by Lena Hart
They stayed like that for a while, his rigid length buried deep inside her and her soft, wet channel pulsing deliciously around him. After a few still moments, she tried to thrust her hips back, but he halted her movements.
“Mason? What are you doing?”
“Shh.” He trailed his lips over the smooth ball of her shoulder. “No talking. Just feel me.”
She did as he instructed, their breathing coming out deep and heavy. This was the one thing they never got wrong. When he was inside her, nothing else mattered except her—and their love for each other.
She reached around, gripped his ass, and pulled him forward. The strong action drove him deeper into her, and her delicate quivers around his cock drove him over the edge. He lifted her leg high then thrust into her heavily.
They both shuddered and gasped from the staggering pleasure. With the prickling signs of his release nearing, he slowed his thrusts to slow, leisurely strokes. But it wasn’t enough. Reaching low, he found her taut, slick nub and slowly teased it. She clenched around him in soft spasms, and he couldn’t contain a low, harsh groan.
When he couldn’t fight it much longer, Mason rolled her on her back. He came over her again and fitted himself between her thighs before plunging into her with fast, deep thrusts. Her whimpers of pleasure filled his ears and drove him wild. She threw her arms around him and sought out his lips for a deep, thorough kiss.
He drank in each moan, each gasp as he continued to thrust harder and deeper into her. It wasn’t until she dug her fingernails into his back and found her release that he let himself go. With a final thrust, he buried his face in the crook of her neck and found his release.
She held him close, lazily stroking his back as his racing heart returned to normal.
“Shouldn’t we get up now?”
“In a minute,” he said quietly, pressing another kiss on her throat.
It was the last thing he remembered before he promptly fell back into a deep sleep.
11
“Mommy, Daddy! You’re home!”
Madison jumped into Jules’ arms. She caught their daughter and began raining kisses on her round cheeks before she pulled Jeremy in for a hug and kiss too. Both children were in their pajamas and up well pass their bedtimes, but Mason didn’t realize how eager he had been to see their kids until they had arrived home.
“I tried to put them into bed,” Carrie said. “But they wanted to wait up for you.”
“That’s all right,” Mason said, setting down their luggage. “We picked a bad day to miss our flight.” Though he didn’t regret the extra few hours he had spent with his wife.
Carrie helped them get the kids into bed before she eventually took off. Too tired to do much else, Mason sat on the couch with Jules cuddled close. She had her legs tucked under her and a near empty wine glass in her hands. The television was low and the only thing illuminating the dark sitting room.
“I had fun this weekend,” she murmured. “Thank you.”
“North Carolina wasn’t so bad, was it?”
She laughed. “We barely left our hotel room.”
“Did we need to?”
“Nope.” She took a sip of her wine. “And I’m not complaining.”
“Me neither.” Mason took the glass from her hand and finished the wine before setting it down on the side table. “And there’s no reason why it needs to end.”
He gathered her close and began trailing his lips down to her neck before nipping at the delicate skin there. He enjoyed her soft tremors, and continued running the tip of his tongue over her soft skin.
She shifted in his arms, and he captured her lips with his. Her uninhibited desire surged through him and down to his hardening shaft. Apparently, one weekend together hadn’t been enough to slake their need for each other.
She drew back, her eyes hooded and her face flushed with need. “Should we head up to bed?”
He ran his thumb across her cheek. “Why don’t you head up first? I’ll lock up down here and be right up.”
“Okay,” she drawled, trailing her finger along his collar. “Don’t take too long.”
Mason tightened his arm around her, and the corner of his lips lifted. “Now, why would I want to do that?”
She shrugged then gave him another slow, lingering kiss before she rose from the sofa. He followed her up and reached for the remote just as the local news anchors put up a photo of him and his team’s logo. He started to shut off the television, but a photo of him and Jules on their wedding day also flashed up on the screen.
“Ugh,” Jules muttered, voicing his disgust. “Turn it off.”
Just as he was about to hit the power button, the caption Mystery Man Revealed flashed across the screen. Mason turned up the volume.
“…Has been identified as Detroit Devils shortstop Slater Reyes. It is rumored that the thirty-year-old baseball player was in town negotiating his possible signing with the Louisiana Kings.”
A headshot of an attractive man with dark features filled the screen.
“Sources confirm that Reyes is the man seen here having dinner with former beauty queen Juliette Courage, wife of the Cajun Rage’s head coach Mason Courage.”
Mason stifled a curse. Why can’t the damn vultures find someone else to fixate on?
The player’s headshot was replaced by the photo of Jules having dinner with the concealed man at the hotel. It was a photo Mason had seen before, yet it still sent an icy shard of jealousy slicing through him. He gritted his teeth as he continued watching the segment. A new black-and-white photo was displayed.
“Photos taken from the hotel’s elevators show the former beauty queen riding inside, followed by Reyes just a few minutes after. Sources report the two had separate rooms, but one can only speculate what Reyes and the former beauty queen were up to that night.”
“Or if he has anything to do with the Courages’ recent divorce rumors,” another anchor added snidely.
Mason shut off the television and turned to his wife. She stared back at him, her expression frozen in a mix of disbelief and outrage.
“That’s the man you had dinner with?”
Her brows knitted together as her gaze moved over to his. “That’s the man that came to my table while I was having dinner, yes.”
“And you stayed at the hotel?”
“Yes, I reserved a room for that night. But you don’t honestly believe…” She took a step closer to him and grabbed his arm. “Mason, you don’t honestly believe anything happened.”
He could only stare at her as he tried to process what he’d just learned.
“Tell me!” she demanded, her fingernails digging into his arm.
He jerked his arm out of her grasp. “Why the hell would you need a room?”
“I told you I went to celebrate our anniversary alone. I took a day for myself. I went to dinner, then I went to my room. Alone.”
“Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“What difference would it have made? You would have just thought the worst, like you clearly do now.”
“Don’t try to turn this on me,” he barked. “You’re the one who fantasized about screwing another man. Now I find out you spent the night in the same hotel too? What the hell am I supposed to think?”
“Mason, keep your voice down,” she whispered harshly. “You’re supposed to trust me no matter what. I told you what happened and what didn’t happen. I’m not going to keep defending myself. I shouldn’t have to.”
Mason frowned down at her. Did she really believe he was wrong for being pissed? He wanted to trust her, wanted things to be the way they were before she had confessed that ugly truth to him. Yet how could he when he kept getting blindsided with these things?
“At this point, Jules, I don’t know what to think. The woman I married would have never thought about breaking up our family, much less cheating on me. You got us here, and now I can’t even turn on the television without being reminded of that.”
Sh
e shook her head slowly, her lips pressed tightly together. “This is not my fault. I can’t control what the media says. All I can do is tell the truth, which I have. Now I need my husband to be there for me, to stand with me, when the media is clearly trying to paint a scarlet letter on my chest.”
“What about my reputation?” he snapped. “How do you think this makes me feel, knowing the whole city is talking about my wife and the man she’s supposedly sleeping with?”
The silence that followed was grating. She fixed him with a glare so icy he felt its bitter chill where he stood.
“Let’s get this clear. I don’t give a damn what other people think. The only thing that matters is what you and I think.”
“That’s not what—”
“No, let me finish,” she cut in, her gaze flinty with anger. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s my reputation that’s being slandered here. Not yours. Mine. I’m basically being called a cheating slut, but instead of coming to my defense, my husband somehow finds a way to make this all about him.” She scoffed and shook her head in disgust. “You’re unbelievable.”
Spinning on her heels, she left him standing in the room alone, more confused and outraged than he had been before. It was as if no matter what they did, there was something—or someone—trying to ruin things between them.
As much as he hated to admit it, his hot-tempered, knee-jerk responses were only fanning the flames.
“Mommy, can I have this dress?”
“No, Madison,” Jules said, pulling out her credit card and handing it to the saleswoman. “We only came to buy shoes for school.”
Madison pouted. “But I want a new dress for school, too.”
“You do have a new dress. You actually have five, remember?”
“But I don’t like them. They all look the same.”
“That’s why they’re called uniforms. Everyone in your school has them.”
“But I want that one,” Madison whined, pointing to the child mannequin with the bright pink dress and full tulle skirt.
Jules stifled an exasperated sigh. Normally, she could muster the patience for her daughter’s moaning, but today she was still battling a dull headache. It had come after her fight with Mason last night and stayed with her since.
He had gone back to sleeping in the guest room, and maybe it was for the best. All last night and into this morning, she’d had a chance to reflect on their argument, and realized just how deep their problems really went. It wasn’t just that he didn’t believe her, but that sometime during these past few years they had stopped being a team.
They needed to find their way back to the times when she had his trust and his support—two very important aspects she wouldn’t find in bed with him. She now understood that just because the sex between them was still mind-blowing, didn’t change the fact that they still had plenty to work through.
Right now, however, she had to deal with her daughter’s oncoming tantrum.
Madison slumped against the sales counter and began to whimper. “Please, Mommy.”
“I said no, Madison.”
Madison ignored her sharp command and began to stamp her feet repeatedly. Jules gritted her teeth and caught the saleswoman’s sympathetic glance.
When the screeching started, Jules lost it.
Coming down on her haunches, Jules grabbed Madison’s arms and held her tight. “Now that’s enough, young lady.”
Madison instantly stopped her crying, and her large hazel eyes were wide.
“You will not embarrass me in here, Madison. Do you understand me?”
Her daughter nodded slowly, her teary gaze never wavering from hers. Jules rarely snapped at her kids, choosing patience, reasoning, or plain old compromise to get them to behave. But her daughter’s humiliating tantrum in the middle of a semi-crowded retail store was just one public disgrace too many.
“I expect you to behave yourself, or I will return those shoes this instant and we will leave here with nothing. Understood?”
Madison nodded again, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth. Jules released her and rose to her feet. She grabbed the shopping bag then her daughter’s hand and left the store.
The drive back home was short and relatively quiet. Madison sulked in the back seat, clutching her rag doll close. Jules pulled into their driveway and was soon followed in by Carrie. Their nanny parked directly behind her as Jules got out of her car and went to unbuckle Madison from her seat. Just as she got her daughter free, Jeremy hopped out of Carrie’s car and tried to rush past her.
“Hold on there, mister,” Jules said as she helped Madison out of the car seat. “How was school today?”
“Good.”
“That’s all? Just good?”
Jeremy nodded and started toward the house.
“Wait. Don’t I get a hug today?”
He came back and wrapped his thin arms around her. He allowed her a few seconds to return the hug before he squirmed away.
“I want a hug too, Mommy,” Madison said, holding up her arms.
“You got it.” Jules gathered her in her arms and gave her a quick kiss on the head before setting her down on her feet. “How was he today, Carrie?”
“Better. He was using more words today.”
“Carrie, I’m gonna start school too!”
She beamed down at Madison. “I know! Are you excited?”
Madison nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Wanna see my new shoes?”
“Not right now, sweetie,” Jules said. “Why don’t you take your shoes inside?”
“Okay, Mommy.” Madison grabbed the shopping bag and dashed toward the house. In her excitement, she dropped her rag doll.
“Madison, don’t forget Paige!”
She doubled back and swooped up the doll. “Mommy, my name’s Queenie now. Remember? And Paige is now Princess.”
Jules arched a brow then glanced over at Carrie, who shrugged.
“I don’t know where she’s getting this,” Carrie muttered.
Jules shook her head in exasperation and tried not to laugh. She looked down at her daughter and said seriously, “Well, queens don’t run. They walk.”
Madison started back to the house, her steps slowed to almost a tiptoe, and Jules bit back a smile. Despite the headaches from the occasional tantrum and defiance, their children were her greatest joy.
She hadn’t seriously considered what a divorce would do to them, and it was time that she did. If nothing else, their marriage was worth saving for their children.
12
“Do you want to give her a few more minutes, Mason?”
Mason glanced down at his watch again and nodded curtly. For the first time since they had started these sessions, Jules had decided not to ride with him. Not that he had expected her to. The past few days had been tense between them, and he didn’t know how to change it. It was clear in the way she avoided looking at him that she was still upset over their argument the other night. He thought giving her space and sleeping in the guest room would help get them back on track, but it hadn’t.
Now, fifteen minutes into their session and she still wasn’t here.
He thought about calling her when a knock came at the door. Relief washed over him, but it was instantly dashed away when the office assistant walked in.
“I’m sorry for interrupting, but Mrs. Courage won’t be able to make it in today.”
“Did she say why?” Dr. Kahn asked.
“Only that her meeting with her attorney was running long.”
Mason tensed at the news. What did Jules possibly need to see her attorney about?
“Okay, thank you, Debbie.”
The woman nodded then handed him an envelope. “Here’s a copy of the letter you requested. The original has already been mailed to your home.”
Mason took the letter from her and she quietly retreated from the office. He felt the direct heat of Dr. Kahn’s curious gaze but couldn’t think past the twisting in his chest. Or the many questions spi
nning in his mind.
Is she moving forward with the divorce?
Ignoring the lodestones settling in his gut, Mason forced himself to his feet.
“I’ll reschedule with Debbie,” he muttered hollowly, aware that this could very well be their last session.
“Mason, wait. Can I ask you a question?”
He paused by the door and nodded.
“How are things going between you and Jules? Are they getting better or worse?”
Mason scoffed. “It seems whenever we’re making progress, something comes along to screw it up.”
“Are you referring to the things that are being said in the news?”
“That’s one problem,” he muttered tightly.
“What’s the other?”
My ability to say the wrong damn things.
“I may have overreacted when we saw the news the other night.”
“What happened?”
“I got upset. We argued and haven’t spoken to each other much since that night.”
“Is that the reason Jules didn’t come to the session today?”
Mason shrugged. “Maybe. Things between us have been tense lately.”
“Have you tried talking to her again? When you’ve both had a chance to cool off?”
He shook his head.
“You know, silence can only do more harm in a relationship, especially during such a volatile time like this.”
“How do you suggest I begin the conversation?”
Dr. Kahn smiled. “It doesn’t have to be scripted. Just begin by talking about how this situation makes you feel, and then allow her the opportunity to express how she feels.”
But that was their problem. He had told Jules how he felt, and in turn, she had accused him of making it all about him, of not coming to her defense. That couldn’t be further from the truth. He would do everything in his power to shield her and their children from pain and hurt.
Maybe his anger had been misplaced that night, but his loyalty was always to her. How could she not see that?
“I have a question for you, doc.”
“Yes?”
Mason pushed away from the door and took a few steps closer to where Dr. Kahn sat. “If you were in my situation, what would you do?”
