Gosh, now we really are moving fast. I’m putting myself all the way out there, making myself feel vulnerable, too.
Mason doesn’t help by staring at me with furrowed brows.
“I mean, I’m the kind of woman who wants to settle. Plus… I don’t think I’m going to meet another man who interests me as much as you do.” Shifting from one foot to the other, I have to tear my eyes away when he still doesn’t speak. “I don’t just want pleasure. I want the good and the bad, too. I want—”
“You want me.” Stating the words like they’re another language, he shakes his head. “You wantme.”
Is the idea that crazy?
“I do.” Nodding, I look back at him to see a sight for sore eyes. His ears are pink, his face pinched as he tries to understand the confession. “Mason, I want youbadly.”
Crazy that I’ve been holding onto these feelings for so long, and suddenly, I can’t keep them trapped inside for another second.
He moves finally, cradling my cheeks with his hands. “You won’t find someone younger? Someone better looking? Someone—”
“I won’t ever look.” Leaning into his touch, my eyes slide shut. “How am I supposed to when you always take up the entire view? There’s no way anyone will come close. I promise you, Mason. If you’re willing to have me—all of me—then I’ll do the same. Not just for a limited time, either. I’m talking forever, pal.”
His answer isn’t in the form of words. Instead, he swoops down to press his mouth against mine.
It’s not gentle. It’s a claiming, a desperate seal on the promise I just made.
My hands fly to his shoulders, clinging as the world tilts. In one fluid, shocking motion, his hands slide down to my hips, and he lifts me like I weigh nothing. A gasp tears from my throat, swallowed by his kiss. He’s so strong, the ease with which he holds me sends a wave of pure heat straight through my core. Iwrap my legs around his waist, molding myself to him, my arms locking around his neck.
He doesn’t stop kissing me. His tongue explores my mouth, and I meet him with a desperate hunger of my own, sucking on his tongue, sharing the same air until I’m dizzy with it. He carries me from the kitchen, his steps hurried, almost running us into a door frame as he turns. He lets out a gruff laugh against my lips, and the sound vibrates through me.
One of his hands squeezes my behind, a firm, claiming grip that makes me moan and press closer. I’m already getting hot beneath my clothes, my skin tingling everywhere he touches.
He doesn’t stop at the recliner like I think he would. He turns down the short hallway, his mouth never leaving mine, and pushes a door open with his foot. When he sets me down, my back hits his blanket. Smells like pine and everythinghim.
I’m breathless, my lips swollen, and all I can see is the hunger raw in his eyes.
“This doesn’t feel real,” he breathes, his voice rough with wonder.
My heart hammers. “It better be. I said some embarrassing stuff back there.”
A small, genuine smile touches his lips, and it gives me butterflies. For a second, I’m just in awe that I put it there. This man needs a reason to start smiling, and I want to be it.
Melting into a throbbing mess under his gaze, I claw at the button of my jeans. “Take off your shirt,” I demand, squirming with the need to see him, to feel his skin.
He groans, and my eyes drop, seeing the clear effect I’m having on him, the firm press of his erection against his zipper. He does as I ask, his fingers working the buttons. But his eyes aren’t on his task; they’re watching me as I wiggle to get my pants off.
Finally, he shrugs his shirt off, the fabric falling to the floor. His gaze drops from my face, burning a trail down my body to the damp strip of my underwear. He just stares, drinking in the sight, and the heat of his look is more intimate than any touch. Hands now free, he leans against the bed, his knuckles brushing my inner thigh.
“Look at that,” he murmurs, his voice thick. He pushes the damp fabric to the side, and a wanting gasp catches in my throat. He’s revealing me, and the cool air against my slick, exposed skin makes me shudder. “Fuck, Nova. Last time… I didn’t get to look. Didn’t get to see how pink you are. How slick.”
His thumb strokes a feather-light circle just beside my clit, and my hips jerk off the mattress.
“This is my pussy now,” he states, the words leaving no room for argument. “Mine.”
A helpless, breathy sound is all I can manage in response. I lift my hips when he hooks his fingers in the waistband of my underwear and tugs them off, tossing them aside without a second glance. I watch, mesmerized, as he sinks to his knees beside the bed. The thump of his knees hitting the floor is loud, final.
Before I can tease him for his eagerness, a giggle bubbles up as he’s yanking me firmly toward him, pulling me to the very edge of the mattress. My laughter is cut short by the dark, promising look in his eyes.
“Gonna taste you now, sweetheart,” he says, his hands firm on my thighs. “And I know for a fact this cunt is going to be sweeter than sugar.”
He parts my thighs, his grip firm and sure, opening me completely to his hungry gaze. And as I look down at him, at the fierce devotion and raw need on his face, a single, thrilling worry flashes through my mind. This man won’t leave any part of me untouched once he begins.
10
