"Mason!" His sharp voice, calling my name, finally seemed to cut through the fog that had surrounded my sight.
"Shit, I'm sorry," I said, as I started to rock forward, but my erection had almost completely deflated when I'd been lost in my own brain, and I swore viciously as my cock slid from his body.
"Fuck!" I stroked myself, desperate to try and get hard again, the condom loose and slippery in my hand. I knew my face had to be beet red as my stubborn body refused to cooperate.
"Mason?" I heard Lee say. I could barely see his face, turning to look at me, his gorgeous ass still high, waiting for me to take him. It was as if I was hearing his voice from a hundred miles away. Tears stung my eyes as I gave up on my worthless body. Humiliated beyond belief, I did the only thing Iwasgood at. I ran.
19
Lee
One minuteI was on cloud nine, getting myself ready for a man who was coming to be very important to me. The next minute, the door to my room slammed and I was all alone.Fuck. What thehelljust happened?
“Mason?” I called, moving from the bed to the door, wincing slightly as I did. It had been years since I'd bottomed, and the delicious burn had been something I missed terribly. I’d never trusted a hookup to top me.
I opened the door to the hallway and ran out to the kitchen area. The kitchen was dark, the only light the small night lights I’d placed in outlets to keep me from stubbing my toes in the dark.
A glance at the front door showed the door was still closed and locked, fortunately. I really didn’t want to be running naked through the national forest in the middle of the night. Desperate, I flipped on the living room lights.
Mason was curled up in the corner of the room, squeezed behind an end table and the wall. He was sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest, his arms wrapped around them. He rocked back and forth, his face hidden by his hair. He was saying something over and over, but I couldn’t make out what it was.
“Mason, baby… it’s me… Lee,” I said in what I hoped was a soothing voice. He just kept rocking back and forth. As I got closer, I could make out the words he was saying.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’msorry!” he cried, over and over.
“Hey, Mason…Mason!” I called his name as I got down on my hands and knees to get close to him. I’d noticed before that sometimes my drill sergeant voice got a reaction from him when nothing else did, but this this time he didn’t respond.
The need to hold him was overwhelming, but I knew there was no way I could physically move him out of that spot, in the condition he was in. Ruthlessly, I pushed the furniture out of my way, then crawled over to him.
He jumped when I touched his shoulder, but his rocking continued, and he just kept repeating the phrase over and over.
“Shhhh… baby, it’s okay! It’s okay! I’m okay!” I whispered, sliding an arm behind him and pulling him to me until I was able to wrap my legs and arms around him; not caging him, but letting him know he wasn’t alone. “I’m not hurt. No one was hurt. Everything is fine.”
I didn’t know how long we stayed like that, but it was a long while. My hip was stiff and uncomfortable. Mason kept whispering his apology as he rocked back and forth, me with my arms around him.
After a very long time his voice started getting softer and softer, his rocking slower and slower. I just kept holding him, whispering to him, letting him know I was here for him and that everything was okay. Eventually he stopped and I thought he had fallen asleep. I remembered him saying something about how his panic attacks always made him super tired afterward and I just hoped he was able to find some kind of peace in sleep.
I let him drowse for a while, just stroking his hair, still muttering to him that I was there. His curly black hair kept falling in his face, and I kept moving it away so I could watch for any sign that he was having any other issues. After a few minutes, I decided the best thing I could do was put him to bed.
As I went to stand up, I had to take my arms from around him. His hand shot out and grabbed my arm, and he started whimpering again.
“Shhh… baby, it’s okay, I’m here…” I said, letting him keep my hand as I stood. I reached down and managed to awkwardly pick him up, holding his slender body against mine. He was so light in my arms I was a bit alarmed. I needed to help him to put on some weight. A couple of weeks of high calorie meals and workouts in the dojo would do him wonders.
I went to take a step with him in my arms. That, of course, was the second my hip decided to lock up. We swayed perilously for a moment as I struggled to regain my balance, willing the pain away while holding Mason until I was able to stabilize us. I had to stand there and wait until the muscle spasm passed and I was able to move again.
I carried Mason into the bedroom and laid him down on the bed. He was quiet now, his sobs stopping. I brushed the hair back from his face, which was wet with tears. Anger burned inside of me at all the men who had hurt him over the years, but most especially at his uncle’s friend, Dreyven. If that son of a bitch ever showed his face again, I would have no qualms about killing him.
I went around and snuffed the candles, waiting to do the one next to the bed last. I blew it out and crawled under the covers next to Mason. His breathing was deep and even. I wrapped my body around his, and after a very long time, we both slept.
20
Mason
I wokein Lee’s bed as he climbed in beside me. I vaguely remembered him getting out of bed a few minutes earlier. The morning sun was pouring through the sliding glass door onto the deck. The light was on in the bathroom, and the air was a bit humid, so I guessed he had taken a shower.
As he slipped his arms around me, I could smell the most amazing scent, a cross between vanilla, amber, a touch of clove—something I was certain I had smelled once before in my life, but my exhausted brain couldn’t quite make the connection.
Beyond that scent, I could still smell the candles that had burned the previous night, and heat crept up my face as I remembered what had happened.
