I was ready to weep as an unexpected calmness settled over me. “Nothing. I just love you. That’s all.”
“I love you,” he whispered, kissing me softly as he went back to preparing me. Mason swallowed my moans and took my breath away with the swipe of his finger over my prostate. Rocking into him, I rubbed my torso along his, memorizing every point of contact. It was all I could do not to come until he could get inside me. Own me from the inside out. When I couldn’t absorb any more, he put me out of my misery.
“Breathe, baby,” he whispered against my lips.
I closed my eyes and focused on the point of contact, the place his warm, wet tip seared me to him. Needing to see, I looked between us where Mason hovered over me, connecting us in a way I’ve never felt connected to anyone. It wasn’t sex. It was love, and all I needed.
After almost two years of slowly falling for each other, we’d become attuned to one another. Reading my body and my breathing, I closed my eyes as he slipped further into me until he made me his. He held my heart and soul in his hands, and when we reached our release, he called my name over and over as he marked me for no one but him.
We didn’t need words as our touches and kisses said everything. Until I met Mason, I’d never experienced the level of intimacy that seeped into the marrow of my bones. The way I loved him was terrifying, because if my previous life had taught me anything, it was that an end was inevitable. But with him, I would live like there was no tomorrow, because I would love and protect him for eternity.
Chapter 31
Mason
On the way to the airport, I tried not to obsess over what was about to happen. Thanks to Hudson, I’d been able to get an appointment with the psychologist he had used when his wife died. After explaining the situation I was walking into, her first advice was not to go, but I couldn’t do that to Maddie. Even though I knew she would understand, part of me refused to allow Melinda to take another thing from me. I wanted to be there for my sister even at my own detriment. So I agreed to take anxiety medication with me, just in case I needed it to get me through the weekend. But the best thing I did was to make an appointment for the following week to continue counseling.
When Thomas made the turn into the airport, I frowned when he bypassed the entrance to long-term parking. “Are you doing daily parking?”
“Something like that.”
But when he passed that entrance, I became very curious. “Where are we going?”
He sighed, but didn’t respond. That was my cue to stop asking questions and just go with it. So that’s what I did until he turned into the area where the team departed for away games. Instead of the huge planes we flew in being on the tarmac, asmall private jet sat waiting. And when he pulled into a parking place and cut the engine, I knew what he’d done. Looking over at him, I frowned. “We’re flying private?”
He smiled as if I’d figured it out. “Yes. It was cheaper,” he said, getting out of the car. “Let’s grab our bags.”
I looked over at the Gulf Stream jet.
“Wait,” I said, following him out. “How is a private plane cheaper than first class? I know what Carson paid for us to go to Australia, and that was not cheap.”
Thomas smirked as the rear of the Escalade opened. “Good thing we’re just crossing the continental United States then, huh?”
He handed me bags as he collected his, then closed the hatch and locked the doors. As we made our way to the plane, I was still trying to figure out how his math worked when I stopped outside the very familiar plane. “Is this Mr. Carlisle’s personal plane?”
Thomas looked up at it, then back to me. “Yes. Let’s go.”
“Wait,” I said again, reaching for him. “Why are we flying on this plane and not commercial?”
“Because he offered it to us. He wanted to do something to make it easier so you didn’t have to worry about commercial schedules and getting back on time.”
I gaped at him. “This is because of training camp, isn’t it?”
Thomas chuckled. “Not at all. He offered it when I went to turn down the job. Before training camp.”
Running my hand over my neck, I stared at the jet that, in a way, led me to Thomas. “This is the plane we took to the Gala.” Turning to him, my heart swelled in my chest, suddenly feeling sentimental. “The plane that took me to you.”
His eyes bathed me in all the love he felt for me as he pulled me in for a kiss. I could have stayed right there, but I knew wewere on a timeline. “Okay. But I need to pay for the fuel and the pilot at the very least.”
Shaking his head, he sighed. “You can work that out with him, but I don’t think he’s going to agree to that. The pilot was going anyway.”
“What?” I didn’t have time to ask what he meant.
“There you are,“ Dane said. “I told Lennox you wouldn’t be late. Looks like he owes me a blowjob.” When he saw me staring, he looked at Thomas. “Sorry. His lack of filter is rubbing off on me. You didn’t tell him we were going?”
I whipped my head toward Thomas. “They’re going with us? To the wedding?”
His smile was all I needed. “Yes, sweetheart. Dane is actually flying this baby.”
