Mace (Cocky Cage Fighter #4)

by Lane Hart

  There’s no foreplay needed tonight. God, it feels like we’ve had days of foreplay. No, tonight I asked him to make love to me and that’s what he’s doin’. Showin’ me in actions, not words, that he cares about me so much that our bodies can’t seem to get close enough together. There’s nothing more intimate than havin’ him raise my arms over my head so he can intertwine his fingers with mine, holdin’ my hands sweetly as he kisses me and then slips easily inside me for the very first time. He fits perfectly, like he was made for me.

  My back arches off the bed and my legs wrap around his waist to urge him deeper, needin’ more. Once he’s sheathed all the way in, he pulls his mouth away to look at me as he starts to move slowly in and out. He glances down the length of our bodies to the place where we’re joined and then back up to my face. Droppin’ his forehead to mine, Mason squeezes my hands, and tells me softly, “You feel like home.”

  Unable to speak any words, I nod my agreement. He does feel like home, so much so that the longer he makes love to me, the quicker the pleasure rushes through me, and the more difficult it becomes to hold back the building emotions.

  Mason brushes his lips over mine again, then lower to kiss my neck at the same time as I cry out with my release. His pants grow heavy against my ear until I feel his body shudder and then the warmth of his orgasm pulsin’ within me. There’s no condom between us, but I’m on birth control and I trust him.

  Our bodies slowly relax and still when we come down from our highs. Mason’s face stays buried in my neck for so long I start to worry that he may have fallen asleep. Was it that unremarkable for him? Then I feel his breath hitch and the dampness against my skin. When he says, “Please don’t leave, Hailey. Just stay with me,” my own tears spill over and race down my cheeks.

  “I can’t,” I tell him, strokin’ my palms up and down his back.

  “You can, but you won’t,” he mutters. “I’ll just have to try and change your mind tonight.”

  I squeeze my eyes shut as he begins to kiss his way down to my chest and then my breasts. He has no idea how close I am to changin’ my mind, but I won’t. I wish I could say to hell with the consequences. Those thoughts are too selfish though, and in the end, I won’t do that to him. I’ll get on a plane tomorrow night and fly back to my lonely apartment.

  “Give me a chance, Hailey,” he says with an open mouth kiss to my belly button. “I’ll never hurt you. I would do anything to make you happy.” Movin’ back up my body, he keeps killin’ me with his words and with the amount of love shinin’ out of his golden green eyes. “That day at the airport, I was watching you while we were on the phone. And the first time I saw you smile…I knew I would sacrifice everything I have just to see you smile again.”

  I need to make him stop talkin’ before I say somethin’ stupid that I can’t take back. Pushin’ on his chest, he eventually eases off me. I force him to his back so that I can straddle his hips and kiss him until our lower bodies join again. Mason doesn’t stay on his back for long. He sits up so that I can wrap my arms around his neck, pressin’ my breasts against his hard chest. His hands instantly go down to what I’m pretty sure is his favorite body part, my ass, or as he would say, his ass. He owns it and every other inch of me like no one else ever has before.

  “I’m gonna tie you to the bed in the morning so you can’t leave me,” Mason says against my lips. My pussy clenches around him just at the thought of bein’ restrained. He doesn’t miss my reaction. “You would like that, wouldn’t you?” he asks. “I would tie you up with enough slack so I could flip you over and take you from behind if I wanted. Or take this ass.” He squeezes both of my cheeks in demonstration, bouncin’ me harder on his cock. “Every inch of you is gorgeous, but this ass is magnificent.”

  “Your ass,” I tell him. He growls his approval, nippin’ at my ear before he says, “I’m gonna miss you.” He just had to go back to that unpleasant subject I’m tryin’ hard not to think about.

  “I’m sure your harem will keep you distracted.”

  “I don’t want any of them, just like you don’t want Senn.”

  “No, I don’t,” I admit. “He only reminds me of you, and that you’re everything he’s not. But I’m tired of talkin’.”

  Mason stills for a few seconds before he finally says, “Then I better get busy making sure my name and God’s are the only words that come out of your mouth.”

  …

  Mason

  After our shower around two a.m., Hailey insists that I shouldn’t towel myself off, that she’ll lick my entire body dry for me. Who am I to argue with an amazing suggestion like that?

  Back in her bed, she starts at my right foot and works her way up the side of my body, all the way to my temple, before her mouth goes to work on the other side.

  Returning to eye-level, she hovers above me, her damp blonde hair forming a curtain around our faces when she says, “I love…” I hold my breath for the three words I’ve longed to hear while her fingertip swirls unknown designs along my shoulder. “Your tattoos.”

  She loves…my tattoos. Okay, so of course I thought she was gonna say me. My tattoos are a start, I guess.

  “I was thinking about getting more ink,” I tell her. “After I win my next fight.”

  “Oh really?” she says with a grin. “Whatcha wanna get?”

  “Um, well I was thinking about starting with Mandy’s name and my mom’s, Miriah, in cursive over my heart.”

  “I’m sorry you lost them so young,” she replies softly, brushing her lips over the same skin I want inked. “Tell me what they were like.”

  “You want me to tell you about my dead mother and sister while we’re naked in bed?” I ask, since she had been adamant about not talking earlier tonight. And talking about them…well it’ll only make me sad.

  “Yes. Why not?” she asks, so genuinely interested that I cave. I would give her anything she asked for.

  “Okay,” I reply. “My mom was…it’s only been six years, but I’m already starting to forget things about her. I hate that, you know?”

  Hailey nods and combs her fingers through the sides of my hair, but doesn’t say anything so that I’ll continue.

  “She was funny and easygoing, sort of like your mom,” I admit. “She smoked like a fucking freight train, which of course is what killed her. A few months later, I found one of her old packs of cigarettes and lit one up, just because the stupid cloud of smoke reminded me of her. Then I started smoking and didn’t stop until Linc made me last year.”

  “Was it hard to quit?” she asks, resting her chin on her arms crossed on my chest.

  “Fuck yes. There were all the withdrawals and then the cravings. God, I still have the craving for a stick between my fingers. To feel the rush of nicotine.”

  “That sucks.”

  “It really does,” I chuckle.

  “And Mandy?” she asks.

  “Mandy was a lost soul,” I confess. “I think even my mom knew that when we were kids. She was never happy, but I’m not sure why. As soon as she turned eighteen, she went into the porn industry because she thought it was easy money. Easy money to buy more drugs.”

  “I’m sorry,” Hailey says, placing a kiss along my jaw. “It must have been hard for you and Claire to see her that way.”

  “Yeah. We thought we could save her…but we couldn’t. No one could.”

  “She looked like Claire?”

  “Uh-huh. If she had been healthy, they could’ve passed for twins since there was only thirteen months between their birthdays.”

  “Oh wow,” she says with a smile. “Growing up, I sort of wished Linc had been a girl.”

  “That would’ve been a shame,” I tell her running my fingers down the curve of her spine. “Because then he wouldn’t have met my sister, fell in love, and decided to marry her. And I…I wouldn’t have met his incredible older sister at the airport coffee shop.”

  “This is true,” she says with a smile that quickly falls from her bea
utiful face. “Tell me about them.”

  “Them?” I ask, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

  “Your harem,” she huffs in exasperation and rolls her eyes.

  “Oh. Them,” I mutter with a playful slap to her ass. “You sure about this?”

  “Yes. Tell me how you ended up with not one but four women.”

  “Well, I met Sabrina when I was in my senior year of high school. She was at a party my friends and I went to, and we just…clicked. We talked, exchanged phone numbers, and started dating.”

  “Ugh,” Hailey grumbles. “I hate her already.”

  Smiling at her jealousy because it’s so unwarranted, I continue. “A year later I met Lena. She was at a bar with her asshole boyfriend. He knocked her to the floor and then I knocked him out. We started spending time together because she was scared her ex would show up at her apartment and cause problems. I helped her get moved and started to have feelings for her. We kissed one night, so I fessed up to Sabrina. Surprisingly, she said I could keep seeing Lena if I wanted.”

  “I hate her, too,” Hailey remarks. “Okay, on to number three.”

  “I met Monica and Erica at a club in Cary. They were regulars, just like Senn and I. Sometimes Sabrina or Lena came along, sometimes it was just a boys’ night out. Monica and Erica had been best friends for years, and eventually they propositioned me for a threesome.”

  “Like any guy would turn that down,” Hailey scoffs.

  “Right. It was gonna be a first for me. Lena and Sabrina gave me the green light, and so the three of us hooked up. Then I quickly realized that Erica and Monica wanted each other, and the threesome was sort of just a front. They started touching each other more and now…well, my participation is no longer required.”

  “Ohh,” Hailey remarks with wide eyes, sitting up so that she’s still straddling me but now her bare titties are approaching mouth level. “So, two are sort of lesbians and one was usin’ you as muscle?”

  “Um, yeah, I guess that would be accurate,” I agree, reaching up to cup a tempting breast in each of my palms. Now I’m the one who is tired of talking and wanna get back down to business.

  “So Sabrina is the one you’ve been with the longest?”

  “Yep.”

  Feeling my cock rise underneath her, Hailey rocks back and forth, grinding her pussy along my hard length, making us both moan.

  “Do you love her?” she asks.

  “Yes,” I admit. “I love all four girls, but I don’t think I’ve ever been in love with them. Sabrina…I know that she cares about me more than I care about her.”

  “Are you gonna keep fuckin’ them when you go home?” she asks, her sad blue eyes holding mine while she bites her bottom lip, waiting for my answer.

  “No,” I tell her honestly. “Not after…I can’t…no matter what…”

  Hailey’s mouth covers mine, thankfully showing me that the time for talking is officially over.

  Chapter Twenty

  Mace

  The first time I wake up it’s only seven a.m. and Hailey’s sprawled on top of me, her blonde waves trailing down my chest, her face beautiful and peaceful. Exhausted from the five times our bodies joined during the night, once for an entire hour before I came, I drift back asleep. The next time I wake up, I’m alone, and that really pisses me the fuck off. I can already tell it’s gonna be a great day.

  Shit.

  Today’s my sister’s wedding, so I owe it to her not to be such a grouch, but I can’t help it. Hailey got up and left without saying goodbye. I know I’ll see her later today, but from now on there will be other people around us, and then she’ll be gone. How much is a plane ticket to New York? I’m guessing it’s more than I have.

  Grabbing my phone from my pants puddled on the floor from where Hailey helped me chuck them last night, I do a quick search for flights before the battery dies. No tickets available for tonight unfortunately, and the cheapest one for the upcoming week is two-hundred and sixty dollars, which is more than I have. Fucking hell. I’ve got two gigs this week, so maybe with tips I’ll have enough.

  Who the fuck am I kidding? Rent is coming due and car insurance is somewhat important to have, too. Maybe I could get a credit card.

  Cursing, I pull on some clothes and stomp up the steps into the kitchen on the main floor looking for breakfast to try to ease the ache inside me. Food is not what I’m craving, that’s for sure. Hailey’s mom had been cooking up bacon and eggs or some other meal each morning, but not today. This morning everyone is busy getting ready. I can hear the women running around like a herd of stampeding elephants on the floor above me, getting hair and nails or whatever else done, so I fix a bowl of kid’s cereal and take it out on the patio to see if the view of the ocean will cheer me up.

  As soon as I step outside, I see Linc leaning against the rail in his plaid pajamas. He’s already so domesticated that it would be funny if he wasn’t marrying my sister. She deserves a tame and family oriented man.

  “Hey,” he says when he looks over his shoulder and sees me.

  “Hey. Ready for your big day?” I ask, sitting down at one of the patio tables.

  “Hell yes. We should’ve just eloped months ago, because I can’t fuckin’ wait to marry your sister.”

  “I want to marry yours,” I mutter under my breath before shoving a spoonful of magically delicious marshmallows into my mouth to prevent myself from saying something else I’ll regret.

  “What?” Linc turns around and braces his back against the railing to ask.

  “Nothing,” I tell him around my mouthful.

  “When are you headin’ back to Cary?”

  “Ah, tonight I guess.”

  “In that case, do you mind givin’ Hailey a ride to the airport? My mom and dad want to stay another night to help clean up and do some cookin’ tomorrow before everyone leaves the house to me and Claire for the week.”

  Yes, I would love to spend more time with Hailey.

  No, that’s not a good idea.

  Fuck if I know.

  “Sure, why the hell not,” I finally agree. It’ll give me five more hours to try and convince her not to leave.

  “Great, thanks. Her flight leaves at eleven-fifty, so if you get out of here by five you should be there in plenty of time.”

  “Got it.”

  “Well, I guess I better go get dressed,” he says before heading to the door with a grin. “See you when you walk my bride down the beach. Tell Claire I love her and can’t wait to make her my wife.”

  “Will do,” I assure him, clearing my throat of emotion because the two of them only remind me of what I’m missing, what I know I could have with Hailey if she wasn’t so damn stubborn.

  After I eat breakfast, I shower and then head upstairs to the second floor to find my sister so I can get my tux and shit on. She had insisted on bringing it with her things so I didn’t have to be trusted not to forget it. That’s the only reason I’m marching up to the room where all the women are. Sure it is. I’m just glad I’m the only man allowed in the space, able to see the bride before the wedding since I’m the one giving her away.

  Just as I expected, the whole floor is a madhouse. Half-dressed women in hair rollers run past me into various bedrooms. I avert my eyes like a gentleman, even going so far as to slap my hand over them.

  “Ah, could someone tell me where I can find Claire?” I ask blindly.

  “Come on.” I recognize Hailey’s voice when she grabs my arm and leads me forward. Knowing it’s her, I sneak a peek between my fingers but unfortunately, she’s fully clothed in jeans and a tee. The clothes are an odd contradiction to her heavy makeup that accentuates her bright blue eyes and the blonde, fancy spiral curls that trail down her shoulders and back.

  “You look beautiful,” I tell her. “But you’re even more gorgeous asleep on my chest, your hair fanned out, wild and messy, with an unconscious smile lifting your perfect lips.”

  A chorus of feminine “Awws” alert me to the fact
that my words weren’t as private as I thought they were. It doesn’t matter since they all know about Hailey and me.

  “Oh, Mason, why aren’t there more men as sweet and sexy as you?” Kylie asks with a smile as she does something to my sister’s hair. Apparently, her boyfriend was a no show this week.

  “Because there aren’t many men as lucky as I am to have sisters that taught me everything I know,” I say with a wink to Claire’s reflection in the mirror. “Happy wedding day, sis. I wish Mom and Mandy could be here with you, but I guess you’re stuck with just me.”

  Another round of “Awws” and then my sister is out of her seat and hugging me tightly. “Don’t make me cry. I just finished my makeup,” she says with a sniffle.

  “Sorry, you look great by the way,” I tell her and blink away my own moisture, feeling their absence even more today than I have since each of their funerals. “So you got my monkey suit or what?”

  “Yes, and you ladies better hold on to your panties when you see how good my little brother looks in his suit,” she teases before walking to the closet and pulling out the big, black garment bag. Handing it to me she says, “Don’t forget that after the chaplain asks if you give me away that you’re supposed to stand behind Senn to even things up. At the end, Linc and I will go down the aisle, then Senn will walk Kylie down and you’ll escort Hailey. Got it?” She gives me a knowing smirk.

  “Got it. Walk down the aisle, wish Linc good luck because he’ll have his hands full with you, stand behind Senn, and then walk Hailey down the aisle. I think I can remember all that.”

  “Good. Now go get dressed. The procession starts in half an hour if everyone is here and ready, but we go last, of course.”

  “Everything will be perfect,” I assure her. “Oh, and your future husband said to tell you he loves you and can’t wait to make you his wife.”