“We were just chatting,” I say, managing to maintain a mild tone despite my astonishment. “About the past and how things have worked out for us.”
“What about the past?” Mason’s voice is almost growly.
I have no idea what’s gotten into him. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t fit with who I know him to be and how he’s been acting today and the past couple of weeks. I look from him to Gregory and back.
Gregory bursts out with a choppy sound. “I wasn’t making a move on her,” he says through his laughter. “Give me some credit for decency. And for not being stupid enough to pick a fight with you.”
Mason just scowls at the other man.
“W-what?” I look from one to the other again. “Is that what you thought?”
He doesn’t answer. Just breathes heavily as he turns his gaze to me.
“We were talking. In fact, we were saying that things worked out better for us not getting together. How could you even think otherwise?”
He still doesn’t answer, but the tension on his face has softened slightly.
“You were really jealous?” I ask in a different tone. “Aboutme?”
“You shouldn’t be surprised,” Gregory drawls with one more lackadaisical grin. “Never seen a man change somuch as he has since he married you. It’s like he woke up from sleepwalking. But I’m going to make a speedy retreat before he decides to get mad at me again. I’ll see you around.” With a wave, he turns and walks away.
I wave in return but then look back to Mason. I don’t move as I wait for him to say something.
“I didn’t know,” he mutters at last.
“What didn’t you know?”
“You were all soft and smiling with him, the way you are with me. The… the honey cake way. I thought…”
“You thought I wanted him for a husband? How could you possibly think that? Things have been so good between us.”
“I know.” He’s shaking off the bristles now and staring self-consciously at the ground. “I don’t know what happened. I’ve been real happy. You’ve made life so good for me. Then I saw you two talking, and I got hit with this wave of…”
“Of what?” Now that he’s talking to me, I’m not worried anymore. In fact, I can’t help but like how he reacted. Just a little.
“Possessiveness. Or something. Like he was going to snatch you away from me. I didn’t…” He gives me a wry, upward look. “I didn’t like it.”
I giggle. “Well, it sounds kind of silly to me, but who’s to say I wouldn’t feel the same if I saw you talking all sweet to Aria the way you talk to me?”
“Why the hell would I talk to Aria that way?”
That makes me giggle again. “I hope you wouldn’t.”
“And what do you mean, talk sweet? Do I talk that way to you?”
“Yes.” I’m blushing now. And shifting between looking at him and looking at the ground the way he is. “Like right now.”
“Oh. Okay.” He reaches over to take my hand, squeezing it in his big one. “Then you must be talking sweet to me right now too. And all I’ve got to say about it is that you better not talk this way to anyone else but me.”
11
Two weeks after that,Mason has me on my hands and knees before dawn on a Thursday morning, and he’s thrusting into me hard and fast.
I’m liking it.
A lot.
We’ve been getting better and better at sex as time goes by. Mason can last a lot longer now than he did at first, and only occasionally do we get in a position that makes me sore. I still come most easily when he does me with his hand, but sometimes I do when he’s inside me too.
