by Mandy Baxter
Her only coherent thought was: more.
More of his mouth on her. More of his skillful touch. More of his commanding control that gave her no choice but to offer herself up to him.
With each gentle stroke of his fingers, Charlie’s grip on the dresser tightened. Her muscles contracted to the point that she shook. Her breath came in quick pants. Every nerve ending in her body fired. She drowned in pleasure. How much more of this could she take before she broke apart?
As much as Mason wanted her to. He was in charge.
“I need to come.” It wasn’t a question of wanting anymore. She needed release like she needed food, water, air.
“Is that what you want, Charlie?” Mason’s voice slithered over her in a low growl. “For me to make you come?”
He wanted her to beg. And for the first time in her life, pleading for something seemed not only to be her best option, but absolutely vital to her survival. His finger slid up to circle her clit and Charlie cried out. “Yes. Please.”
She didn’t have to see Mason’s face to know he wore a smug, satisfied smile.
He pulled away. Bereft of his touch, Charlie’s chest hollowed out. She didn’t know she could miss something with such instant and resounding impact. When his hands found her hips, she wanted to cry out with relief.
Mason gripped the waistband of her thong and dragged it down her thighs. He went to his knees and Charlie’s body went taut with anticipation. He brushed his thumbs over her swollen lips and up the crease of her ass before burying his face between her thighs.
Charlie’s world spun out of control when his mouth covered her sex. He tongued her opening and a low whimper escaped her. The wet, silky glide of his mouth was heaven and hell all at once. A delicious torture that she couldn’t get enough of.
“Oh my God, Mason.”
His fingertips dug into the flesh at her hips. He held her still as he lapped at her pussy, slow, purposeful licks followed by deep, hungry sucks that made her cry out. He took her labia between his teeth and pulled gently away before releasing her from his mouth. Charlie had never experienced anything so intense. So damned visceral. So wild. His tongue explored every inch of her. He circled her clit before delving back into her pussy.
This moment had no comparison. Mason had no comparison. Tonight was a game changer. Who would have thought she’d have to take a walk on the opposite side of the law in order to get everything she’d ever wanted and more.
*
The first taste of her was heaven.
Being with Charlie wasn’t simply scratching an itch, as Mason had suspected it would be. Instead, touching her, tasting her, coaxing sweet mewling sounds from her, had struck him with a sense of intimacy that left him shaken.
Instead of getting her out of his system, Mason worried that Charlie had worked her way deeper. Into his bones, his blood, every cell. This was no longer about a simple infatuation. It was an obsession.
And he wanted more.
He wouldn’t be satisfied with simply a taste. Mason’s cock throbbed in time with his heart, so damned hard that it hurt. He wanted to bury himself deep inside of her. Relieve himself of the desperate want that pooled in his gut like molten metal. He wanted to fuck her hard and deep, make her scream his name before she came apart. And when they’d both found release, he wanted to start all over again and build them back to this place where nothing mattered but the two of them and what they felt.
By the time the sun rose, Mason wanted Charlie to be irrevocably his.
Her thighs trembled against his cheeks as he swirled his tongue over her tight, swollen clit. He could make her come like this. Feel every spasm against his tongue. God, he wanted to. Wanted that power over her. And not because it made him feel more like a man to have it. No, it was because Charlie had freely given it to him. Had entrusted him with her pleasure. To take care of her. She’d sacrificed her own power and given herself over to the moment. To the passion that swept them both up in its violent storm. Mason wanted her to come again and again. He wanted her so damned sated that it would ruin her for other men.
Selfish? Absolutely. But Mason had never claimed not to be.
Nothing mattered more to him than her pleasure. Mason lapped and sucked at her pussy, grazed the sensitive flesh with his teeth. Charlie’s cries grew more impassioned, her breaths heavy. She arched her back, pressed herself against his mouth. Her hips rolled with every thrust of his tongue.
“Don’t stop, Mason. I’m almost there.”
He wasn’t about to stop.
Charlie’s body went still and Mason increased the pressure of his tongue on her clit. She gasped, the sound accompanied by a low moan as the orgasm vibrated through her thighs. Her pussy contracted against Mason’s mouth and he continued to lap at her, drawing out her pleasure for as long as possible. The sound of her desperate moans echoed through the hotel room. It bounced around in Mason’s head, filling him with a sense of smug accomplishment that he could evoke that reaction in her.
Her cries grew silent and Charlie collapsed against the dresser. Mason kissed the backs of her thighs, the perfect globes of her ass. He stood and kissed his way up her spine, across to one shoulder and then the other. He kissed the back of her neck. Below her ear. Her temple. He could kiss her for hours.
“I’m Jell-O.” Charlie’s low laughter sent a shiver over Mason’s skin. “I’m going to have to be hauled out of here on a luggage cart tomorrow.”
“We’re just getting started.” Mason unfastened the clasp of her bra and guided the straps down her arms. “You have no idea what Jell-O feels like yet.”
She let out a contented sigh. “Are you saying it gets better?”
“I told you”—Mason smoothed her hair away and put his mouth to her neck once again—“I’m going to make sure that you never think of another man after tonight.”
“There are other men … ?” The low, sensual purr of Charlie’s voice was enough to renew the surge of lust that coursed through him. “I had no idea.”
He loved her dry wit. Mason was dead serious, though. When they left this room in the morning, there would be no doubt in Charlie’s—or Kieran’s—mind who the better man was.
Mason took Charlie’s hand. As she stood and turned to face him his breath stalled. Her cheeks were flushed with color, making her eyes seem so much bluer. The strawberry-blond locks of her hair framed her face in a wild tangle. Even her lips seemed redder. Fuller. Begging to be kissed again.
Charlie’s shoulders hunched as she brought her arms in front of her and her knees turned inward. Her gaze dropped low and to the right. Was she trying to hide her body? Good Lord, the thought of her hiding any part of herself was downright criminal.
“Let me see you.” Mason took her hands in his and guided her arms away from her body. She kept her eyes pointed at the floor. “Charlie. Look at me.”
Slowly, she brought her gaze to his. For the first time since he’d met her, her expression was unsure. Charlie Cahill, who took down crime syndicates and smugglers. Who whipped an entire staff of seasoned agents into submission with nothing more than a withering stare. Charlie, who walked into a den of Russian mobsters and owned the room as though they worked for her, not the other way around. This woman, who exuded so much confidence, could barely meet his eyes when he took in the glory of her naked body.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” Mason hoped his words conveyed the reverence he felt. “God, Charlie. You’re fucking perfect.”
She looked away. “I’m not.”
Mason guided her face back to his. “You are.” He kissed her slowly. “Your mouth is perfect.” He let his fingertips wander over her collarbone before they dipped to her upturned breasts. He took their weight in his hands and brushed the pads of his thumbs over the points of her nipples. “Your breasts are fucking amazing.” A corner of her mouth hitched into a seductive half smile. Jesus, she didn’t have a clue how enticing she was. His hands wandered lower, over the flare of her
hips to her ass. “This ass is a masterpiece,” he said. “I want to have it bronzed.”
“You do not.”
“The hell I don’t. I’d cast those fantastic cheeks and have it on my wall by tomorrow if you’d let me.”
Charlie’s answering laughter loosened the tightness in his chest. “That would be quite the conversation piece.”
“Priceless.”
A flush rose to her cheeks. How many men had told Charlie that she was beautiful? Sensual? Desirable? Mason would tell her every day for the rest of her life if she looked at him with the same heat that smoldered in her eyes right now.
She didn’t say another word. Instead, Charlie leaned in and kissed him. Mason’s lips parted as her tongue darted between his lips. He swallowed down her contented moan as she deepened the kiss. His arms went around her as her fingers dove into his hair. Her kisses were precise. Languorous. Slowly, they built into something more frenzied and urgent. The flames of their passion blazed white-hot once again and Charlie murmured against his mouth, “I want you.”
It was Mason’s turn to feel a pleasant rush from the compliment. “You can have me.” She could have any damned thing she wanted from him. All she had to do was ask.
Charlie pulled away. Mason resisted the urge to pull her back to him, to revel in the petal softness of her skin on his. She led him by the hand toward the bed and Mason followed. He was helpless to do anything but what she wanted. The realization shook Mason to his foundation. So far gone to Charlie, he’d trade his own goddamned high moral standards for a few minutes with her. He’d already run headlong toward a life he’d turned his back on for her. What else would he do before it was all said and done?
She stopped at the foot of the bed. Mason swallowed a groan as she pulled her full bottom lip between her teeth. Indecision marred her delicate features for a moment before she reached down and slid his boxers over his hips and down his thighs. Her eyes widened as her gaze raked him from head to toe. The admiration that flared there caused Mason’s cock to harden to stone. He kicked his boxers the rest of the way off and stood still for her appraisal.
She glanced up at him from beneath lowered lashes. So coy. And so goddamned sexy. “Talk about a masterpiece.”
A rush of pure lust shot through him. Tonight with her wouldn’t be enough, and he knew it. Mason wouldn’t be satisfied until all of Charlie’s nights belonged to him.
Every last one.
Chapter Seventeen
No one had ever made Charlie feel as though she burned from the inside out. And never had anyone helped her to feel so comfortable in her own skin. So confident in her sex appeal. Mason made her feel beautiful. Sensual. Wanted.
Bold.
With the same detailed attention he’d bestowed on her, Charlie kissed Mason’s neck, sucking gently before grazing him with her teeth. She kissed her way to the hollow of his throat, where her tongue dipped briefly before she went lower, across his collarbone, over the muscled hills of his pecs, down the firm ridges of his abs. Her hands wandered to his back and her fingers traveled the groove of his spine cut into the muscles there. Charlie’s gaze settled at the V at the juncture of his hips and thighs. She ran the flat of her tongue along one deep slash, and Mason’s body went taut. A satisfied smile curled her lips as she repeated the action on the other side.
He groaned.
“You’re going to drive me crazy if you keep that up.”
“I owe you,” she murmured against his skin. Another lick. “Your tongue just did some pretty wonderful things to me.”
Charlie’s hands glided down the small of Mason’s back to cup his ass. She dug in with her nails. Mason grunted as he gave an involuntary thrust of his hips. Her hands moved lower as she went to her knees, her nails scraped the backs of his thighs before coming around to the front. She eased him backward and he settled at the foot of the bed.
In the courtroom, Charlie’s skills could never be called into question. In the bedroom … she wasn’t as sure. She wanted to give Mason what he’d given her only moments before—earth-shattering pleasure that left him out of breath and shaking. She wanted him to remember tonight for the rest of his life. Because Charlie already knew she’d never forget it.
Her eyes met Mason’s. She lost herself in the endless green depths. His nostrils flared and his jaw squared. He reached out and threaded his fingers through her hair. Charlie held her breath. Waited for his grip to tighten, to make her feel that sense of being possessed that caused a thrill to chase through her veins.
The freedom she felt at giving over her control was an aphrodisiac she hadn’t expected. Mason was a temptation she hadn’t anticipated. Nothing had gone according to plan since the day she’d stepped on that elevator and come face-to-face with his grim countenance. And still, she wouldn’t have it any other way. His fist wound tighter in her hair and her heart beat madly in her chest. Gently, he urged her where he wanted her to go and Charlie was more than willing to follow his lead.
She took the hard, silken length of him in her hand before flicking out with her tongue at the swollen head of his erection. Mason sucked in a sharp breath and groaned on the exhale. The muscles in his thighs bunched and flexed as he caged her between them. Charlie took him deeper into her mouth, just to the crown, and sucked gently. He’d teased her. Enticed her. Brought her to the point of begging. Could she do the same to him? Could she shatter his inhibitions as he’d done to her?
There was only one way to find out.
Mason leaned back on the mattress and braced himself with his free arm. Charlie came up higher on her knees and took him deeper into her mouth, sucking hard before pulling back and letting her teeth scrape over the sensitive tip. She dared a quick glance up at him from beneath lowered lashes and heat pooled in her belly when she found his attention focused on her. She kept her eyes on his. Flicked out with her tongue once again. Mason’s eyes widened and the muscles in his stomach twitched reflexively.
Winning her first case couldn’t rival what she felt right now, knowing that she evoked that intense reaction in him.
She continued to build that passionate response with light passes of her tongue, gentle suction before taking him deeper and hollowing her cheeks as she increased the pressure of her mouth. Charlie was sure to keep her pace slow and easy. Lazy. As though there was nowhere else she’d rather be than lounging between his thighs.
There was something decidedly illicit about the way his hips pumped with each dip of her head. The way his fist released and contracted as it gripped her hair and held her right where he wanted her. Low grunts and groans that quickened the blood in her veins and made her thighs slick with arousal.
Charlie’s fingers once again found the base of Mason’s cock. His free hand came to rest on top of hers and he urged her to take his girth in her fist and squeeze. “That’s it,” he said between panted breaths. “Don’t stop.” His hips bucked as she took him deeper into her mouth. “Just like that.” His words were nothing more than a low growl. He kept his other fist in her hair and thrust even deeper into her mouth.
The glide of him between her lips bordered on euphoric. His crisp scent and salty taste only added to her enjoyment of his body. It became a sensory experience. The sight, sound, taste of him drove her mad with want. She took him as deeply as she could. Swirled her tongue against his shaft as she sucked. She worked her mouth up and down his length, increasing her pace until Mason’s breath came in ragged pants that caused a swarm of butterflies to swirl in Charlie’s stomach. His muscles grew taut, his thighs began to quake. Anticipation coiled within her. She’d brought him to the edge of his control and she couldn’t wait for him to topple over.
Mason leaned forward. His hand abandoned her hair to cup the back of her neck as he held her still. Charlie tipped her head up to look at him. His brow was pinched as it came to rest against hers and his breath came in heavy pants that brushed her face. “I need to fuck you,” he said in a desperate whisper. “Now.”
Char
lie wasn’t about to argue. Her own desires had been rekindled and burned with the heat of an unchecked wildfire.
Mason pulled her up to her feet. His mouth descended on hers in a crushing kiss that left her breathless and wanting more. When he let go of her to cross the room, she wrapped her arms around her middle as though to hold in the heat of his body that he’d taken away. He retrieved his wallet from the bedside table, pulled out a shiny metallic packet and tucked it between his fingers. His gaze smoldered as he strode back to where Charlie stood, every step precisely placed. Mason Decker truly was a living, breathing work of art. She wanted to pinch herself. Just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.
“My dad always told me, never leave the house without two things: a condom and bail money.”
Charlie laughed. “Sort of a sordid combination, don’t you think?”
Mason’s gaze darkened, but a wry smile curved his full lips. “He wasn’t exactly good at the whole fatherly advice thing.”
Charlie’s heart ached for Mason. She could only imagine what his life had been like growing up. The things he’d seen. Taken part in. The choices he’d been forced to make. That he’d wound up the exact opposite of Kieran—of his own father—was a feat in itself. He hadn’t succumbed to the glitz and glamour of the criminal lifestyle Jensen had tried to sell to him. Instead, Mason had formed his own opinions and morals. He’d taken the high ground when his upbringing suggested otherwise. For that, Charlie had nothing but a deep admiration and respect.
There was so much more to Mason than anyone saw. She’d gotten a glimpse of it, though. It warmed her heart to think that he deemed her worthy. And it forged an intimacy between them she wasn’t sure she was prepared to feel.
Mason rounded the bed and came to a stop inches from her. He bent his head over hers and inhaled deeply. “God, you smell good.”