Mason smiled, pulling the woman’s hand to his lips as he kissed her palm. “Mali has some issues, there’s no denying that.”
“Some issues?” she repeated, pulling her hand to her hip as she stared down at him.
Mason lifted his hands as if in surrender, laughing warmly. “Sorry, sensitive subject.”
“Watch her right cross,” Mark teased. “Mali found out the hard way that Phaedra packs a mean punch.”
Phaedra flipped her hand at Mark, moving to take the seat at Mason’s side.
“So, you’re not going to do anything about him?” Kamaya persisted.
Mason sighed. “If he accepts it, I’m going to extend a helping hand both emotionally and financially to help him get back on his feet.”
“You’re crazy!” his sister yelled, throwing her hands up in frustration.
“Maybe, but sometimes we have to remember that our good fortune isn’t everyone else’s good fortune. As a family we have each other to lean on for support. We have an excess of financial security. Our blessings have been plentiful. Sometimes we have to look past people’s mistakes and focus on their needs.”
Kamaya rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she said, tears misting her eyes.
Phaedra nodded her understanding as she met John’s gaze.
John came to his feet. “Mason, we’re going to give you and your family some time together. If you don’t mind, my brothers and I would like to steal Phaedra away from you for a minute or two.”
He locked eyes with Phaedra and smiled warmly. A twinge of anxiety wafted through her stomach. She took a deep breath as Mason squeezed her hand.
“She’ll be in good hands,” Matthew interjected.
Mason nodded. “Be easy with my girl,” he said softly. He leaned to kiss her cheek.
Meeting Mason’s gaze one last time, Phaedra followed the Stallion men out of the hotel suite and down the hall. Matthew used a security pass to open the door to the second suite that the two families had been sharing. John led the way to the outside patio, taking a seat in one of the cushioned chairs. He gestured for Phaedra to follow, four chairs pulled up into a tight circle.
As Matthew sat down he pulled a sealed envelope from out of his breast pocket, passing the mailer to his older brother. Leaning forward in his seat, John rested his elbows against his thighs, flipping the envelope over in his hands. Phaedra took a deep breath. She twisted her hands nervously in her lap, suddenly wishing that she was still sitting by Mason’s side, leaning on the man for support.
John started the conversation. “We’ve all been anxious to get the paternity results, and they came shortly after we left Texas. I asked the office to express them here to us and with everything that’s been going on we really haven’t had any time to review them.”
“What about Luke?” Phaedra asked, her voice a hushed whisper.
“We’ll share the news with him when he gets back from his honeymoon, but it’s not fair to you to wait any longer.”
John looked from Matthew to Mark as he passed the envelope in his hand to Phaedra. She took it tentatively, her hand visibly shaking. Tears misted behind her eyelids. Just as she slid her thumb beneath the sealed edge, Mark stopped her, dropping his own hand over hers. He shook his head. Phaedra eyed him curiously as he pulled the envelope from her grasp.
Meeting John’s stare, Mark tore the envelope and its contents in half. Moving back inside the lavish hotel room, he returned with an empty trash can. Pulling a lighter from his pocket, he ignited the corner of the paper and once it was lit dropped the two halves of the flaming paper into the canister. The family sat in silence as they watched the document burn until nothing but gray ash remained.
Phaedra turned to stare at Mark. “Why—” she started, the words catching deep in her heart.
“Because I don’t need that piece of paper to tell me who my family is,” Mark said, casually shrugging.
John and Matthew both smiled widely. John nodded. He stood up, extending an outstretched hand. Matthew stood with him, dropping his hand atop John’s. Mark added his to the mix, the three brothers turning to stare at Phaedra.
“What are you waiting for, little sis?” Mark asked.
Phaedra looked from one to the other, her tears beginning to seep past her lashes.
“She’s crying,” Mark said, his eyes spinning skyward. “And she’s doing that ugly cry that Luke used to do.”
“Sisters cry, little brother,” John replied with a slight chuckle. He nodded his head at Phaedra. “So, what are you waiting for?” he asked a second time.
Coming to her feet, Phaedra dropped her hand on top of the pile. John placed his other hand on top of hers, squeezing it warmly. The others followed until they were all hands in.
“Welcome to the family,” Mark said softly, tossing her a wink.
“Once a Stallion,” Matthew chimed in.
“Forever a Stallion,” John and Mark echoed.
“Once a Stallion,” Matthew repeated, his gaze meeting Phaedra’s, his eyebrows raised.
The three brothers all grinned at Phaedra.
“Forever a Stallion,” she answered, knowing that from that moment forward, those words would always be true.
Chapter 20
“So, you two are headed where?” Mark questioned, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Mason laughed. “I’m thinking that we might fly to Greece before we head back to the States.”
“And how long do you plan to be in Greece?”
“One, maybe two days.”
Mark nodded, his expression moving Phaedra to laugh.
“Why are you giving Mason the third degree?” she asked.
Mark looked at her. “It’s what big brothers do,” he answered.
Matthew and John both laughed heartily. The two leaned to kiss Phaedra’s cheek.
“You’re coming back to Dallas after Greece, right, Phaedra?” John asked.
Phaedra nodded. “I need to stop in N’Orleans first, but yes, I’m coming back to Dallas.”
“We’ll talk more then,” he said as he gestured for his brothers to get on the Stallion jet. “Let’s move it,” he said, heading in the direction of the private plane.
Mark moved to Phaedra’s side, wrapping her in a deep hug. He met Mason’s amused gaze over the woman’s shoulder. “Take care of my little sister,” he said sternly. “I think we’re going to keep her.”
Mason laughed, giving the man a quick salute. “Yes, sir.”
Mark laughed with him as the duo slapped palms.
Phaedra stepped into Mason’s arms as they watched the siblings board their plane for home.
“Greece?” Phaedra said as Mason led her by the hand to his own private aircraft.
“Would you prefer Italy? We can go wherever you want to go.”
“You’re killing me,” she said, giggling softly.
“With love, baby. Just with love!”
Phaedra reached to kiss Mason’s lips. “In all honesty, what I would like to do is just go to N’Orleans. After everything that’s happened I need something familiar. I really just want to go home.”
Mason nodded his understanding. “Then we’re going home,” he said.
An hour later the pilot confirmed the change in their travel itinerary and the duo was on their way back to the United States. As the Gulfstream G450 ascended into the midday sky, Phaedra blew a sigh of relief, grateful that she was still standing because for the past month all she had wanted to do was lie down and pull the covers over her head.
Since her mother’s death, every aspect of her life had felt like something out of a novel, feeling unbelievable. She’d gone from having no family to having four brothers, and a man who loved her and talked about spending the rest of his life with her. The w
eek before she’d been pointing a camera at pretty things taking pictures, and just days earlier she’d witnessed guns being pointed at people she loved, threatening to take their lives. She’d traveled from New Orleans to Dallas in economy class to Thailand on a private jet, and with Mason the next stop would be wherever her heart desired, by whatever mode of travel she wanted.
She’d had to make life-changing decisions on the fly, and just days after her mother’s passing a grief counselor had warned her not to make any major resolutions for at least six months. She’d been blessed beyond measure, but she couldn’t stop thinking that all of it was just a phenomenal dream and she would soon wake up from it.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Mason said, his fingers gliding down the length of her arm.
Phaedra shook her head. “You really don’t want to know what I was thinking.”
“Yes, I do. I don’t want you to think that you ever have to keep anything from me. And right now you look like your world has just fallen apart. I don’t like that look and if I can do something to take that kind of worry from your heart I want to do it,” Mason said.
“I guess I was just worried that my world might want to fall apart,” Phaedra answered. “A lot has happened and I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
Mason nodded, his expression reflective. “Do you believe that good things come to good people, Phaedra?”
“Sometimes.”
“Maybe this is your sometime. Maybe your blessings are coming because you are deserving of them.”
Phaedra shook her head. “How are you such an optimist?”
“How are you not?”
Mason leaned to kiss her, his hand cupped gently against the side of her face. His lips were soft and teasing, stirring a rumbling of heat in the center of her core. The last time they’d made love had been the morning Mason had been taken, and Phaedra admitted to having been scared that he would never make love to her again.
Mason broke the connection, staring into her eyes as he pulled himself away. He took a deep breath, a wry smile pulling at his mouth.
“What?” Phaedra asked, smiling with him.
He leaned to whisper in her ear, stealing a glance toward the galley to ensure that they didn’t have an audience. “I’m hard,” he said, brushing his face gently against hers. “Every time I think about you I get an erection and we haven’t had a moment alone,” he whispered.
Phaedra laughed. “That sounds like a deeply personal problem, Mr. Boudreaux.”
Mason nodded. “It will be if I have to spend the next sixteen hours in this airplane, excited, without getting any relief.”
Still giggling, Phaedra pointed to the plane’s restroom. “You might want to go take care of that problem,” she said.
Mason grinned. “I didn’t think you’d ever ask,” he said, rising from his seat. He grabbed Phaedra’s hand and pulled her along behind him.
Her eyes widened in surprise. “What…I…” she sputtered as he pulled her into the bathroom and locked the door. “Mason!” Phaedra cried out. “We can’t—”
Before she could complete the thought, Mason pulled her into his arms and kissed her hungrily, his mouth consuming hers. When he licked the fullness of her lips, moving her to open her mouth to him, his tongue danced past the line of her teeth, swirling in sync with hers. He pressed his body against her, Phaedra’s softness cushioning every one of his hardened muscles.
“Well, maybe this one time,” Phaedra purred as Mason nuzzled his face into her neck, planting a line of kisses from one ear to the other. She shivered in ecstasy as Mason painted circles with his tongue across the soft, supple skin of her neck. Phaedra closed her eyes and lost herself in the delicious feelings swirling through her. Heat rose with a vengeance in the small enclosure, perspiration rising fiercely in every crack and crevice of both their bodies.
Mason teased her for what seemed like an eternity. Phaedra moaned as Mason’s lips and tongue danced sensually against her blazing skin. She felt as if she could collapse from the intense pleasure.
“Take this off,” Mason ordered as he tugged at the bottom of Phaedra’s blouse. He twisted the buttons and she slipped off the silky material. As Mason hung it over the door handle, Phaedra unlatched her bra, releasing her breasts. Her firm chocolate nipples stood at attention.
“Mmm,” Mason whispered as he captured one rock-hard candy in his mouth, his thumb and forefinger pulling at the other.
“Ohhh,” Phaedra gasped, sucking in air at the intense sensation, shivering as Mason teased her sensitive flesh. Every ounce of sensibility was gone from her, the woman barely able to remember her own name as she focused on the sensations sweeping through her body. Mason’s tongue flicked and teased her as he sucked hard on the sweet gem, sending sparks of heat deep into her feminine core. Phaedra sighed in ecstasy as her body began to shake and her moans intensified.
Wanting him to feel what she was feeling, Phaedra glided her palm down the front of his chest to his belt and unbuckled it. Before Mason realized it she had eased his zipper down and was sliding her palm over his crotch, the heat from her hands igniting a firestorm in his erection. He was brick-hard, the length of his manhood pulsing for release. Mason inhaled swiftly, humming as Phaedra began to stroke him earnestly. Suddenly Phaedra stopped cold and Mason shuddered, his body quivering for more. He looked at her, his desire washing over his expression.
“Drop your pants,” she said.
Mason smiled as he let his pants and boxers slide down to the floor, releasing the protrusion of flesh that was desperate for her ministrations. She grasped him firmly in both hands, manipulating him with an intensity that had him fighting to stand, his knees threatening to buckle beneath him. Mason still had a firm grasp on her breasts, his mouth and tongue continuing to tease her.
“I need you,” Mason whispered. “I need to be inside you,” he gushed, his hips pumping in time with her strokes.
Phaedra kissed him again, the passion of it consuming them both. Mason suddenly spun her toward the sink and mirror, looping his arm around her waist. He pulled her to his chest, gently biting the back of her neck. Phaedra sank into him as he cradled his pelvis against the round of her bottom, grinding heavily against her. Pulling at her pants, Mason snatched them from her around her buttocks, his hands eagerly stroking the softness between her thighs. Stepping out of her G-string, Phaedra parted her legs, moving eagerly against his fingers.
As Mason bent her forward, Phaedra braced herself against the pedestal sink, holding tightly as Mason entered her from behind. His strokes were urgent and searching, driving her to a level of ecstasy that she had not known was possible. She bit down against her bottom lip to keep from crying out loudly, the sweet sensations drawing every ounce of breath from her.
Mason hugged her to him, his arms tight around her torso, one hand still stroking each nipple as Phaedra drew the fingers of his other hand into her mouth and sucked the appendages with vigor. His pelvis pushed and pulled against her, her bottom colliding into him with each stroke, and then with an intensity that rocked every nerve ending the two of them exploded together, their orgasms erupting in one tumultuous wave after another.
Collapsing against her back, Mason was panting, fighting to catch his breath. Phaedra was breathing heavily as well, her body still twitching with pleasure. Minutes later, their clothes adjusted back onto their bodies, the two of them eased their way out of the restroom. Returning to their seats, they strapped themselves back in, holding tight to each other’s hand.
Outside, the plane seemed to be floating on a snow-white cushion of thick clouds. Peering out the window, Phaedra leaned her head against Mason’s chest as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. Every ounce of doubt that had flooded her spirit earlier had dissipated into thin air. With it feeling like home in Mason’s arms, the moment was heaven and Phaedra was grateful for
it.
* * *
With Phaedra feeling as though all was well in the world, their landing at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was simply the sweetest cherry on top of the best confection. Stepping out of the plane, she took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar scent of home. A limousine sat in wait at the end of the tarmac.
Phaedra shook her head. “Mason, we could have taken a taxi,” she said, amazed at how he always seemed to have a pulse on what they needed before the thought even crossed her mind. “When did you arrange for a car?”
Mason shrugged. “I have a very adept staff of employees,” he said as the driver opened the car door to let them inside.
“I need to meet this staff,” Phaedra said.
The man smiled. “You will, and very soon, I’m sure.”
Traveling through the streets, the duo compared notes, both having stories about growing up in New Orleans. Phaedra’s excitement incited his, Mason seeing his hometown in a different light. The last time he’d been in the city for any length of time had
been shortly after the hurricane when the shine
had been considerably dimmed. The stopovers since had been quick and sweet, lasting just long enough to check on the renovations of his family’s home.
When the car stopped at the quaint house on
S. Claiborne Avenue, Phaedra’s excitement was palpable, the woman bursting with glee as she rushed to open the front door. And Mason was excited for her, her joy like a sweet balm to his spirit. After he and the driver had gotten their luggage to the front porch, Phaedra called for him to come inside. As he entered the comfortable space, her smile was a wide explosion across her face.
“Welcome to my home,” she said, her arms thrown out to her sides.
Mason laughed. “Very nice,” he said, his eyes darting around the room. “This looks like you.”
“It looks like my mother,” she said, pointing to a photo of a woman that sat on the mahogany end table.
Mason eased his way to stand in front of the fireplace, examining the collection of family photos that decorated the mantel. Photos of Phaedra as a baby. Her high school graduation picture. Formal portraits of mother and daughter together.
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