Page 2 of Stone
“A wife. What do you expect? I realized that sitting here, relaxing, was the first time in so long that I felt peace. Jared expected a lot,” she explained, taking a sip of her water. It certainly didn’t taste as good as the wine had. She wondered if itwas worth walking back over to Locks’ house for another bottle, but she was a little tired.
“What did he expect?” Stone asked. He had a deep, gravelly voice that she could listen to forever. Jared had a higher-pitched voice that had always sounded a little whiny. She paused. Hadn’t Stone asked her a question? She needed to answer it and quit thinking about Jared, the jerk.
“What?” she mumbled, turning toward him.
“What did he expect?”
“Oh, the house had to be clean at all times, and it wasn’t seemly to have a cleaning company come do it. Laundry should never be in the dirty clothes basket for more than two days before being washed. Dinner on the table at precisely six o’clock and…” she trailed off.
“And?” Stone prompted.
“A woman always wears skirts,” she paused and looked down. Even though he wasn’t here, she’d automatically put on a dress today because she’d been conditioned to his expectations. She hadn’t wanted to anger him.
“You know, I don’t even like skirts. I think he only wanted it because correction was easier,” she muttered, sipping the water.
“Correction?” Stone’s voice sounded off. Had he swallowed his water wrong? See, that’s why she liked wine, it went down smoother.
“Oh, if I didn’t please him, I got these,” she easily responded, standing up, turning her back to Stone, and raising her skirt. Stone was a friend, so she didn’t think twice about him seeing her panties when she showed her correction marks. She hated how they looked because Jared the Jerk had wanted fresh skin for correction, so he’d started going farther down her legs. It hadn’t mattered while they were married because he didn’t allow her to wear shorts, but now, she could.
“He gave you these if you didn’t do what he wanted?” Stone demanded, his voice hardening. Oh, she didn’t want him mad at her. She liked being around him. She turned around quickly, everything spinning a little.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad,” she whimpered, dropping to her knees in front of him.
Stone took her hand and helped her stand back up.
“Naomi, I’m not mad at you at all. Even if you did say something that angered me, that’s on me to deal with. Not something that you need to apologize for. I didn’t like seeing that he’d hurt you, and these look like they definitely hurt when they happened,” Stone reassured her.
Naomi stared at Stone. He’d been so nice. She’d hoped she’d find someone here at Bluff Creek to help her.
“Thank you. You’re a good man, Stone,” Naomi said, standing in front of Stone’s chair, swaying. Stone stood up and caught her when she spun around and started to fall off the porch.
“Whoops,” she laughed quietly.
His arms felt nice and warm. Not with huge muscles that would hurt her but just enough to make her feel safe.
“Did your dad know about the correction marks or how Jared treated you?” Stone asked.
“Yes. I went to him after the first time. He said it was my job to not make Jared mad,” Naomi said. She wondered if all men were like Jared or if they were more like the guys in romance novels. She could see Stone being more like the men in romance novels, where they care about a woman’s needs.
“I bet you make sure that when you have sex the woman comes,” she muttered, looking up at his face.
“Excuse me?” Stone choked out. His voice sounded funny again. He should get that checked out. Maybe he was coming down with something.
“In the thirteen years of marriage, Jared never made me orgasm when we had sex. He said it was my job to be turned on enough to come,” she confided with a heavy sigh. She was getting tired and her stomach was a little off. The wine was sloshing a little. Maybe she should have eaten supper before consuming the wine.
“Sounds like a jerk,” Stone lowered his voice.
“On your hands and knees, Naomi, then thrust, thrust, thrust and done, or on your back, Naomi, your tits are too small to suck, so rub your clit if you want to come. You’d look so much better with a boob job,” Naomi muttered.
“It’s not your job. It’s your partner’s job to make sure you’re enjoying it. It seems like maybe this divorce is a very good thing,” he said.
He was so nice and she was getting tired. She yawned loudly, her mouth stretching wide. Jared would have made fun of her for that.
“Do you want me to walk you back to your room?” he asked. His face was so sincere, and she really liked looking at it. She didn’t want to be alone in her room.
“No,” she breathed.
Stone wasn’t sure what to do. Naomi was so drunk that he didn’t feel comfortable letting her walk back across the compound by herself, but he’d asked her if she wanted to go back and she said no.
