by Apryl Baker
Forever Your Touch
A Manwhore Series Novel
By Apryl Baker
Forever Your Touch
Copyright © 2018 by Apryl Baker.
All rights reserved.
First Print Edition: June 2018
Limitless Publishing, LLC
Kailua, HI 96734
www.limitlesspublishing.com
Formatting: Limitless Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1-64034-392-4
ISBN-10: 1-64034-392-X
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Dedication
For every woman out there who thinks being treated second best is okay. It’s not. You are just as important as your man and you deserve to be treated as an equal. Love yourself and understand just because it’s not physical or verbal abuse, it’s still abuse, and you deserve better.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter One
The incessant ringing forced him awake.
“What?” he barked into the phone.
“Wake the hell up, Mason. I need your help.”
Keith Maxwell’s panicked voice broke through Mason Kincaid’s drunken haze like nothing else could. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, ignoring the girl asleep beside him. Checking the clock, he saw it was three in the morning.
“I’m up,” he yawned. “What’s going on?”
“It’s my sister.”
“Which one?” Keith was his best friend, but Mason had only ever met one of his four sisters. He and Keith met their freshman year in college, and they’d been fast friends since.
“Josephine, my baby sister.” Keith took a deep breath and let it out. “She’s gone and moved in with a guy none of us likes.”
Some of the worry went out of him. Girl shit. He should have known.
“Keith, man, girls date guys all the time their families don’t approve of. It happens.”
“She moved to New York, asshole. This guy fucking convinced her to move to New York with him, away from all her family. She doesn’t know anyone there. What if he’s an abuser? We wouldn’t even know.”
Okay, he got why Keith was freaked. His baby sister moved across the country. Hell, if he had a sister, he’d be pissed too. “Okay, calm down, dude. What is it you want me to do?”
“I need for you to be me.” Keith broke off and started talking to someone else. He was probably calling from Mason’s old frat house. Mason could hear the sounds of the party still going on downstairs here at their NYU chapter where he currently was. Friday nights were party nights at Alpha, no matter what state you were in.
What the hell did that mean? For him to be Keith?
“Explain.” He was still too drunk for this shit.
“Jo doesn’t have any family there. I need for you to be me, to be her fill-in brother.”
He did not hear that right.
“Keith, what the hell—”
“Look, Mase, I know it’s a lot to ask, but you’re my best friend. You’re the only person I trust to look out for my sister. You need to watch that bastard she shacked up with, make sure he’s treating her right. You know I’d do the same for you.”
Fucker. Mason growled, knowing Keith would do the same for him. No way in hell was he getting out of this now that Keith pulled the best friend card.
“Fine, asshole. Text me her address, and I’ll go check on her.”
“Not just check on her, Mase. Be there for her. Be me.”
“Fucker, it’s three in the morning, and I’m so drunk I’m seeing two of everything. Call me tomorrow and tell me about this shit.”
“Fine, I’ll call you tomorrow. Sleep it off.”
Fingers curled around his cock, and he turned his head to see the brunette wide awake and ready to play. Sleep would come later. He had business to attend to right now.
He hung up the phone and turned all his attention to the girl with the magical lips.
***
Morning came and went. It was well past noon before Mason kicked the brunette out of his room and went to shower, his head buzzing. Hangovers were rare for him. He’d grown up with five brothers, and they’d taught him how to hold his liquor. He ran a hand through his shaggy, thick black hair as he skirted around people still passed out cold in the hallway. It must have been a wild party. Once he hooked up, the party faded, and he’d continued it in his bedroom.
The party scene was getting old. He loved it when he was a freshman, but the older he got, the less he wanted to get drunk off his ass and behave like an idiot. It was why he’d retired to his room instead of partaking in the festivities going on downstairs.
Kade, his oldest brother, would tell him he was growing up. Mason curled his lip at the thought. He loved being carefree and not having responsibilities outside insurance for his truck. He was young and intended to enjoy every moment of it.
The shower helped to clear some of the fuzz left over from last night. Didn’t take long to find clean clothes and head down to the kitchen to get some grub. The mess that greeted him made him change his mind. God only knew what was left in the fridge. Drunken fools ate like nobody’s business.
He hauled ass to his favorite diner, Mae’s Diner. They served breakfast all day, and he was starved.
“Late night, Mason?” Sheryl, his favorite waitress, greeted him. He’d been here enough everyone knew him by name. He loved this old fifties-style diner, from its black and white checkered floors to the light blue upholstered seats. Records hung on the walls, and the staff wore poodle skirts and black strappy flats. The women kept their hair up in ponytails, and the guys—well, they were guys and wore their hair however. He wasn’t going to judge.
“Yeah.” Sheryl looked tired today. She was in her mid to late twenties and supported three kids on her wages. Mason always tipped her well for that reason. “Everything okay?”
She nodded.
“Kids okay?”
She rocked back and forth on her feet, and he got the vibe she didn’t want to talk about it. “What can I get you, darlin’?”
“Pancakes and your breakfast platter. Lots and lots of syrup. And the biggest coffee you have. I’m in caffeine withdrawal.”
He frowned after Sheryl, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something was wrong there, but the shrill ringing of his phone steered him away from that thought.
Keith.
The conversation from last night slammed into him. Babysitting duty. Shit.
He swiped the phone to answer the call. “Hey, man.”
“You sober?”
“Gettin’ there.” Mason waved to a few girls who came in and tossed them an easy smile, but he looked away before they took it as an invitation to join him. “Now, tell me what’s going on with your sister.”
“She met this guy in high school, Ray Daniels
. He’s a real douchebag.”
“Are you sure you don’t think that just because he’s dating your sister?” Sheryl dropped off a steaming mug of coffee, and he mouthed her a thank you.
“Fuck, man, I wish it was that. This guy doesn’t treat her right. It’s like nothing’s good enough for him, and he hates spending time with us. He’d rather do anything than come over for Sunday dinner.”
“Doesn’t treat her right, how?” Mason savored the first burst of flavor as the coffee hit his tongue. So good.
“You’ve never met Jo, right?” Keith asked.
“No. I only ever met Amanda. She came to one of our frat parties, and you kicked her out.” Mason smiled at the memory. He’d seriously thought Keith was gonna get his ass beat by a girl.
“She had no business being at a frat party.” Keith still sounded miffed about it. If it had been him, he’d rather have his sister at his party where he could keep an eye on her, as opposed to one he had no control over. He wasn’t about to judge, though. He didn’t have a sister.
“Jo’s the baby of the family. She’s sweet and kind, but more than anything, she’s naïve. This guy has her wrapped around his finger. He talks shit, he puts himself first, and he’s tearing her away from us, Mason. It’s not cool. A man puts his girl first, especially if he loves her.”
Mason saw how his brothers treated their wives. They definitely put the needs of their women ahead of their own. One of the first things his papa taught them all was to treat women with respect, and if you were lucky enough to find the right one, you better damn well show her how special she was.
One of the girls who had come in earlier caught Mason’s eye and smiled at him. He knew her…last week’s party, maybe? He made a habit not to sleep with the same girl more than a few times in case they got ideas. He wasn’t looking for a relationship, just some fun.
He ignored her and went back to his phone call. “Okay, I get it. What exactly do you want me to do?”
“First and foremost, go check on her. She’s enrolled at the same college you are, so it shouldn’t be hard to keep an eye on her. She’s shacked up with Ray off campus, though.”
“You thinking he might hurt her or something?” The thought brought out his protective side. Domestic violence was a topic that hit near and dear to home. His sister-in-law, Sara Jane, had been in an abusive marriage before she married his brother, Viktor. Sara left the bastard when he hit their daughter, Delia. Mason’s lip curled in a snarl thinking about it. He loved that girl like his own and was glad they’d finally been able to scrub the bastard’s last name off her. She was now officially a Kincaid.
“That’s the thing, man, I just don’t know.” Keith let out a growl of frustration. “I know him, have known him since they started dating. He’s always rubbed me the wrong way.”
No one was ever going to be good enough for any of Keith’s sisters. It was a fact. Mason felt the same way about Delia. Just the future thought of some ass trying to get cozy with his niece set his teeth to clenching.
Keith was pretty laidback, though, and usually let his sisters do their own thing. He’d intervene when necessary and kept an eye on them, even his older sisters, but he wasn’t a stalker brother. With Jo, he seemed to be in full-on stalker mode, and Mason didn’t dismiss his worry out of hand. If Keith had a bad feeling about this guy, there was probably a good reason.
“I’ll swing by her place after breakfast and check on her. Just text me the address.”
“Thanks, Mase.” The relief in his best friend’s tone was palpable. Keith really didn’t like this dude.
Sheryl put his breakfast in front of him, and he flashed her a smile. The scent of bacon hit his nose, and his stomach growled.
“Food’s here. I’ll call you as soon as the recon mission is done.”
With that, he said his goodbyes and dug into the best breakfast in New York.
Chapter Two
Josephine Maxwell stood at the kitchen table folding laundry. She needed to get this done so she could go buy her books at the campus bookstore. Getting them on the Saturday before classes started had never happened before, but it couldn’t be helped. They’d only arrived here last week. She’d come up and registered and all that weeks ago, but they’d put off moving until the last minute.
No, that wasn’t quite true. She’d put off telling her family she was moving from California to New York to be with Ray. Jo knew how her family felt about Ray, especially Keith, but she wouldn’t let their hang-ups stop her from being happy. Ray could be an ass sometimes, but he could be the sweetest man when it came to her. She loved him. And if her family couldn’t get behind that, well, that just sucked for them.
“Jo, have you seen my favorite shirt?” Ray stuck his head in the kitchen, frowning at the mess of unfolded clothes on the table.
“Yeah, I just got it out of the dryer.” She fished it out of the pile and tossed it to him.
He sniffed it. “What’d you wash this in? It stinks.”
“It’s the detergent you bought.” He didn’t look pleased, but there was nothing to be done for it.
“Go get some new stuff today and rewash this shit.” He threw the shirt back at her and strolled into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. Jo took a moment to let her eyes sweep over him. Ray wasn’t tall, not even six feet, but that was okay. Jo herself was only five-two. His brown hair showed blond highlights where the sun hit it in front of the window over the sink. Brown eyes met hers over the rim of his cup. She let her eyes travel over his body. Ray wasn’t ripped, and he didn’t have a six-pack, but she didn’t care about that. He was your average, normal guy. She liked normal.
Ray walked over and sat down, picking up her hand. “You happy, Jo? I know moving here was a big deal for you.”
“I am.” She twined her fingers with his.
“Good.” He leaned over and kissed her then settled back in the chair. “Mom wants us to come to dinner tonight.”
That was the one sour spot in this whole move. His parents. They didn’t like her. When they moved here last year, she’d been afraid Ray would as well and leave her behind. Instead, he’d asked her to come with him. He’d told her she could enroll at NYU. He didn’t want her to quit school for him. It was the reason they’d waited originally, but when May came and went, she found it harder to tell her mom and dad she was leaving, so they’d waited some more. August rolled around, and there was no more putting it off.
“I gotta go get my books today. It’s the last day the campus bookstore is open before classes on Monday.”
“That’s fine. Just make sure you’re home before five. I promised Mom we’d be there by five thirty. It’ll be good to eat some decent food.”
Jo bit back the snarky comment on the tip of her tongue. She couldn’t cook. He knew this before he asked her to move in with him. So why did he like to make little digs about it? It wasn’t as if she wasn’t trying to learn.
“Can I use the car?” She started putting all the laundry back in the baskets. No use folding it if she was gonna have to rewash it.
“No. I need it.”
Jo frowned. “You going out?”
“Maybe later.” He shrugged and stood, taking his cup and putting it in the sink.
She pushed down her irritation. She’d bet good money he wouldn’t leave the house today, but it was his car and not hers.
The sound of someone knocking at the door interrupted her irritable thoughts. “Your mom coming by this morning?”
He shook his head. “Mom wouldn’t knock.”
Right. His parents had keys to the house since they were paying the rent on it until Ray got settled. Jo didn’t like it one bit. What if his parents decided to come over and interrupted them having sex? Not something she looked forward to, but she was betting it was gonna happen.
Ray went to answer the door, and she finished cleaning up the table. If she called a cab now, she’d be able to get there and back before five. It was only a little after two. They didn’t
live that far from campus.
“Who the hell are you?”
The anger in Ray’s tone sent shivers of alarm racing up her spine, and she sprinted to see what was going on. She stumbled, barely stopping herself from falling. Stupid klutzy legs. The sound of a chuckle pulled her attention back to the situation at hand. A guy stood in the doorway, a mischievous smile gracing his lips. He was tall, well over six feet, so he towered over Ray. Black hair glinted blue in the sunlight, and his coal black gaze swept past Ray and landed directly on her.
She knew exactly who this was. She’d seen him in enough photos on her brother’s Facebook page. Mason Kincaid. Of course Keith would send him here. He needed eyes on her. As much as she loved her brother’s overprotective streak, she wished he’d lay off. There was no need for Mason to come check on her.
“I’m Jo’s FIBB.”
“Her what?” Ray frowned.
“Fill-in big brother,” Mason explained. “Hey, Josephine.”
No one called her that. Not even her mother. She hated it.
Jo came farther in the room, mindful of her feet. It would be just her luck to fall face first and embarrass herself. “What are you doing here, Mason?”
Ray’s head snapped back toward her. “You know this guy?”
“He’s Keith’s best friend.”
“Fucking Keith,” Ray muttered.
“Watch it.” Mason’s playful smile disappeared. “I’d be real careful what you say about Keith.”
Ray glared, but Jo cut him off before he said something stupid. “Again, what are you doing here, Mason?”
His smile reappeared, and it sent a little wave of butterflies through her stomach. “Promised your brother I’d come check on you.”
“As you can see, I’m fine.”
“That you are.” There was definite appreciation in those eyes when he looked her over from head to toe. Did he not see her boyfriend standing right in front of him?