That felt like an eternity ago, and yet he hadn’t changed a bit. Well, maybe there was a stray strand of gray at his temple and a few lines around his eyes, but he was still the man she said yes to all those years ago.
He smiled and patted at her bare shoulder. “Yes. She has all the numbers, I promise. The house is filled with enough food and baby supplies to last through a nuclear winter. It’s just a two-day trip. Carroll knows what she’s doing. Everything will be fine.”
Scarlet fastened her earring and turned around to face him with a wry smile twisting her lips. “I’m being that mom, aren’t I?”
He just smiled. “A good mom, yes. Good moms worry. But tonight, I want you to focus on you. It’s your big opening. Everyone is coming out to see your work. I want you to focus on that and only that.” He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to the tip of her nose so her lipstick didn’t smear. “Are you almost ready? The car is waiting downstairs.”
Scarlet nodded and took a deep breath before grabbing her beaded navy clutch. “How do I look?” she asked, before turning to face him.
The look on Mason’s face said it all. His blue gaze took in every inch of her body, from the navy-and-silver lace cap sleeves to the fitted, beaded bodice and full, draped skirt. She thought the color would look nice against her skin and complement the ocean colors of the paintings in her gallery. He seemed to agree. By the time his eyes met hers again, there was a huge, devious smile crossing his face. Even his dimples were showing.
“I think we should skip it,” Mason said. He pressed up against her and rested his hands at her waist. “I think you need to take that dress off right now so I can start all those wicked things I promised to do to you.”
Scarlet smacked him on the chest with her bag. “Well, I’m glad you approve of the dress, but that isn’t happening. I can’t be hoarse when I greet all my guests. But after we get back...” She trailed off with a seductive smile as she twisted out of his grasp. “Let’s go.”
Reluctantly, Mason followed her out of their suite and down to the lobby. Under the portico of the hotel, as predicted, a black town car with the name “Spencer” in the window was waiting for them.
It didn’t take long to get to the gallery. They’d chosen a hotel only a few blocks from Fisherman’s Wharf. They pulled up to the back entrance, where they could slip inside and check on things before the guests arrived.
“We’re opening the doors in five,” April barked into her headset as she blew past them in a black beaded cocktail dress. She stopped short in front of them. “Good, the guest of honor is in the building.” She smiled, paying particular attention to Mason in his tuxedo. “You both look lovely tonight.”
Scarlet caught a hint of a blush on his cheeks. “Thanks. Are we ready to go?”
April looked down at her watch. “Yep, let’s get this party started.”
From there, the first two hours were a blur. Mason stayed at her side for support but allowed himself to blend into the background while Scarlet took center stage. As she moved across the dance floor to greet guests and speak with people about her work, she would look over her shoulder and catch glimpses of him beaming with pride over his half-empty flute of champagne.
It was going well. At least she thought so. One of her massive original oils had been purchased for a solid six figures before Scarlet had finished her first drink. Smaller pieces were flying off the walls, figuratively, even with five-digit price tags. Almost everyone was leaving with at least an autographed coffee-table book or print. It was a great start to the gallery, which would need the capital to recoup the expense of opening up a new location.
It wasn’t until she finally sat down at a table to rest her feet that she was able to consider the event a success and relax. She had been too busy to worry about Luna or Mason or anything else aside from keeping a smile on her face, but the event was winding down at last.
She took a sip of her wine and turned to look for Mason. He’d slipped away for a moment while she was talking to the mayor, but he hadn’t returned yet. That was when she spotted him on the far side of the room. His back was to her as he admired a painting on the wall. When he turned around and his gaze met hers, she felt a sizzle run across her skin. She missed the heat of his body at her side, the gentle press of his palm against her lower back. The expression on his face promised all that and more when the opening was over.
He finally strolled back across the gallery and stopped just in front of her. “Come with me,” Mason said as he held out his hand.
The look he gave her made her knees like butter and she wasn’t sure she could follow him onto the dance floor even if she wanted to. Knowing there were quite a few guests watching, however, she smiled and forced herself to follow him.
A few couples were dancing around the center of the gallery. When the gala was over, one of her bronze sculptures would go in the open space, but for tonight, there was enough room for a dozen couples to dance to the soft jazz the band was playing.
They found an open spot and Mason wrapped his arm around her waist and held her tight against him. Scarlet adjusted in his arms and let him guide her in a soft rocking motion. Neither of them were very accomplished when it came to dancing, but they made do at events like this. It helped that she was always so aware of Mason’s body. Every inch of him pressed into her, so she noted every twitch of muscle, every motion to guide her one way or another. She could almost anticipate his moves.
For the first time since they touched down in San Francisco, Scarlet felt like she had a moment to breathe. Even though April handled most everything, Scarlet still felt as though she had to double-check it all, practically rearranging artwork as Mason shoved her out the door so they could return to the hotel and change. Once the guests arrived, it was chatting and smiling and autographing books. She wasn’t an introvert at heart, but there was no denying this was exhausting.
She was happy to just be in Mason’s arms now. A month ago, it was a place she never thought she’d be again. On lonely nights, she’d lain in bed trying to remember the last time he’d kissed her, or the last time they’d made love. She couldn’t even begin to recall when they’d danced. Maybe on the cruise they took to Mexico for their fifth anniversary.
“I can’t remember the last time we had a night like this,” he said in a low voice after a few quiet moments of dancing together. It was as though he could read her thoughts sometimes.
“Like what?” she asked, curious of how he’d come up with it.
“Just the two of us together. Dancing, drinking adult beverages and chatting about idle pursuits. There’s no talk of babies or ovulation, family law attorneys or sperm counts. It’s just you and me, enjoying a night together for the first time in forever. The last few years of our marriage were taken over by our quest to have a child. It’s nice to just be Mason and Scarlet Spencer, married couple out for a night together, for a change.”
Scarlet felt a rush of blood flood her cheeks in embarrassment. That probably wasn’t the reaction he was expecting, but she couldn’t help it. She knew that most of that life disruption was her doing. She was the one who got obsessed and dragged him along with her. “I’m sorry I let all that get in the way of us. I just went baby crazy and forgot all about our marriage.”
“You didn’t forget about our marriage,” he soothed. “You just got focused on our family. There are worse things.”
“Yes, but we lost each other along the way.”
“We didn’t lose each other. We just forgot we were supposed to face those trials as a team. Somehow we turned into adversaries instead.”
It had felt that way for a while, even though she knew, practically, that it wasn’t true. There was no bad guy to blame their fertility difficulties on, no villain to accuse of stealing Evan away. It was just life making a turn in a direction that neither of them knew how to handle. They’d accomplished ev
erything they’d set out to do in life, but this one thing had just been out of their reach.
“Are we playing on the same team now?” she asked. “For good?” It was a question she’d been afraid to pose since Mason moved back into the house. When the temporary started to feel permanent, how was she to know what was real anymore?
“We are, Scarlet. I told you I wasn’t going to run away again. I meant it. I’ve been happier with you these last few weeks than I’ve been in a long time. I’m not letting that slip away again.”
He looked down at her with his big blue eyes and she felt the last of her fears slip away. This was really happening. They were reconciling, and not just because of the baby, but because they wanted to be together. They realized they were better together. Luna was just the fluffy pink icing on the cake.
“I’m happy to hear you say that,” Scarlet said.
Mason smiled. “And I’ll be happy to sweep you off your feet and back to our hotel suite. How long do we have to stay?”
Scarlet eyed the dwindling crowd and April in the corner rubbing her feet. Once her manager’s shoes came off, it was safe to call it a night.
“Not a minute longer.”
* * *
Mason was glad to be back at their hotel. As he tugged at his bow tie and pulled it out from under his collar, he could only shake his head. “Are they always like that?” he asked.
Scarlet’s reflection in the mirror smiled at him as she stepped out of her shoes and pulled off her jewelry. “That one was fancier than normal, but yes, they’re all basically the same. I suck up to people, they buy my art.” She walked up to him and then turned her back toward him. “Can you unzip me, please?”
“With pleasure.” Mason reached for her zipper at her neck. Tonight, she’d worn her long dark hair twisted up into an elegant sort of knot. The whole back of the gown was navy lace, giving glimpses of her bare back down all the way to the swell of her hips. Grasping the zipper tab, he slowly followed the curve of her spine until it settled at the bottom.
Before she could pull away, he pushed the lace aside with his hands and exposed her back. The cap sleeves moved easily down her arms until the dress was pooled around her waist. The mirror she’d stood at moments before now gave him the perfect view of his wife’s full, bare breasts. He watched their reflection as he snaked his arms beneath hers and cupped her breasts in his hands.
Scarlet sighed and leaned back against him. He loved the feeling of her body pressed into his own. He loved the warmth of her skin, the scent of her hair, the soft sounds she made as he teased and pinched her nipples into tight buds... He watched her face contort with pleasure as he caressed her the way he knew she liked to be touched. She was his wife. His everything. They’d been together for almost his entire adult life. He knew that a kiss just below her earlobe would make her crazy with need. He knew that she was ticklish behind her knees. He didn’t need a road map for her body because he already knew it by heart. Returning to the familiar territory had been both comforting and exciting after the months apart.
Now that she was back in his arms, in his bed and in his heart for good, the thought sent a surge of desire and possessiveness through his veins. She was his now, and no paperwork from their lawyers was going to change that.
Scarlet tipped her head enough to reach up and pluck a few pins from her hair. It was enough for the entire twist to come tumbling down over her shoulders. The scent of her skin mingled with her styling products to surround him with a smell that, when his eyes were closed, instantly brought to mind images of her in their bathroom. He leaned in and buried his face in her hair, letting the silky strands brush over his skin before drawing a deep breath of her into his lungs.
She arched her back and shimmied her hips just enough for the gown to fall to her feet. That left the ample curves of her thong-clad rear end to press into the desire that strained against his tuxedo pants. He growled low in her ear as the sensation radiated through his lower extremities.
“Do you know how badly I wanted to rip that gown off you tonight?” he whispered. “I wanted to make love to you on the floor of the stock room and I didn’t care if April caught us in the act. That’s why I had to walk away for a while. I couldn’t take it.”
“Well, it’s out of your way now,” she said. She stepped out of her dress and moved away from him, leaving him suddenly cold and alone. When she turned to face him at the foot of the bed, she was wearing nothing but a nude lace thong that blended into her skin and nearly vanished.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away as he slipped out of his tuxedo jacket and unbuttoned his shirt. “Good. I’d hate to ruin a perfectly nice dress.”
Still in his tuxedo pants, Mason closed the gap she’d created between them and placed his hands on the soft curve of her hips. He tugged her against him, pressing his need into her stomach. “Do you have any idea what you do to me? What you’ve always done to me?”
Scarlet wrapped her arms around his neck and laced her fingers through the short strands of his hair. “I’ve got a pretty good idea.” She looked up at him with her big doe eyes and batted her lashes coquettishly. “But maybe you should show me just to make sure.”
She knew just how to play to his base instincts. With a growl, he scooped her up off the ground. She squealed and clung to him, wrapping her legs around his waist as he carried her over to the bed. The sound of her carefree laughter was like music to his ears after all the seriousness they’d faced lately. He was glad that this time, he was the one making her smile.
Once he reached the bed, he laid her down with her legs still entwined around his waist. He surged forward, pinning her against the mattress and pressing his length against her lace-covered center. She moaned at the contact, but his mouth quickly sought out hers and swallowed the sound. He drank in the taste of her, relishing in the mix of dry white wine and sweet chocolate truffles that still lingered on her tongue from the party.
She squirmed beneath him, and the next thing he knew, he could feel her palm pressed against the fly of his trousers. He shuddered and ripped his mouth away from hers. “Quit that,” he groaned.
Instead, she slipped her hand beneath his waistband and wrapped her fingers around his length. He swore against the pillows before propping on his elbow and tugging her hand away. He sat back on his knees, and gripping both her wrists together in one hand, he pinned them against the mattress over her head. She tried to break free from his grasp, but she wasn’t getting away.
“You’re naughty, and this is your punishment.”
Scarlet looked at him with wide, innocent eyes, then lifted her hips to drag the crotch of her panties against him. Apparently, she didn’t need hands to torture him.
“Do you want to be in charge tonight?” he asked.
She answered him with a grin. Fair enough. He released her arms and rolled to the right, taking her with him until he was lying on his back and she was straddling him.
“I’m all yours,” Mason said.
“You always have been,” Scarlet replied.
Mason pressed his fingertips into the flesh of her hips and looked up at her with a serious expression in a previously light moment. “I always will be.”
Scarlet stilled over him. Her eyes grew glassy for a moment before she smiled through her tears. She didn’t respond. Instead, she sat back on her heels and lifted her hair up with her arms, putting on a little show for him. He wanted to reach for her and tug her close, but he was letting her have tonight. It was her big night, anyway.
She stretched, arching her back and letting her silky chestnut waves rain back down onto her shoulders. She rocked her hips with the movement, torturing him further through the cursed pants he’d made the mistake of leaving on. As if she could anticipate his discomfort, Scarlet climbed onto her knees and reached down to unfasten his pants. She slid them and his silk boxers down his l
egs, then let him kick them off onto the floor.
Reaching between them, she wrapped her fingers around him, and this time he didn’t complain. Mason closed his eyes and exhaled hard through his nose as sparks of pleasure danced across his skin. She stroked the length of him once, twice, and then he felt her velvet heat envelop him.
He opened his eyes to find Scarlet straddling him with a look of divine contentment on her face. She started rocking slowly, making him clench his teeth. He wasn’t sure how long he could stand her moving like this. “Come here, baby,” he managed through his tightly flexed jaw.
Thankfully, Scarlet opted not to torture him any longer. She leaned forward, planting her elbows on the mattress beside his head. Now she was close enough for him to lean up and capture her lips. As their tongues and breath mingled together, she continued to rock back and forth. Wrapping his arms tight around her waist, he stilled her movement and began thrusting into her from beneath.
Her sobbing gasps against his mouth were enough to tell him that she didn’t mind his interference. He could feel her body stiffen against him as she came closer to her release. He waited with anticipation for the moment to come. Maybe even more so than for his own orgasm. Watching the beautiful woman he called his own come apart in his arms was something he could never tire of. He longed for it, needed it for his own satisfaction to be complete.
“Yes,” he whispered against the line of her jaw, following his words with soft kisses. He gripped her hips harder, thrusting into her with renewed enthusiasm. “Please, baby. I need to hear it. Be as loud as you need to be tonight.”
Scarlet closed her eyes then, her mouth open in anticipation of the tsunami coming for her. When it hit, he held her tight, riding the wave with her as she cried out into the room. “Mason!” She pushed herself up, gripping his shoulders and bucking her hips against him.
Mason felt her muscles tighten and flutter around him, pushing him toward his own end. When she collapsed against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her. The feel of her skin on his, her breath at his ear, her moist core wrapped around him...it took only a few more thrusts before he lost himself inside her.
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