Wasted (19 page)

Desire raced through my body, and I closed
my eyes as I concentrated on the softness of her lips and the
mewling noises that reverberated through our kiss.

Propping myself up on both arms, I rose over
her. I grabbed her by the waist, tucking her body beneath mine.
When she arched against me, I hardened, all the reasons why we
shouldn’t be doing this fleeing from my mind.

She lifted her hands to my hips, her soft
palms cool against my skin. When her fingers eased their way
beneath my boxers, squeezing my ass, I pressed my erection against
her. Wriggling beneath me, she pushed the thin fabric over my
hips.

Shoving the cover off of us, I pushed my
boxers down to my knees and awkwardly worked my way out of them. I
pulled her into a seated position, and in one swift movement,
tugged her tee shirt up over her head, exposing her bare
breasts.

She lay back down, her hands reaching out
and finding me.

I closed my eyes, my breath coming out in
pants that corresponded with her touch. Slowly, I rocked my hips as
her fingers tightened around me, all logical thought lost in the
moment. “That feels good.”

My encouragement made her bolder as her
hands explored my body. Unable to wait a moment longer, I lowered
myself over her and drew her nipple into my mouth as she continued
to massage and squeeze my flesh.

She arched against me, and I kissed a trail
across the valley of her cleavage and sucked on the opposite
nipple, teasing her taut flesh with my tongue.

Delivering a trail of tiny kisses along her
soft skin, I slid out of her grasp as I worked my way down her body
until my lips tickled her abdomen, and I could feel her muscles
contract beneath me.

Positioning myself between her legs, she
drew her knees up, resting her feet on my shoulders. I gripped her
legs and kissed her inner thigh. She wiggled beneath me, her
growing impatience evident. Knowing that it would be much more
memorable, I wanted to build the tension within her. I wanted her
to want me like she’d never wanted any man before me. I wanted her
to forget her ex-fiancé ever existed. I wanted to be the only man
that she thought about when she closed her eyes at night, the only
man who could build a blazing inferno deep within her, the only man
who could squelch that inferno and then build it again.

I skimmed my thumbs along the soft flesh of
her thigh until I neared her apex. As I approached the tiny scrap
of lace that covered her, I reversed directions, again and again,
until it was obvious that she ached for my touch.

“
Mason,” she whispered, her
fingertips skimming along the edge of her panties.

“
Tell me what you want,
love.”

Panting, she lifted her lower body from the
mattress, arching toward me. I remained still, watching her face in
the dim light. Her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted. She
slowly rolled her head from side to side, her chest heaving with
her need.

I pressed my thumb against her center, the
damp lace warm with her heat.

Her audible gasp made my hard-on rage with
unfulfilled desire. My breathing became labored as I tried to tamp
down my need and concentrate on Lexi.

Peeling back the scrap of lace with one
thumb, I parted her flesh, using my tongue to taste her, to torture
her.

My plan had been to drive her to the brink
of insanity until she could think of nothing but me, but it had
backfired. I was the one who couldn’t wait another second. I wanted
to stake my claim, to give her something of myself, to make her
want me and no one else.

Rising to my knees, I pulled the lace down
her shapely legs. Scrambling from the bed, I grabbed my jeans and
pulled a condom out of the pocket. I quickly put it on and pulled
her to the edge of the bed. She repositioned herself until she was
lying horizontally on the mattress. Ignoring the urgency that raced
through my body, I slowly worked my hips, letting her body adjust
to mine as I entered her. She was hot and tight, and I clenched my
teeth against the pleasure, sweat beading on my forehead as I
fought to retain control.

“
Damn, you’re beautiful,” I
whispered as I reached out and squeezed her breast.

She answered with a moan as I shifted within
her. It was all the encouragement I needed to know that she was
ready. Stimulating her with my thumb, I continued my pace until she
visibly squirmed beneath my touch. Wrapping my arm around her
waist, I pulled her closer to me, and she wrapped her legs around
my torso. I drove into her and withdrew, over and over until we
reached a frenzied crescendo and her cries of pleasure filled the
silence. With a final thrust, burying myself deep inside of her, I
convulsed with my own orgasm.

Her hooded eyes slowly opened, and her lips
curved into a smile.

Breathing hard, I withdrew and retreated to
the bathroom. When I returned, I slid under the cover and pulled
her back against my chest, her bare ass nestled against me. I was
already hardening, and I pressed my growing erection against her
rump and whispered, “You’re already making me hard again. You ready
for round two?”

“
Round two?” she asked,
surprise in her voice.

“
I’s just messing with ya,”
I whispered, amusement in my voice. “Sort of.”

I caressed the side of her waist and the
flare of her hip. “What is it about you that I can’t resist?”

“
My poisonous
berries?”

I chuckled. “You got some poisonous berries,
all right. One taste and a man’s addicted for life.”

As we lay entangled, my eyes began drifting.
Sleep had almost claimed me when I heard her soft voice.

“
What would you say if…I
told you that I was in love with you?”

My blood froze in my veins, and a sickening
feeling cascaded through my body—not because she thought she loved
me. I had to admit that a huge part of me was thrilled that she
felt that way about me.

But she didn’t know all my secrets, and if
she did, would she love me then?

“
Mason?”

I closed my eyes, unable to respond. I
wanted her, and I was just selfish enough that I didn’t want anyone
else to have her. But love?

Love had a way of making everything better
and worse at the same time. It made the stakes higher, the falls
harder.

Realizing I hadn’t answered her question, I
feigned sleep. I’d just complicated our relationship, and I didn’t
know which scared me more, hurting her or getting hurt.

She gently laid her hand on top of mine as
if she were afraid of waking me. “Good night,” she whispered into
the shadows.

Silently chastising myself, I waited for her
to fall asleep. I was a freaking idiot. All I’d been able to think
about was how much I wanted her. I hadn’t stopped long enough to
think about how it might affect her, and no matter how the
situation went down at this point, I would look like an
opportunistic ass. Hell, maybe I was.

Thirty minutes later when she finally fell
asleep, I pulled on my pants and slipped out of the room.

I was in a vicious circle, and I had a
bottle of whiskey calling my name.

Chapter
15

Hair of the Dog

Lexi

When I woke up, my brain instantly rehashed
the events of last night with mind-numbing clarity. So much for
waiting to have sex. Seeing Kevin had been a horrible reminder of
how quickly my perfect world could collapse, leaving me devastated
and lonely.

Mason’s gentle manner comforted me, and it
solidified feelings that I’d been experiencing with him. I knew he
wasn’t perfect, but I had faults of my own. Besides, I didn’t care
how perfect he was or wasn’t when he was near. All I knew was that
I felt better when I was in his presence. The world was a little
less lonely, a little happier.

Smiling, I turned over, expecting to see him
behind me, still asleep after his long shift the previous
evening.

The bed was empty.

Hoping that he had gotten up early to make
breakfast, I slipped on some clothes and went to the kitchen. As I
walked down the hall, I realized that the house was quiet.

Haley must still be asleep. Had Mason left?
Or maybe they’d left together. Maybe they’d left a note in the
living room.

One glance told me that no one was in the
kitchen. I smelled Mason before I saw him. He reeked of
whiskey.

Wearing only his jeans, he lay on his side,
his hair pulled into a short ponytail. Why had he felt the need to
get up and drink?

Remembering the last thing I’d said to him,
I realized that he hadn’t been asleep. He’d heard me. I was sure of
it. I closed my eyes, cursing myself for saying something that I
knew he may not be ready to hear.

Feeling like a complete moron, I headed back
to my room to get my purse and my car keys. I needed some air.

As I approached my bedroom, Haley opened the
door to Mason’s room.

Her face lit up. “Good morning!”

“
Morning,” I greeted her
with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, considering I’d just
made a fool of myself with her brother.

“
Have you and Mason had
breakfast yet?”

“
No. I just got up, and
Mason’s passed out on the couch.”

Her pretty features contorted into a look of
confusion. “He is?”

“
Yeah, I guess he couldn’t
sleep.”

“
You want to go get some
breakfast?” his sister asked. “We can bring him something
back.”

I really wanted to be alone, but I hated to
let Haley down. Mason certainly wouldn’t be much company this
morning.

“
Sure.”

Ten minutes later, we slipped out the front
door, and Mason hadn’t budged. We found a local restaurant known
for its pancakes and placed our order.

Haley scooted to the edge of her booth seat.
“Mason used to bring me here when we were teenagers.”

“
Your mom didn’t
come?”

Haley shook her head vehemently. “Oh, no.
She was usually drunk or out with one of her men.”

Thinking about my own parents, I felt sorry
for Haley. My parents had always made me their top priority, and I
had trouble imagining what it must be like to be raised the way
they had been.

“
That was nice of Mason to
watch out for you.”

“
He was working at a fast
food joint making minimum wage at the time, so we drank water and
ordered a cheap stack of plain pancakes. But looking back, those
are some of the happiest memories of my childhood. My friends’
brothers wouldn’t be caught dead out with their sisters, but it
never seemed to bother Mason.”

Admiration filled her voice, and a twinge of
jealousy seeped into my soul. I had always imagined having a close
relationship with a sibling, but even though my parents had tried,
they hadn’t been able to conceive another child.

“
Y’all are lucky to have
each other.”

She took a deep breath, unwrapping her
silverware before her gaze lifted to my face. “Yeah, we are.”

Haley blew out a breath. “Mason’s
protective. That’s why I didn’t want you to say anything to him
about our mother showing up on his doorstep. She takes advantage of
him.”

“
It’s hard for him to think
she’s in need of something.”

Haley nodded. “I know, but sometimes the
more you give someone, the more they take. And she’ll just take and
take from Mason until he has nothing left. He needs to start
putting himself first.”

The corners of my mouth turned up as I
thought about Mason. “I know you’re right, but I think that’s part
of his appeal. There’s definitely something attractive about a man
who wants to take care of the people in his life.” I thought about
the day that we goofed off in the cave and gave a shrug. “I don’t
know. I guess that’s something that goes back to primal
instincts.”

Haley reached across the table and touched
my hand. “No, I agree with you. It’s a nice quality to find in a
guy, but my mother should want to take care of him, too. You know
what I mean? It should be give and take.”

“
Yeah, I know what you
mean. Has your mother ever tried rehab?”

Haley rolled her eyes. “A half a dozen
times. You can’t make someone quit who doesn’t want to.”

I had no experience with addictive
behaviors, but I knew she was right. “Yeah, makes sense.”

“
I worry about Mason, too.
He drinks more than he used to. I think he’d slow down if he were
in a serious relationship, but ever since the divorce, he’s been on
a runaway train, barreling down the I-don’t-give-a-shit fast
track.”

“
The divorce? You mean he
was married?”

“
He didn’t tell
you?”

I shook my head, watching her with my full
attention.

“
Oh.”

The waitress delivered our pancakes, and
impatient, I wished she’d hurry up, so we could continue our
conversation. What else did I not know about Mason? When she
finally went away, relief flowed through me and so did the
questions.

“
How long has it been since
he divorced?”

Haley gritted her teeth and drew in a
breath. “I don’t know if I should be the one telling you this.
Mason’s a pretty private guy.”

“
You can’t leave me
hanging. Please, tell me,” I implored, eager to know information
that might help me understand him.

“
I wish I could,
but….”

“
I’m falling for him,
Haley.” Blunt, but effective. The stunned look on her face let me
know that she’d heard me.