by Marie Force
He tore into the driveway like a man possessed, and that was probably a fitting description. Because what other explanation could there be for a thirty-five-year-old man who certainly knew better to be losing his mind over a woman?
Jordan came out of the house, her dark hair down around her shoulders, her eyes big with excitement and her smile even bigger as she came toward his vehicle.
Mason kept himself perfectly still as he took in every detail of the frilly top and tight cropped jeans she wore. But it was her stunning face that was the showstopper. He should’ve gotten out to hold the door for her, but she was in the car before he had the thought, bringing the distinctive scent of expensive fragrance with her.
She grinned at him. “Glad to see you and the sling.”
Mason could only stare at her. How was this incredibly beautiful, smart, sexy woman interested in him?
“You okay?” she asked, her brow furrowing.
“I think so.”
“You think so? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said gruffly. “Not a goddamned thing.”
Her smile got even bigger. “Is that right?”
“Uh-huh.” Mason’s brain had been scrambled by the sight of her, and he had to pull himself out of his dazzled state to put the SUV in Reverse, to drive, to remember where he was going and what his own name was. Shit, this was bad, and getting worse by the second. Ask him if he cared.
“Where’re we going?”
He had no fucking clue. “I need to run home to change, and then we can decide what we feel like doing. Okay?”
“Sure.”
“I have no idea what condition my house is in.”
Jordan’s low sexy laugh was like a lightning rod of desire that electrified every cell in Mason’s body. Christ have mercy, she would be the very death of him at this rate. “Are you a slob?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m a slob, per se, but things get messy when I’m working all the time.”
“I’m a slob. Just ask Nikki. It drives her crazy. She’s a neat freak. The way I see it, life is too short to be worried about cleaning all the time.”
“Agreed, but I don’t do dirty.”
“In general, or are we still talking about housekeeping?”
Mason released a long deep breath. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
“Doing what?”
“Being so sexy you make my head spin while pushing my buttons and tossing out suggestive one-liners that make it so I probably shouldn’t be driving in my current condition.”
“What current condition?”
“I can’t discuss it.”
“Why not? Is the subject too hard?”
The low growl that escaped from his tightly clenched teeth made her laugh hysterically. “You’re such a brat.”
“So I’ve been told all my life.”
“Why do I suspect you take that as a compliment?”
“How else should I take it?”
“You must’ve been a holy terror as a kid.”
“I kept things interesting.”
Mason laughed, delighted by her and thrilled to be with her even as he reminded himself that the last time he’d been delighted by a woman, he’d ended up flattened and heartbroken. That’d been years ago, but he’d never forgotten the way it had felt to be left by the woman he’d loved.
He wanted to think Jordan was different than Kayla had been, but he was smart enough and wise enough to know that he was taking a huge risk by getting so excited about a woman whose life took place on the other side of the country. “Could I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“How long are you here?”
“I don’t know.”
Mason tightened his grip on the wheel as he tried to figure out what he should say to that.
“Why?”
“I’m just wondering if I’m on a dangerous mission here.”
“How do you mean?”
Mason took a right into his driveway and pulled up to the barnlike garage where he was restoring a vintage Mustang in his “spare” time. He hadn’t touched the car in weeks. After cutting the engine, he turned in his seat to look at Jordan, who was looking right back at him with big brown eyes that slayed him. “I like you. I like this, whatever it is, we’re doing here. I liked last night—a lot. But what I wouldn’t like is to let this go on only to be left crushed when you go back to your real life.”
Jordan pondered that, appearing to give his concerns serious consideration. “I hear what you’re saying, and I’d be the first to tell you that getting involved with me is a risky proposition, especially right now. My life is a bit of a mess at the moment. I’m still technically married to a malignant narcissist and could get sued by my production company unless I continue my show when I really don’t want to. So yeah, I hear what you’re saying.”
She glanced at him, looking madly vulnerable, and held his gaze as she continued. “But the thing of it is, Mason, I really like you—and not just because you saved my life. I like talking to you and pushing your buttons and kissing you. I like how I feel when I’m with you.”
“How do you feel when you’re with me?” He called himself ten kinds of fool for asking, but he had to know.
“Comfortable. Safe. Entertained. Amused. Aroused.”
Mason closed his eyes, took a deep breath and held it for a long moment before releasing it.
“Those are things I hadn’t had with my husband in a very long time. Some of them I’ve never had.”
“Which ones?”
“I never felt particularly safe with him, and he stopped being entertaining quite some time ago. I’ve been uncomfortable around him for years, and it’s very difficult to be aroused by someone who makes you nervous about what he’s going to do next. I don’t mean to compare you to him, because there’s no comparison. I’m only saying that this, with you, is more in a few days than I had in years with him.”
“Why’d you stay, sweetheart?”
“I told you about how I was raised, shuttled between divorced parents who were fighting over us. I didn’t want to be divorced. I hate that word and everything that comes with it. When I married Brendan, I thought it was forever. I really did. He knew how important it was to me that I not end up divorced. But then his career took off, and I couldn’t compete with everything that came with it.”
“You shouldn’t have to compete with anyone or anything. He should’ve put you first.”
“For a while, he did, but we both got swallowed up by the celebrity life. I won’t lie to you. It was fun for a while. We liked being Jane, which was the stupid couple name the press gave us. We liked the money and the perks, and I loved the clothes and the photo shoots and the endorsement deals. I take my share of the blame for getting swept up in superficial things and letting the marriage get away from me. I woke up one day and realized I didn’t even know him anymore, and I’m sure he felt the same way about me.”
“What happened at the end was in no way your fault. Tell me you know that.”
“I do. I didn’t do anything to deserve a broken arm or a concussion or a split lip that took weeks to heal.”
Mason fumed at the thought of her being so badly injured at the hands of the man she’d once loved. “Which arm did he break?”
“This one.” She pointed to her right forearm. “I’m told it was a clean break, but it hurt like nothing ever has.”
“Did they make you wear a sling?”
The side of her face lifted into a small, sad smile. “No, because it was my forearm, it didn’t need to be completely immobilized. It only required a cast that ended before my elbow.”
Mason reached across the center console to rest his hand over the place on her right arm that had been broken by her husband. “How’d he do it?”
“He grabbed my arm, and when I tried to get away, the bone snapped.”
“I’d snap his neck the same way he snapped your arm if he was here.”
She covered
the hand of his that was still on her arm, the warmth of her hand permeating the chill that had overtaken him at hearing how her husband had broken her arm. “He’s not worth you spending the rest of your life in prison.”
“It’d be worth it to know he could never hurt you again.”
“He’ll never hurt me again, Mason. I won’t allow it. I shouldn’t have gone back to him after the video.”
“If you blame yourself in any way for any of this, that’s not going to make me happy.”
“You’re very sweet when you’re pissed off.”
“I’m pissed off at him, not you.”
“I know that.” She glanced at him. “So to answer your original question, I’m kind of a mess and my life is a wreck, but I really like you, and I couldn’t wait to see you today.”
“I couldn’t wait to see you either. I left work hours earlier than I normally would.”
“Will you get in trouble?”
“I don’t give a flying fuck if I do.”
She smiled. “All righty, then.”
“You want to come in?”
“Uh-huh.”
They hadn’t decided anything, but he’d learned more about what she’d been through with the asshole she’d been married to. He hoped that guy never showed his face around here, because Mason wouldn’t trust himself not to actually snap the fuckwad’s skinny little neck.
After hearing about Jordan’s childhood and how it had been splintered by an ugly divorce, Mason already understood the things that would matter to her—loyalty, faithfulness, peace, harmony and unconditional love. How could the man she’d married not have known those things about her?
Is this you keeping things cool and protecting yourself from devastation? The voice inside him, the voice of reason, was pissing him off as he walked with Jordan toward the door to his home. Most people who lived on Gansett didn’t bother to lock up their homes, but he did because he interacted with a lot of people at their worst moments. He didn’t want one of them seeking him out at home to cause trouble. Blaine felt the same way.
He stepped around Jordan to unlock the door and then ushered her in ahead of him. “Make yourself at home. I’ll be right out.”
“You need help getting changed?”
“I think I’ve got it this time, but you can help next time.” In truth, he needed a minute to get himself together, because this situation had spun so far out of control so quickly that he could barely keep up. While she wandered to look at the framed photos and books on the shelves that lined the walls on either side of his fireplace, Mason went into his bedroom, closed the door and leaned back against it to collect his thoughts.
She’d all but warned him off by telling him her life was in an uproar. But then she’d told him how she felt around him, and that had been his complete undoing. That she felt safe and comfortable and aroused. Without a doubt, she was the sexiest woman he’d ever met and so far out of his league as to be laughable.
However, he wasn’t laughing.
He shed the sling, grimaced as he tried to get his elbow moving and began unbuttoning his uniform shirt. Frustrated when his numb left hand refused to cooperate, he pulled the white shirt up and over his head. He shook his hand to try to get some feeling back in it as he fumbled with his belt, the button to his pants and work boots. By the time he was dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, he was thoroughly annoyed and in pain from the effort it took to do the simplest things. Maybe he should’ve let Jordan help him.
No, he shouldn’t have.
So what’s your game plan here, sport?
He had no fucking clue. All he knew was he wanted to be with her and would take whatever he could get. If it turned into yet another in a long line of romantic disasters, he’d deal with it when it happened. There was no way in hell he wasn’t going to enjoy every second he had with her while it lasted. The future would have to take care of itself, because he had much more important things to take care of in the present.
Eager to get back to her, he opened the door and emerged into the living room, coming to a dead stop at the sight of her completely naked and reclined on his sofa.
“I thought of something we can do.”
For a second, Mason thought he might’ve actually swallowed his tongue as his brain raced to catch up with what was happening. He was so captivated by bare breasts and miles of smooth, tanned skin that he couldn’t find any other thoughts in his brain that didn’t involve breasts and skin and legs and the come-hither look on her face.
She was the devil.
That thought snuck past the others as he moved toward her like a metal object being pulled by the strongest of magnets.
She held out her arms to him.
Before he accepted the many invitations she was putting out, he whipped the T-shirt over his head and came down on top of her, taking care not to crush her since he was easily twice her size.
“Hey,” she said.
“What’s up?”
She pressed her pelvis against his erection. “You tell me.”
He had things he wanted to say, such as this was happening way too fast, that once they did this, they could never undo it. Not to mention she was still married. However, with her naked in his arms and sexier than any woman had a right to be, he said none of those things. Rather, he followed her lead straight into another of the scorching kisses from last night that had kept him awake for hours afterward imagining what was happening right now.
The feel of her breasts against his chest made him want to whimper and howl, and he was so hard, so fast, he felt light-headed. If someone had told him five minutes ago that he’d have her nipple in his mouth now, Mason would’ve said they were crazy—or that his overly active imagination was getting ahead of him.
But the only thing that had gotten ahead of him was her, and now he was determined to catch up and make this good for her. “Hang on,” he said, pulling back so he could see her face.
“I’m hanging on.”
“Tighter.” With her arms wrapped around his neck, he hooked his right arm under her and stood, bringing her with him.
“That’s very hot, Chief.”
“Is it?”
“Uh-huh.” She bit down on a tendon in his neck, and the sensation went straight to his dick, which had been on the verge of exploding from the second he saw her naked on his sofa. “Where we going?”
“Somewhere more comfortable.” Mason took her into his bedroom, where an extra-long king-size bed would give them room to spread out. He needed the room to make this unforgettable for her, to treat her the way she deserved to be treated. After hearing the way her husband had hurt her, he wanted to give her the kind of pleasure that would make her forget that scumbag had ever existed.
Maybe the other women he’d been with in the past had been the dress rehearsal, preparing him for this, the main event of his lifetime. Leaning on his right elbow, he reached out with his left hand to smooth a strand of hair off her face. For the longest time, he only looked at her, feasting his eyes on every beautiful inch of her. His hand moved from her face to her chest to caress full breasts and a flat belly.
“Wait, the sling, your arm…”
“Shhh, my arm is fine.”
“Mason.”
He kissed her, hoping to make her forget about his arm. No question, he needed both hands for this. The kiss quickly became desperate and needy as they both strained for more. “Easy, baby. Nice and easy.” He kissed the graceful length of her neck, using his tongue on the tender hollow at the base of her throat before moving down to kiss along her collarbone and down the inside of her arm, causing goose bumps to erupt on the surface of her skin and her nipples to tighten.
“Are you doing this on purpose?”
“Doing what?” He inhaled the scent of her soft skin and kissed the small bump that marked the spot in her right forearm where the break had occurred.
“Making me crazy.”
“Yes, I’m doing that on purpose.”
She huffed out
a laugh. “That’s mean.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Shhh, relax. Close your eyes and just breathe.”
“I can’t breathe when you’re doing that.”
“Try.” He cupped her breasts and dragged his thumbs over her tight nipples. “Let me see you breathe.”
Jordan’s body trembled as she took a shuddering deep breath and expelled it.
“Do it again.”
After giving him a withering look, she took another deep breath.
“No asthma attacks allowed here, so keep breathing. I only want you breathless for all the best reasons.” He continued to caress her nipples with his thumbs, making her squirm beneath him as he discovered what made her gasp and moan and dig her sharp little nails into his back. Bending his head, he drew her nipple into his mouth and spent long minutes licking, sucking and dabbing with his tongue while she writhed beneath him. Only the press of his hips against hers kept her anchored to the bed.
Then he switched sides and started all over.
Jordan cried out and nearly ripped the hair from his head with her enthusiasm. “Mason.”
“What, honey?”
“You’re torturing me.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
He curled his right arm under her leg and lifted it to his shoulder. “Is this what you want?” he asked as he buried his tongue inside her sweetness. Lord but she was sweet and wet. His cock was so hard, it hurt, but he kept his focus on her. It was all about her.
“Please.”
The desperate tone of her voice thrilled him. That he could make a woman like her desperate was far more satisfying than sex with other women had ever been. “You need something, sweetheart?”
She uttered an inarticulate sound that was full of air. At least she was breathing.
Mason focused his attention on the tight knot of her clit, sucking it into his mouth as he drove two fingers into her. The combination had her coming with a scream that nearly took him right off the cliff with her—and nearly gave him a bald spot from the way she fisted handfuls of his hair.
As she panted in the aftermath, he got up to find a condom, dropped his shorts and rolled it on.
