Harley was almost over that scary edge, drifting into the place where she’d forbade her
body to go a long time ago. Screw it, this was only for one night, and she needed it, earned it even. She yanked at his long hair, needing to feel his pulsating limbs pressed over hers. She must have hit some sort of button with him too because a low, indescribable growl rumbled through his chest.
Yes, please…
Then he was over her completely, pressed into her, kissing her. She couldn’t get enough.
He pushed, she pulled. She moaned, he growled. And just as he maneuvered his body where she truly wanted him to be, a soft knock and an accompanying whisper, sounded outside her
bedroom door.
“Harley?”
She tried not to stiffen, pretending as if there was nobody there. She pulled Mason tighter to her, willing the voice to go away. Mason obviously didn’t hear it. He was apparently too lost in the moment. His hands slid up and down her outer thighs again. She plunged her fingers into his back, needing him to never let go.
Harley was a furnace, hot, boiling, and Mason was the thermostat, finding ways to turn
the temperature up on her over and over again. Mason Daniel was by no means inexperienced.
This should have bothered her, made her want to push him away, but she didn’t, she couldn’t.
She wanted to be his student, and she wanted him to teach her all that he knew.
“Damn it, Harley, I know you’re in there, and I know you are not alone too. So open this
God damn door before I break it down!” David’s voice shook. Mason pulled back and stared
down at her. Longing and heat were there in his eyes. Damn her brother had some crappy timing.
He rolled off of her and onto his back, and she wanted to cry out in disappointment. Her
breathing was out of control, she was suffocating, and then he leaned over her once more,
placing one last lingering kiss upon the corner of her mouth. The entire room moved, or maybe it was just her head. Then he was gone, jumping off the bed and gathering his stuff with that shit eating grin crossed over his lips. How was he not as affected as she was?
She palmed her face. What in the hell had she been thinking? This boy was a player, the
epitome of a player, and suddenly, Harley wasn’t so needy anymore. Instead, she was pissed, and he would definitely feel her wrath. “Get out of my room, Mason Daniel,” she sat up quickly, pulling her sweatshirt down and rearranging her well-loved hair. She balled her hands into her lap, “Right now.”
His eyes and lips widened. He had the balls to look upset at her? Oh, hell to the double
no. She was so not falling for his playboy antics again. He could find himself another toy to play with!
“What,” he grinned finally, obviously overcoming his temporary sadness. She heard the
humor in his voice, and she swallowed the sudden blurry tears that built in her eyes. “You can’t handle some fun, little beast? Because you know … I’ve got plenty more tricks where that came from, trust me.” Damn … this had been a bad mistake.
Screw the crazy, mad, needy lunatic that had taken up shop in her head earlier. She had a
new emotion coming to town … hatred. She jumped off the bed as Mason lifted a leg out of the window. He looked back at her; their eyes locked together before he completely disappeared out the window. “Goodnight then, little beast and you are more than welcome by the way.” He
winked, and without an inkling of control left in her body, Harley whipped the half eaten gallon of melted chocolate ice cream at his head. Of course she missed, and the crap dripped
everywhere, leaving a drippy, sticky mess all over her bed and floor.
“Son of a…”
“You missed…” he snickered from the other side of the window.
Stupid, arrogant, jerk face!
But somewhere along the line, Mason had managed to steal a tiny piece of Harley’s heart
and taken it with him through that stupid window. She wanted to beg him, plead with him even, to give it back to her, because he was well on his way to breaking her heart if he didn’t.
Chapter Nine
It had been almost a week since Mason had snuck out of Harley’s window, and he still
felt like an ass about it. To his credit though, she hadn’t brought up that night or what had happened between them either. Nor did she even try talking to him. He still didn’t know what came over him when he’d kissed her, touched her, but he also knew one thing was for sure … he couldn’t wait to do it again.
Possibly even do it a lot.
Who knew that the muddy eyed girls, with the snarky attitudes, could enchant him,
Mason Daniel, AKA the perpetual teenage bachelor and self-proclaimed ladies’ man?
Mason had been fighting his feelings for Harley since day one; there was no denying that
anymore. Then when he had awoken from falling asleep in in her bed with his arms wrapped
tight around her waist, he realized that the battle he had been waging was futile. He’d lost it. He had to have her. In all the ways he could get her.
Mason didn’t believe in romance or soul mates or any of that other happy ending shit
from books and movies. He was the epitome of the love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy, mainly leaving, never once loving. But Harley was the most perfect specimen of a girl as she slept so peacefully in his arms that night that he had to try her out … at least once.
Then he had to vamoose, because let’s face it, her brother was one scary guy, even one
legged and in a wheel chair. Mason liked his face. It didn’t need rearranging any time soon. But Harley’s hate-filled ‘get outta my room’ was not exactly what he had hoped to receive for a goodnight or a goodbye.
The absolute last thing Mason could concentrate on today was advanced chemistry,
especially when Harley was sitting so seemingly relaxed in front of him. The lingering scent of strawberries and chocolate filled the air, and it was just enough to drive him wild, insane with need for her. It had gotten so bad that he literally had to grip the edges of his desk, just to keep himself from smothering his nose into her neck.
He moved his hands to ring them together under his desk, and he leaned forward to
whisper in her ear, unable to fight the pull any longer. His breath was frantic as he struggled to stay in control. “Harley?” he cooed. She jumped, about a foot out of her chair. Tiny, familiar goose bumps appeared along the backside of her neck. Obviously her cool façade was just an act.
He smiled. His little beast still wanted him ... oh yeah.
“Are we going to talk about what happened?” Obviously the timing was off, but Mason
couldn’t keep it together any longer. He had to hear that sweet little voice of hers again. He’d missed it way more than he should have been allowed to.
“No, Mason, we’re not. Now stop … smelling me!” she spat with a deep, throaty bark.
He grinned harder. So they were back to that stage again?
“Yes we are, little beast, and we’re doing it … tonight after school. I’ll meet you in the
parking lot by your car.” Mason leaned back in his seat, a huge ass grin spread across his face.
She stiffened. This girl was so not getting away from him as easily as she probably would have liked to do.
The bell rang before she has a chance to respond, and Mason took off out the door, not
planning on giving her the liberty to say “screw you.” With an extra skip in his step, he made his way towards his locker, but something a few feet ahead of him caught his eye. He blinked,
making sure he wasn’t seeing things. Nope, that douchebag Toby was still there, towering over some girl in a secluded corner of the hall. His hands were everywhere on the girl’s body, and she squirmed under his hold. Shit, he was going to have to do something, and he’d been in such a good mood too. He slammed his loc
ker shut with a groan.
He narrowed his eyes, watching the wannabe player hit almost all the bases and then
some in period of two minutes. Why wasn’t anyone saying anything? The girl didn’t seem
completely defenseless at least, but Mason had a hero complex that wouldn’t cease. He didn’t like Toby, so that’s all it took for a decision to be made.
“Toby, my man, what’s up?” Mason slapped him across his upper back, probably a little
harder than necessary. Scratch that, it wasn’t hard enough, especially if he was still standing.
Toby turned and glared at him. The dude was creepy.
“What do you want, pretty boy?” Mason zeroed in on his victim, and the relief in her eyes was evident. She slipped away without looking back.
Good girl…
“I just wanted to see how you were, man. I’m guessing pretty good and all, seeing as
though your hands were pretty busy with that little blonde.” Mason fought an angry smile.
Nobody called him ‘pretty boy’. Nobody…
Mason leaned casually against a locker, arms crossed over his chest, chin held high. Toby
practically snarled in obvious irritation. Standing up to the prick probably meant war, but Mason was geared up for battle because he was so done with the bastard.
“Yeah, I was doing really well … until your punk ass came along. What the hell is your problem?” He poked Mason in the chest. The guy had a few inches on him, but Mason had
moves the dude couldn’t even imagine.
The adrenaline in his body began surged through his veins feeding him like a familiar
drug addiction that he didn’t even realize he’d missed.
Backing down was not an option anymore.
Mason moved forward without another thought, inhaling the stench of cigarettes and
nastiness that accompanied the freak. He almost reached into his pocket to grab a piece of gum, but smart ass Mason didn’t want to play.
Evil Mason did.
Mason cocked his head to the side, one side of his mouth lifted in a sadistic grin. “My
problem man … is you!” Mason paused and lifted a finger, playing a secret game of eeny-meeny-miny-mo as he tried to figure out which bone he was going to demolish on the guy’s face first. Toby must have read his signals because in the blink of an eye, he had Mason pinned up against a locker, an arm pressed across his neck.
Mason’s eyes clouded over with rage, “I’m gonna kick your ass so hard, you’ll never be able to feel it again.” Mason threatened him through gritted teeth while Toby pushed against his larynx harder and threw his head back in laughter. The guy had the balls to look over his
shoulder and glance at their gathering audience.
“Number one rule in a fight, Toby my man,” he growled, even though his breath was
limited. “Never look away from your opponent.”
Mason found his inner demon, and he pushed him out. The entire crowd around them
gasped like fools as Mason pushed Toby hard onto the floor. He smirked … the dude had been
warned him...
Toby grimaced, attempting to sit up, but the process was slow. Pussy … “Whatever, you freak. You’re too much of a pansy to lay a hand on–”
Everything turned to chaos, and Mason’s vision blackened. He had no time to think as his
body and mind split into two different directions. The sane and the insane. Fists connected with eyes, knees collided with guts. Mason made it known with his hands that he wasn’t to be messed with.
Toby grunted and curled over in a ball on the floor. “Get up! Fight, you wussy!” the crowd around them chanted.
“Fight-fight-fight!”
All Mason saw was red and the sweat that began to cloud over his eyes. He was going to
finish him, bury him so deep into the ground that he’d never again see the light of day. More adrenaline poured through Mason’s body as his foot kicked against hard ribs, or was that a head?
Shit, he didn’t know. He didn’t care. Not even a tiny pair of hands that struggled to pull him back could keep the rage away. All his anger, all his stress from the past seven months was unleashed on this surge of physical rage.
“Mason! Stop!” Feminine hands scratched at his shoulder. He shoved them away, but
they came back with vengeance. “Stop! Please, just stop!”
The intruder was next, female or not. He was in a zone, and nobody had the right to end it but him. “Please, Mase!” He stiffened. That voice … he knew that voice.
He spun on his heels, and immediately soft strawberry scented hands cupped his cheeks.
He inhaled and closed his eyes. The aroma pulled his hatred down a notch. “Mason, it’s me. It’s Harley…” With that one little H sound, Mason stopped breathing just long enough to focus on the light that appeared in front of him.
Beautiful brown eyed Harley. His savior, his angel was there, worry and fear etched
across her face. “Harley…” Mason half growled, half pleaded. She didn’t seem to notice his
inner turmoil, or if she did, then she didn’t seem to care. She was too busy brushing her
fingertips against his now most likely bruised eye. Her soothing “shh…” and “you’re okay” were enough to make him stop and realize what the hell he’d just done.
The rage had finally taken over.
Quickly, as if awakening from a nightmare, he spun around to check where his nemesis
was. He saw movement down the hall, and he followed it with his eyes. Numb-nut was limping
away from him, with the help of his buddies on either side of his slumping body. The crowd had diminished, leaving only him and Harley alone. He turned towards her again; the fear continued to assault her eyes. She bit down on her lip, but the move only emphasized her anxiety more.
She glanced around them, dropping one of her hands onto his shoulder while the other
reached for his hand, and like a bat out of hell, she started to pull him behind her down the hall.
Mason let her. He followed his light. They reached the exit that led to the parking lot. Harley took one last glance behind her before she pulled Mason towards her car.
The intenseness of the fight faded with the cool October breeze, but the adrenaline was
still there, pouring through his veins like a high stream faucet. It was going to take a whole lot of something to calm him down, and he wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to get into a car with her or not.
There was no telling what he’d say or do next.
She muttered under her breath as she opened the passenger side door. She coaxed him
inside with the gentle push of her hand against his arm. He stiffened, staring down at her
trembling fingers, and then back into her eyes. Dammit, he hated that she was scared, but then again, she should be afraid. He wasn’t a good guy.
Mason tersely sat in his seat, his knee bobbing up and down, his hands clenched against
his pant legs. What he could use was an afternoon on the waves, losing his body in swells that had saved him from acting like this many times before. Mason reached for the door handle,
groaning when he realized that the lock was in place.
The tender touch of Harley’s hand upon his leg was going to have to be enough of an
incentive to stop with the brooding … at least for a little while.
“Mason, what happened in there?” Her eyes rounded with fear as she stared over at him
in question. She chewed on the inside of her cheeks, seemingly determined not let her fear show.
It wasn’t working. He saw it all.
“It was nothing.” She frowned at him, removing her hand from his leg as if he’d stung
her. She pushed her hands together. Anger replaced worry, or was that disappointment he saw?
“Don’t be that way with me, Mason Daniel. I know what I saw, and it scared the shit out
ta me! You weren’t you. It was like … you blacked out or something! You became this whole different person!” She had no idea how right she was.
“I mean, you just totally beat the crap out of Toby in there. Do you even realize that?”
His scowl grew heavier as she turned to gaze out the window. Great, this girl was worried
about her little boyfriend getting hurt…
He should have broken his nose too.
“Well excuse me, Harley, for kicking your dick faced boyfriend’s ass. Let me just run
back inside and offer him a cookie.”
Her mouth dropped opened, her chin practically hit her own chest. “Jesus, Mase, I don’t
give two shits about that guy! Why would you think that?” He grinned menacingly at her.
“Never mind, don’t answer that.” She threw an accusing finger in front of his face. “It was you I was worried about in there, not him. Shit, you could have gotten expelled or arrested for
assault!”
She looked so cute when she was spitfire mad, tiger like, evil but sexy. “Don’t give me
that grin, you dork. You need to answer me otherwise you will be finding yourself a new date to homecoming.” He touched his hand to his chest feigning hurt just to hide his genuine shock.
Really though, how was it that this girl still wanted to go with him after that?
“Listen, Harley,” Mason voice went low, angered. “I saw the guy practically groping
some girl no older than my sister. It was disgusting and just not … right. Things just got outta hand. That’s it.”
She shocked him by reaching up and applying pressure with a tissue against the corner of
his bleeding mouth. Mason winced and backed away, but she kept at it, frowning at him the
entire time. If babying him was what she wanted to do, then he’d let her. It’s the least he could do.
“Go on, Mase. I’m listening.”
Mason shrugged and sighed, “Well apparently he didn’t like my attitude because he
started in on me, telling me to leave them alone and shit. Then he … poked me,” God, he
sounded like a brat, “and things just went from bad to worse after that.” Harley stared openly at Mason, her faced softening just enough that he could see her apparent relief. Her lingering look ended, and she pulled her hands down onto her lap, clenching them together around the tissue she still held. Finally she nodded and started the car.
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