Only the Truth

by LJ Bradley

  As the minutes ticked by and the kiss went on, his tongue and lips encouraged soft moans from me that had his breaths growing heavier, too. He took his time with me, his touch patient and thorough. When the lazy heat evolved into urgency, I rubbed his shaft against me, resolute in my need to give this a try. My hips lowered, and I increased the pressure bit by bit until the blunt tip of him slipped inside me. My gaze snapped up to meet his and I sucked in a breath.

  We were doing this for real. The man who’d featured in so many of my fantasies was right here in my bed, and… well, in me.

  Mason looked so conflicted. A warm kind of amusement lingered in his eyes, but at the same time his jaw clenched with each of my clumsy downward movements. Just as I began wondering why he wouldn’t take over and make this smoother for both of us, one of his hands shifted to my ass and the other flattened against the middle of my back.

  “Come here,” he said.

  He pulled me down until my breasts settled against his chest, then used his grip on my ass to rock me in a slow, steady rhythm. Although it was nowhere near an easy fit, the extra encouragement at least helped move things along. He slipped inside me a fraction more with each rolling motion, the sensation so new to me I didn’t know whether to frown or moan. When the stretching intensified and we’d reached the point that we were as physically connected as we were ever going to get, both of us were struggling for air.

  Mason let out a tortured breath beside my ear. He kissed my temple and uttered my name. His voice sounded so rough and strained I knew this couldn’t be easy on him. His patience just made me love him all the more. I turned my head and kissed him again, nibbling at his lips while I got used to the feeling of having him so deep inside me. It hurt—there was no getting around the stinging sensation—but the fullness turned out to be the part that made me feel alive in the best kind of way. “This is so hot. Strange, but… God, really good.”

  With a barely-there smile, he clasped my face in his hands and pulled me back in for another long kiss. While his mouth kept mine busy, his hips lowered then lifted again. The feeling had me letting out a tortured sound against his lips. Part pleasure, part pain, but now we’d started I couldn’t bear the thought of him stopping. My tongue swept over his and I shoved my hands into his hair, moaning when he thrust into me again.

  The decision to hang onto my virginity had never been a conscious one. I’d kept myself so busy with school, friends and working part-time, that I’d never really thought about it much. Guys had come and gone, some showing more than a passing interest, others making their one-night intentions clear. Not one of them had sparked the feelings I got just from being in Mason’s orbit.

  With his hard chest beneath me and his warm, earthy scent surrounding me, I sank onto him to deepen the thrusts. Every time he groaned or clasped me harder, desire raced through me and my confidence rose to new levels. I pressed a kiss on his cheek and moved my mouth to his ear, trying to put into words what he did to me. “This is almost too much. Having you inside me when I’ve wanted it for so long—”

  Mason growled and before I knew what was happening he’d rolled me onto my back and pinned me beneath him. My spine arched, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, roused at the sensation of his weight pressing down on me. He drove into me again, plunging deep. Seeing him hovering over me, all dark and male and so gorgeous I could barely stand it, had me sucking in a breath and dragging his mouth down to mine again.

  He caught my lips and kissed me so hard I strained against him. My heart thudded in my ears and my thighs clamped around him. I had no idea his touch would make me feel so desperate. As his tongue thrust against mine, mimicking the action going on further down, the same mantra kept playing over in my head: More. Harder. More.

  I broke the connection of our mouths and turned my head just enough to drag in a breath. My hands slid down to his ass and I tried to pull him as close as possible. “Harder,” I said, gazing up at him.

  He smiled then and dipped his head to kiss me. It didn’t hurt at all anymore, so I lifted my hips in encouragement.

  Mason slid his arm beneath me and gathered me against him. He drove deeper, his intensity forcing a breath from me. I pressed my mouth to his neck, his jaw, felt his stubble prickle against my lips. The scattering of hair on his chest rubbed my nipples. Every touch left me hyper-aware of his presence and even more turned on.

  I hooked my hands over the backs of his shoulders and moved my lower half in time with his thrusts, pushing against each one of his forward movements. Much of it came naturally, some I learned along the way. One thing I didn’t have to think about was keeping in constant contact with his body. I couldn’t have stopped myself from touching him if I’d tried.

  While he filled me over and over, I wedged a hand between our bodies and rubbed myself with slow, circular motions.

  Mason groaned and kissed me. “Keep doing that.”

  It didn’t take long for me to lose it after that. With his weight on top of me and his mouth beside my ear, I had no chance of holding back. My body trembled and before I could brace myself, my brain shut down and pleasure took over. It came over me in a flood of sensation, so intense my back bowed and a cry tore from me.

  “Sadie.” Mason kissed my panting mouth then lifted himself up, resting his palms either side of my head while he ground into me. His eyes flickered over my features, his expression filled with heat and tenderness. His jaw grew tense, then a few thrusts later he closed his eyes and groaned.

  As the final shudders moved through him he collapsed on top of me. His stomach heaved against mine, his breaths stirring the damp hair clinging to my neck. My hands ran up and down his muscled back and I hugged him, keeping him close even when he tried to ease his weight off me.

  I couldn’t let him go. The moment was so real, so unaffected by all the drama we’d experienced leading up to this, that relief overwhelmed me and tears pricked my eyes.

  The sunlight breaking through the gap in the curtains woke me the next morning. It slanted across the bed and bathed my face in warmth, pulling me from the deepest sleep I’d had in a long while. When I turned on my side to avoid the brightness my knee brushed up against a hard, muscled thigh. The second it clicked that Mason was still lying here beside me, my stomach performed a happy little leap and the idea of being awake became so much more appealing.

  My lids cracked open to take in the view of his big body sprawled across the mattress, His dark hair was mussed and a thicker layer of scruff lined his jaw this morning. With one hand resting behind his head and the other nestled in the sheet at his hips, he’d unintentionally put a set of abs on show that I’d never tire of ogling. He looked so warm and rumpled and tempting I didn’t know if I wanted to wake him and make the most of his presence or keep right on looking at him.

  As if he could feel the weight of my stare, Mason’s eyes drifted open and his sleepy gaze came to rest on me. We were both still naked from the night before, a detail that didn’t take long to catch his attention. His lazy appraisal got my heart beating way too fast, then the corner of his mouth kicked up and he said in a husky voice, “This better not be a dream.”

  Something big and warm and wonderful came to life inside me then. My cheeks flooded with heat and I ached to be closer to him. Whenever I’d experienced this feeling in the past I had to stop myself from letting it show, but I didn’t have that problem anymore. I smiled and shuffled over to his side of the bed, rising on my elbow so I could half lean over his chest. “Should I try waking you just in case?”

  Mason smiled as I dipped my head and kissed him lightly on the mouth. He grabbed my wrist and ran my hand down his stomach, sliding it beneath the sheets to show me what he’d been hiding under there. “Mission accomplished.”

  His shaft was hot and smooth. Silk and steel. I wrapped my fingers around the length and squeezed, relishing the groan that vibrated through him. “Maybe I should do a testing lick just to be sure.”

  After our first time la
st night, we’d gone back for seconds and thirds, the last round sans condom following an intimate discussion I’d never expected to be having with him. During those long moments I’d discovered details about myself that surprised me. I loved it when we used our mouths on each other; the sound of his deep voice beside my ear drew a physical response from me every single time; and whenever he took control the experience became that much more intense for me.

  I wondered if Mason could read my thoughts because he flipped me over and lay me face down on the mattress. Excitement zipped through me as I turned my head to draw in air. Even during our most thrilling, out-of-control moments, he always made me feel completely safe. When he climbed on top of me and pressed his full weight into my back, not being able to move didn’t inspire even a flicker of doubt in me.

  “You’re a dirty girl, Sadie,” he said softly. His warm breath whispered over me as his stubbled cheek rubbed against my smooth one.

  “I can’t help it,” I told him, swallowing a sigh as his hips pushed between my thighs. “Have you seen the way you look?”

  Mason’s laughter shuddered against my back. He slipped his hand underneath me and cupped my breast, rubbing his thumb back and forth over my nipple. I closed my eyes, wondering how I was supposed to find the will to ever leave this room again. Now I knew what his touch could do to me, I wanted to stay here with him forever.

  His free hand reached down, and a moment later I felt him guide his cock inside me, sliding deep with one single, smooth motion. My back bowed, and a long cry broke free. When he’d filled me completely he swept my hair to one side and nipped the back of my neck. Those small gestures of his, the things they did to me. My body reacted immediately, my ass pushing back harder against him. Then he swore and began a series of driving thrusts that had me gripping the pillow to keep myself grounded.

  And that was about the last time I had any kind of coherent thought at all.

  When we were done the sun had moved across the bed and the room was so light I knew I wouldn’t be getting any more sleep. I lay on my back amongst the twisted sheets, staring at the ceiling while I waited for my breathing to settle.

  If Mason hadn’t been beside me I would have found it hard to believe my life could have changed this much overnight. My studies and career had been decided for a long time now, but this part… I’d always seen this as the elusive last piece of the happiness puzzle, the one I had the least control over and could never quite believe would happen. Now here we were, I wasn’t too embarrassed to admit it made me want to cheer.

  Mason’s hand rested heavily on my thigh. I swept my hair from my eyes and threw him a sideways look. “I can’t move. I think you broke me.”

  His laughter made me smile, then he rolled onto his side and pushed himself up on one elbow. With his palm resting on my cheek he swept his thumb back and forth in slow, hypnotising strokes. Watching, contemplating. Always so intent with the way he looked at me. His eyes locked with mine for the longest time, then he leaned in and pressed a kiss on my mouth.

  “I wish you could see yourself right now,” he said. “You look all soft and peaceful when you’ve just been fucked—and your eyes… Jesus. When I’m inside you the grey turns dark like the sky right before a storm, then after you’ve come it clears to this calm, cool silver.”

  His voice had taken on a rough timbre that made me want to curl into him and beg him to keep talking to me. Hearing him speak like this after everything we’d done flooded me with emotion. I hadn’t seen this sweet, post-sex side to him, hadn’t even known it existed. The newness of it made me wonder what else there was to learn about him.

  I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him onto me, comforted by the weight of his body as it pressed into mine. “I love you,” I said.

  He didn’t answer me. Just held me close and hugged me, rocking the two of us from side to side.

  We stayed like that for a long time before he finally pulled back and looked down at me. “If we don’t get out of this bed soon,” he said, “I’ll end up taking advantage of the fact you’re still naked and next time I really will break you.”

  The throbbing between my thighs told me I’d already reached my limits in that regard. As much as I loved being here with him we had to come up for air some time. I just wasn’t sure if he meant for us to do something together or if he wanted to leave on his own and catch up with me later. Like tonight. Tomorrow? What did people do in these situations? “So… what do you have in mind? I mean… do you… are we—”

  He flashed me a grin and traced my eyebrow with his thumb. “Pretty sure you’re coming back to my place with me.”

  “I am?”

  He nodded and trailed his thumb down to my temple. “I can’t seem to be without you right now.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Mason

  The smile Sadie gave me as she shoved the car door open and stepped out into the sunshine looked more like a grimace, but at least she was trying. On the drive over here, I’d had second thoughts about bringing her with me while I showered and changed, but when I told her I didn’t want to be without her it hadn’t been an exaggeration.

  Up until now the need to be with her was always an urge that hovered somewhere in the background, and it grew stronger whenever she was near me. I’d had no trouble controlling it or pushing it to the back of my mind. It hadn’t stopped me from focusing on work, friendships—and at times other women.

  But now we’d spent the night together everything had changed.

  Before I could get caught up in those thoughts, I opened the driver’s side door and climbed out to join her. Just in the time it took me to round the car and step up onto the curb, her faux confidence had disappeared and she didn’t look so sure of herself anymore.

  She stood there with her hands in the back pockets of her shorts while the breeze ruffled the hem of her navy tank. Her lower lip disappeared between her teeth, her eyes trained on the house like she was about to enter a torture chamber.

  All the while the sounds of the neighbourhood carried on around us; the hum of a lawn mower, the laughter of the two kids next door, their heads popping above the side fence with every jump on the trampoline. Someone nearby revved the hell out of their car. Just like any other Sunday afternoon, but at the same time everything felt different.

  “All good?” I asked, looking at Sadie.

  She sent me a pained glance, then realised what she was doing and smiled. “Sorry, I’m just… you know, mentally preparing.”

  Rather than trying to talk her out of her mood, I rubbed the back of her neck in support.

  Claire’s car was the only one in the driveway, which meant Andy must have headed out for his Sunday food run. He took off around lunchtime and came back loaded down with bags filled with mouth-watering aromas for the three of us—sometimes more depending on who stopped by—and we’d sit around the kitchen table talking crap while we stuffed our faces. Maybe sticking to his normal routine meant everything was okay in there, and that life could get back to normal quicker than I’d hoped.

  I threw Sadie another glance. “Ready?”

  She didn’t look anywhere near ready to go, but she pulled in a breath and nodded.

  We made our way inside and headed straight for the living room. The TV had been left on with the sound muted, and any clues a party had been going on here hours before had already vanished. The place looked pristine. Claire must have been up half the night cleaning, but I saw no sign of her now. Either she’d stayed in bed to catch up on sleep or Andy had dragged her out on his hunter-gatherer mission.

  The shuffling sound that came from the other side of the couch was the first indication we weren’t alone. I sent Sadie a look, then we both watched as a feminine hand gripped the back of the sofa. The seconds that followed would have been funny if it were any other situation—it was like watching a b-grade horror movie—but then Claire heaved herself up to a sitting position and I forgot why I’d even been tempted to smile.

  As
she stood and rounded the couch, she looked from me to Sadie. With her tangled blonde hair, dark shadows under her eyes and pale skin, I’d never seen her so unravelled. Her feet were bare, and she wore a baggy black tank over a pair of sweatpants that were at least a size too big. She either hadn’t noticed or didn’t give a shit that one leg of the pants had got caught up at her knee.

  “Hi.” Her features were tight with the strain of being Claire, and her attempt at a smile fell flat. She shoved her hair back from her face, then didn’t seem to know what to do with her hands anymore. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”

  Sadie closed her eyes and blew out a breath. When she opened them again, the determined look that came over her had me wanting to hook my arm around her neck and drag her in close for a kiss. “We just got here. I thought you might want to talk about last night.”

  “Sure. Okay.” Claire finally noticed her uneven pants and shoved the offending leg until it dropped to match the other one. “Want coffee first? Tea?”

  “No, nothing thanks.”

  She flicked a look my way and lifted her brows. “Mason?”

  “No, I’m good, too.” Cheeky shit. Treating me like a guest even though I still lived here. “Are you all right, Claire-bear? You look like crap.”

  She let out her usual snort-laugh like I’d hoped she would, but her amusement died just as quickly as it had appeared. “Yep. I’m fine. So…” Her gaze flitted around the room.

  And that was my cue to get the hell out of here.

  “I’ll go grab a shower while the two of you talk.” Sadie hadn’t asked me to stay while she talked to her sister, but after the way she’d stood up for herself last night, I doubted she needed the backup.

  With a smile I hoped she’d find reassuring, I gave the ends of her hair a tug and left the room.