by Ali Parker
In that moment, I wasn’t sure that I would ever want him to stop, not even once we were fully spent.
Inch by inch, he pressed inside, until his full length was inside of me, widening my hole, filling me in places that I had never been filled before. Slowly, still staring at my face, transfixed, he started to move. At first, it was just little movements, helping me adjust to him, but soon, he was rocking until his member was most of the way out of me, then sliding right back in again.
I cried out noisily as he hit some spot inside of me—that spot—making stars appear behind my closed eyelids. He grinned and hit the same spot again, and again, until I could feel another orgasm building, until I could hardly breathe with the pleasure spilling through my whole body. Everything was tingling, all the way out to my fingertips and my toes, and I was practically shivering with overstimulation.
Mason groaned above me, and when I forced my eyes open to see, I could tell that he was close to a climax of his own.
I started to move my hips with his, our bodies melding into one, moving together, suspended in a place where time had no meaning. Maybe I wasn’t only here for the harvest, maybe I could stay here, in this moment, for all of eternity. Wouldn’t that be nice?
We came at the same time, both gasping breathlessly. My walls clenched tight around him, and I could feel his pulsing inside of me, his seed spilling into the condom. He caught himself on his elbows, his weight not quite collapsed against me but close enough that I could feel the heat coming off of him.
He pressed his forehead against mine as we both caught our breath. He pressed a soft kiss to my cheek, and I couldn’t help giggling. His eyes opened, and he looked quizzically at me. “Something funny?” he asked.
“I just feel really good, that’s all,” I said.
He grinned and rolled onto his back away from me. Then, he pulled me into his arms, so I was nestled against his chest again, staring up at the sky. “Good,” he said, kissing my hair. “That’s good.”
Chapter 21
Mason
Friday morning, I woke up slowly, nestled in the warmth of my bed. It took me a minute to realize that I was really in my own bed. I’d been in the middle of a nice dream about Abi, curled up with her in her bed. I grinned as I remembered the previous night.
Then I swore as I looked over at the clock.
Jumping out of bed, I practically ran through the shower, toweling off and throwing on clothes haphazardly before I’d even fully woken up. I was late for breakfast again. So late, in fact, that it almost wasn’t worth heading down to breakfast. But missing a meal was a big no-no in Mama’s eyes. She’d have my hide if I went straight to work on the farm without eating something first.
That was not to mention the fact that I was starving. Abi had really taken a lot out of me the previous night, and I knew I needed the energy. Especially since Ted had no doubt concocted some awful list of chores for me to complete in retaliation for my tardiness.
I scrambled downstairs and fell into my seat at breakfast, saying a quick ‘good morning’ to everyone without meeting their eyes. I started shoveling food onto my plate and then into my mouth, working as quickly as I could without choking.
It wasn’t enough, though.
Ted slammed his open palm flat on the table, the sound reverberating around the room. “Damn it, Mason,” he said.
“Look, I’m sorry,” I said, around a mouthful of eggs. Mama cleared her throat, and I gave her an apologetic look, swallowing before I continued. “I know I’m late. But I’ll still get everything done, I promise. Whatever you want me to do today.”
I hated to start out my day groveling like this. Especially since after last night, I should be feeling good to start my day. Waking up had been nice enough, but I would have loved to keep that warm, sated, comfortable feeling for a little while longer, and not have Ted spoil it all for me.
“You were over at the Brock farm, weren’t you?” Ted snarled.
“No, actually,” I said mildly, giving him a look before taking another quick bite of food.
“But you were with Abigail, weren’t you?” Ted pressed. He scowled at my guilty look. “I knew that girl was trouble,” he said.
“It’s not her fault I’m late,” I said, heatedly. “I overslept, that’s all.”
“I’m sure you’re hungover, to boot.” Ted rolled his eyes, “What the hell am I going to do with you?”
“Ground me?” I suggested sarcastically. “I’m an adult, Ted, despite what you seem to think lately. I haven’t missed work, I’m just a little late to breakfast. Now, I’m almost finished, so why don’t you tell me what you have planned for me today and I’ll go ahead and get after it.”
Ted looked like he might explode. “You don’t ever even take responsibility for your actions!” he shouted. “No apologies and no changes, just this fucking sarcasm and devil-may-care attitude. I’ve had it up to here with you!”
I pushed my chair back. “And I’ve had just about enough out of you,” I said, my voice frosty. “When you’re done with your hissy fit, I’ll see you out on the farm.” I dropped my plate in the sink with a clatter and stomped out the door.
Ted caught up to me while I was mucking out stables. “That was real mature,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Just walk out in the middle of a conversation? I haven’t even told you what you need to do today!”
“You can tell me now,” I said. “I shouldn’t have to remind you that we’re not supposed to fight in front of Mama. She’s doing a lot better than she was, but she’s still not 100% healthy.”
Ted scowled at me. “Then I suggest you quit shirking your duties,” he said.
“Dude, what the hell is your problem?” I finally snapped. “We’ve always been close, but lately, you’re acting like you hate me. Did I do something wrong?”
Ted stared at me for a long moment and then looked away. “I’m just frustrated,” he said. “You’re going to end up leaving too. I always knew you would; it was never a question of if you would, it was more a question of when. But now you’re with this girl from another state and I have a feeling you could be leaving soon.”
I stared at him for a long moment. Was that what this was really about? I wanted to say that I wasn’t going to leave, but I didn’t want to make promises I couldn’t keep. “I’m trying to get Abi to stay here,” I said finally.
“But if it really came down to it, you’d leave. Just like David did,” Ted said, sounding unhappy.
I sighed and ran a hand back through my hair. “I’m not going to lie,” I said. “If it came to it, yeah, then I’d choose her. She’s all I want.”
Ted’s face went through a complicated set of emotions before it settled on something ugly. “If that’s the case, then you’re fired,” he said, harshly.
I blinked. “What?” I asked. Then, I laughed. “You’re joking, right? You can’t fire a Dawson. The ranch is my home.”
“The ranch is a business, though,” Ted said stubbornly, folding his arms across his chest. “You’re an employee pulling a paycheck, and I’m the boss. And I say you’re fired.”
“On what grounds?” I shouted. “I haven’t even been late to work. I haven’t slacked off at all.”
“Oh, bullshit!” Ted responded, his voice just as loud. “Don’t you dare even try to tell me you’ve been focused on your work this week. Everything seems to take you twice as long, and you’re not doing nearly as good a job as I need you to do. On top of that, the way you yelled at me at the breakfast table shows me that you have no respect for me around the farm, which isn’t something I want passed on to all the new hands that we’ve hired.”
Just then, Lauralee came around the corner. “Finally, the voice of reason,” I said, turning towards her. “Ted here just fired me.”
Lauralee’s eyes got big. “Ted, don’t you think—”
Ted interrupted her with an icy look. “Mason, we’ve all put up with your childish bullshit for years, waiting for you to grow up,” he said. �
�But it’s clear that you’re never going to. I’m not asking you to leave. I’m telling you, you’re fired.”
I stared at him for a long moment, with half a mind still waiting for him to start laughing and tell me that it was all a joke. Surely he wasn’t really firing me from the family business, was he?
But with a sinking heart, I realized he was serious. I threw my gloves down in disgust. “Fine,” I said. I stomped towards the end of the aisle and then turned back. Ted was still there with his back to me. Lauralee had quietly disappeared, leaving Ted to his frustrations. “You know, it doesn’t make a lot of sense,” I pointed out. “You’ve been stressed because you have so much extra work and you’re afraid of me leaving as well. But now all you’ve done is speed up the process. I hope you like scrambling to get everything done through the harvest.”
There was no response, so finally I turned on my heel and stalked off towards the house, cussing him under my breath as I went.
I stomped up the stairs to my room and threw my duffel on my bed, hastily packing a couple changes of clothes and some other miscellaneous things. While I was doing so, Mama came in. “What are you doing?” she asked worriedly. “Where are you going?”
Glancing over at her, I replied, “Ted’s made it abundantly clear that I’m not welcome here anymore,” I bit out. “He just fired me from working on the ranch, too. So I guess I’m moving out.”
Mama put her hand to her mouth, tears forming in her eyes. “You don’t have to leave,” she said. “I’m sure we can talk to Ted and figure things out.”
“Fuck it, I don’t care anymore,” I said, even though I knew I shouldn’t use that language around Mama. “I’ve tried to be reasonable with him. I’ve put up with so much shit from him lately, and he just keeps getting worse and worse. I can’t take it anymore.”
“What are you yelling about in here?” Daddy said, appearing in the doorway. He frowned when he saw the two of us in there. “I thought I taught you better than to use language like that in front of your Mama,” he said, disapprovingly.
I rolled my eyes. “You won’t have to deal with me for much longer,” I told him. “Ted just fired me, and I’m getting the fuck out of here.”
Daddy’s eyebrows raised towards his hairline. “He fired you?” he asked incredulously.
I shrugged as though it didn’t matter, even though it really did. “He says I haven’t been pulling my weight around here,” I said. “And that I’m not showing him proper respect,” I snorted. “As if he shows proper respect to any of us.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Daddy said, echoing what Mama had said before. “Even if you’re not working on the ranch anymore, you don’t have to move out.”
“Yes, I do,” I said. “I have to get away from here. I can’t take another minute of being under your thumbs. None of you seem to realize that I’m not a child anymore. So fuck it, I’m leaving. I can take care of myself. I’ll do just what David did—leave.”
There was a stunned silence in the room, but no one tried to contradict me, and no one tried to get me to stay again. I finished packing and zipped my bag closed. Then, I turned to Mama, who was crying silently, tears falling down her face. “Don’t cry, Mama,” I sighed, giving her a hug and kissing her cheek. “I promise I’ll keep in touch, and I’ll be back to visit.”
She nodded her head, and I moved on to Daddy, shaking his hand but saying nothing. Then I strode briskly from the house.
Chapter 22
Abi
I was in the kitchen working with Jeff on an online advertisement for the zombie haunt when I heard a truck pull up outside. I frowned. “Did you have someone coming over?” I asked him.
Jeff shook his head, looking just as puzzled as I did. “Could be your fellow. Mason.”
“He’s not my fellow,” I said, blushing hotly. Jeff didn’t know what Mason and I had gotten up to the previous night, and I definitely didn’t want him to find out. “Anyway, Mason would be at work right now.”
“True,” Jeff said. He clicked a couple things on the computer, changing the font size and then the color. “Well, do you want to go see who it is?”
“Yeah, okay,” I said, getting up from the table. I took one last look at the design. “I don’t like the red,” I told him. “It looks too cliché.”
Jeff rolled his eyes but obediently clicked back into the color palette.
I frowned out the front window. It was Mason’s truck there. I grabbed a jacket and tugged on my boots, heading out to investigate. Mason was still in the truck when I got over there, seeming to be in the middle of some inner debate. I knocked on the window, startling him enough that he gave a visible jump. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he sighed and opened the door, turning to face me.
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked. “Are you okay?”
Mason ran a hand back through his hair. “Yeah, I guess so,” he said, but he didn’t sound okay.
“What happened?” I tried.
“Just, Ted.”
“What did he do now?” I asked worriedly. Had Ted found out what we’d done last night and tried to give Mason some sort of ultimatum? Was Mason here to tell me that he could never see me again?
But would he really listen to his brother if Ted tried to do something like that? I’d thought I meant more to Mason than that. I felt a stab of hurt course through me.
“He fired me,” Mason said bitterly.
“What?” I asked in surprise.
“He was pissed off because I overslept and was late to breakfast this morning, and we had words at the breakfast table,” Mason explained. “Then we went out to the barn and he told me that I hadn’t been pulling my weight around the farm lately and that clearly I was distracted. And he fired me.”
I winced, feeling guilt swell up inside of me. If Mason had been distracted lately, the only thing I could think was that it was my fault. He’d been so concerned about helping me out with the harvest festival that he hadn’t been doing everything he needed to do back at his own farm.
“I’m sure the two of you will work it out though, won’t you?” I asked. “You’re brothers. I can hardly believe he could just fire you like that, even.”
“As he put it, since I’m pulling a paycheck, that makes me an employee, and he’s the boss,” Mason said.
“But if you went back home, surely you could come to an agreement,” I said.
Mason shook his head. “He’s too stubborn,” he said. “Anyway, I don’t care about all of that. I only want to be with you. You’re all that matters.” He slid out of the truck and pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly.
I wasn’t sure whether it was the way his arms were around me or his words themselves, but in that moment, I could barely breathe. He was giving up all of it, just for me? His farm, his family, his whole future?
I couldn’t help thinking that we hardly knew one another. That we were never meant to have something so serious, after so little time.
Pulling away from him, I shook my head. It was all too much, all so overwhelming. “But I don’t need you anymore,” I told him faintly, hardly even hearing the words as they left my mouth. “We’ve got it all under control. My brother and I. And Gavin. We don’t need you.”
He didn’t need to give up his position at his family’s ranch to help me. That was what I really meant. But the words came out all wrong.
Mason’s face twisted, and I could tell that my words had hurt him. “Fine,” he said, backing away from me.
“I mean—wait, that’s not what I meant,” I said, shaking my head. “I just mean, you should focus on making things right with your brother and your family. You shouldn’t focus on being here. On helping me. If it’s affecting your work back at your own ranch, then you need to prioritize that.”
“Fuck you,” Mason said, staring at me as though he’d never seen me before. “I have been prioritizing that,” he said. “This hasn’t been affecting my work there at all. I’m still getting everything done. But I’m glad yo
u’re on Ted’s side.”
I flinched, reaching out towards him but stopping myself before I actually touched him. “I’m not on Ted’s side,” I whispered. “I just meant that I know how important your family is to you, and I don’t want to get in the middle of that.”
“I’ll make it easy for you, then,” Mason said, meanly. “You don’t have to get in the middle of it. You can stay here, drama-free. And I won’t help you with your project anymore, since you no longer need me. In fact, I’ll steer clear of you for the rest of the time you’re here, until the end of the harvest. I won’t even go to Kinsey’s, if that’s what it takes to never see you again.”
I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes. I remembered my thought from the previous night, about how I’d love to stay there in that moment forever. If I’d known that today would be like this, I really would have tried harder to stay in that moment, because it seemed like that was all that Mason and I would ever have.
“Mason, come on, you’re being ridiculous and mean,” I told him, reaching for him again. But this time, he was the one who stopped me, stepping away towards his truck again. “I’m not trying to push you away.”
“I thought you’d understand,” Mason said, shaking his head.
Before I could respond, he got in his truck, slamming the door. I pounded on the window again and even tried the door handle, but the door was locked and he didn’t even look at me, let alone roll the window down. He started the vehicle, and I had to take a step back as it started moving.
He peeled out of the driveway going way too fast, the truck bouncing all over on the dirt road into town. I wanted to do something, anything. To run after him, to call him, to fall down in a heap and bawl my eyes out. But none of those things would help.
I stared after the rising dust, a horrible feeling in my gut, one even more horrible than the guilty feeling over having caused a rift between the Dawson brothers. Going that fast, flying down these dirt roads, all I could think was that he was bound to wreck.
