt too much.

  As long as she didn’t think about Jeremy and what her life could have been too much she was okay, but when she was alone at night, the what if’s started crooning their worrying song in her head. The last thing she needed was a date with some prepubescent man-child who was only interested in sex. High school boys were all about the race to the finish and not the journey along the way. Even Jeremy sometimes had difficulties making it last but he had loved her and because they had been so young, sex was all about fumbling in the dark and clumsy penetrations.

  Occasionally Jeremy had surprised her with extended foreplay, despite her furious blushes and feeble protests. Once, probably the night Ferris was conceived, she came with him inside her. Letting out a long sigh, she realized that it had been over six and a half years since she had an orgasm that wasn’t the result of her own manipulations.

  “He’s not a child, Jenna; he’s a fully grown man,” Melanie managed to get out between giggles, pulling Jenna back into their conversation. “Why would you think otherwise?”

  Jenna’s brows drew together in a puzzled frown; she wasn’t sure why she thought Rhys would be so young. Probably because Vaughn didn’t look very old, maybe mid-twenties, and Melanie kept referring to Rhys as his younger brother. And some of the stories she told, mainly the ones where Rhys was able to eat everything in s
ight and not gain an ounce, made Jenna think of teenage boys, with their hummingbird metabolism and dinosaur appetites. “Then is he a frat boy?”

  Maybe an overgrown frat boy wouldn’t be so bad; there would be no chance of a deeper relationship. But getting involved with Melanie’s boyfriend’s brother was a bad idea for a million different reasons, the least of which was the awkwardness of having to see him afterwards when things didn’t work out. And if Melanie married Vaughn, family gatherings would become something to be avoided like the plague and that was not something Jenna wanted to contemplate; she really liked her family.

  “Rhys is not a frat boy, either,” Melanie chuckled. “He’s gorgeous and funny and has a set of abs to die for.”

  Jenna smirked, one side of her mouth quirking upwards in a disbelieving smile, “And he’s not a frat boy? Any guy who has abs to die for tends to be gay or a total narcissist; which one is Rhys?”

  Melanie opened her mouth to answer but the sound of someone knocking at the door cut off the words before they formed. Her smile grew impossibly wider as she crossed the miniscule distance to the door, throwing the words over her shoulder, “You’ll see in a moment.”

  As she watched her daughter rush to catch up to Melanie, a brilliant smile on her little face, Jenna covered her face with her hand and chuckled softly. She would never win against those two. Peaking at the newcomers from between two fingers, her laughter died in her throat as a breathtakingly beautiful man with absurdly long hair wrapped his arms around Melanie and hugged her, picking her up and spinning her in a circle before setting her down. And then he bent down and as he greeted Ferris, his smile softened to one of genuine affection.

  Without hesitation, Ferris stepped into his arms and embraced him with all of her five-year-old exuberance, chattering away as he stood up with her arms practically choking him as they hugged his neck. Jenna’s heart did a little painful lurch in her chest as the image of Jeremy holding his daughter flashed in her mind, as it juxtaposed with the reality of this stranger holding Ferris. How could such a magnificent man look so natural holding a nearly six-year-old child?