I arch a brow. “You lost any chance you had to have a say in my attire.”
“Is that right?” He takes a step toward me and I slam the door. He’s too fast. His shoe wedges between the frame, stopping the door from closing those last few inches. “You’re still wild.” His eyes darken dangerously.
He advances and I retreat. But the way he’s undoing his tie, anyone looking might think I’m luring him in.
“I like you wild,” he says, jerking the tie from around his collar. “I enjoy taming you, too.”
My body quivers, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing the impact he has on me. Four months ago we shared something wonderful, then he left. Didn’t call me unless I called him. So I stopped. Reigned myself to the stormy relationship we had before, where he thinks I’m a brat and I pretend he doesn’t exist.
“Did dad send you here to babysit me until he arrives?” I say to get under his skin. “You can tell him I’m good.”
He closes the door, continuing his advance. It's only when my legs collide with the dining room table that I realize how far I've withdrawn.
“Does he know you fucked your charge?”
His jaw clenches and unclenches. “No, but maybe it’s time I tell him that his sweet little girl isn’t so little anymore.”
“Or sweet.”
“No, wildcat, you are definitely sweet.”
I shiver.
His eyes travel the length of my half-naked body, stopping at the hem of the sweatshirt. “Let me taste you.”
I push his chest to stop his advances. As much as I want him right now, I’m no one’s fucktoy to be used and discarded. Mason has been the object of my affection for as long as I can remember, and now that he’s here, I didn’t want a quick, secret fuck. I want all of him, the hot, sultry nights and the unhurried days spent in idleness. But if he can’t give it to me… “Maybe you were right the first time,” I say, though my tongue is heavy. “This. Us. Isn’t a smart idea.”
He steps close enough for me to smell his cologne. Fresh. Sandalwood. I inhale, hoping the scent lasts long after he’s gone. I’m almost lost in the fragrance. In him.
“There is too much to lose,” I whisper against my tightening throat. “I won’t risk my relationship with my father for a man who isn’t sure about us. Me.”
“Tell me you don’t want me and I’ll leave you alone.”
I press my lips together to stave off the lie. “Mason—”
“Say the word, Charity,” he breathes against my ear, and I know he means it.
I should hate him for leaving me, but … I tremble.
Mason cups my pussy as if it’s a lost artifice finally back in his possession. “Tell me you aren’t wet and I’ll stop.” Back and forth, he massages me from clit to my dampening center.
Oh, God! It has been an agonizingly long time since I last experienced the intense pleasure of an orgasm. Before I can stop myself, my hips roll forward to meet his searching fingers.
It shouldn’t be this easy for Mason to take me from zero to a hundred. For my body to wake at his caress.
I sigh. To deny him is to deny myself. Yet, that’s exactly what I need to do.
When his fingers disappear, I’m both grateful and disappointed. Slowly, I open my eyes to meet his intense gaze. He’s unraveling. Unraveling for me and it’s the most glorious sight. If I don’t stop this now … I swallow. They’ll be no turning back. Every limb in my body craves release from the fire Mason lit.
I open my mouth, but nothing escapes besides a breathy sigh. Longing.
“I’m going to savor you.” It's not permission he's after, but absolution. Before I can accept or deny my faith, he lifts onto the edge of the table, then kneels between my thighs.
“I thought about you daily.” Mason eases my panties down my legs and the cool air mingles with my dampness, making me shiver.
I want to believe him, but how do I know this isn’t some older man’s bullshit game?
“Dreamt about your scent.” He spreads my thighs wide, placing my legs over his shoulders. Leaning close, his eyes lock with mine and he breathes in my fragrance as if it's life-giving air.
