by Vera Hollins
Without breaking our gaze, he moved his lips and nibbled my finger. Scorching heat surged through me.
“Because I see myself in you. I see a broken individual who keeps surviving no matter what. I see someone who cares too much about others, even if it means putting herself second.” He grazed my lips with his, and his hand moved down my back possessively to draw me closer to him. “I see someone who steals my breath away every time I see her . . . and I feel alive more than ever. Only with her.”
My eyes actually glistened with tears. I moved my hand quickly to wipe away my tears before he saw them, but he caught my wrist and smiled at me, not letting me hide them.
“Don’t,” he whispered. His eyes roamed over every inch of my face. “I want to see all of you. All your sides.”
I crumbled the moment his lips landed on mine, and let these feelings wash over me and take me far away. He pressed me to him and deepened our kiss, showing me with every moment how much he wanted me—needed me—and I couldn’t get enough of him. It felt as though I never would.
I left a line of kisses along his jaw and bit his ear, earning a deep, guttural moan from him. “Stay here tonight,” I whispered, and he stilled.
He pulled away to look at me, his expression wary. “Are you sure?”
“Is the sky blue?”
His face lit with a smirk. “Then lead the way.”
Oh, I led the way, all right. But to the shower, because he needed one badly. He was all covered in sweat, and sticky.
He followed me into my old room and stopped to inspect it. He smiled as his eyes went over my dresser, double bed, and desk. The room was the same as it had been when I left. His eyes zoomed in on my bed, and a look of mischief passed over his face.
I rolled my eyes. “It’s just a bed, Barbie. Don’t get too excited about it.”
His chuckles rang out as I went to my bathroom. I took a towel from the cabinet, glad that everything had been left the way it always was.
I returned to him and threw the towel at his chest. “You’ll find soap and shower gel in the shower. Spare toothbrushes are in the top cabinet.”
His amused gaze followed me as I marched over to the door. “Why don’t you join me?”
My insides stirred. Alone in the shower with him—his gorgeous body, which invited an assortment of naughty thoughts into my head.
I smiled sweetly at him over my shoulder. “And come in contact with your sweat and nasty bacteria? No thanks.”
His rich laughter followed me out of the room. I closed the door behind me and grinned, growing warm from the inside out. We were all alone, and he would be naked in my shower. It was too damn tempting.
I headed over to the guest room to take a shower myself. I couldn’t handle my sweat sticking to my skin anymore. I made a mental note to hide all the evidence of our presence in the house, so Dad wouldn’t know we’d been here.
I undressed and entered the shower, setting the water to extra hot. I hoped it would chase away the butterflies that ran rampant in my belly, but the moment the hot water descended over me, all I could think about was Masen and how hot he must be looking as he showered in my bathroom. Naked. His muscles flexing and relaxing as he washed himself. His dick . . .
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the tiles. Fuck.
I wanted him. I wanted him so badly that there was nothing else I could think about. I didn’t know if this was the result of tonight’s adrenaline, all that running, or the fear for our lives, but I wanted nothing more than to have him. To finally take that last step and have sex with him. I was never readier than now.
I opened my eyes. There was no fear. No doubts. Only determination.
I showered myself as quickly as possible and put on a bathrobe, twisting the knot at my waist tightly. My nerves were strung tight as I headed back to my room.
I entered it and closed the door just as Masen came out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel that hung low on his hips. The lamp on my nightstand shone dimly; the shadows in the room accentuated his hard ridges and carved muscles.
My eyes studied the droplets of water that cascaded down his wide shoulders and chest, all the way down to the V indentation above the towel, and my breath faltered. I pressed my thighs together, overwhelmed by the intense surge of desire. I wanted that towel off. I wanted that body against mine. I wanted him now. Right now.
Masen was studying me, too. His heated eyes roamed all over my frame. My bathrobe reached to my knees, but even with the thick material covering me, I felt naked. The air grew thicker and thicker, sizzling with desire. We didn’t need words. Our gazes caught, and it was as though we both knew exactly what this meant.
We moved at the same time. Our bodies fused together as our hands grabbed for each other, our mouths hard and hot. He moaned into my mouth and titled my head, and his other hand reached for the knot at my waist to untie it. I grabbed his towel and yanked it down as he pushed my bathrobe wide open, revealing all of me. My breath hitched when he drew away to look at me. My eyes went to his erection.
Jesus. Before, I’d burned the image of his dick from my memory. I’d been completely disgusted that he’d sent that picture to me, but now all I could think about was how I wanted to feel it. My heart pounded harder.
Masen let out a feral growl and crushed his lips against mine. His hands moved all over my body. It was tantalizing. My skin was burning. I ached for more, famished for the pleasure his touch elicited.
Once more, I waited for the fear and insecurities to come and fuck this up, but they never came, and it was as if nothing could stop me from finally escaping my chains. I was free. I was healing.
My bathrobe ended up on the floor. His kiss consumed me and unraveled me as he backed me to my bed, and I grew dizzy. I lay down and scooted up, feeling hot all over under his eyes as he devoured every part of me. I’d never felt more powerful or stronger than now knowing I could incite that look on his face. I’d thought sex was about losing control, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t anything like that.
Masen’s eyes gained the shade of a turbulent sea. “Fuck me, you’re hot,” he said raggedly and slid his hand up my calf.
I grinned at him. “Oh, I’ll fuck you, all right. You don’t need to ask twice.”
He smiled and covered me with his body, kneeling between my legs. His lips started their journey on my neck and went down and down, caressing my heated skin in the most torturous way. His hands followed suit, traversing over my waist and hips softly, and I moaned, arching my back. I did some exploration of my own, sliding my hands over his back slowly, tracing his scars one by one. A powerful shudder ripped through him.
He cupped my breasts and pressed his face against them, inhaling my scent. “You smell so good. So perfect.”
I grabbed him by his wet hair and pulled him closer to me. It was strange that he was pressed against me, yet it didn’t feel close enough. He covered my breasts with kisses, igniting a desire that threatened to engulf me.
Masen raised his head to look at me. “Do you really want this?”
“Yes,” I said impatiently. “Or do you need written permission?”
He chuckled. “Not this time.”
I groaned and hooked my legs around his, spinning us over so that I straddled him. I supported myself against his chest, marveling at the feel of his hard muscles underneath my palms. His expression grew feral; his heart pounded harder against my palm.
“My turn,” I said and kissed his neck. His breathing turning ragged as I left kisses all over his shoulders and chest.
“You’re killing me,” he growled. He grabbed my hips and ground me against him, and I sucked in a sharp breath. The sensation of him pressed into my softness felt so good.
And to think, I’d been ready to go my whole life without this. Without this pleasure that helped me soar. That helped me go high and lose all reason. That helped me lose all negativity and hate, because life was so much more than the prison of my fucked-up past.
&nbs
p; I rocked against Masen feverishly, feeding on the friction, chasing that feeling that grew stronger and stronger in the pit of my belly. He dug his fingers into my hips. His face was strained as he watched me.
“That’s it, sweetheart.” His eyes were locked on mine. “Let go.”
His words were my undoing, and I screamed his name, shattering into pieces and losing myself in the haze. I was hardly aware of him flipping us over and him ending up on top of me again as bliss claimed every inch of me. Free.
“I need you. Right now,” I growled and wrapped my legs around his waist to pull him closer. I shimmied even closer to him, until he was almost at my opening.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” he asked me with a smile.
I glanced down and groaned. “Don’t tell me you don’t have protection with you.” He grinned and sat back on his heels. I groaned again. “Seriously? You live and breathe sex, but you don’t carry condoms with you?”
He released a loud chuckle. “Relax. I have one. It’s in my jeans.”
He reached for his jeans on the floor, and I felt relief and dissatisfaction simultaneously. It was one thing to joke about it, but another for it to be real.
“Should I be worried? It’s like you’ve either planned this, or you always have one on hand for all those girls who fall at your feet.”
He ripped the package open. “Or maybe I just wanted you that badly? And I haven’t slept with any girls for weeks. I’ve wanted only you.” He rolled the condom on and covered me again. “I’ve wanted you more than any other girl before.”
I wound my legs around his waist. My chest was full of need for him. “All lies.”
His smile widened. “Then I’ll lie to you some more. I like you so fucking much, Melissa Brooks. I’m crazy about you.”
I didn’t have time to answer him, because he leaned in and kissed me, and each stroke of his tongue evoked more lust.
He positioned himself at my entrance. “I promise I’ll go slow. I won’t hurt you.”
I nodded, biting my lip. He started pushing inside of me, and I grabbed his shoulders. I waited for the scorching pain to come, but he didn’t enter me all at once. He probed me inch by inch, slowly opening me, letting me get accustomed to him so it didn’t hurt that much, and my chest split with need and longing for him.
Once more, he was showing me he was far from selfish. Even now, when it was obvious he was holding back with a face twisted as if he were in pain, he was thinking about me.
He stopped when he was fully inside, holding my gaze with an expression that robbed me of air. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered and ran the back of his hand across my cheek. His warm breath caressed my lips. “Does it hurt?”
I squeezed his waist with my legs. “Yes, but you can move.”
He moved slowly, erasing the pulsating ache with pleasure, and even though it was good, I felt as if I needed more. He was holding back for me, but I didn’t want that.
I grabbed his face and brought his lips inches away from mine. “Don’t hold back.” I pressed a hard kiss to his lips that ebbed into more when he sped up, and I lost myself in him.
All that pain, anger, and fear I’d felt over the years disappeared into nothing, and it was as if I could finally see after years of darkness. Masen was showing me the light, mending all those dysfunctional parts of me that had been irremediable, and my life didn’t have to be just about surviving anymore. I was allowed to rely on someone without losing myself in return. I was allowed to have my moments of weakness when staying strong was too hard.
Soaking in all the feelings, I closed my eyes and stored this moment in my memory forever. I was breaking out of my circle of hatred, and it felt wonderful. I met his smoldering gaze, getting so high on him.
“I’m crazy about you, too,” I whispered and pulled him in for another kiss. Our bodies moved in sync, just like our hearts, and when we came together later and embraced each other like our bodies had been deprived of touch, it felt as if everything was going to be all right. Wounds would heal, happiness would replace pain, and life would be so much more.
And this was just the beginning.
I slipped out of my room on my tiptoes and took one last glance at Masen as he slept. He was sprawled naked across my bed, and my body hummed at the sight. The memories of last night fought for dominance in my mind and replayed once more. It had been so good that I’d lost all sense of time and reason, apparently, since it was past nine, and we should be at school, but I simply didn’t care.
Talk about the power of a dick.
I grinned and closed the door, heading downstairs to get a glass of water. My throat was parched and my breath no doubt resembled the stench of goat’s poop. I tightened the tie of my bathrobe around my waist and hummed to myself, a bounce to my step. I felt as if I’d drunk too many Red Bulls at once. I was full of energy and excitement. If I excluded the cop chase and that stupid race, last night had been the best of my life.
I couldn’t believe I’d slept with Masen. I’d had sex. Of my own volition. And it had been freaking amazing.
I thought I could pinch myself a thousand times and it would still feel unreal.
I was about to pop into the kitchen, when I heard voices coming from it, and I halted. My eyes widened. It was Dad and . . . Mom?
A peek around the corner showed them sitting together at the kitchen table. Mom held a cup of coffee in her hand as she laughed about something.
Mom was here. They were having a civilized conversation. On a Monday morning.
Weren’t they supposed to be working? Had I entered yet another reality?
Dad raised his head from his cup of coffee and saw me before I could pull away. I snapped my head back and cursed through my teeth. Now this was simply wonderful. So much for leaving the place with no trace of us having been here. Remind me not to go out for a career in spying.
“Meli?” he asked.
Okay, divert attention and conquer. Or however that saying went.
I fixed a smile on my face and strolled into the kitchen, acting as if it was completely normal to find me here, wearing a bathrobe, when I was supposed to be at school, not wearing a bathrobe.
“It is I, yes. What’s this supposed to mean?” I motioned with my hand at them. “You two are in the same room but haven’t already ripped each other’s heads off?” I feigned a gasp of shock. “The Earth is shaking. The sky is falling down.”
Mom frowned as her eyes raked over me. “Meli, what are you doing here? Why aren’t you at school? And weren’t you sleeping at Jessica’s?”
I scratched my head. “Yeah, about that . . . I was sleepwalking?”
Mom narrowed her eyes at me. “You don’t sleepwalk.”
I planted my hands on my hips. “Well, maybe I do now! Maybe I’m a late developer! Anyway, what are you doing here? Aren’t you and Dad supposed to be at war?”
They looked at each other. “We wanted to improve our relationship and be more cordial to each other. Your happiness is our priority, so we decided to remain friends.”
I leaned my hip against the counter, crossing my arms over my chest. “Don’t stop being enemies on my account. I don’t want anyone to force themselves to do something because of me.” I’ve learned my lesson.
“We’re not forcing ourselves to anything. Our family has suffered enough, so we should try to make the best out of it and move forward,” Dad, the same old pragmatic, said.
“I see that it took a divorce for you to finally treat each other like civilized human beings again.”
I was glad for them but also bitter, because I’d hoped for this moment for so long, and it had never come. But I guess this was the final proof I needed that they just couldn’t function as a husband and wife anymore. It was for better or worse, but at least they weren’t constantly at each other’s throats. I’d take this over their fighting any day.
“Better late than never,” Dad said. “But don’t change the subject. What are you doing here? And don�
�t try to evade the answer, missy. You’re supposed to be at school.”
“And you’re supposed to be working. The perks of owning your own firms, huh? You can take days off whenever you want?” I said with a cheeky grin, but my diversion didn’t yield the wanted results.
“Don’t avoid the question with a question,” Mom said sternly. “What’s going on?”
I sighed. “Okay, fine. I met some old friends from here, and since we were nearby and stayed out late, I decided to crash here instead of going home.”
“Okay, but why aren’t you at school?”
“I had terrible period pains. I couldn’t get out of bed.”
Mom’s eyes narrowed. “Didn’t you have your period just recently?”
Somehow, even with her work and nights out with her friends, she still managed to track my periods.
I crossed my fingers behind my back. “You must be confusing it with some other month.” They both pursed their lips, wearing almost identical expressions of disbelief on their faces. “Oh, come on! You know I’m a straight-A student and have almost zero absences! Except for that minor thing called suspension we shall not speak of, I’m as close to the student of the decade as you can get. School is ending in a few weeks, so cut me some slack.”
Mom shook her head at Dad as if to say I was nuts, but they couldn’t do anything about it. Dad sighed.
“Just make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
“Sir, yes, sir!” I saluted him and went over to the fridge. I took out a water bottle and unscrewed the cap, drinking straight out of it. I could feel Mom watching me, and I almost expected her to correct me, but she didn’t say anything.
I turned to look at them. I noticed how worn out they both looked, but there was something else there, too. Hope. Hope that the future would bring better things. Hope that we would recover after Steven’s death. I closed my eyes and thought about the throes of addiction that had stolen him from us. Maybe there had been something we could’ve done about it. Maybe there hadn’t been anything. We would never know. But I could try hard as hell not to make the same mistakes again.