by Mia Madison
“But things are different now,” I reminded myself. “I can have him. I think.”
Logical thought told me that he wouldn’t be bothering getting to know me unless he wanted more than my body. Hell, he’d even said it himself.
But deep down inside, that pang of insecurity that I made it a point to never let show was questioning why in the world he would be interested in someone like me. He could have anyone he wanted. Surely he could find someone... better.
I turned away from my reflection, cursing softly. Even being as confident as I was, I had never found a way to shut up the final nagging bit of self-doubt that lurked in the back of my head. I knew I wasn’t the only person who had that little voice, but it was a lifelong mission of mine to silence it altogether.
“Because I’m fucking fabulous,” I whispered before swinging the bathroom door open and barreling into a solid wall of man. “Shit!”
“You are fabulous,” Mason agreed with a laugh as I clutched at my racing heart.
“How long were you standing there?!” I asked in a panic. Would he think I was insane practically having a conversation with my own reflection? It was supposed to be more of a pep talk.
“Just came in,” he said with a bewildered shrug. “I was just thinking that at some point, I’m going to need to run down to my place and grab some clothes. That all right?”
It was a perfect opening to distract him from how distraught I was. I cocked an eyebrow and asked, “What makes you think you’re invited to breakfast tomorrow?”
He pouted. He actually fucking pouted and the butterflies fluttered hard in my stomach while a rather uncomfortable heat grew between my legs at the same time. He was too attractive for his own good.
“You don’t want me to stay longer?”
I pretended to think about it, humming to myself while I tapped a finger on my chin.
“I don’t know, Mason. I feel like you might have to earn an invitation to another breakfast.”
I didn’t even realize his hand had started creeping up behind me until I felt him press his palm against the small of my back to haul me up against him.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he huskily whispered as he ground his hard-on against me. “We’ll hit the pool first. Can’t let your sexy little bikini go to waste.”
“I wouldn’t consider it a waste if it had this effect,” I said as I gripped his hard length.
Mason let out a short groan before he pried my hand from his cock. It was my turn to pout as he led me down the hall, marching us to the back door like a man on a mission.
“Wow. You really want to go swimming, huh?”
“Not really. I just want to see you all wet looking like something straight out of my dreams,” he said before coming to an abrupt stop and spinning around to face me. Before I could react, his hand was cupping my chin and tilting me up to stare into his eyes as he said, “You are seriously the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
I looked into his eyes in search of any sign of deception only to come up empty. It was a struggle to breathe, but I somehow managed to whisper, “You don’t have to seduce me, you know. We’re way past that part.”
“I know—and I’m not trying to seduce you. I just wanted you to know.”
He started to pull back and I refused to leave it like that. I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest as I gripped his bicep. He frowned as he faced me, a question in his eyes.
“I feel the same way about you,” I admitted softly, shaking my head in an attempt to rid myself of the nerves I felt. “There aren’t strong enough words to describe how attractive you are to me.”
It wasn’t the most poetic compliment, but it had the desired effect. Mason stepped closer and cupped my face in his hands before kissing me with the same fiery passion of our very first kiss. I melted into it, grateful when I felt him back us up until I was pinned against the wall. Falling over during such a romantic moment would have been unbelievably embarrassing.
Though I wasn’t sure ‘romantic’ was the correct term to describe how Mason was grinding our lower bodies together while his hands greedily roamed over the bare skin exposed by my bathing suit.
He suddenly broke away and growled, “You’re going to make it impossible to let you go.”
“I don’t want you to.”
“Good.”
With that, he smiled and took my hand in his. He knew where he was going, but he allowed me to take the lead and tug him to the back door. We stepped out into the warm air and made our way to the pool hand-in-hand. He only let go when we got to the edge.
As I eased myself into the water, I watched him curiously, wondering if he planned to swim in his basketball shorts. I spluttered when he reached for the waistband and yanked them down, exposing himself completely.
“I do have neighbors, you know,” I said incredulously, though I was secretly thrilled to watch his naked form descend into the water.
“They’d need to be looking through binoculars to see anything.”
Mason gestured to the closest neighboring yard and I conceded to his point. It wasn’t like I had never been skinny dipping in the pool myself, but not once during the day.
“You want to join me?” he asked as he waggled his eyebrows.
There’s a first time for everything, I thought as I grinned and yanked off my bikini top. I tossed it out of the pool and shimmied the bottoms down my legs, laughing as Mason waded toward me like a shark. I went deeper into the water and swam away from him.
“Come here,” he murmured with a saucy grin. “I don’t bite.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“You’re right—but I won’t bite hard enough to hurt,” he amended. “Keep in mind that you were the one who said I needed to earn another breakfast invitation.”
“I didn’t mean in broad daylight!”
“You know you want it.”
The husky tone of his voice and his darkened eyes made it impossible to fight my desire any longer. I stopped moving, my breaths coming quicker as he slowly approached. By the time he finally got to me, I was practically panting.
“Wrap your legs around me,” he demanded as he tugged my hips to him.
I moaned when his cock pressed firmly against my core, but he made no move to take me. He seemed content to rub my back as he floated us around the pool together and I quickly realized that I enjoyed just having him close to me almost as much as having him inside me.
“Did you think I was going to fuck you in the pool?” he whispered into my ear.
“Maybe.”
“I’d rather do it on dry land.”
Just as the words left his mouth, I felt the side of the pool touch my back and he lifted me up. I immediately covered my chest as I was exposed to the air.
Mason climbed out beside me and I dropped my arms, entranced by the sight of the water running down his cut body. He helped me to my feet and I glanced nervously at the faraway house. I knew he was right—there was no way the Walker’s would be able to make out anything without binoculars—but I was still a little uncomfortable.
It was that feeling that drove me to rush toward the side of the pool house to take cover. Mason laughed and I scowled at him as he walked over to his discarded shorts without a care in the world, his erection bobbing proudly in the sun.
“Can you toss me my bikini?”
“You won’t need it.”
I was about to ask what he meant when he dropped the shorts back to the concrete and strolled over, a gold packet in his hand. As soon as he was safely ducking behind the pool house with me, he ripped open the foil with his teeth and sheathed his hard length in latex.
I instinctively pushed my back against the wall when he moved closer. Neither of us said a word as he lifted me with ease and pinned me in place. I wrapped my legs around his waist and one arm around his neck, using my free hand to reach down and position his cock while his hands gripped the globes of my ass.
“Line me up—t
hat’s a good girl,” he groaned before he slowly started to sink into me. “Is this what you wanted?”
I nodded and rested my forehead against his shoulder as he started to move. He craned his head forward to bite the skin on my neck while he worked me with his cock. True to his word, he didn’t bite hard enough to hurt.
Mason kept the speed of his hips deliberately slow, working me into a frenzy long before he actually gave in to his instincts to really fuck. I was soaking wet and begging for more by the time he started roughly snapping his hips and I threw my head back as the pleasure started to overwhelm me.
One hand let go of my ass just in time to slide it behind my head before I bashed it against the brick. My eyes opened and I tried to give him a look of gratitude, but they rolled back in ecstasy before I got the chance.
“I’ve got you,” he panted as he pulled my head forward and held me against him. “I got you. Let go.”
I cried out against his shoulder as I came. My body writhed on its own accord, but Mason kept me firmly in place, protecting me from falling or smashing my head against the wall. He was still thrusting and holding me when the stars began to fade from my vision and once I was sure I could control my body by myself, I turned my head and bit him hard on the neck. Mason let out a deep groan in response.
“Your turn,” I whispered before licking the skin to soothe it. I leaned my head back and watched his face as I said, “Come for me, Mason.”
His eyes snapped open to meet mine for an incredibly brief moment before they slammed back shut and a strangled growl rose from deep in his throat. His jaw went slack just before his hips stilled and I squeezed my internal muscles tight around him. He rewarded me with the sexiest moan I ever heard.
His cock pulsed hard enough for me to feel it against my tensed walls and I sighed happily at the sensation. While I had fully expected him to take me in the pool, I was happy that he respected my wishes enough to grab a condom and be safe.
Mason was still panting against my neck when I felt the tension in his shoulders start to loosen. I ran my hand up his neck to the back of his head and played with his hair, content to give him all the time he needed to recover.
When I buried my fingers in his hair and lightly scratched his scalp with my nails, Mason shuddered hard. I could feel his cock twitch and begin to lengthen inside me, so I let my fingers fall before we ended up needing another condom.
“Mason?”
His head slowly lifted and our eyes met. Whatever I had planned to say disappeared from my mind when I saw the look he was giving me.
He had a lazy smile on his lips and his eyelids were lowered from a combination of pleasure and exhaustion, but there was no mistaking the spark of pure adoration in his eyes.
In that moment, I knew he was just as deep in this as I was.
“Consider yourself invited for breakfast every morning.”
He kissed me in response and that last remaining bit of insecurity was finally silenced.
7
Mason didn’t stop me from touching him when we woke up the next morning. After a sweaty round of morning sex that ended up with a rather heated make-out session in the shower, Mason took off for an hour to grab some more clothes from his place.
By the time he returned, I had breakfast ready and we ended up spending most of the day like we had the last—just talking and enjoying each other’s company.
After we finished dinner, we moved our conversation to the swing on the front porch.
“Tell me about your brother.”
“Ethan? Fuck, there’s so much to tell I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“He’s older than you, right? Are you two close?”
“He’s five years older, but we’ve always been close. We don’t talk that much anymore, though.”
“Why not?”
Mason shrugged. “We keep in touch every now and then, but we kind of drifted apart when I moved up here. He still lives back home in Miami.”
“I love Florida,” I said with a wistful sigh. “Well, I love anywhere with a beach. I didn’t know you were from there.”
“Born and raised. I only moved up north for college. I went back for a while after my injury, but I missed it up here.” Mason paused for a long moment before letting out a heavy sigh. “But if I’m being honest, I’ve been missing Florida ever since my brother went through his divorce. Most of the friends I’ve made here over the years got married or had kids and drifted all over the country.”
“So what kept you here?”
“My clients, mostly. When Ethan started falling apart, I was doing more with physical therapy. I didn’t want to abandon the people I was working with and after that ended I just... never left. No idea why,” he said with a shrug before hugging me close. “But I’m pretty fucking happy I didn’t.”
“So am I,” I said as I snuggled closer to him. “Do you ever go down there to visit?”
“Yeah, but it’s been a year or so. Just haven’t had the time.”
At the mention of time, a thought occurred to me. I sat up, ignoring his hands as he tried to pull me right back.
“Don’t you have to work? You haven’t left my side in like three days.”
Mason gave me a sneaky smile and a little shrug that was anything but innocent.
“I might have cancelled the few appointments I had this week. You see, I’m really sick. I think it might be the flu.”
“And you say I’m naughty.”
“Guess we’re both bad,” he said with a suggestive raise of his eyebrows. “Match made in heaven.”
I agreed completely, but I rolled my eyes at the cheesy statement. Even so, I let him pull me back and snuggled up against his side. We watched the sun go down together and I couldn’t remember a time when I felt so at home—and I knew it had nothing to do with our location.
“So you like Florida?” Mason asked, waiting until I nodded before he said, “I’m long overdue for a visit and I’d love to take you with me. I can show you around where I grew up.”
“Are you serious?” I asked, looking up at him with a broad smile. “I’d love that.”
“Yeah?” he asked with a hesitance that I’d never heard from him.
“Of course,” I said as I stood up and reached my hand out. “But I think it’s only fair if you let me show you around the town I grew up in first.”
“I’ve been living here for years, Layla,” he said with a chuckle even as he put his hand in mine. “I know my way around pretty well.”
“But you’ve never seen it with me as a tour guide.”
“I suppose that’s true. All right. Show me your world, Miss Harrison.”
I started to head into the house to grab my car keys and purse when he reached out to stop me.
I found myself pinned under the weight of his intense stare as he said, “But promise me that you’ll let me show you mine later.”
Though his words and tone were suggestive, I knew what he really wanted was a promise that I’d visit his hometown with him. It solidified the feeling that we were going to become a real couple and I nodded immediately.
“I promise.”
We drove around the small town I grew up in for a few hours. It was so dark out that my babbling about different locations that Mason could barely see might have seemed a little pointless, but like he said, he had lived in town for a few years. We were essentially driving past places he already recognized while I explained how they were relevant to my life.
“I went to high school there,” I said, gesturing to the building on our right side as we passed it. “That’s where I met Ava.”
“She lives in town, right?”
“On the outskirts closer to the city. Well, she used to live there. She’s living downtown with Trent now.”
We lapsed into silence again for a few minutes until Mason said, “Take a right up here.”
I raised an eyebrow but made no comment as I threw on the turn signal. I turned my car down the road and waited for
further instruction. I drove for less than a mile when he said, “Slow down.” I let off the gas and waited, watching from the corner of my eye as he leaned forward and began to point. “See that dirt road? Turn there.”
This was uncharted territory for me, but Mason seemed confident that he knew where we were going. I eased the car down the driveway, wincing every time I hit a bump that was deeper than I realized.
“This road isn’t in the greatest condition.”
“I would have made you drive if I thought we were going off-roading,” I said dryly as we hit another hole and the whole car shook. “Jeeps are a lot better suited for dirt roads.”
“Sorry. You can pull off right up here.”
A moment later, I was pulling out of the thick woods and into an open field bathed in moonlight. My eyebrows raised in surprise and I wondered how no one at my old high school knew about this place. It was close enough to campus that it would have been a perfect place to cut class.
“Where are we?” I asked as I pulled the car to the side and parked in the grass.
“It’s just a cut-off road,” Mason explained while unbuckling his seatbelt. “A former client owns this land and he told me about it. I take it all the time.”
“It’s... oddly pretty,” I said in wonder as I looked out the window.
There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about the field, it was just so quiet and peaceful from the lack of lights or buildings marring the landscape. With the exception of the dirt road that seemed to be purposely lined right against the woods, it was entirely untouched by man.
“It’s nice, yeah? I’ve been using this road for years but it was only a few months ago that I took it at night for the first time. I had to stop and pull over. It’s just so...”
“Serene,” I finished, turning toward him and smiling. “Thank you for showing it to me.”
“I know this is your town, but I do have one or two spots of my own. I wanted to share them with you,” he said with a small smile. “I’ll warn you now, though—the road is in worse shape on that end.”