* * *
It’s beentwo weeks since Anthony passed away. The funeral was four days ago, and it’s only sent Mason deeper and harder into his grief. He won’t let anyone in, me and Scarlet included.
I shouldn’t have been surprised that he attended the funeral, but I was, considering I almost left without him when he refused to leave his office that morning. I felt proud when he joined me in the foyer, dressed in his sharp suit, face stoic as he masked the hurt.
Scarlet struggled through the ceremony, but Mason was there to hold her together.
They held each other up.
The boys have visited daily, but with Mason out of the office, Elliot needed to be in his place. He hates to see Mason hurt like he is, but he knows it’s part of the process.
We all want to help, but none of us knows how.
As much as Mason tried to change my mind, I decided to cancel my place in the showcase. I couldn’t put in the time it deserved, and with everything else that happened, it didn’t seem so important. I knew I couldn’t go away and leave him, not when I was afraid he would break at any minute.
I had all the time in the world to pursue my dreams.
Routine fell over us. Every morning I’d wake to an empty bed, the shower running, and the en suite door locked.
He works out, showers, goes to his home office until eleven at night, and then crawls into bed where he wraps me in his arms, neither of us getting any sleep.
Scarlet has been over twice, but I know things are strained between them since she asked Mason to come to the house to go through Anthony’s things. It’s probably the reason I’m lying alone in bed at two a.m. I know it has been on his mind since she asked.
Climbing from the bed, I make my way to his home gym, finding him running flat out on his treadmill with his earbuds in.
Satisfied he is home and safe, I go to the kitchen and make him a protein shake, then I leave it on the side and go back to bed.
* * *
Mase
My arms surround her,sweat dripping from my body and landing on her delicate throat. Her lashes fan out over her cheeks, and I watch as her chest rises and falls, full of life.
“Nina,” I whisper.
She stirs slightly, then jolts awake when she sees me hovering over her. I know she hasn’t been sleeping long.
“Mase?” Her hands push back my damp hair, her eyes searching my face. “What’s wrong?”
“I need you.” I drop my mouth to hers, pulling on her bottom lip before sweeping my tongue inside.
“Hmmm,” she moans, making my cock grow stiff.
She pulls at my vest, and I adjust my knees on the bed, leaning back to pull it over my head while she whips off her T-shirt.
“Baby,” I hum, my mouth wrapping around her nipple. “I have missed this. Us.”
Her back arches off the bed as she pushes herself farther into me. “Me too,” she whispers.
I pull her pyjama shorts from her legs, chucking them to the floor with our discarded tops.
With the need to feel her, I thrust forward, filling her. A sound rumbles from deep in my chest as her heat sheaths me. She calls out my name, my jaw slack against her neck as I hover over her, unable to move.
I roll my hips. Slowly. “Fuck!”
“Mase,” she pants, writhing on the stark white sheets.
She looks like an angel.
