No one paid any attention to them. In fact several women on the dance floor appeared to be experiencing a similar ecstasy right in the midst of the throng.
When she glanced back at Mason, she found him smirking. “A perv?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never been called that before, I don’t think.”
“If the shoe fits…” She swatted at him and peered over his shoulder again to make sure no one was paying attention.
“Worried?”
She nodded. “It’s…weird. Do you always get women off on the dance floor?”
He sobered and righted her, setting her lifted leg back down and making a production of licking his fingers of her moisture, as usual. The flames that heated her cheeks burned down her chest and made her need to force her gaze to remain fixed on Mason.
When Mason finished the slow-motion video of him sucking her juices, he grasped her face with both hands and held her head steady, staring directly into her eyes. “I’ve never danced with a woman here. And I’ve certainly never made anyone come in this room.”
Jenna swallowed. “Oh.”
Mason released her and took her hand again to lead her back toward the bar area. Holding her behind him, he leaned across the bar and requested another water. This time he twisted off the top and handed it to her first. The gesture could have meant nothing, and perhaps he had no idea how every move he made endeared her to him, but the way he cared for her, seeing to her needs before his own, always watching intently for her responses, made her heart leap in her chest.
Jenna drank half the bottle, not realizing how thirsty she was, before she handed it off to Mason.
“You want to go?” he asked.
“Whatever you want…Sir.” She smiled.
“Oh, you’re going to test me every day, aren’t you?”
“Probably.”
He hugged her tight and then headed for the exit. He mumbled in her ear as he aimed her toward the doorman. “I want to fuck you so bad, I can’t stand it. And I don’t feel like sharing you with the entire world. Come home with me?”
Jenna shivered. All she managed was a nod. She’d come, hard, but her pussy leaped to attention, and she wanted nothing more than to have his cock inside her. It would be a miracle if they made it back to his place.
Chapter Fifteen
On the ride back to Mason’s house, he kept his hand on Jenna’s thigh the entire trip. He needed contact with her, and he knew he probably held her too tightly, but he couldn’t help it. And if he loosened his grip and allowed himself to stroke her soft skin instead, he would end up swerving off the road.
He didn’t remember much of the drive, but somehow they pulled into his garage, and he was out of the car and around the hood in seconds. Jenna’s grin told him she knew what he was thinking and didn’t fault him for his haste.
He ushered her into the kitchen through the entrance from the garage. As soon as the door shut, Mason turned to her and pressed her against the door.
“You have a thing for kitchens,” she muttered.
Mason smirked, and then he took her lips in a deep kiss, grasping her head and tilting it to one side until he had her where he wanted her. When he finally pulled back an inch for air, her face was flushed, and she had her fingers threaded into the loops of his black jeans. “I have a thing for you. Plus, you said it yourself, I can be a bit of a perv.” He glanced down. “Have I mentioned how much I love this dress?”
“You might have.” She pasted a coy expression on her face and bucked her torso into his erection.
The leather section that barely covered her breasts did nothing to hide her nipples as they poked into the material. He lowered his hands to cup and mold both breasts at once, lifting them in his palms and squeezing until she moaned. God, he loved that sound.
Not wanting to waste another minute, he reached for the hem of her dress, fisted the skirt in his hands, and pulled it over her head, forcing her fingers to release him and rise high above her head. “As sexy as you are in that dress, I’ve been wanting to remove it ever since you put it on.”
Jenna swallowed. “Again I’m naked, and you’re decidedly not.” She nodded at his waist, her gaze landing on the bulge in the front of his jeans. Her fingers shook as she reached for the button on his jeans.
She fumbled for several moments but finally freed him, lowering the zipper until his cock sprung out. She wrapped her tiny fingers around his length and squeezed gently.
Mason closed his eyes and tipped his head back, luxuriating in her touch. Already he loved the way it felt to have her hands on him. His body craved her smooth fingers, the way they danced across his skin. Rarely had he ever let a woman touch him directly in the past.
Jenna was opening his world to a whole new dimension.
Not bothering with the buttons on his shirt, he pulled it over his head and tossed it aside. He kicked off his shoes and shimmied his jeans the rest of the way down his legs to step out of them. When he was as naked as Jenna, he wrapped his hand around hers on his shaft and squeezed against the sensation. “You have to release me, or I’m going to come in your hand.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“It’s not my first choice right now.” He wrenched her fingers off him and lifted her hand over her head. After joining that hand with the other, he held them both in one of his and roamed his free hand down her body, touching her everywhere.
The tiny noises that escaped her lips made him harder. She squirmed as he stroked her breasts, her nipples, her belly. When he reached between her legs, nudging them wider with his knee, he found her wet and ready for him.
Suddenly he wanted more with her. Instead of taking her against the door or the counter, he wanted something…real. His instinct to dominate her still drove him, but this time he wanted her to know how he felt about her.
Mason released her hands, lifted her by the waist, and carried her down the hall as she wrapped her legs around him. She didn’t speak as she settled her forehead against his.
When they reached the bedroom, Mason wasted no time strutting across to the bed and depositing her in the center, coming down on top of her with her legs encircling him. His cock nudged her entrance, and he held his breath as he reached for a condom on the bedside table. He wiggled free of her legs only long enough to roll the latex down his length, and then he was inside her.
God she was beautiful. Her legs fell open wider as her head tipped back, elongating her neck. Her mouth hung open on a soft moan, and she gripped his biceps with both hands as though he might escape if she did otherwise.
Mason pursed his lips and held himself deep inside her, not wanting to move and ruin the moment by coming too soon. He’d been so close for so long, he didn’t think he could last more than a few strokes. He’d needed her since she’d first slid the damn dress over her head, and his need had increased as he’d guided her through the club, listening to her subtle noises as she took in the entire scene. Her naïveté only made him want her more.
When she lowered her face to his, her eyes were half-mast, her cheeks a deep pink. “Move.”
He couldn’t deny her that. Releasing a slow breath, he set his hands on both sides of her face and held her gaze while he made love to her with more passion than he’d ever felt. Each stroke reached into his soul. God, he was lost to this woman.
As soon as Jenna set her face in the telltale sign she was going to come, he went over the edge right alongside her. He never wanted it to end, and he didn’t move from on top of her until she squirmed. “You’re gonna squish me to death.”
Reluctantly he pulled out, deposited the condom in a tissue, and curled up beside Jenna, unwilling to break contact with her. She melted into him as he tugged her back against his front and settled his face against her hair.
He didn’t utter a word. He couldn’t. If he did, he was afraid he might say something that would scare her off…
»»•««
The bell rang over the door to Jenna’s
shop on Friday, and she lifted her face to find Mason strolling into Ribbons and Bows at lunch time. She grinned from ear to ear. She did that a lot lately. The man had some sort of power over her. He called or came by every day. Three times he’d sent flowers, which made her chuckle since they were from her own store.
“Lunch,” he called as he sauntered into the shop, filling the entire space. She swore she could smell his personal musk over the roses she was arranging in front of her.
“Thank God. I’m starving.” She was alone in the store right then, but she could duck into the back room and stuff her face. If a customer came in, it would be easy enough to pop out front and greet them.
The sandwiches Mason unpacked from his brown paper bag were from her favorite sub shop, and she greedily grabbed one before he could open the chips.
He chuckled. “Didn’t you eat breakfast?” He unwrapped his own sub and stared at her, in no hurry to consume the soft bread and thick slices of ham and turkey.
“Hours ago,” she mumbled around a bite. “I got here early, and it’s been a busy morning.” She shoveled food into her mouth as she spoke. “Besides, this is delicious.”
Mason handed her a lemonade, and she moaned around the next bite.
“Now you’re trying to torture me.” He stepped around the counter, took the sandwich from her hand, and kissed her soundly on the lips. “If you want me to let you finish, don’t make any noises.” He stepped back, but left her heart beating rapidly in his wake.
He always packed a punch. Every day was the same. Her reaction to him didn’t lighten.
When they finished eating, Mason surrounded her against the counter again and kissed her senseless. When his hands roamed up her body, she forgot where she was.
A bell chimed in the background, and she jerked upright, wiggling under Mason’s arm and trying to compose herself before she walked out front. “Customer,” she muttered when he tried to tug her back into his embrace.
“They’ll wait a second.” He kissed her neck and nibbled a path to her ear until she giggled.
“Jenna?” a shrill voice pierced the back room from out front.
Fuck.
Jenna lurched free. Her eyes shot wide. “Damn,” she mumbled. “Shit and damn.”
“What?” Mason mouthed. He grasped her face and gazed into her eyes.
“My mother.” She moaned and rolled her eyes. “Wait here.” She glanced down at her clothes. Was she disheveled?
Feeling only about half composed, Jenna stepped out front and took two strides to the counter next to the register. “Mother.” She tried to smile, but it was tough on a good day to make pleasantries with her mother. Today she had no tolerance for the woman at all.
“What were you doing back there? I could have robbed you blind while you left me hanging.” Her mother stood tall in her high heels. She kept her hands folded in front of her as she glanced around the room, scrutinizing every detail. She clearly avoided touching anything as though the plague were housed in Ribbons and Bows.
Ignoring her mother’s insults, Jenna asked a question of her own. “What are you doing here, Mother? I’m working.”
“That is no way to speak to your mother, young lady. I came to make sure you were coming for dinner Sunday. You haven’t been in a long time. You need to rejoin the family.” Her words were filled with double meaning. When the woman said “rejoin the family,” what she really meant was for Jenna to give up her dreams and come back into the fold like the prodigal child.
“Jenna.” The voice behind her made her cringe. The last thing she wanted to do was share Mason with her mother. If that wasn’t bad enough, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his side. “Who is this? Did I hear you say this was your mother?”
She glanced at him, trying to give him a look that said “Stop while you’re ahead” with her eyes, but he was staring at her mother and smiling broadly.
If Jenna could have captured the look on her mother’s face on camera when Jenna jolted her neck back to look at the stunned woman, she’d have had a priceless memory. Instead, she watched her mother swallow her shock before a smile spread across her face. Finding some composure, she recovered herself. “I am. And who are you?”
“Mason Simmons.” He reached forward with the hand not wrapped around Jenna and waited.
Miraculously, although Jenna knew Mason was undoubtedly not the sort of man her mother would normally give the time of day, she opted for polite and took his offered hand. “Joann Mathews. Jenna hasn’t mentioned you.”
“Well, that makes two of us then, ma’am,” he said in his most polite voice. “But to be honest, we’ve only been dating a few weeks.”
Jenna cringed. Her mother was going to have a field day with this.
“Is that so?” She turned her steely gaze on Jenna. “I expect you at dinner this Sunday. Six sharp. Don’t be late.”
“Mother, I’m not coming to dinner. I have too much to do. If you might have noticed, I work for a living.” Jenna spread her arms to encompass the room as if the obvious might jump out and bite her mother this time. She tried to dislodge Mason’s grip on her waist in the process but to no avail.
Mason turned his face toward Jenna’s and raised an eyebrow. “Sunday? You aren’t open on Sunday. Surely you can squeeze in dinner with the family?”
Jenna’s face burned. She wanted to kick him. Couldn’t he tell she had no desire to do a damn thing with her family?
Her mother humphed. “You should listen to him, dear. After all, we’re family.” She turned toward Mason. “Why don’t you come too? I’m sure her father and sister would love to meet you.”
Jenna almost swallowed her tongue. The only thing worse than dinner with her family would be dinner with her family and Mason. No. Fucking. Way.
“Excellent, ma’am. We’ll be there.” Mason squeezed Jenna’s waist, and before she could close her mouth and form words of protest, her mother lifted her chin, spun on her heels, and stomped out of the shop.
After the echoing ring of the door chime stopped, Jenna ducked her head and tried to catch her breath. She’d been bamboozled, and she hated it.
“What was that all about?” Mason asked. He tried to pull her into his embrace, but she squirmed away from him and stepped back.
“You have no idea what you committed us to.” She ran a hand through her hair and paced the room.
“What? She’s your mother. Why wouldn’t you want to have dinner with your family?”
“That woman is nobody’s mother.” Jenna stopped dragging her feet and faced Mason from the other side of the counter. “Sure, she gave birth to me, but she’s never been much of a mother. She’s a manipulating, conniving bitch, and the only thing she cares about is appearances. It drives her fucking crazy that I left the family fold to open my own shop and do something on my own. All she’s done since day one is moan about her reputation and humor me until I quote ‘See the light.’” Jenna lifted her hands to make air quotes as she finished.
Mason stared at her, his mouth hanging open.
She lowered her voice. “My family is pretentious and condescending. I don’t care to live my life that way. That’s why I’m trying to make something of myself and disassociate from them.”
“What about your father?”
Jenna laughed. “Oh he’s a real gem. He’s the most subdued man you will ever meet. He lives in my mother’s matriarchy and lets her run his life. She probably picks out his underwear. And all the while, he’s perfectly capable of making it clear he’s disappointed he never had a son.”
“How is that possible?”
“Oh, you’ll see. Since you insisted on us attending Sunday dinner, you’ll have your hands full of their pretentious shit within five minutes.”
Mason frowned.
“You can’t possibly understand what it’s like to have that woman for a mother.”
Mason straightened his shoulders and stood taller. He curled his hands into fists as his face turned pink. “
No, you’re right. I couldn’t. Because my mother died when I was a toddler. I can’t remember her face.” His voice rose. “I’d give anything in the world to have her back, even if she was a raving bitch.” He turned and stepped into the back room.
Jenna swallowed the lump in her throat and stared at the door he’d come through. Shit. It took several large gasps of air before she could follow him. When she entered the back, she found him packing up their lunch mess and tossing it in the trash. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay,” he mumbled. “I didn’t mean to yell.” He paused and turned toward her. “I’ve spent my entire life wishing I had other people’s mothers and wondering if mine would have been like one or another. I’m sorry you don’t get along well with yours, but I hate to see anyone letting family slip through their hands. Life is too short.”
Jenna nodded. She felt like a heel. If only he knew. As far as she was concerned, there was something worse than a mother who passed away years ago. “I’m sorry to cause such bad memories.” She’d take him to Sunday dinner and let him see for himself.
“It’s not your fault. I never mentioned my mother to you any more than you mentioned yours to me.”
“You want to go to my parents’ home then?” She tried not to make a disgusted face as she spoke.
Mason nodded.
Jenna exhaled, deflated. It would be nice to see her sister again. Maybe she’d changed since the last time they’d seen each other. Hell, maybe Jean needed to get out of the house too. She was old enough now. They’d never been close, but people changed. Right? Could her parents change? “Okay. I’ll go, but only because you’ll be with me. It’s like a lion’s den there. But it might be nice to see my sister Jean.”
“Good.” He smiled. “I’ll be right there. It can’t possibly be that bad.”
Oh, how she hoped he would be right.
The last thing she wanted was for Mason to know who her family really was. She’d been doing so well for so long. It had been easy to keep her identity a secret from the world. There were plenty of people with the surname Mathews. There was no hope now. In two days’ time the cat would be out of the bag, and Mason could pass his own judgment about her family. All she could do was hope he didn’t decide he couldn’t handle the notoriety dating her would bring. Hell, what she really hoped was he wouldn’t drop her ass as soon as the going got tough.
The Fight Club - Boxed Set Page 36