by Kells, India
Shane motioned Mason away. “Yes, we were done anyway.”
“Are you okay, Cleo?” Mason tried to appear solicitous as he moved toward the door, his lips tipped up.
“Peachy.” The way she ground out the word made him chuckle. He walked back to his office with Cleo at his heels, breathing fire down his neck and tried not to enjoy himself too much, but it was useless.
“What can I do for you, Cleo?”
She closed his office door before answering. “Don’t you play innocent with me. I can’t believe you bought that stuff for me.”
“But you wanted it didn’t you?” His hands in his pockets, he rested his hips against his desk.
“Well, yes, but it wasn’t for you to buy them for me.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong, Miss. Darwin.” Mason pushed up off the desk and advanced on her slowly, the predatory look he knew was in his eyes making her step back as he approached. “Way I see it, you’re in my home, and although I fucking love the idea of you walking around without underwear, it may make you happier to have some on. I did it to make you more comfortable.” Mason stopped as her back hit the wall beside the door and his body was mere inches from hers. Cleo looked up at him, her eyes wide, the pulse in her neck pounding as her chest heaved.
Mason could hardly tear his eyes from the devastatingly beautiful sight she made. “You test every fucking ounce of restraint I own. You are so beautiful, Cleo.” His head descended toward hers. “Tell me to stop if you don’t want this.” Despite his begging, his answer was her silence. “Thank fuck.”
They were his only words before he took her lips in a brutal kiss that was hot and wet. Her soft body melted into him as she grasped the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. He had known Cleo would be a firecracker and he wasn’t mistaken. She kissed him back passionately as he backed her fully into the wall, pressing his hard cock against the soft mound of her pussy and eliciting a moan that had him ready to take her there and then. His hand slipped from her left hip, going down her thigh before traveling up the deliciously soft skin of her thigh and finding her bare ass cheek.
Mason caressed the skin, making her moan into his mouth, as he lifted her leg, wrapping it around his hip, and ground his dick into her pussy. “Are you wet for me, baby?” He slid his hand around and found her hot, wet slit. He teased his finger over her clit, making her squirm against him. “Fucking drenched.”
He kissed his way down the delicate skin of her neck, and over the curve of her tits. He rubbed her clit in circles with his thumb and teased the entrance of her pussy with his fingers. “I’m going to make you come.” And then he plunged his fingers inside her hot wet, heat. Cleo dragged his head up so she could kiss him as he worked her harder until he felt the first signs of her climax.
“Mason.” Her voice wavered, only a husky breath.
“I got you, baby. Come for me, let it take you.” Mason crooked his fingers and rubbed over her G-spot, and she gasped into his mouth as he swallowed the scream that accompanied her climax. Her pussy squeezed his fingers tight as her legs gave way, and he held her up with his arm around her waist.
He expected her to pull away, to fight what had happened between them, blame him somehow, and she would be right. He’d let things get out of hand. He had only wanted a kiss, but Cleo seemed to turn his good intentions to dust. He was surprised when she pulled back and smiled at him, her face having a post-orgasm glow that made his dick harder.
“Well, there’s no going back now.” Her laughter was delicious as he helped her straighten her clothes.
“I have no idea what that means.” He couldn’t help but laugh as he kissed her neck and then stepped away.
“I might have morals, Mason, but I’m no fool. When a man can give you an orgasm like that, you don’t throw them out of your bed.”
“Well, technically, it’s a wall. Does that mean you’re willing to give us a go and let me take you on a date later?”
Cleo looked at him and tilted her head. “Yes, I believe I will.” Then she turned on her heel and left him alone.
Mason walked to his desk, adjusting his aching cock as he sat down to try and work. He needed this stalker gone so he could enjoy getting to know Cleo better. He wore a grin on his face for the rest of the day. He would take her to his favorite bar later for the best beer and burgers in Miami.
Chapter Seven
This is a horrible idea. The entire thing was, as a matter of fact. Cleo sighed as she let herself fall on the bed in Mason’s guest room.
Why had she agreed to go out with Mason? No scratch that, to go on a date with him?
It was his fault, the man was messing with her head, or more accurately, with her body. When he got close, she forgot all the logical reasons why she had to keep their relationship distant and professional.
After what happened in his office, her professionalism would never be entirely the same. Couldn’t he see how opposite they were? Or was she blind and missing something? For so long, she had battled alone, survived the slums to gain her freedom and a life for herself. That fight had left emotional scars, made her put on blinders. A soft knock on her door made her jump from the bed.
“Cleo? Are you ready?”
A quick look at the mirror confirmed she was. With the timing of the invite, and in her current situation, she didn’t have a decent outfit to wear. Mercy had come to her rescue and found her a fantastic crocheted white dress that bared her shoulders and flared into a split skirt. Going with the bohemian feel, she added hooped earrings, wedged heels, and fresh flowers in her upswept violet hair. When she opened the door, the look on Mason’s face showed his approval. At least she was now wearing underwear after stopping at a big box store on the way home to grab a couple of pairs and some bras.
Dressed in tan slacks and a relaxed white shirt, she had to admit the look suited him. Her hands itched wanting to explore the body she had briefly seen that morning, but instead, Cleo accepted the arm he gallantly offered her, and they were off.
He hadn’t told her where they were going, keeping a secret smile on his face when she had asked. She realized it wasn’t far as they headed toward the ocean and a neighborhood she hadn’t had a chance to explore.
Mason parked on a side street and opened her door, taking her hand to lead her toward the sound of waves. His hand was solicitously on the small of her back as he continued to watch their surroundings.
Just as they neared the beach, he steered her around the corner toward what looked like an illuminated shack. On closer inspection, it was exactly that—a beach shack built from reclaimed wood with a wooden fence for added privacy. Fairy lights were strung over clusters of tables with a bar on the side and the kitchen at the far end. It was packed around the dance floor, the crowd friendly and lively.
Once they were seated in a corner, Cleo couldn’t help but smile. “You’ve surprised me, Mason. I thought you would take me to some chic, fancy high-end restaurant, someplace quiet and romantic.”
“Was I right to bring you here or have I made a mistake?” The question was light, but the intent serious.
“That depends on the food. And the company.”
Mason was still laughing when the server came over with a small basket of tortilla chips, offering them menus and taking their drink orders.
The music wasn’t overwhelming, and the setting sun over the ocean soothed her frayed nerves, almost making her forget the shadow obsessed with her.
The fruity cocktail in her hand was potent, but she didn’t mind. “How did you discover this place, Mason?”
He followed a drip of condensation rolling down his glass of cold beer with his finger. She remembered what those fingers felt like on her skin. “I like to jog on the beach in the morning. I passed by it one day and that night I came back and ate the best burger I’d ever had. It’s become my favorite place to unwind. I come here when I need to kick back and relax. I wasn’t trying to impress you tonight, Cleo. I just wanted to have a nice evening an
d share something I like with you.”
It was a smart move, she had to admit. He could have gone expensive, but that wouldn’t have had the same effect. He was giving her a piece of himself, and that meant more to her than any expensive restaurant would. “I could use a burger, to be honest. I haven’t eaten much in the last twenty-four hours, and a juicy calorie-laden meal would go down a treat.” Something dark flashed in his eyes and his jaw clenched. Cleo regretted bringing her attack up. “Thank you for giving me this night out. I needed it more than I thought.” She changed the subject to a less emotional one. “Have you always been such a protector, Mason? Is that the reason you applied to the Secret Service?”
Mason leaned back, looking around before answering. “I was recruited by SO14, that’s the Protection command within London’s Metropolitan Police Service, while I was finishing my master’s degree in criminology.”
“Ah! That’s where you started wearing a suit, am I right?”
“Hey! I like the suit. But yeah, you’re right. Don’t underestimate the power of the suit, lady. It’s like a skeleton key, it gives you access to people or places sometimes without a badge. People respect the suit.”
Cleo winked at him. “I admit it suits you. You look good in one. No doubt about it.”
Mason grinned. “Never thought about it. It just became part of me, and I’ve continued to wear it. I never had the opportunity to stop wearing one because the Secret Service quickly approached me. I’d had a high rate of success and solved cases quickly with SO14. My reputation reached the ears of a couple of people there, and I decided to make the jump. It’s was the most grueling work I’ve ever done. Intense too. But amazing training. The investigations with them are very complex.”
“So you just did investigations? Have you protected any presidents?”
“You know I can’t discuss details, but I had a few bodyguard duties—known and unknown people. Being a bodyguard is a whole different world. Your brain needs to be on edge every second because it’s all you have to assess a situation and react. It’s never about brawn, but the brain.”
Cleo was fascinated. Mason was a great storyteller, but she was more intrigued by the man. Cleo was about to ask another question when the server came to take their order. The service was slow, but she didn’t care. She was having fun, and was in no hurry to return to reality.
Mason ordered a massive burger and Cleo couldn’t resist the Mexican variation. With their drinks refilled, Mason entertained her with fascinating anecdotes.
When their food finally arrived, the discussion turned less serious and they were both laughing as they tried to eat their burgers without making a mess but failing.
Cleo couldn’t help wiping his chin where the sauce was running down, and Mason grabbed her hand and licked her fingers slowly and deliberately.
Lust surged, but before she could make much of it, Mason changed the mood again and threw her an onion ring, making her giggle. Belly stuffed, Cleo leaned in her chair as the soft sea breeze played with her hair, admiring the couples dancing nearby.
“You want dessert?”
Cleo rolled her eyes. “If I have another bite, I won’t fit into this dress anymore.”
Mason winked at her. “Well, if that happens, please, please, please, don’t hesitate to take it off. And it would be my pleasure to help you remove it.” His wink said it all.
Licking her lips, she only smiled at him, taking another sip of her drink to steady her racing heart.
His eyes remained on her, almost burning over her skin until he broke eye contact to look at the people milling around them. “I feel like I’m dominating the conversation here.”
Cleo winced and toyed with her glass, knowing she was evading a bit. ”I don’t have anything interesting to say about my life.”
The way Mason remained silent, only arching an eyebrow, made her realize he didn’t believe her. Biting her lip, she sighed. “I don’t like thinking about my past, Mason. I’ve told people before and saw the change in their eyes. Believe me when I say you should focus on the woman I am, not the circumstances around how I got here.”
“Circumstances?”
Her brows turned into a frown. “Why do I get the feeling you won’t let it go?”
“Because you’re a very intelligent woman?”
Her chuckle was more sarcastic than she intended. “No one thought I was intelligent where I came from. As I said, I’m from Arizona, but what I’ve never told anyone is that my family was, well, still is, part of a cult.”
Her heart pounded in her ribcage when she said the words, part ashamed, part fearful what Mason would think of her. Unable to maintain eye contact, she stared through the opening of the restaurant’s fence, her eyes on the flickering light over the waves.
“My parents aren’t educated. We lived in trailer parks most of my life, and not nice trailer parks. My mom was a hairdresser, my dad…” She hesitated a second. “At his best, he was a decent mechanic. Despair is fertile soil for scammers, and they fell prey to a man named Jeffrey Spears. He arrived at the trailer park where we lived and slowly started acting like some sort of messiah, professing he could help the people there. He spread money and his version of the gospel all over the place, and slowly gained a hold over the people. I was young, but something deep inside me told me to stay as far away as possible from him. It was slow, but after a few years, Spears controlled trailer park. I was nearly sixteen by then.”
Cleo wasn’t sure if she should continue and couldn’t bring herself to look and see Mason’s expression. She finally lifted her head when a warm hand rested on top of hers. Mason looked at her as if she was the center of his universe. There wasn’t pity or judgment on his face, instead it was the expression he wore when he was analyzing a case, trying to understand it inside and out. “I know what you’re thinking, Mason.”
“Is that so?”
“You think my past has something to do with the stalker. I can tell you right now it’s impossible. Nobody knows I’m in Florida. And anyway, it’s been a lot of years since I left.”
Mason nodded. “It crossed my mind. But you have me riveted. I sense something exciting happens in the next part of your story.”
Cleo warmed a little, the corners of her mouth going up. “If you like action movies, you could say that. Spears didn’t focus on the children, because they couldn’t be used for profit. Indeed, he asked his followers to remove us from school because it wasn’t worth it, that we’d learn more by working for him doing cleaning and yard work. I hated my life. I loved school and missed my friends. My parents neglected me, and I was tired of being hungry and poor. But what was for me outside? So I stayed. I thought I was safe until I saw something change in Spears’ behavior toward me.”
Mason exhaled sharply, his hand squeezing hers and she continued.
“I knew something was brewing, and as I said, I didn’t want anything to do with him. What spurred me to make a move was when I saw how he started looking at me, and people started whispering when I passed by. Something had changed, and I decided I wasn’t going to stay and find out what it was. So, in the middle of the night, I packed my backpack, stole the few dollars my parents had left, and disappeared.” Cleo felt guilty at not telling him the whole truth. She knew exactly what Spears wanted from her, but she wasn’t ready to tell Mason the rest yet.
Mason whistled. “You have guts. You were only a teenager. Where did you go?”
“I remembered we’d visited my paternal grandmother in Mesa a few years before Spears arrived. I managed to get there and searched for her. It took a few days, but I found her.”
Remembering her grandmother opening the door, and the immediate recognition as she pulled her into her arms, made her choke up all over again. “I told her everything as she listened, feeding me, comforting me. We cried—her for her son, and me for my parents and my lost dreams. I stayed with her, hidden in her apartment for a long time until I got my bearings. She taught me to read her tarot cards. It w
as our bonding moment, I guess.”
“Did anyone try to find you? The police?”
Cleo shook her head. “I doubt they would have involved the police because that would mean they’d enter the trailer park, and Spears would never allow that. I was more scared that my father would contact his mother and ask questions. But it never happened.”
“What did you do?”
“My grandmother is an amazing woman, she helped me build my confidence, and even though she didn’t know anything about it, she found an online secretarial course. That kept me busy, and also gave me hope I’d eventually get a decent job, be self-sufficient. Once I completed my course and had my diploma, my grandmother pushed me to leave the state, get as far away as possible and start over, have the fresh start I deserved, away from the threat of Spears finding me. She offered me a bus ticket to Houston, which was a lot of money for her, and gave me her tarot cards, saying they would bring me luck and sent me away and my new life began.”
Now a tear rolled down her cheek. It had been a long time since she’d felt so vulnerable in front of anybody. Mason didn’t say anything, instead he stood and pulled her to her feet before leading her to the dance floor.
He pulled her into his embrace and started to sway with her. The music was low and the melody smooth and sexy as their bodies touched.
Mason’s cheek was rubbing against hers. “You are an amazing woman, Cleo. I’ve never met someone as resourceful, smart, and strong as you. I needed to take you in my arms because I’m in awe of you.”
Stunned by his words, she tightened her arms around him. It seemed as if she was floating, and it felt beautiful. Cleo let her eyes drift over the fairy lights, spellbound by the moment until her attention was drawn to a man at the bar looking directly at her. Tall, blond, and built, he sipped his drink, his striking blue eyes never wavering from her. Until then, she had forgotten about her stalker, but the shiver that ran down her spine as she saw something in his look and the ball of ice settling in her belly brought all her stress to the surface.