I didn’t think you were that kind of girl.” She growled, looking back over her shoulder with absolutely zero humor on her face. Mason winked at her. Getting under her skin was so easy.
Harley became quiet as they approached a closed door. Her hand hovered over the knob
as she nibbled at her bottom lip. “Don’t worry, little beast. I know what girls’ rooms are like.”
He wiggled his brows at her, leaning his shoulder against the wall next to the doorframe.
“Nice,” she laughed harshly, but her shoulders finally relaxed. The tension in the
air ceased. Operation teasing was a success.
She switched on the light in her room, and Mason immediately gaped like an idiot at the
site. It was beyond impeccable and what his mother would probably have called decadent.
Brightly lit strands of lights were strung from wall to wall, intermingled with those stick on stars that glowed in the dark. Pictures were everywhere too. Mostly night sky themed ones with
portraits of her friends and families intermingled.
He walked further in and set the pizza box on her bed, kicking off his shoes as he studied
the rest of the room. It was decent sized and filled with nothing but white, wooden furniture. A huge canopy hung over her bed, white gauzy stuff laid over each of the four posts. Like he’d been in there a million times before, Mason plopped down on top of her pillows at the top of her bed, throwing his hands behind his head as he stared over at her wide eyes.
“Yeah, okay. Just make yourself at home then…” she half grinned, her hands twisting in
the front pocket of her sweatshirt. Yeah, she was still nervous. Maybe Mason was the first boy she’d ever had in there.
He shook his head. He didn’t need to be wondering about other who might have been in
there before him. He had no claim over her.
“Will do,” he licked his lips and winked, staring up at her with what he knew was his
predatory eyes. His gaze was unwavering, solid; she shivered only to turn towards her dresser, organizing things that were already organized it seemed. Yep, she was definitely affected by him.
“So, umm, thanks, Mason, for bringing all this stuff, by the way.” Seemingly shy, Harley
sat down on the bed beside him. One of her trembling hands tucked a lose curl behind her right ear. Her long, sinful looking eyelashes brushed against her cheek. An obviously unintentional flirty smile was on her full lips. Mason was so mesmerized by the site that he could hardly control his words as they spilled from his mouth.
“What happened to your brother, Harley? I mean, what happened to his uh … leg?”
Immediately he squeezed his eyes shut, realizing too late the stupidity of his question. He sat up with a start. “Wait,” he put a hand up in front of his face. “I’m sorry, little beast. You don’t have to answer that; I don’t mean to be an ass.” Her replying smile was tense, and she fiddled with the strings on her hoodie.
“No, it’s okay actually, I figured you’d ask. I just wasn’t prepared to give you an answer
right now.” She blew out a breath. Her hands shook as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Fourteen months ago my brother was in an accident on his way to pick my drunk-ass up from an out of town party,” her voice shook. Mason had a weak moment, almost reaching out for her hand, but she stopped him unknowingly by curling her knees up under her chin. “He went a different direction to pick me up though, one he wasn’t used to. I guess he was trying to get to me quicker because I was kind of hysterical about something.” She looked down at her feet, and swallowed heavily, the movement drew his eyes to her long neck.
Dude, focus here!
He shook his head, determined to stay as undistracted as possible. Harley was spilling her
guts, and he owed her a little attention for everything he’d done and said to her this week. He was also dying to hear her secrets … all of them.
“Anyways, he was driving along on this deserted gravel road outside of town. It was
surrounded by trees on both sides, and quite a ways off the main highway too. He doesn’t
remember much else about what happened that night, except for the fact that he was looking
down at a text message that I had sent him right before he lost control of the car,” she cleared her throat, but her eyes were surprisingly dry. “He flipped the thing, several times actually, before a tree stopped him. The car was smashed … completely, and his right leg got pinned beneath the wheel just above his kneecap. It snapped the bone in half.”
She shook her head and looked off towards the door. Her eyes were finally damp. Mason
again struggled to stay quiet, biting the insides of his cheeks as he listened to her voice quiver as she spoke.
“His leg, it was … I don’t know, unfixable, I guess you could say. He was dying, losing
lots of blood too, so when the EMT and fire department finally discovered he was there, they had to, um, cut it off. They smelled gas and were worried about the car exploding. The Jaws of Life machine was apparently out of commission, if you can believe that one...”
Mason gaped at her profile. Holy hell. She turned to him as she wiped her cheeks. “He’s, um, been one legged ever since.” Without any further self-control, Mason leaned over and
twirled one of her dangling curls around his fingertip. Harley’s eyes widened at the motion, but she didn’t move.
“Jesus, little beast, I’m so sorry.” The back of his hand fell against her cheek, taking in the warmth. as he offered her his own version of comfort at the same time. Her eyes closed, an almost inaudible sigh blew out of her lips.
These were not friend actions by any means, but hell, the need to touch and comfort this
girl was overtaking every intelligible thought he had inside of his head. He just couldn’t help himself. “Can you tell me more?”
She turned her body towards his, only to reach over the length of the bed to grab a slice
of pizza. Mason sighed as his hand fell into his lap, still tingling from the warmth of her cheek.
He shook it off and mirrored her actions, grabbing a slice before leaning back against the head of the bed again. She eyed his position against her pillows, and a tiny laugh escaped her gorgeous mouth. He’d never been so happy to hear it.
“Well, there’s not a lot else to say,” she countered, her voice wasn’t quite as assured as it was before, “…other than the fact that David wasn’t even supposed to go to that party in the first place. He had an away football game the next morning, so he stayed home to rest. I, on the other hand, couldn’t miss out on it, so I wound up going and lying to my parents about it. They would never have approved, especially since the more ‘responsible’ twin wasn’t going to be there.” She scoffed, biting into pizza. “The only reason David got out that night was so my dumb ass
wouldn’t get in trouble.”
She averted her eyes, but Mason wasn’t done with her. He knew when someone needed a
push. Maybe he was being an ass for being the pusher, or maybe he’d be her savior in the end. A push was necessary. “And I suppose you blame yourself, huh?” She snapped her head up, and
her eyes glowered with irritation. Still, she was silent, wordless. Mason had this girl tagged, and he wasn’t about to ease up on her. “You have no reason to feel guilty, Harley. Accidents like that happen all the time.”
Yeah, you know all about accidents, huh?
He looked down at his pizza slice, hating the evil thought that had surfaced. He was now
a hypocrite apparently.
“It was my fault Mason,” her voice was harsh and angered. “I’d been drinking that night and things just…” She let out an “ugh,” slapping her hand against her leg, “…got out of hand, and if I would never had gone, then none of this would have happened. I screwed up. I always screw up! Now because of my idiotic, emotional behavior, Mason has to be legless for the
rest of his damn life.”
She fell back against the bed, throwing her pizza back into the box. Mason frowned and
lied back next to her, turning onto his side. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, little beast. I’m sure he doesn’t blame you.
“Sure, Mason, whatever. Like you’d know how it felt anyway.” Yeah, right, if only she
knew.
“Okay, well, tell me this then. Why doesn’t your brother have one of those prosthetic
legs?”
She huffed and crossed her arms, dipping her chin into her chest. “David likes his pity
parties too much, and he refuses to get fitted for one. He tells us that he prefers the wheel chair over walking. I’ve tried like hell to get him motivated and out of that damn thing, but he just goes to therapy and refuses to do anything other than work out his upper body.”
She rolled onto her side; her face was only inches from his. He gazed down at her lips
and then her eyes, damn he loved her eyes. His body responded accordingly to her nearness, and he gripped his pant leg so he wouldn’t touch her. He held in his breath as their eyes locked …
held … burned with the intensity of a fire.
Dammit, this wasn’t the time to think guy thoughts.
Two seconds, one seconds … she rolled away and ended the moment, much to his
disappointment. His heart palpitated, and his head was spinning. What was she doing to him?
“I’m so worried about him, but there’s only so much a person can say or do. It’s his
choice, not mine.” She brought her thumb up to her mouth and bit the nail. Agitation was written clearly across her face. Guess he’d been pushy enough for one night, but forgetting something this important wasn’t going to be easy.
Harley must have felt the same way, and he watched as she moved off the bed, only to
stand near the dresser. She reached out and grabbed the DVD case Mason had brought, holding it up with humor bright in her gaze. “Alright then, now tell me, what in the hell kind of movie is this?” He grinned and leaned up on his elbows.
“The Great Outdoors was a classic! Don’t tell me you don’t know who John Candy was.”
She shrugged and shook her head, sticking the DVD into the player. “Wow, you’re deprived,
little beast! Where is the justice in this world?” He pressed a hand against his heart, and she rolled her eyes. It was counteractive against the smile that appeared on her lips.
“Fine, whatever; just as long as it’s not a rom-com…”
“Don’t worry. There is absolutely zero romance in that movie.”
“Good,” she smirked, sitting back down next to him. “Like I said, I don’t do romances
anymore.” Mason scratched his head, and squinted both of his eyes together. How could a
seventeen year old girl not like romantic movies?
She moved back against the head board, her shoulder almost pressed against his. He
turned his head to the side. Her entire body went rigid. “I don’t bite, little beast. Nor do I have cooties or any other childhood boy disease you think I might have.” A battle raged in her eyes as she looked over at him. He smirked, patting the spot next to him.
She sighed, but his influence apparently won her over because two seconds later, she was
grabbing the silver plush blanket off the foot of her bed to separate them. For the love of all things holy, she had some issues if she thought a blanket would keep her safe from him.
Who would keep him safe though? Two hours spent snuggled close to her warm body on
a bed was sure to be hellish torture!
Chapter Eight
Oh, Mason Daniel, what kind of spell do you keep casting here?
Harley was majorly at war within her own body. She couldn’t keep still. Every time she
moved, his all too consuming nearness would pull at her skin and drain her resistance away. She began to want things she couldn’t and didn’t need with him. There was something about this boy, this man … that she wanted to know, but was too scared to discover for fear that if she did then things would get messy, complicated. Friends, that’s all they could ever be. That’s all she’d let her heart feel.
They’d been silent while the movie was playing, but her internal battle was another thing.
All she could think about was his the way his chest moved when he laughed. All she could feel was the way his hand warm hand felt when it brushed slyly against hers.
She sighed, albeit fairly quietly, but it was enough of a movement that he turned to face
her anyways. A sudden devious grin decorated his mouth.
Stupid, sexy surfer boys!
“Are you okay, little beast? You kinda look a little bit, uh, sick…”
Sick, huh? He had no idea…
“I’m fine,” she snapped. Her chin went up, and if she had been a cat, her fur would have
been standing on end.
“Fine, huh? Hmm…” Harley held her breath and prayed to God that he didn’t push the
issue. She let out her raggedy sigh two seconds, relieved that he’d let it go, but all the more fascinated as she watched him bring that lucky silver spoon filled with chocolate ice cream to his mouth. It was the most uncomfortable, yet the most exhilarating night in all of her pathetic seventeen years of existence.
It was also quite amazing that she managed to fall asleep a short half hour later.
* * *
A hand, smooth and warm ran up and down her cheek. Harley wiggled; her body was on
fire as she pressed her cheek further into the touch. It was a shame she had to open her eyes because this dream was rocking her socks off. Pink, full, delicious tasting lips had been covering her neck and her ear. And hands, God were they big and strong, and the places they were going
… sheesh, no boy had ever gone there before.
With one eye squinted open, Harley found herself staring into two blue gems. Oh dear
God in heaven, was it not a dream after all?
“Crappity crap!” she darted backwards, only to feel his arm tighten around her, keeping
her firmly in place at his side. She blinked almost a million times as he as he continued to keep her pinned to his side. That sleepy, sexy smile threatened to undo her to the point of no return.
She rubbed a hand over her eyes pushing into her sockets with her palms. This had to
have been a dream, right? She couldn’t be snuggling in her bed with Mason at … she stared over at her clock. Oh crap, two in the morning? She tensed and tried to pull away again, but this time he yanked her so close, that she couldn’t breathe, and it wasn’t due to suffocation either.
“Don’t apologize, little beast,” he rasped, his thumb rubbed tantalizing circles over her
hip bones. She shivered, not caring anymore that the time was well beyond her curfew. “You
only drooled on me a little bit, and the snores were kinda cute.” He tapped the end of her nose with his knuckle, closing his eyes again as if he was completely okay with being here in her room, in this position, so late. If her parents walked in … she’d be screwed.
“I don’t want to go, little beast. Your bed is so warm, so soft,” he groaned, tightening his leg around hers. Harley swallowed, her throat was like sandpaper. Every nerve ending connected to her skin was on fire. This wasn’t happening.
Mason stretched one of his arms high above his head, lifting the hem of his tee just
enough to reveal some to-die-for ridges underneath that very lucky shirt of his. This time, she gulped, and it was loud.
Her mouth definitely wasn’t dry anymore.
“Don’t …” he whispered almost aggressively. “…think, Harley. Just feel,” he pulled her
so close, that nothing but their clothes separated their skin. When in the hell did this happen?
And why in the hell did she like it? She should be embarrassed … no, scratch that. She should be mortified t
hat she was practically pressed underneath him, but as her breathing turned rapid and she got sucked deeper into that come hither smile of his, she had no choice but to drop every single inhibition she had. She was in way too deep to dig her way out.
“You should go…” she whispered back, not meaning the words one bit. All thoughts of
parents and the consequences of getting caught were gone by the wayside as he watched her
mouth and felt his fingers dig into her side, hard.
“Shit, Harley …” he moaned, lifting his hand to cup her now too heated cheek. Her
stomach churned; her lips parted without a fight. As he leaned in, she knew she couldn’t fight the pull towards him anymore, but she had to at least try. This was wrong, but also so, so right. Man, she was a screwed … times ten.
“Mason…” his name was a plea on her lips, but also lost in a whimper as he
brought his mouth onto hers.
Hell, he didn’t kiss her right away, just lingered there … teasingly, his cinnamon flavored breath washed over her. The line they’d been teetering on for days was finally crossed, and there would be absolutely no going back.
She shivered from head to toe, her body responding to him without her heads approval.
The pressure of his mouth on hers was perfect, too darn near perfect. He pushed his lips against hers at a painstakingly slow rate. Harley didn’t fight it though. She wanted to be lying under him, feeling his heart beat rival against her own as their hands became familiar with one another.
Mason’s mouth opened slightly, finally, practically begging for more than just their chaste kisses. Harley was suddenly down for it all, so she obliged, giving and taking at the same time.
The intenseness between them increased with every kiss, every slow movement of his
hand as it crept higher up her thigh. Her earlier dream was apparently becoming her new reality.
Slowly, annoyingly slowly actually, Mason lifted the hem of Harley’s shirt, drawing lazy,
sensual circles around her belly button, turning her into a giant puddle of molten lava. She gasped but was silenced as his skilled fingers inched higher, touching her in places that she had almost forgot she had. Those hands, so soft, so gentle, were now her most favorite part of his body.
When Its Least Expected Page 8