When I'm Gone

by Abbi Glines

  “Yes, they are,” Della said, smiling. “I look forward to seeing more of you in the future.” She gave me a knowing glance. “You two enjoy yourselves. I’ve got to go rescue my husband from Mr. Hobes. If you’ll excuse me.” She hurried toward Woods, who was listening to an older man talk and looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.

  “She’s beautiful,” Reese said, as she watched Della walk away.

  “I didn’t notice,” I replied, then tugged her closer to me. Thad was headed our way with his two dates, one on each side. I wasn’t sure what his plan was, but I wasn’t letting him say or do anything to embarrass Reese.

  He also needed to understand: she was mine.

  Thad’s hair was tucked behind his ears, and his eyes weren’t glassy or bloodshot from too much drink. The girls at his side were already in their bikinis. They had forgone the cover-ups or dresses, unlike everyone else.

  Reese’s hand tightened on my arm the second she noticed him. I tucked her against me and leveled a warning glare at Thad. He just grinned at me as if I was overreacting.

  “Reese, Mase, hope you’re enjoying yourselves,” Thad said, as his stupid, dimpled grin flashed. I hoped Reese didn’t have a thing for dimples.

  “Yes, thank you. It’s a beautiful spot for a hotel,” Reese said sincerely.

  “I hadn’t planned on coming, but since my evening plans fell through, I figured I’d bring a couple of dates to entertain me,” he said, with a wink, then did something to the girl on the right to cause her to squeal and giggle.

  “I can see you’re torn up about those failed plans. If you’ll excuse us, I want to introduce Reese to Blaire and Rush,” I said, placing a possessive hand on her lower back. I didn’t wait for him to say anything else. I had seen Rush and Blaire arrive a few minutes ago, and I knew Blaire would be a safe person to talk to; plus, she was part of my family, so to speak. Rush and I both had fathers in the rock band Slacker Demon. Although Rush grew up more in that life than I did, we understood what it was like to have fathers the rest of the world idolized.

  Rush also wouldn’t look at Reese like he wanted a taste. Because I was going to throttle Thad if I had to watch him lust over Reese another second.

  Reese

  When Mase introduced Rush Finlay, it clicked into place. Manning and Finlay. Rush was Dean Finlay’s son. That’s how Mase knew him. Their fathers. Wow.

  While Mase didn’t look like a rock god’s son, Rush definitely did. From his pierced tongue, which flashed when he spoke, to the tattoos on his arms and neck, to the all-around swagger he possessed, Rush Finlay screamed Slacker Demon offspring.

  His wife, Blaire, was the kind of beautiful who left you speechless for a moment because you weren’t sure if she was real. The white-blond of her hair made her seem almost angelic. There was a kindness in her smile that made her seem even more heavenly, but then she opened her mouth, and a much thicker Southern twang than even Harlow’s came out. I couldn’t help but smile. She wasn’t a model or a movie star, though that was the type of girl I expected to see Rush Finlay’s arm wrapped around possessively. But then again, she was gorgeous enough to be both, so I didn’t question it. She fit him. More so than I think anyone else could.

  I talked with Blaire about Harlow and Lila Kate. She also asked me about Jimmy, since he’d given me her number after her maid retired, but she never brought up me cleaning her house. In a way, I was glad, because that would only remind me of how much I didn’t fit in here. But then, it also made me wonder if she had hired someone else. I really could use the job.

  One thing that was becoming more difficult to ignore was the women who flirted with Mase. He didn’t seem to notice, but even the servers gave him looks that were meant to let him know they were available.

  If getting a woman was this easy for Mase . . . why was he with me?

  Two hours later, the groundbreaking ceremony was complete, and the party had moved to the Kerrington Club. And unfortunately, now that the women were all walking around in their bikinis, they were even more flirty with Mase. Several had openly walked up to him and asked him to swim or dance. He had casually declined their offers, but it was as if I wasn’t even standing there. I hadn’t taken off my sundress yet, because I wasn’t comfortable wearing a swimsuit in front of all those people. But I started thinking I might need to if I wanted to keep Mase’s attention.

  I spotted Blaire across the pool, and she was still wearing the blouse and short summery skirt she’d had on earlier. She wasn’t strutting around in her swimsuit. She also didn’t seemed bothered by the women who were looking at her husband with covetous glances.

  But she was married to Rush.

  I was on my first date with Mase.

  “You want a drink?” Mase asked me. His hand slid around my waist as he bent down and whispered in my ear.

  “Yes, please,” I said, needing something to distract me.

  “Stay here. I’ll go brave the bar. More champagne? Or something else?”

  I didn’t want to stay here. Couldn’t we wait for a server to walk around with one of those trays? But then I doubted he wanted the fruity drinks they were serving that way. “Champagne is fine,” I replied.

  He squeezed my side. “I’ll be right back.”

  Just as I’d feared, women seized the opportunity and approached him as he walked away from me. He was polite and didn’t seem interested, but it was still hard to watch. Because those girls wouldn’t be nervous when he touched them. They’d have sex with him behind a palm tree out here if he wanted them to. That was what I had to compete with.

  Besides, I had a twisted darkness inside my past that I would never be able to fully tell Mase about. They didn’t have that kind of problem. They were free to enjoy their bodies and make men happy. I felt sick.

  A blonde wrapped her arms around Mase and kissed his cheek. He gently pushed her away, but he continued to talk to her as he got our drinks. I couldn’t watch this. I moved my attention to anywhere else. Harlow and Grant had already left with Lila Kate; they hadn’t stayed at the party long. There was no one else I knew. Mase had introduced me to several people, but I didn’t really know them.

  I would not glance back at Mase. I was also considering taking off my sundress. But these women had bodies much nicer than mine. They were thin, with no added padding in their bottoms. And their boobs were all nice and round and perfectly positioned on their chests. Not too big or too small.

  Taking off my dress might be a bad idea after all. At least, Mase wouldn’t be able to see exactly how imperfect my body was. God, I hated this feeling. I never compared myself with other women. At least, not in the past. Now here I was, doing it.

  My gaze went back to Mase. He was now holding two drinks and headed my way. The blonde was gone. He seemed annoyed. I hoped it wasn’t because he was here with me but could be having sex right now with a number of willing, beautiful women.

  I could lose him.

  So very easily.

  And I’d just gotten him.

  When he finally reached me, he handed me the champagne. “Once you finish that, are you ready to go? I’m ready to have you alone. I’ve done my duty and shown my face here.”

  I had the urge to throw back the flute and down the pink bubbly drink. I was ready to leave, too—before Mase got an offer he couldn’t refuse. I was thankful for his ranch out in Texas. I didn’t imagine there were gorgeous, model-thin heiresses throwing themselves at him there.

  “Yes. I’d like to go when you’re ready,” I admitted.

  Mase studied my face a moment, then took the champagne from my hand. “I’ll buy you a bottle at the store if you want more. Let’s go,” he said, putting the flute down on the table nearest to us and leaving his untouched small glass of amber liquid there, too.

  His hand settled on my lower back, and he led me through the crowd as he took us out to where the valet waited.

  Once we were in the truck, Mase reached over and took my hand, threading his fingers throug
h mine. “Thanks for coming with me tonight. I only went because Harlow thought I should show my face since I was in town. She’s friends with Bethy and Tripp. I was glad I had you with me. Made the night bearable.”

  That man and his words. It almost made me forget how hard it was to watch women flirt with him with every breath he took. He didn’t flirt back, though. But I didn’t see Mase as a flirter. It wasn’t his style. Didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy their attention. How could he not? They were beautiful and willing.

  “I liked meeting your friends,” I told him.

  He squeezed my hand. “They liked meeting you.”

  I wanted to ask him how he knew the blonde who had hugged him and kissed him. But I didn’t. I kept my mouth shut.

  “Do you want me to stop and get more champagne?” he asked, with a trace of humor in his voice.

  I shook my head no and laughed.

  “I like to hear you laugh. You didn’t do much of that tonight,” he said, as his thumb began caressing my hand. “You laughed more today when it was just us.”

  “I was too busy taking it all in.”

  “Thanks for not taking off that little dress of yours.”

  Why did he say that? Was he worried about how I’d look without it?

  “If you’d taken it off, I’m afraid we would have left even earlier, because I’d have been thrown out. I don’t like the idea of another man looking at what’s mine.”

  Whoa. OK. I was his? Oh . . . wow.

  “I kept thinking about how I’d react if you wanted to swim. I was trying to come up with excuses to keep that sweet ass covered up.”

  The ache between my legs started again. Hearing him call my butt a sweet ass excited me, apparently. I liked how it felt when he touched my bottom. I squirmed in my seat, and his hand tightened around mine.

  We didn’t say anything else. By the time he parked the truck at my apartment, the air felt hot, and I was breathing heavily. Glancing at Mase, I saw his jaw clenched tightly. His hand still held mine firmly.

  When he cut off the engine and finally let my hand go, he jerked open his door and was out so fast you would have thought it was on fire. I watched him as he took long strides to my side of the truck and threw open the door. I started to get out, but then he was backing me up, crowding me in.

  His nostrils flared as he got close to me, and his eyes flashed a needy look I understood. My entire body felt feverish, but his hands only touched my hips. His head lowered to my ear, and he ran his nose down and back up my neck. “God, you smell so good. I could smell you for fucking ever and be happy.”

  I grabbed his shoulders and held on. Words like that coming from Mase Manning made a girl light-headed.

  “When we get inside, I want to take this dress off. Let me see you in this swimsuit. Please. I won’t ask for anything more. Just let me look at you and touch you . . . Just a little.”

  My body felt so fevered I was ready to rip everything off right now for him, but I knew the moment I did, I would panic. Reality would set in. I managed a nod and let him lead me out of the truck. He pressed a hot, hard kiss to my lips, more aggressive than the ones that had come before. I held on while he took that kiss. It wasn’t one of his easy, sweet ones, but it was exciting.

  When he tore his mouth off mine, he muttered a curse, then led me to the apartment door and unlocked it before ushering me inside quickly.

  Before I could catch my breath, his hands were taking the bottom of my sundress in his hands. “I’m just going to take this off. That’s all. Just need to see you,” he whispered close to my ear, but he didn’t move until I nodded my head.

  When I gave him the go-ahead, he lifted the dress slowly. Once it was over my bottom, he groaned. I lifted my arms, and he pulled it up and off. I didn’t move. I knew what he was looking at, and I closed my eyes tightly. I hadn’t looked at my butt in the mirror in a long time. There was a good chance it was dimply. I really hoped it wasn’t. I walked a lot still. I was sure walking all my life had been one reason my bottom wasn’t massive.

  His fingertip brushed the underside of my left butt cheek, and I gasped, but I didn’t move. He was touching me. Barely.

  “There’s a freckle right here. I love this freckle. Best fucking freckle in the world,” he said in a thick, deep voice.

  Then I heard him move, and I glanced back to see him going down on his knees. I started to turn, and his hands grabbed my waist and held me still.

  “Please, Reese. Don’t. Not yet,” he begged. So I stayed still.

  His warm breath hovered over my skin, and I trembled. Knowing his face was so close to any part of me was exciting, but this was almost too much. Then his lips grazed the same spot he’d touched, and I released a strangled cry from the shock and pleasure.

  “Just had to kiss it,” he said, pressing his lips against that spot again. Then his hands slid up over my bottom, and he squeezed gently. “Swear, Reese, this ass is perfection,” he said in a reverent tone. “So fucking glad you didn’t wear this swimsuit in front of other men tonight. This is my ass. I don’t want anyone else seeing this juicy little piece of heaven.”

  I closed my eyes tightly. Was I really letting him kneel behind me and play with my bottom? My heart was racing, and the fever in my body was at an all-time high.

  Mase moved some of the swimsuit covering my butt over until more of my cheek was bared and pressed another kiss to me. Oh, God, he was kissing my bottom.

  “You even smell good down here. I can smell how this excites you. It mixes well with that sweet cream cinnamon smell that clings to you.”

  I really needed something to hold on to before I melted into a puddle. My knees buckled a little, and Mase’s hands tightened on my waist as he stood back up behind me. He didn’t cover my bared cheek back up, and he slid his body up against mine.

  He kissed my shoulder, then brushed my hair back off my neck and ran his nose over the curve of my ear. “I don’t want to do anything you aren’t ready for. But I want to touch you. That’s all. Nothing more. Are you ready for that? If not, it’s OK. I can just look.” It sounded like that last part was ripped from him unwillingly.

  All those beautiful women throwing themselves at him, and he wanted me. He chose me. I could let him touch me some. I wasn’t panicked yet, and right now, all I could think about was Mase and how he felt. How he made me feel. “Yes,” I said, sounding as if I was completely out of breath.

  He ran a finger down my neck and wrapped a strand of hair around his finger. “Thank you. For trusting me. You don’t have to, and knowing that you like my touch is the most fucking beautiful thing anyone’s ever given me.”

  He didn’t start groping at my body. Instead, we stood there, as he played with my hair and continued running his nose and lips over my neck and ear. I slowly leaned back into him as my body relaxed under his gentle caress.

  “Your hair is like playing with silk,” he whispered. “And your skin.” He ran a hand down my bare arm and slid that same hand over the butt cheek he had left exposed. “I’ve decided I’m obsessed with silk,” he added.

  I started to squirm when his hand slid back up my body, circling around to the front and stopping on my stomach. “Turn around, and let me see you,” he said, stepping back from me.

  I was breathing heavily, and I knew he could see it. But facing him made it more real. I would be able to see him as he looked at me.

  His gaze ran down my body slowly, then back up again. There was a worshipful look on his face that made me feel cherished. Important. Protected.

  Those were three things I had never felt.

  I would not cry.

  He stepped closer and placed his fingertips on my stomach, tracing my belly button. Then both hands were on me, as he moved them up slowly until he grazed the bottoms of my breasts. With one finger, he traced my cleavage and dipped into the crevice between my breasts. “I want these bare and in my hands,” he said, as he lifted his eyes to meet mine in a silent request.

  I inhaled s
harply but not from fear. I wanted that, too. The areas around my nipples were in pain, they ached so badly. “OK,” I said, knowing he wouldn’t do anything until I said he could.

  He slid his arms around me and untied the halter top and the back of my suit. It fell away and drifted to the floor, and my boobs bounced free.

  “Fuck, those are amazing,” he breathed, as his hands cupped them and his thumb played with my nipples. “Can I taste them?” He sounded like he was begging again.

  “Yes,” I said breathily, reaching out to grab his arms in case my knees completely gave out.

  Mase growled and lowered his head. Then his tongue flicked at my right breast. He made a pleased sound in his chest before he pulled an entire nipple into his mouth and sucked on it.

  My legs went weak, and I cried out as pleasure rocketed through my body.

  Mase picked me up before I collapsed on the floor and carried me over to the sofa, sinking down with me firmly in his lap. He kissed my lips as I panted, still reeling from his mouth on my chest.

  One of his hands still kneaded my breasts, and I wanted his mouth there again. “Can I taste them again?”

  I nodded, wanting to shove his head back down to my breasts and never let him up.

  Mase’s warm mouth pulled the other nipple into his mouth, and I cried out again as my hands fisted in his hair. I worried that I might hurt him, but I had to hold on to something. His hands held my breasts as he kissed and even nibbled on them. I whimpered and cried out his name as I held his head against me. I wanted this to last forever.

  The ache between my legs was so intense now that I had to squirm and squeeze my legs together. Something to make it stop. I needed it to stop.

  “Spread your legs. I’ll make it better,” Mase said in a demanding tone that startled me.

  I wasn’t sure what to do. If I spread my legs, I knew he was going to touch me there. My body was saying yes, it needed it, but my brain was telling me it would hurt. I was dirty there.