by Meghan Quinn
“I can’t believe it. Where the hell have you been? I thought I lost you forever the day your dad beat the shit out of your mother that one night.” Ryker was holding her face with his hands.
He couldn’t believe Ashley was sitting next to him. They were best friends, each other’s first and the reason why both of them were alive today. He would never have made it through the hell hole of his childhood without her. The night her dad lost control and beat Ashley’s mom to the point of being unrecognizable, Ashley was taken away and he never heard from her again. He was brokenhearted, but realized he needed to keep moving forward and make something of himself, for her.
“I don’t want to get into the sordid details now. I’m just glad you recognize me. It’s been so long and, damn boy, did growing up treat you well. You’re no longer the skinny little boy I used to love.”
Ryker playfully squeezed her nose. “Speak for yourself, twiggy. You kind of grew into those legs and, damn, can I just say you are one fine-ass woman?”
“Why, thank you,” she said with a shy smile.
“Damn, I can’t believe I never put two and two together. Why the name change?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I wanted a new start, but that’s a long story for a different night. Let’s celebrate our reunion and talk about this photo shoot. I hope it won’t be too awkward, now that you know who I am.”
It might be a little awkward, Ryker thought, but he would get past it. This was Ashley, the only girl he ever loved.
At that moment, Hannah came to their table and set down two refills, one for each of them. Ryker looked up at her and noticed there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. He quickly popped out of the booth and sat back down in his own seat.
“Hannah, this is Ash, uh Ashlin Harris. Ashlin, this is Hannah.”
“It’s lovely to meet you. You are just absolutely gorgeous. You are going to give Ryker a run for his money. It’ll be good for him.”
“I sure hope so,” Ashlin said, while looking straight at Ryker, making him gulp. They were no longer teenagers and the look she was giving him meant business. Ryker looked up at Hannah and saw her shoulders slump in defeat. His heart reached out to her.
“I guess I’ll get going. Please let me know if you need anything else. It was nice to meet you Ashlin.”
“You too.” Ashlin gave Hannah a sweet smile and then turned to Ryker, replacing her sweet smile with a devilish grin. “Who’s the eye candy girl next door? You like her don’t you?”
“Yeah. Is it that obvious?”
“I feel like you practically started drooling when she came to our table. What’s her deal? Why haven’t you made a move yet?”
“Oh, I have. She has a dickhead of a boyfriend and, even though I told her she was meant to be with me, she refuses to acknowledge it.”
Ashlin took a sip of her drink while she looked Ryker up and down, making him feel completely naked. “Her loss, my gain.”
***
She could get through this night. Mason was not going to do anything to her. He was all talk. He had been at the bar for over an hour and had yet to say anything to her. Maybe that was her punishment, being completely exiled by him. She could do that; that’s what she wanted, wasn’t it?
When he walked in the bar earlier, her heart skipped a beat when she took him in. He was wearing his typical leg-hugging jeans and button-up shirt with scruffy face. He was gorgeous as ever. His sleeves were always rolled up, showing off his corded forearms and tattoos. He was pure perfection in her eyes.
She wanted him to talk to her; it was torture having him around and having him not acknowledge her. She knew she shouldn’t want his attention, but it hurt that he didn’t even say hi.
The gang was hanging out over in the corner and the patrons of the bar, once again, left them alone. Ryker was sitting next to Ashlin Harris, who was beyond beautiful. He had his arm draped over the bench behind her and she noticed they were very close, which surprised her since they just met. Hannah refused to acknowledge the denial that was radiating off of her, so Piper let her friend stew about Ryker and Ashlin.
Jake and Lexi arrived not too long after Mason. Of course, Lexi stopped and gave Piper a giant hug before Piper shooed her away so she could do her job. Once the night calmed down a little, she would hang out with her dear friend a little while longer.
Piper was filling up some beers for a couple of the old guys at the poker table when Mason startled her, making her overfill the glasses of beer. When she looked up at him, he wasn’t smiling; he wasn’t happy to see her, no he was pissed. His jaw was tense and it almost looked like he was grinding his teeth.
“Back room, five minutes.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“Where do you get off ordering me around?”
“If you did what you were supposed to, then I would have gotten off the other night.”
“You’re awfully sure of yourself. Who’s to say you could even get it up?”
Mason leaned in closer so his breath was tickling her ear. “You know damn well I can get it up and more than a few times in one night. Don’t fuck with me Piper, back room. You now have three minutes and if you choose to disregard me this time, you really aren’t going to like what I do.”
“Don’t you dare threaten me.”
“Don’t make me.” He turned and went toward the back room.
Ugh, he was so infuriating, she thought. She hated that he thought he could get everything he wanted, just like her dad. She dropped off the beers she was refilling for the poker players and almost didn’t go to the back room out of spite, but decided to because she didn’t want Mason to cause a scene. She knew he really didn’t give a crap, so he would embarrass her if he wanted to.
When she got to the back room, she was yanked into the room, spun around and pushed up against the door. Mason pinned her to the door and stared into her eyes.
“Where were you the other night?”
“Fucking my boyfriend and, let me tell you, it was fan-fucking-tastic.”
Mason gritted his teeth and moved away from her, as he raked his hand through his hair. He turned on her and pure rage flew through his eyes. She knew he would never hurt her, but she was slightly nervous about the way he looked at her. He came up to her again, but this time grabbed her hands and put them above her head with his.
“Please don’t talk about him,” Mason said in a whisper and as he looked back up at her, her heart broke in half. He was visibly upset about her confession. If she knew she would upset him this much, she wouldn’t have said that.
“I’m not going to stop talking about him. I’m in love with him Mason, not you.”
“The hell you’re not. How come I caught you staring at me multiple times in the past hour?”
“I was checking to see if your drinks needed refills,” she lied.
“Bullshit. I saw the way your nipples hardened when I walked in the bar and the way your breath hitched when I walked by you, but didn’t say a word to you, and I saw the way you longed for my attention when you thought I didn’t notice. You want me, Piper, so stop denying it and just be with me.”
“You’re wrong. Why would I want to be with a Neanderthal, macho, alpha male who always thinks he’s right? Yeah, my body might be physically attracted to you, but your soul is miles away from mine and slowly drifting further away with every interaction I have with you.” Did she just say that? From the look in Mason’s hurt eyes, she did.
“Mason, I didn’t…” She couldn’t finish her sentence because Mason placed his lips on hers and guess what? Her treacherous lips reciprocated the action.
He kept her hands above her head as he explored her mouth. With every swipe of his tongue across hers a tiny flame ignited in her body, making the room turn into a burning inferno. Her chest heaved while she tried to catch her breath from the attack of Mason’s lips. He glided them gently against hers and occasionally pressed harder when she reciprocated his moves.
He lowered his hands and she started to drop hers when he said in a low husky voice, “Keep them there.”
Why she obeyed him, she would never know, but she did. Mason moved his hands down the sides of her body, making her squirm at his touch. It was as if his fingers were like ten vibrators running over her body, igniting the fire in her panties. She knew she was already wet and ready for him and, unfortunately, she wanted him. Her damn, stupid body and mind wanted him.
He made it down to her black skirt and lifted it up to her waist. She was wearing white lace panties today and she could tell Mason liked them by the way he grunted from looking at her. He shimmied her panties down and stuck them in his back pocket.
“Those are mine.”
“But Mason…”
“Speak again and I will spank you, although that’s not much of a punishment for you now, is it?”
Piper felt her face get completely red from the revelation she had while having sex with Mason the first time; she liked it rough and she liked being spanked.
Mason pulled out his wallet and took out a condom, which he stuck in the cup of Piper’s bra. He brushed up against her nipple making her throb between her legs. It was one swipe of her nipple and she was already going to lose it. She hated, but loved, how much Mason affected her.
“Pull my pants down.”
“We can’t…”
“Tsk, tsk, sweetheart. Did I tell you, you could speak?”
“Mason you can’t…”
“That’s two, Piper.” Two what, she thought, but before she knew what was happening, he had her turned against the door so her hands and feet were splayed out against it and her back was to him. In a matter of seconds, there was a crack in the air sending a burning sensation to her ass. She was just about to say something when another slap landed on the opposite cheek, making Piper bite down on her lips to not scream in pleasure.
“Speak again and you can expect me to not be as gentle.” That was gentle?
He grabbed her skirt and pulled it all the way up her waist, so her bottom half was completely exposed.
“Damn, you have the creamiest skin I have ever seen and that ass is truly a gift from God.” She felt him lean down and plant a kiss on both her cheeks, then rub them out, exactly where he slapped them. “I don’t like the red marks I leave on you. Your skin is too beautiful for such marks. Promise me you’ll be good.”
She just nodded. Why was she going with this? She secretly knew why, Mason’s dominance turned her on in some sick and perverted way. She liked it when he talked dirty to her, told her what to do and took charge. She liked to see what he had planned for her and see how far he could push her. She was a sexual creature and couldn’t help herself when she was around Mason.
“Turn around, baby.”
Piper turned around and came face to face with the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. His eyes spoke a million words in one look. He wanted her, he wanted her to be with him…he was practically begging with his eyes, pleading with her to stay with him. It was heartbreaking.
He grabbed her face and brought it close to his so their foreheads were touching. “God Piper, I don’t know how much more of this I can take. When you walked out on me the other morning, I thought I would never recover from my heart being ripped out of my chest, but then you show up at practice and my heart soared. I thought you were there for me and then the worst thing happened.”
Mason put his hands on either side of her head and started kissing her neck, making her head fly back and hit the door. Mason’s head shot up from the sound of her head meeting the door.
“You okay?” She nodded, touched by his concern.
“I can’t believe you’re with him, Piper. I just can’t believe it. Put me out of my misery, please.”
The only thing Piper knew that she could do was make his pain go away temporarily, so she unbuckled his pants and pulled them down, along with his boxers. On her way back up, she took ahold of his massive erection and started stroking it, making Mason moan out loud. She slipped her mouth over his head and lightly teased him with her tongue, reveling in his size. Jax had a big penis, but Mason was ungodly huge and she knew how it felt to have him inside her, which was all she was craving.
She pulled out the condom from her bra and slipped it on over Mason. As she stood up, she looked Mason in the eyes and said, “Make your pain go away. Take me Mason.”
Mason didn’t even give her a second to change her mind. He lifted her up against the door and slipped himself inside of her. The amount of pressure she was feeling inside of her was incredible. She was resting on his cock and could feel him deep inside of her, touching all the right spots. He didn’t even have to move, he could just stay still and she would get off, but he didn’t allow that to happen. Instead, he captured her mouth with his and started moving her up and down, using the door as an anchor.
“You feel so good, Mason.”
“Piper, please, please stay with me.”
“I wish…” Mason stopped her from talking and explored her mouth with his tongue.
He moved her up and down at a more frantic pace, sending her body skyrocketing into ecstasy. Her whole body went numb all the way to her toes and her core was burning with desire. Mason followed right behind her and groaned in her mouth.
When they both stopped convulsing and stretching their orgasms out, Mason gently placed her on the ground, while pulling her skirt down.
There was a knock on the door that scared the crap out of Piper. She tried to fluff her hair to make it more presentable. She wiped her mouth and pushed Mason to the side, so whoever was on the other side of the door couldn’t see him.
She opened the door a crack and saw Hannah on the other side. “Hey Hannah, sorry I’ll be out in a second.”
“Okay. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Jax called and he’s heading over.”
Piper instantly thought she was going to throw up. Why was Jax coming to the bar? He never came to the bar.
“Okay, thanks.”
Hannah studied Piper for a second and then said, “Oh my God, Piper, is that beard burn on your face?”
Piper’s stomach fell as she gripped her face. The door swung open and Mason walked up behind her. “Sure is, isn’t it Piper?”
He nodded at Hannah and walked out of the back room, leaving Piper completely in shock and Hannah staring at her as if she had three heads.
“Piper! Are you serious right now?”
“Please Hannah. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t even know what happened.”
“Fine, but you might want to go fix your face. I have some foundation in my purse; go cover up, but you owe me an explanation.”
“Thank you,” Piper said, while squeezing her friends shoulder.
Piper ran to the bathroom and tried to not think about what she just did, but it was pretty much impossible. Not only did she just have sex with Mason, again, but she had sex with him in the back room when anyone could have walked in and Mason didn’t seem to mind making it known to everyone. She could see him now, high fiving his friends and telling them about how easy it was to make her pull his pants down.
Damn him! She was furious and he did not want to see what a fiery redhead could do to him. If he wanted to play games, then game on!
***
Mason watched Jax drape his arm across Piper’s shoulder as he talked to Jake about the upcoming season. The only people left in the bar were his group of friends. Piper and Hannah kicked out everyone else early for the Stallions and, since the patrons were all fans, they quickly obliged.
Jax eyed Mason the second he arrived at the bar. Mason didn’t know if it was because of the fact that Mason was maybe lightly toasted and they had a game the next day, or if it was because of Piper. Whatever it was, Mason was getting sick of it. It would be so gratifying if he could introduce his fist to Jax’s face, but he knew that would only start trouble. So instead, he sat back in his booth and listened to Ryker and Ashlin talk about th
eir childhood stories.
Mason was surprised to find out they were long lost friends. Mason wondered what Ashlin looked like in high school, probably gangly just like Ryker. Mason had seen pictures of Ryker back then and, boy, was he an ugly little fuck. Ryker admitted to Mason that those pictures were the reason why he dressed to impress now. Which was exactly what he was doing tonight in a grey pair of jeans, navy blue T-shirt and a black and white scarf wrapped around his neck a couple of times. Mason would look like such a dick if he dressed in half the stuff Ryker did.
“You like her don’t you?” Ashlin asked Mason.
“What? Who?”
“You are being so obvious,” Hannah said. She was sitting next to Mason across the booth from Ryker and Ashlin. “That’s why Jax looks like he’s going to rip your head off.”
“Jax can suck my giant cock. He’s such a tool. What does Piper see in him?”
“No one wants to suck that tree trunk you have between your legs,” Ryker said.
“That’s not what Piper said an hour ago in the back room.”
“Mason!” Hannah scolded. “Why don’t you just shout it?”
“Don’t mind if…”
Hannah clamped her hand over his mouth to shut him up. Fury ran through her blue eyes. Mason licked her hand to get her to remove it, causing her to squeal and rub her hand on her pants.
“Ew, gross.”
Ryker kicked Mason under the table. “Don’t be licking my girl. That’s my job.” He winked at Hannah.
“Your girl? I thought she had a boyfriend,” Ashlin looked between the two, confused.
“I do. Ryker can’t get it through his thick skull that I’m with someone else and soon to be engaged. Ryker keeps telling me I’m going to be his wife one day.”
“Ha, he fed me the same line in middle school,” Ashlin said, while taking a sip of her drink.
Hannah shot a look at Ryker, a look that nearly split Mason in half. She looked like someone just ripped her puppy away from her and refused to give it back. She got up out of the booth and walked away.
