“Keep lying to me, Freckles, and I’ll wash your mouth out with my cock.”
To reiterate his point, Mason thrust his hip, grinding his hardness up against my ribs. My lips parted but nothing came out. All my mind could focus on was what something that size would do to my internal organs.
“You’re small. It wouldn’t take much.” My pulse skyrocketed when his fingers tightened, digging into my throat. “Just push your head down a bit…”
Freezing, I clamped my eyes and mouth shut. I waited for him to carry through with his threat. Water rained down, splashing off the floor and walls in echoing ticks that mingled with the fluttering in my chest. Each individual drop’s slice through the air was so vivid, I could picture its path. Like time had slowed down around us.
Then it all stopped.
Mason pulled me away from him and sat me down in a dry corner on a bench.
Whether it was the click of the shower door or confusion that caused me to open my eyes, I didn’t know. But there I sat, in the corner, staring at the back of a man I should be running away from. I didn’t know what to do. Mason didn’t seem mad or annoyed. If anything, he looked nonchalant. Casually lathering up his hair as if there wasn’t someone in there watching him.
This wasn’t the first time I was locked in a room. Daddy called it a time to reflect on my choices. Sometimes I did what he said and pondered over where I went wrong. Others, I imagined that my dad was a good man, and Mom was still alive. We’d go to picnics on the beach and music festivals at night.
The little boy and Lana would join us on occasion, and we’d all laugh into the wee hours of the morning. That was the place I wanted the white rabbit to take me. My wonderland. Where everyone was safe and happy endings never got torn away. A fairy tale where the prince and princess got to ride off into the sunset.
“Here,” Mason thrust a soapy white loofa my way. “Make yourself useful and wash my back.”
I’m not sure why I got up and walked over there, under the warm spray of the water. Nothing made sense anymore. I was avoiding my best friend. The sheriff was asking questions, and Mason took me from my house and brought me to his—for what? To torment and humiliate me? Force answers out of me? I’d been here two weeks and he’d barely acknowledged me.
I slid the loofa across his skin and watched the muscles in his back twitch. He really was beautiful. Even his back called to me. A strange tingle surged through my belly when I reached up to wash his shoulder blades.
Our size difference was terrifying. But there was something else there. A spark settled deep inside. It was similar to the thrill one would get when they rode a rollercoaster, but a lot fainter. Did I like his body? Did he like mine? Did I want him too?
“Mason?”
“What?”
“Why did you put your finger inside me?” A better question was, why was I asking him this stuff in the first place?
“Why?” His shoulder jarred with a soft chuckle. “Scared I’m gonna fuck you?”
Yes.
“No.”
Maybe?
He let out an annoyed sigh and shook his head. “There’s that lying mouth again.”
“I’m not–”
Mason cut me off before I could finish.
“Look, why don’t you just save us all the trouble and tell me who the fuck hit you.” He twisted his neck to look over his shoulder at me. “I’m gonna find out.”
Scary thing was, I believed the determination on his face, which was what I should’ve been concerned with. Instead of trying to think of a way to steer him off that path, I stood there staring at the purple bruise on his jaw.
I didn’t see it in the bed because I was facing the other side of his face. Now that angry mark glared back at me, making my ribs ache from the ghost of injuries that once were.
“What happened?” The question came out before I knew what was happening.
Mason’s cold glare locked on mine. “I fell.”
The physical hit from his statement knocked the air out of my lungs. My gut caved in as I stumbled back and collapsed on the bench. It hurt to have my excuse thrown back at me. Almost as much as it did to say it. I hated lying to Lana, but I took comfort in the fact that it was for her own good. Now all I could think about was if this was what she felt when I lied to her?
Was it what he felt?
