“Come on, Mase. That all you got?” I taunt, knowing his response will be worth my teasing comment.

Slap!

A sting burns my skin. The aftermath of him smacking my ass spreads lust through me like wildfire. Mason grunts an unintelligible answer as his warm fingers grip my exposed neck. My eyes fly open in response to his touch.

Slap!

Another. Sparks of desire shoot straight to my pussy. Reaching around my front, Mason circles my clit and with a few perfected moves from his magical fingers, I’m done for. Falling forward, I fist the sheets and squeeze my eyes closed tightly as pleasure pulsates from within, flooding every crevice of my well-fucked body with complete satisfaction. I ride out my orgasm, reveling in the momentary bliss while Mason pulls back my hair using it to hold me in place as he pummels into me, seeking out his own release.

A deep groan rips from his throat and his cock pulsates against my walls as he spills into me.

Mason slumps over my body, his chest resting on my back. His hands come around to cover mine and my sated body barely holds us up. “That good enough for you, sweetheart?”

My lips curve up into a smile. “Perfect.” I breathe out heavily, our bodies still hot and sweaty from mind-blowing sex.

Rolling onto our backs, we don’t speak. We lie silently in my bed cuddling, something I rarely ever do. I don’t know about Mason, but getting up, leaving this room and stepping out of our bubble means dealing with the troubled young woman sleeping in the next room. I look around and my cheeks puff up as I blow out a sigh. Untangling myself from the nook between Mason’s arm and body, I swiftly roll over and sit up on the side of the bed. Bending forward, I grab my pajamas from where they lie discarded on the floor.

In the process of dressing, I hear Mason’s deep voice resonate behind me. “Where are you going?”

Turning around, I take a moment to appreciate the fine specimen naked on my sheets. One arm relaxes behind his head comfortably while his other rests low on well-defined abs. His torso is like a map; a multitude of hard lines all leading to one impressive destination.  “I was just going to check on Ali.” I grimace, remembering the state I found Ali in.

Mason reaches his long body toward me and he pulls at my waist, sending me backward onto my mattress.

His arms encase me, holding me captive. He’s so close that his nose touches my own. His lips a whisper away, the slightest movement and I’d have them.

“Well, you go check on her, but I want you back in this bed. We’re far from done.” His hand comes up to cup my face. His thumb sweeps across my cheek and I all but melt into him. I close my eyes relishing his touch for just a second before drifting back to the present.

“Mase, you have to give a girl a break. You might not realize what you’re packing down there, but let me tell you, my pussy sure knows and I need more than five minutes to recuperate. We’ve just had half a night of having multiple orgasms and, if I do remember correctly, you have a daughter to pick up this morning, in probably a few hours.” I look over to the window to take a guess at what time it might be.

Mason rolls over to the nightstand and clicks the side of his cell phone, which lights up the screen. Turning back over to me, he replies, “Plenty of time. If I pick her up too early, she’ll be cranky at me for the rest of the morning. It’s not often I let her do sleepovers, but after the first time she had one, she didn’t speak to me for hours because I interrupted her and her best friend making best-friend bracelets. I sure as shit learned not to pick her up too fucking early.”

A giggle escapes my mouth, a fucking giggle. The man is turning me inside out.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Lindsey

Every smile, every stolen kiss is a distraction from the reality awaiting me. I’ve become reckless and he’s made me this way. Why do I feel so weak?

Moving my ass back into Mason, I try to turn over without waking him, but I fail.

He groans, tightening his hold on me as I maneuver to face him in my bed. “You can’t do that to me and expect me to remain a gentleman, Lindsey.”

As I stare into those barely open deep blue eyes, and still beautifully sleepy, I see myself looking back at me. For the few hours we tried to sleep, he couldn’t. He tried and I couldn’t because he couldn’t. He was tense, his whole body a stiff wall, securing the barrier from the monsters of his nightmares. I felt him pretend. He tried so hard but we both knew why he refused to fall asleep. I didn’t say a word, and neither did he. We laid together, me in his arms, wishing I could take away his pain. While he held me, masking it so I didn’t have to feel it too. But I did.

We both held secrets the other may never know. We both don’t trust easily because our faith had been crushed. Our stories are completely different, but in the end, the outcome is the same. The only difference is Mason hasn’t lost all faith in humanity; he wants more. He believes there’s still good in the world or he wouldn’t continue to fight for it day in day out. But I didn’t. To some, it’s probably melodramatic, and I can see why. But no one else has walked in my shoes. When you live everyday around liars, master manipulators, and people just out to hurt others, you lose faith in the good that’s still out there. And Mason is a part of the good. I’ve finally allowed myself to believe that.

I rip the blanket off the lower half of my body and slide out of the bed. I’m pulled back and Mason lifts me like I weigh absolutely nothing. Not this again. The man has a crazy stamina.

“That fine ass isn’t leaving this bedroom till it’s said good morning to my cock.”

A booming laugh escapes me. “You know, Mister, you have quite the dirty mouth on you when you lighten up a little. However, my ass and your cock – not gonna happen right now. Wishful thinking though.”

“Is that so?” He lifts himself forward, his hands planted on the tops of my thighs moving to my breasts where he squeezes them and kisses his way up my neck. I push him down on the bed with a light force and the confliction of shock and excitement in his eyes tells me exactly what he thinks of the move I just pulled.

“I’m going to put coffee on. Somehow I think Alison might need a cup, or ten. Why don’t you get your ass up, Detective, and I’ll make you breakfast before you have to leave.”

He shifts off the bed and heads into the bathroom in all his naked glory, bare ass on display for my appreciation. The man certainly isn’t shy about his body and neither should he be. He isn’t pristine and in perfect condition. He wears scars from injuries he’s sustained from the line of duty. His nose is slightly crooked from being broken at some point, but it’s his eyes that capture me, intrigue me. Yet the scars he bares on the inside are the ones most damaging. He turns around, leaning an arm on the doorframe and his gorgeous cock, all thick and long, catches my attention immediately. Jesus, it’s a goddamn weapon of mass destruction. My body shudders at the thought of having to endure another round this morning. I needed a break after the sex-a-thon that started last night and continued on into the early hours of the morning. Not only that, but Ali had been in the back of my mind constantly. I’d checked on her multiple times overnight just to make sure she was still breathing and not choking on her own vomit. I needed to talk to her, find out where her head is at and get her back to the clinic. A smirk emerges on Mason’s face. “Sure, let’s have breakfast.”

I look downcast at him, raising a brow. I get the feeling his idea of let’s have breakfast is vastly different than my own.