by Opal Carew
At one point, she woke up to a change in his breathing. She peered over the back of the couch, but he was still asleep. He’d simply rolled over. She settled back to sleep.
She awoke again several hours later and realized it was almost seven. Her phone would be vibrating to wake her up in about ten minutes, so she switched it off. Then she peered over the back of the couch as she did every morning. The room was filled with the faint rays of early morning sun, and the sight in front of her took her breath away. Barely twenty feet away, Mason was lying on his stomach … and the covers were fully tossed back.
And he slept naked.
She drew in a deep breath at the sight of his naked butt. She stood up and walked toward him, assured he was still sound asleep by the sound of his deep breathing.
Oh, man, he had the tightest, sexiest ass she’d ever seen. Her face flushed as she realized she should not be seeing her stepbrother like this.
But her gaze lingered on his broad shoulders, then down his muscular back to his compact butt. Across one cheek the word “Courage” was written in script.
Then his breathing sputtered and he rolled over. Her heart leapt but she could not pull herself away. Now he was sprawled on his back, his tight, sculpted six-pack exposed … and a huge erection pointing straight up.
She sucked in a breath. She had never seen a penis before. Ever. And certainly not one at full mast.
Oh, God, it was huge.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out.
She stared at him, her heart pounding. Then—not knowing why she did it—she flipped open her phone and snapped a picture of him in all his naked glory.
* * *
Present Day
Dana remembered how she used to sneak into Mason’s suite at night. No hanky panky. He wasn’t even aware she was doing it. She’d just sleep on his couch for the comfort of being close. To hear his steady, even breathing and feel safe knowing he was nearby.
Though she’d always wished that she could climb into bed with him and snuggle close in his arms. At that age, it’d been almost as innocent as that. Almost. But as she’d gotten older, and other feelings had awakened, she’d desperately wanted to be in his arms for other reasons.
The morning she’d woken up to see him stretched out on his bed, the covers kicked back, his totally naked body exposed … Oh, God, she’d had some interesting feelings that morning.
If he had woken up and found her staring at him … He would have been shocked and definitely would have sent her away. She was sure he’d never felt that way about her.
At least, not when she was sixteen.
By the time she was eighteen, she’d started to think she’d sometimes see a glint of interest in his eyes. But he would never have acted on it.
Except on prom night, she’d almost believed …
God, no, she would not go there. She had to think about what was going on right now.
He had actually bought her virginity. Whether he took it or not was another matter, and he certainly seemed disinclined, but … She realized she still wanted that more than anything. She had never stopped dreaming about being with him, even after he had disappeared from her life without even a good-bye.
The fact that he’d shown up in her life again, wanting to help her, meant that he hadn’t stopped caring about her after all.
And the fact that he did still care about her made her want him all the more. And why couldn’t she have what she truly wanted, at least this once? He wanted to help her, and she was a grown woman, after all.
And he was a man.
She sighed. What if things had gone differently and he hadn’t told her he’d just going to let her off the hook? If he had actually intended to act on the contract, she’d be in his arms right now. The deed done and the two of them holding each other.
Maybe even doing it again.
Her insides melted as she thought about his big arms around her. His hands stroking her. Cupping her breasts. Oh, God, her hand stroking over his swelling cock. The feel of the hot hard flesh in her grip.
She still had that picture she’d snapped and, God help her, she still looked at it. A lot.
She grabbed her laptop and dug through her files until she found it. And opened it. Her insides heated at the sight of him lying on his bed, his huge cock standing tall and proud.
Oh, God, she’d had this fantasy often, but now with the very real possibility that it could come true, heat sizzled through her.
Her insides melted as she thought about that big, hard cock brushing against her intimate flesh, then his thick shaft pushing into her. Slowly, until he filled her completely. Then him gliding back and filling her again. His thrusts slow at first, then getting faster and faster.
Her fingers found her wet folds and she stroked as she thought of Mason’s body above hers as he thrust into her, moaning her name. Driving her pleasure higher and higher.
She sucked in air, then moaned as her fingers flicked over her clit faster and faster, finally shooting her over the edge.
She awoke in the morning, still damp and sweaty from her nighttime fantasies. She showered and took a walk in the fresh air, wondering what she should do next.
* * *
Mason nursed the drink in his hand, still thinking about his encounter with Dana earlier this evening.
Well, that hadn’t gone very well.
Damn, he shouldn’t have tried to scare her off what she was trying to do. Though, what else could he do? He couldn’t abide the thought of her selling her virginity to some rich playboy who just saw her as a plaything to deflower. Just because the guy was rich, didn’t mean he’d treat her well.
Mason wanted Dana to give herself to someone she loved. He was actually rather proud of her for having saved herself this long, but now that she saw her virginity as a commodity, she would probably try again.Even if he somehow convinced her to take his money for her education, she still might try a stunt like this in the future.
Thoughts of Chas crossed his mind, and he shuddered. It would be just like the old man to check out a site like this. Thoughts of that lecherous asshole seeing Dana’s picture there, buying her contract, and then … fuck, he could not let that happen.
* * *
Ten Years Earlier
Mason started from sleep with the feeling that someone was watching him. He opened his eyes and glanced around, but couldn’t see anyone. Fuck, when he realized the covers were tossed off his body, he pulled them back on.
He knew that Dana often came into his room after he’d fallen asleep. One time when he’d been restless and woken in the middle of the night, he’d noticed her sleeping on his couch under the coverlet. He’d considered waking her and sending her back to her suite, but he knew the poor kid felt lonely in the big, strange house. She was just looking for comfort.
Thank God she hadn’t tried climbing into bed with him because he might have had trouble controlling himself. She was so sweet and innocent, but also sexy as sin.
He’d realized she was probably coming into his suite regularly and had decided to leave it be. But waking up now with no covers hiding his naked form was a wakeup call. From now on he would don pajamas at night.
Mason got up, showered, and dressed. He knew that his father was returning today, so he decided to stay at the house rather than go into the office. His father was intimidating at the best of times. He didn’t want to leave Dana to deal with him without support., and he doubted her mother would be much help.
Mason spent the morning working at the desk in his suite, and then after lunch, he and Dana read in the main living room, which had a big window facing the front yard.
Mason sipped his drink, glancing out the window as a sleek black limo pulled up in front of the house. The servants, who had been on alert for the past hour awaiting his father, scurried to the car to retrieve luggage. When the driver opened the door, a woman took the driver’s hand from inside the limo and smiled as she stood, then looked at the large ho
use with satisfaction. She was slender and well dressed in a designer suit, with a huge diamond flashing on her finger. Dad never did skimp when it came to diamond rings for his wives. Or any other jewelry, for that matter. It was his way of displaying his wealth. Have an appropriate wife, with the appropriate wardrobe to show off at the country club and social affairs. He never loved any of them. And he always had at least one mistress at his beck and call.
Dana sat nervously beside Mason, watching along with him.
“There’s Mom,” she said, fidgeting. “Are you sure I should wait in here?”
“Yes. Let them get inside and settled.”
Watching Dana’s mother outside, he could tell she was the type of woman who liked to make an entrance, and having the servants scurrying around her made her beam like a queen. He was pretty sure she would resent her daughter for taking away any of her thunder. And he was pretty sure Dana knew that, too, because if she and her mother had been close, he doubted the woman would have abandoned her daughter here the way she had.
Dana watched intently as Mason’s father—her new stepfather—stepped from the car and walked toward her mother. He smiled at his new wife’s look of awe at her new home. He took her hand and kissed it, then guided her forward.
Dana took Mason’s hand, her fingers trembling.
“It’s okay. He won’t bite,” Mason murmured to her. Mason would make sure of that.
The big doors opened and his father and new stepmother swept into the house. When his father’s gaze fell on Mason, his smile faded.
“Mason. What are you doing here?”
“I live here, Father.”
His father’s eyes narrowed but he said nothing.
“Who is this handsome young man?” Dana’s mother said. The bitch hadn’t even glanced at her daughter yet.
“This is my son, Mason,” was all Dad said.
Mason could feel Dana by his side, practically vibrating with the need to be noticed.
He shook the hand his new stepmother offered him, then glanced pointedly at Dana.
Her mother’s gaze finally fell to her, then she pursed her lips. “Oh, Chas, this is my daughter. Dana.”
“Oh, yes. Nice to meet you.” His father’s gaze barely flickered over her face, then fell to her outfit. “I hope you dress better than that when you leave the house.”
Mason could feel Dana tense beside him. She had spent hours trying to pick out something nice. He had told her to wear what she usually wore. She had a particularly nice turquoise knit pullover sweater that set off her eyes that Mason loved seeing her in. But she’d wanted to impress his father and she’d picked out a pretty little dress that was demure though stylish and quite suited her. But his father just trashed it.
Dana glanced to her mother, but the woman’s focus was sweeping across the opulent entryway, clearly wanting to see the spoils of her new allegiance, showing no concern at all for her daughter’s discomfort.
“I’m famished. James,” his father said to the butler. “Arrange a meal. Twenty minutes in the dining room.” He glanced at his wife and new stepdaughter to ensure they’d heard him, then dismissed them. “Mason, in the den.” Then he walked across the room.
Mason followed him down the hallway to the large den off the back of the house, and closed the double French doors behind them. His father sat at the big desk, as he always did when he wanted to intimidate, but it no longer worked on Mason.
“So you’re living here now?” he asked with raised eyebrows.
“It’s just as much my house as it is yours.” Mason’s mother had ensured that in the will. In fact, Mason owned it outright, but he’d promised his mother he’d let Chas continue to live there for a few years. More to keep up the pretence of them having been a happy family. The wealth his father enjoyed had come from his mother’s family and she knew her husband wasn’t good with money, so she’d wanted to ensure her family home stayed with Mason. But he was a bigger man than to point that out.
Chas frowned but nodded. “So at twenty-six you’re okay living with your parents.”
Mason perched on the mahogany credenza and smiled. “That all you got, Dad?” He shook his head. “Because being here doesn’t threaten my masculinity one bit.”
His father’s face turned sour. He hated that Mason didn’t cower in his presence.
But long gone were the days when Mason was intimidated by his asshole of a father. Not since Mom had given Mason a separate fund to start his own company when he was eighteen and he’d built his own fortune.
“So did you fuck the little tramp?” his father asked pointedly, his stare piercing through Mason.
He knew Chas was referring to Dana and it turned his stomach that his father would even hint at such a thing.
He scowled “No, of course not.”
“Good. Make sure you keep your hands off her.”
Mason stood up, his face solemn. “And I recommend you do the same.”
His father’s angry glare didn’t fool Mason at all. There had been rumors about other stepchildren. Mason couldn’t prove it, but the rumors were enough to keep him wary. He was not naïve, and he had a strong feeling that Chas hadn’t picked this particular woman despite her having a teenage daughter, but because of it.
Dana was a lovely young thing, and his father was bound to have seen pictures of her. He tended to have his future spouses checked out thoroughly by a P.I. before he proposed. He probably had all kinds of photos of Dana as well as of her mother.
That’s why when Mason had heard that the old man had married again, and it was a woman with a sixteen-year-old daughter, he’d decided to move back in.
He couldn’t believe that the mother had allowed the girl to be moved in on her own while she and her new husband were off traveling for months, leaving her alone in the huge mansion with no one looking out for her. When they came back, if his father did indulge in some vile activities with the young girl, her mother seemed like the type who’d take her husband’s word for it over her daughter’s.
Mason intended to stay here and make sure that didn’t happen.
* * *
Present Day - A few days later
Mason glanced up from the couch as the elevator doors opened onto his penthouse.
Only someone with his key card could use the elevator. That meant it must be one of his subs. There was no one else he had given the card to.
To his surprise, Dana stepped out and gazed across the room.
Ah, he had given a card to Dana and she hadn’t returned it when she’d run off.
He stood up as she walked forward. “Dana, it’s nice to see you.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry to just come in. I … still have the keycard.” She held it out to him but he just shook his head.
“Keep it,” he said simply.
She bit her lip and slipped it into her jeans pocket.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”
She walked across the carpet toward him. He gestured for her to sit down so she picked the armchair nearest the couch.
“Have you come to accept my offer?”
She frowned. “Um, yes and no.”
He tilted his head. “Really? And what does that mean, exactly?”
He could see her small, delicate hand trembling and he leaned forward and wrapped his fingers around it.
“It means…”
He squeezed her hand and smiled encouragingly.
“It means that I want to accept the money, but I can’t just take it.”
“So you want it as a loan?”
She shook her head. “I want you to do what the contract says.”
She wrapped her fingers around his hand and drew it closer to her.
He frowned. “What are you saying, Dana?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I’m saying I want you to be the one who takes my virginity.”
* * *
There, she’d said it.
Now she stared at him, biting her lower lip, her stom
ach contracting.
What did he think? That she was a slut? Was he shocked?
His enigmatic blue eyes gave away nothing as he sat considering her.
“Dana, you don’t have to tie the money to that contract. You aren’t bound by—”
“No, it’s not that. I…” She blinked, searching deep inside herself for the courage to say what she needed to say. She sighed. “I’ve always had a crush on you. You must know that. Then when you left…” She frowned, not really wanting to bring that up, but what else could she do? “I missed you so much. I never got over it. If it really was just a teenage crush, wouldn’t it have faded by now?”
“Dana, I—”
“No, please. Let me finish. I know you probably don’t feel the same way, but we’re both adults now and … well, I’d much rather lose my virginity to you than to anyone else in the world.”
“Dana, you should keep that gift for someone you care very deeply for.”
“But that’s you. You’ve been one of the most important people in the world to me.” She took his hand in both of hers and squeezed. “I know you’ll treat me well and…” She bit her lip. “It would be so special.”
He ran his hand through his hair.
“Is it that you don’t want to be with me?” she asked, feeling very vulnerable.
“Fuck, Dana. You are a beautiful woman.”
“But you still think of me as a teenager.” She pressed her hand to his chest, feeling his heart beating. “But I’m a woman now. With needs.” She smiled tremulously. “And I want you to meet them.” She stroked his cheek. “I … I know I can trust you.”
Then she leaned forward and kissed him. He sat stiffly at first, then his lips lost their rigidity and he returned the kiss. His arms came around her and pulled her tight to his body as his lips moved on hers. Emboldened, she traced her tongue over his lips, then glided inside. He moaned and his tongue thrust into her mouth and plundered it as she felt herself pressed back onto the couch, him above her.
She sucked in air as his big body covered hers, his hands gliding over her back, his tongue filling her mouth.
When his hand glided down her side, lightly brushing her breast, she gasped, then pulled her mouth free, staring up at him with wide eyes.