At Once

by Mindy McKinley

  “Oh my God, I can’t believe you.”

  “And I can’t believe you think we didn’t all know you and Mason were kissing in the hallway.”

  She froze and felt every one of her organs disappear. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  She groaned and swiped her hand down her face. This was an embarrassment she would never recover from.

  “I don’t expect you to admit it and, frankly, I don’t want the details. But I can read the man pretty well, ladybug, and I think this one is going to be good for you if you let him.”

  She didn’t know, couldn’t possibly begin to know how to answer him.

  “Just think about it,” he said after she blinked stupidly a few times.

  He stretched his legs out and pushed himself up from the sofa. “Whelp, I better get some sleep before the flight tomorrow.”

  Shaking her head clear, she followed him. “I should too.” She wrapped her arms around her father and held him tight. “I love you so much, Dad.”

  “I love you too, Gabi Rae.”

  Mason

  Mason stretched out on his sofa and clicked through television channels with a sigh. There was nothing on and nothing in his brain but Gabi. It was maddening.

  He had spent the weekend working on all of Mrs. Finch’s projects, not because he had to, but because he needed something other than Gabi to focus on.

  He hadn’t wanted to bother her while her father was in town, and he had kind of hoped that she would text him when he left. Kylie told her he flew out this morning. No text.

  Sighing heavily again, he kept punching buttons on the remote wondering why she wouldn’t give him a chance. He was a pretty decent guy if he did say so himself. He had his own business, money in the bank, a fairly normal family.

  He looked around the empty room. Maybe if he had a dog this wouldn’t be so unbearable. Plus, chicks dug pets, right?

  He groaned. Until he met Gabriela Turner, he had never, not once, had to worry about what “chicks dug.” His inner monologue was beginning to depress him.

  But the more he thought about it, he kind of wanted a dog. It would be nice to have a companion on his morning runs, someone to be happy when he came home. Someone to love his sorry, lonely ass.

  He was just about to pick his phone up to search the Chicago Animal Shelter for just the right dog when his text alert went off.

  Assuming it was Seb or Dom, neither of which he really wanted to talk to, he grumbled something and swiped angrily at the screen.

  He was shocked to see Gabi’s name.

  Even more shocked when he opened the text.

  GABI: Hey, are you busy?

  Oh fuck. He sat up, his heart thundering in his chest.

  MASON: Not really, everything okay?

  GABI: Yeah.

  Okay. Now what? How did he proceed with her? With her it was like he had never spoken to a girl before. Shit. Fucking shit. He finally just typed out an answer and hoped it was okay.

  MASON: Are you okay, do you need something?

  She took a long time to respond and he could see her stop and start the message over and over again. He watched the conversation dots as if they were his lifeline.

  GABI: Can I come over?

  The fuck? He shot up off the couch and nearly dropped his phone in the process. He stared at the text with disbelief. Was this really Gabi? Or was someone fucking with him? She would never send this text.

  Another message flashed across his screen.

  GABI: I’m sorry, that was presumptuous of me.

  He scrambled to reply.

  MASON: Not at all. Of course you can come over.

  Please come over, he added silently.

  GABI: Okay. I’ll leave here in about 30. Address?

  Mason shook his head as he typed in his address and hit send. Was this really happening? Had she lost her mind?

  GABI: See you in a bit.

  MASON: See you.

  He stood there like an idiot for about three minutes before he darted into motion. He changed his sheets, picked up random items, and pulled on a fresh T-shirt just as the doorbell rang. Christ, she was fast.

  He thundered down the stairs and then paused to calm himself before pulling the door open. He couldn’t keep his heart from trying to pop out of his chest, and when he saw her standing on his doorstep in a pair of jeans, a plain T-shirt, and her hair loose around her shoulders, he thought he might finally lose it.

  “Hi,” he said, unable to come up with anything else. His wit was long gone.

  She smiled timidly and twisted her fingers together. “Hi, sorry I bothered you.”

  “Oh, you didn’t,” he assured her. “I was just lying on the couch shopping for a dog.”

  “Really?” She cracked a smile.

  “Hand to God.” He motioned for her to follow him. “Come on in. Welcome.”

  She stepped inside and looked around but didn’t say anything, so he led her to the living room and sat her down on the sofa.

  “Are you sure everything’s okay?” he asked, sitting next to her but keeping his distance.

  She nodded, but her posture was all wrong and she kept wringing her hands as if she was nervous. He was instantly worried. A thousand questions pushed into his mind, but he stayed quiet and just waited for her to talk.

  After a few deep breaths, she finally looked up at him. Her eyes were wide and unsure. “The other day,” she said carefully, “you said it didn’t have to be complicated.”

  “Right,” he answered, trying to figure out what the fuck she was talking about.

  “Because I don’t want complicated,” she told him, “but I do want”—she motioned between the two of their bodies—“whatever this is. Mason, I just want ...”

  He didn’t even let her finish her sentence. The very second he had figured out what she was talking about, he had his mouth on hers, his hands in her hair, and was pushing her back into the sofa.

  She gasped in surprise but melted quickly and kissed him back with equal ferocity. She pulled hungrily at his shoulders, trailed her hands up his neck, through his hair. She was so uninhibited, so wild, his cock was screaming for release.

  She parted her legs for him and pushed her hips up against his cock. The sensation was so intense it made him growl and his kiss deepen He hadn’t been able to catch his breath for minutes, but he didn’t fucking care. Nothing was going to make him stop kissing her short of a nuclear bomb. She was perfect. Sweet. And right in front of him.

  He slid his hands all over her luscious body, teasing her nipples through her T-shirt before skirting the hem and teasing the small strip of bare skin with his fingertips. She moaned at the contact and the warmth of her skin made him dizzy with want.

  Slowly, he worked his hand up her stomach, reveling in the gooseflesh his touch left behind. Her chest was heaving in excitement, and she let out a sigh of ecstasy when he slid his hand over the lace of her bra and teased her taut nipple.

  “Oh God, Mason,” she said, pulling away from the kiss and pushing into his touch. He had never heard a more beautiful sentence in his life. He wanted more. He wanted to give her every bit of pleasure he could.

  Without missing a beat, he moved his mouth to her breast and nipped at the bud through the fabric. She bucked against him, buried her fingers in his hair, and pulled him to her so tight he thought he might suffocate. He didn’t care. He would die for this woman right here and now if it meant he could keep touching her.

  He pulled her up into a sitting position. Her cheeks and lips were red, her hair was in tangles, her eyes were glassy with desire. She had never looked more lovely.

  “Jesus, Gabi,” he told her, “you are so incredibly beautiful.”

  She smiled at him and then said the sexiest thing he had ever heard a woman say to him, “Fuck me, please, Mason.”

  Chapter 15

  Gabi

  Waiting for him to respond to her request was the lon
gest three seconds of her life. Her heart was beating so hard she could hear the rushing of her blood through her veins. She didn’t know if she was doing the right thing. She just knew she wanted him and that she didn’t want to wait any longer.

  It had taken her all day to get the nerve to text him. What if he didn’t want her? What if he had had enough? It all circled around and around until he grinned from ear to ear and stood up.

  “Oh, Gabi.” He shook his head. “I’ll fuck you. I will fuck you so hard you won’t remember your own name.”

  That’s all she wanted, sweet release from this god of a man. “Promise?” she asked.

  He smirked. “Gabriela Turner, I promise it’ll be so good you won’t need spin class for a month.”

  Oh fuck, she dampened for the tenth time in the last five minutes. She opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, he picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and bounded up the stairs two at a time.

  He set her down on her feet, kissed her so sensuously she moaned again and then slipped her shirt off with one practiced motion. The cool air and the warmth of his hands made her tremble. He brought his sinful lips to hers again and removed her bra, letting it fall to the floor.

  As if he was worshipping her, he slid to his knees and took each of her breasts into his mouth, making her shudder and cry out. His tongue was so skilled, so perfected in the art of pleasure that her knees were starting to buckle. Every move was deliberate, calibrated to ensure her maximum pleasure. She had never experienced anything like this before.

  She wanted to rip off her jeans and tell him to just get on with it but words were not going to be possible any time soon.

  He did it for her, slowly unbuttoning, unzipping as if that alone were an honor. Then with those strong fingers, he tugged the denim down over her hips and down her legs.

  When she was free, he threw them over his shoulder and grinned at her. She was standing there in nothing but her panties, and the look in his eye made her feel like the sexiest woman to ever live. It was thrilling and so very freeing.

  “My God, Gabi,” he said, standing to his feet, gazing at her as if she was a work of art. “You are so fucking sexy.”

  She felt it. He made her feel it. She smiled at him, and with more bravado than she had ever had in her life, she turned around, hooked her fingers in her panties, and slowly pulled them down.

  “Fuuuuuuck,” he growled and then laughed when she tossed her panties at his face. “You’ll pay for that,” he told her, and then swooped her up into his arms before she could respond.

  He sat down on the side of the bed across from a full-length mirror and set her on his lap so she was facing it. She barely recognized herself, her cheeks were flushed, her body was pink with excitement. She looked sexy, and she never felt sexy.

  And there he was, so solid behind her, this gorgeous mountain of a man, locking eyes with her like she was the only woman that he’d ever wanted.

  She tried to turn around so she could touch him, but he put his hands on her hips and said, “Ah-ah-ah, you’re not going anywhere.”

  “What are you—”

  He stopped her words by kissing her neck and then very skillfully wrapped each one of her legs around his so she was firmly hooked on to his lap.

  “Look in the mirror,” he told her. His voice was soft and commanding. “I want you to watch my hands on your body.”

  Her eyes flew open, but she nodded. At this moment, when he spoke in that voice, she would do anything he told her to do.

  Slowly, he brought his hands up from her hips, across her stomach, and gently cupped her breasts. He rolled each nipple firmly between his thumbs and forefingers while he ran his tongue along her neck.

  “Oh, God,” she breathed, reaching behind her for support. She had to grip his T-shirt to keep from falling off his lap.

  “Nope,” he said when she tried to close her eyes. “I want you to watch.”

  She forced her eyes open and watched in the mirror as his hands slid from her breasts, slowly, so slowly, down her stomach.

  With one smooth motion, he parted the folds of her womanhood and ran his thumb lightly over her pulsing bud.

  She moaned and shivered and nearly came just from that one simple touch.

  “You like that,” he said. His voice was so low and sinful that all she could do was nod. “I can tell.” Never breaking eye contact, he slid his forefinger down to her opening and teased it with the slightest swirling motion. She bucked and shuddered again, and just when she thought he was going to give her a moment to recover, he slid his finger deep inside of her.

  She cried out in pleasure.

  “You are so wet for me,” he growled, biting at her ear as he said it. “I want to make you come all over my hand, okay, beautiful? No holding back.” He watched her for an answer. All she could do was nod and wrap her legs around his a little tighter.

  She wanted more; she wanted it all, everything that he could give her. She needed the pleasure, the release, the knowledge that she was a sexual human being.

  And suddenly he slipped inside her again, applying pressure in just the right spot. She gasped and bucked, and when he added a second finger, she saw stars. “Oh, God,” she cried. “Mason, that feels so fucking good.”

  “That’s all I want,” he whispered and began rubbing her clit with his other hand, gently at first and then faster until both hands were working furiously toward her climax. “Just let go, Gabi,” he commanded. “I want to see you come.”

  It didn’t take long. She had never felt anything so purely delicious, so sinful, so dangerous in her entire life. And to watch his hands on her in the mirror made everything doubly intense.

  Before long, she was screaming his name as he brought her to the hardest climax of her life. She shuddered and shook and moaned as the wave of pleasure and release rolled through her multiple times.

  She felt like jelly. She felt at peace.

  When she finally pulled her eyes open again, Mason was grinning at her in the mirror. He was still holding her tightly, assuring she didn’t fall from his lap, and she blushed all over again. What must he think of her, shattered by a single orgasm?

  Mason

  “That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” He pressed a kiss into her shoulder and reveled at the shivers it sent across her skin. He wasn’t lying. Watching her reach the pinnacle of pleasure was now the highlight of his life.

  And Christ alive, she was so fucking tight, so ready to come for him, that his cock was literally throbbing against her back. If having his fingers in her was that fucking amazing, he couldn’t even comprehend what pushing all the way inside of her would do to him.

  He might not survive it.

  She simply grinned back at him in the mirror, and something pulled inside his chest at the sight.

  Like the little minx she was turning out to be, she unwrapped her legs from his, pushed herself off of his lap, turned around, and kissed him hard on the mouth. Blew. His. Mind.

  “Thank you,” she said sexily.

  He couldn’t even breathe.

  She dropped her voice to just a rumble that made his cock twitch and said, “Now it’s my turn.”

  Oh. Fuck. All he could do was nod. She could tell him anything right now with her full, glorious breasts in his face and he would agree to it.

  “Arms up,” she ordered.

  His arms went up.

  He groaned as her fingers trailed across his biceps, down his chest and stomach, to the hem of his shirt. She tugged it up and off him, struggling just enough to know that this was not something she did very often. He was profoundly happy to be chosen.

  Once she threw his shirt over her shoulder, she stared at his chest for a moment and swallowed. He would pay millions, billions to hear what she was thinking as her gaze swept across him.

  He may have flexed a little to make it even more impressive. Anything for her.

  “Up,” she told him.

  He stood up like a good
little soldier but let out a whoosh of air when her fingers traced the waistband of his sweatpants. He could only imagine how ridiculous he looked at the moment, there was no hiding his enormous excitement, and his sweatpants were doing nothing to help.

  If she cared, she wasn’t showing it, she just seemed adorably curious, exploring his chest and stomach with her tiny fingers, making it harder and harder for him to keep from throwing her on the bed and slamming into her.

  And then without warning, she hooked her fingers through the waistband of his pants and boxers and worked them down his body. His cock sprang free, heavy and hard, and the approving, hungry smile she gave it made him feel like he had won the world.

  When she took him in her hands, he threw his head back and let out a wild growl. It was the most divine feeling he’d ever had. She was timid and unsure, but he didn’t fucking care. It was Gabi.

  “Gabi,” he said breathlessly, taking her hands away from his cock. He was afraid he was going to come right then and there.

  “But I want ...”

  “I know,” he told her. “Later, I promise.” And then, with one quick move, he swooped her off her feet and had her beneath him on the bed. Fucking finally.

  He sat back to roll a condom on and caught her watching him with wide, concerned eyes. “Everything okay?” he asked, pausing in his task. “Because we don’t have to do this, Gabi. You say the word. All right?”

  “No, it isn’t that, I want to,” she answered. “Really, really want to. It’s just ...” She took a deep breath. “It’s been a while.”

  Oh, thank God. He would have let her bail, no questions asked, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t relieved. He smiled at her. “A while?” he asked in disbelief. A woman like her shouldn’t go a day without being fucked if she wanted it. “How long are we talking?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment as if she were embarrassed and then opened them again with a sheepish look. “Three years.”

  What the actual fuck? “Three years?”

  She nodded.

  How in the world was that possible? How could anyone survive that long? He hadn’t had sex once since he had met her, and he was already on the verge of bursting. And that had only been weeks.