“I’m sorry,”I muttered, while ducking my head and chewing on my lip.
The soft dig of my teeth helped ground me. It gave me something else to concentrate on other than the consequences of my stupidity. Don’t talk back. Ever. It’s not worth it.
Part of me hoped that Mason’s grumbled ‘uh huh’ would be the end of it. It wasn’t. If anything, things got worse. Because the next order he barked out caused my stomach to flip.
“Get the fuck in here.”
No, no, no. I couldn’t do that. I didn’t want to be trapped in that tiny glass room. Alone. With him. A very, very naked him.
“I won’t leave,” I promised. “I’ll stay right here.”
There was a downside to staring at the floor. I wasn’t able to judge his reaction and see if he believed me or not.
He didn’t.
“You had your chance.”
Even if I wanted to make my feet move, I wasn’t sure I could. Nerves shook my entire body. So I tried another tactic.
“I’ll get wet,” I said, knowing it was a lame excuse.
“Like I give a shit,” Mason barked back. “Now get the fuck over here before I lose my patience.”
Out of options, I did as I was told and slowly made my way across the room. Forcing my feet to move was easier than I thought it would be. Perhaps that came from the years I spent trying to fly under Daddy’s radar. Obedience wasn’t an issue. Fear, however…
The louder the sound of trickling water got, the heaver my legs felt. Soon the thump, thump, thump, of anxiety ringing in my ears was all I could hear. It took a long time for me to learn how to avoid angering people, and I was good at it. Keep my head down, stay out of the way, and be quiet. Those three rules saved me more times than I could count.
But not this time.
The instant the white floor I had my eyes locked on met with the black tiles of the shower, my arm was grabbed and I was yanked into the confined space. Mason pulled me up against his solid form, making the glass walls seem much closer than they were. On instinct, my eyes shut.
Judging by the way he grabbed my chin, I assumed he didn’t like that.
Mason gave my head a little shake. “Look at me.”
I shook my head and squeezed my lids tighter closed. All I could feel beyond the dampness seeping into my clothes and heating up my skin, was his hardness digging into my diaphragm. A shiver ran down my spine when his hand wrapped around the back of my neck. It was terrifying how much bigger he was than me.
“Come on, Freckles,” his voice purred down at me. “Let me see those pretty brown eyes.”
Did he just call my eyes pretty?
Before I knew what was happening, my lashes fluttered open. That was a mistake. I couldn’t look away from the way his dark wet hair stuck to his forehead. As if it was framing those bright green orbs I longed to save me from my torment.
When the darkness took over Daddy, I focused on those eyes and the things that might’ve been. Other people had the same color, but they weren’t the same. Logan didn’t have the twinkle Mason did, and Ryker…
I stopped and tipped my head, remembering the conversation Mason had with his father when he first brought me here. “Louis isn’t your biological dad, is he?”
“Not that it’s any business of yours…” I swallowed back a nervous lump when his gaze narrowed in on me. “But no, he’s not.”
Louis wasn’t genetically Mason’s father, and he cared more about him than mine did me. That hurt.
“At least you have a dad that loves you.”
I wished I could take it back the second the words left my mouth. If Mason was eyeing me before, then he was completely zoned in on my face now.
“Why would you say something like that?” He tugged on the back of my neck, pulling me in closer when I tried to jar away. “Did Daddy do something to you?”
“No,” I insisted, while silently cursing my stupidity. “My father loves me.”
