Mason recalled she wished to tell him something, but he shook his head lightly.
“Do you think that would have made that much of a difference? If you for even one moment believe I would accept your deliberate deceit with just an apology, you are sadly mistaken. No, Brooklyn. It is going to take a hell of a lot more than that!”
He lowered his head and kissed her hard. He pushed past her lips to feed greedily from her mouth. Again she was helpless in his arms and moaned when she wrapped her arms around his back and held on to him, kissing him back just as deeply.
“Harrumph … far be it from me to interrupt you, brother dear, but we were wondering if we are ever going to be fed tonight?”
Mason pulled away from her lips and stared warningly into her eyes. He slipped his arm around her waist and turned towards his brother. He pulled her tight against his side at the same time.
Tiaan’s eyes widened when Brooklyn came into view. He pointed a crooked finger at her.
“This is Brooklyn? Michael’s sister?”
Mason nodded; a grim smile on his lips. Tiaan swiped an appreciative glance down her body and slowly back up and Mason stiffened next to her.
“Be warned, little brother … I will have no compunction pushing my fist in your face. Keep your eyes to yourself!”
Tiaan stared at her with a flabbergasted expression on his face. Charles appeared behind him and his eyes also swept down her body. She wore a tight black top with spaghetti straps holding it up and skinny jeans with black sneakers. Her face was lightly made up, with her usual tousled hair and swollen lips from Mason’s kiss, she took their breath’s away.
Mason growled, deliberately drawing their attention to him. Charles, of course, was the clown of the family and he laughed at Mason.
“Relax Mace, with a face and a body like that; you should be used to men staring and wanting her all the time.”
“Not my own damn family, I don’t! Tiaan, you are asking for a fist on your nose!”
Tiaan eventually pulled his eyes from Brooklyn and focused on Mason.
“And she is also … Zita? God, I would never have guessed! How did you?”
Mason’s jaw tightened and his grip around her waist became painful and she winced. He looked down at her and realizing what he did, smoothed his fingers over the bruise he caused. He leaned down and kissed her briefly on her lips. He whispered against her lips. “Smile, honey.”
When he pulled away she looked at the two men gaping at them and could not help but smile. Mason and Tiaan were not identical twins, but they had similar features, with Mason slightly taller and Tiaan leaner than his brother. Charles was tall, tanned and had sandy colored hair. She wondered if there were any males in their family that was not attractive.
“What I’d like to know is why neither of you had started cooking yet? It is not as though you are strangers to my house!”
Tiaan still kept glancing at Brooklyn and muttered at Charles.
“Damn … I should have paid more attention to Michael’s little sister when I used to visit them while they were in the army!”
Mason glared at him and Brooklyn gasped.
“Now I remember! You always used to bring letters to our house!”
“Yes, and you used to be so happy you always hugged and kissed me. How about a hug and a kiss now?”
She laughed. “But I was fifteen years old and you were always irritated with me when I did it then!”
“Believe me … I won’t be now!” He moved towards her and Mason pulled her slightly behind him and glared at his brother.
“Don’t push your luck, Tiaan!”
“I only want to welcome her to the family, Mason. What is so wrong with that?”
Charles slipped past Mason while Tiaan kept ribbing him and pulled Brooklyn away from him into his arms and hugged and kissed her on the cheek.
“Welcome to the family, Brooklyn. Dunno what this old bear’s problem is. He never minded us kissing his other chicks.”
Mason nearly ripped her arm out of its socket he pulled her out of Charles’ arms so quickly. He folded both his arms possessively around her from behind. His eyes shot bullets at his laughing cousin and brother.
“Because she is not a chick and nor are we twenty years old! Keep your hands off her … both of you. Go and get the fire going so we can eat at some point tonight still!”
Barry walked up the stairs towards them with her luggage and Mason told him to take it up to his room and to ask Liza, the housekeeper, to unpack them.
Tiaan and Charles looked at each other and then at Mason. Tiaan was the brave one to put a voice to their question.
“She is moving in? Here?”
Mason glared at him and nodded. Tiaan looked at Brooklyn and smiled broadly. She frowned at him with a question in her eyes.
He shrugged. “You are the first woman he has ever brought to his house, let alone asked to move in with him. I wonder what Mom is going to have to say about this?”
Charles started laughing then and Tiaan joined in. Mason’s lips curved in a wry smile, knowing how happy his mother would be at the prospect of a daughter in law and that was exactly how she would view Brooklyn moving in with him. Tiaan stopped laughing and frowned down at Brooklyn.
“What did your parents say about this, Brooklyn? If I remember correctly, they were very protective of their little girl.”
Brooklyn blushed and glanced briefly at Mason, realizing she has not even given them any thought. Mason however shrugged and smiled at his brother.
“I saw them this afternoon and they are happy enough about it. As a matter of fact, I invited them to lunch on Sunday next.” He looked down at her, ignoring her dazed expression and lifted his eyebrows.
“I guess we can just as well invite my parents also.”
“Lunch on Sunday next? Great, Tiaan, will you pick me up on the way here?”
Mason glared at his cousin. “You two are not invited.”
“Forget it, big brother! There is no way we are missing out on this lunch! I hope you bought the ring already … nothing less is going to be expected by Mom!”
Brooklyn looked between them, hope bubbling inside her, but burst immediately when his cold eyes swept down her body. He drew her with him to the back patio and said scathingly over his shoulder.
“Her moving in does not automatically spell marriage. The quicker you and Mom realize that, the better.”
Tiaan and Charles just laughed at that, but followed them to the patio, where Mason opened the gas barbeque and started the fire, telling his ‘little brother’ to go and fetch the meat from the kitchen. He was only five minutes older than Tiaan, but they always called one another big and little brother.
“What would you like to drink, Brooklyn? We are bear drinkers, except for Mace who is a whiskey man, but he has a fully stocked bar, so name your poison.”
“Just some dry white wine, please.”
He went inside to fetch their drinks and Brooklyn turned to Mason.
“Did you really see my parents?”
He speared a hard glare at her. “I never fib, Brooklyn. Yes, I did.”
“What … what did you tell them?”
He was silent for so long she didn’t think he was going to answer, but then he turned to her and looked directly into her eyes.
“I told them that I made you mine and that I will never let you go. That you are moving in here and I wanted to inform them of it before it happened.”
“You … you told them that! What did they say?”
“That is between them and me.”
“I can’t believe you told them you and I … that we …”
He barked a short laugh. “You are nearly twenty eight years old, honey. I highly doubt your parents believed you to still be a virgin.”
She blushed, remembering her rebellious stage when she was eighteen. They believed her to have lost her virginity then already.
“Why did you even bother to go and tell them?”
“Michael is my best friend and I have known your parents for years. Whatever I may think of you … I respect them and they deserved to know.”
“Why did we never meet?”
“You were still in school and I had no interest in blushing and rebellious high school girls. Besides, Michael would have clobbered me. When we came back from the army, Michael and I hit the race circuit and I started on my career and completed my doctorate. The times I did go to your house, you were off with friends and I suppose eventually you moved out and we just never arrived there at the same time.”
Charles returned with their drinks brought an end to her questions. Mason has been friends with Michael for probably twenty years and it was unbelievable that they never met.
Tiaan brought the meat and joined Mason at the barbeque, assisting him with loading the meat on the grill. Their murmured voices hummed in the background. She took a sip of her wine and slowly slid down on one of the comfortable patio couches. Her eyes caught a middle aged woman walking in the direction of the kitchen and rose to ask if there was something she could assist with.
“Everything is under control, Missy. Mason asked only for salads and rolls and everything is done, except for the Greek salad.”
She was older than she appeared at first and was probably over sixty already, a real motherly type. She smiled at Brooklyn.
“I am so glad he found you. It is high time someone shares this massive place and his life with him.”
Brooklyn returned her smile. “Please call me Brooklyn. If you don’t mind, I would like to help with the salad?”
Mason realized within minutes of her leaving that she was no longer there and waited another five minutes before he went looking for her, ignoring the ribbing of his siblings.
“I wondered how long he was going to hold out!”
“Yip … five minutes more than I thought!”
He stopped in the arch leading into the kitchen and watched Brooklyn chopping tomatoes, smiling and chatting to Liza. She looked relaxed and at home … as if she belonged here. He knew there and then … that no matter what was going to happen in the future, he meant it when he told her he would never let her go. Liza noticed him and beamed at him.
“Oh, Mason … she is lovely. I am so happy there is another female to talk to at last.”
“And here I thought you loved me, Liza.”
“I do, your naughty boy, but you need someone to watch over you too.”
He smiled at her and sauntered closer to Brooklyn, stopped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He tugged her back against his hard body and she gulped. She bit her lip as heat immediately rushed through her body.
Would he forever have this effect on her? Even when his eyes flashed cold and lustful, with no feelings involved?
He nuzzled her neck and her hands started shaking. She dropped the knife and her fingers curled in fists. Liza tsk’ed and took everything from her and turned to the island in the middle of the kitchen to finish the salad.
Mason breathed her fresh scent in his nostrils and his body tightened even more, his arousal already fully swollen and hard against her soft behind. He stroked his lips slowly down the side of her neck and licked the love mark still deep purple in the curve of her neck. His breath whispered warmly in her ear.
“I love that you don’t hide my mark from people’s eyes, honey. Shall I give you another, or make this one bigger?”
He didn’t wait for her response, but pulled her with him to the den ensconced in darkness. The minute he pushed her against the wall just inside the room, he pulled one of the spaghetti straps off her shoulder and bared her breast to his hungry mouth. His lips closed over the hard nub. He pulled it deep into his mouth and sucked hard, her moan loud in the quiet room. Heat flushed from where he sucked her aching flesh down her body to pool between her legs, wetting her panties. She ground her hips against his.
He growled and his mouth moved to the outer side of her breast and drew the soft skin deep into his mouth, sucking hard, marking her with hard, deep tugs on her skin. His mouth moved slowly back over her breast, licked her nipple briefly and let a trail of heat over her chest to close his lips over the dark purple mark on her neck. He sucked the skin there into his mouth again and forced a helpless moan from her lips at the intensity of the desire shooting down her body to settle in her core.
“Mace … you better come and judge the meat. You know how finicky you are. Mace … where are you?”
Mason slowly stopped sucking her neck and left a brief kiss in its wake. He pulled the strap of her top back over her shoulder and looked into her passion filled eyes. He smiled wryly.
“No matter what happened … you will never be able to deny me this.”
He took her hand and drew her with him back to the kitchen, ignoring her desperate yanking to be released. Tiaan smiled broadly when they walked back into the kitchen, his eyes dropped to the mark in her neck still wet from Mason’s mouth.
“You better not let Mom see that mark, brother. She will give you a pounding on the head!”
Mason laughed, pulled Brooklyn close and leaned down to kiss the mark with a smack of his lips. “It would be worth it, little brother. I’ll take a pounding every day to see my mark on her.” His voice was teasing, but his eyes were hard when it clashed with hers and a shiver ran down her spine.
Chapter Ten
Going to the office the next morning was a trial for Brooklyn and she was pale from lack of sleep and worry. Mason made it clear that she was to share his room and his bed and left her with no doubt that he intended to keep a very close watch on her.
She went to bed while the three of them still played pool and fell asleep almost immediately. She woke up when Mason pushed his hard shaft into her heated body, groaning at his ease of entry, her body wet and eager for his. She struggled when he started thrusting, but he only laughed and her heart died a little when he murmured in her ear.
“Oh no, honey … you might be a lying bitch … but your body … craves this … craves me!”
He increased the tempo and growled as his climax ripped through him, leaving her wanting, desperate for the release he started building inside her. She clawed at his back, rotating her hips against his and pulled his still hard shaft deeper inside her.
“Please … don’t leave me like this!”
He stared down at her until her eyes met his, then he deliberately and slowly withdrew and watched her eyes widen in realization. He was going to leave her unfulfilled!
“Mason …” she whispered brokenly, pleading with her eyes, but he ignored her plight and settled next to her on his back, only to pull her against him with his hand around her waist. She immediately threw her leg over his and stroked her clit against his rough hair covered leg, but his hand clamped on her waist, stilling her and pushed her leg off his.
“No … go to sleep, Brooklyn.”
She gasped and felt the tears gather behind her eyes. Is this the punishment he had in store for her? Deny her the pleasures only he could give her?
Needless to say, she could not fall asleep after that and it took hours for her body to relax the unfulfilled desire inside her. She felt as if she just fell asleep when he woke her with a slap on her naked butt, ordering her to get up or they would be late for work.
She seared him a murdering glower and turned her back on him burying her head in the pillows. She didn’t feel him settle on the bed behind her, but gasped when his fingers found the heat between her legs and he pushed them inside her body, thrusting until she moaned and heat and wetness engulfed them, then they stilled. She bit her lip, tasting the blood as she broke the skin inside her lip.
His breath was hot against her ear. “I had no intention of doing this so early in the morning, honey, bit if you insist, I can heat you up very easily … cooling down without the release … well you might still suffer up to lunch time … you choose …”
“I’ll … get … up!” Her voice was strained in the pillow.
He stroked his fingers inside her a little longer, saying regretfully.
“Pity … your juices flow so quickly for me!”
She pulled away from him and sat up on the side of the bed, forcing her body to stop shivering, already too heated from the brief caress after being left unfulfilled the night before.
“One more thing, honey. In my bed, you will always be naked. If you want to make me angry, get in it again with clothes on!”
She refused to respond and ripped the sheet from the bed to wrap it around her as she rose to go to the bathroom, but he barred her way. He was already fully dressed and looked gorgeous in his dark suit with a light blue shirt and dark tie, turning his ink blue eyes as dark as the midnight sky. His hands were hooked negligently in his pants pockets as he stood in front of her. She glared at him with her eyes as clear as a snowy mountain on a sunny day.
“Now what!”
“Drop that sheet.”
She stiffened and her hands tightened around the edge of the sheet where she grasped it over her breasts. He clearly intended humiliating her at every opportunity he got, it was there in his eyes.
“Mason …”
“I like looking at your body, Brooklyn. You will not deny me that. Drop it.”
She slowly opened her hand and let the sheet slither down her body. Her skin burned as his eyes followed its path, and slowly back up. She bit her lips as her treacherous nipples responded and shriveled into painful nubs. The vein in his temple throbbed and his eyes were glued on her jutting breasts, silently begging for his touch. He turned on his heels and strode to the door.
“Hurry up. I want to leave in fifteen minutes.”
It was a trying day for Brooklyn. Everyone at the office speculated and gossip spread fast. Most of them followed the tabloids, because the Sheppard’s were so handsome and they were curious as to whom they were dating.
The fact that the Chief Executive Partner dated one of their own was unbelievable. The fact that she worked there, drove the speculation even higher. Tiaan walked into her office just before lunch time, noticing her pale face. He speared a glance at Mason’s office, but the door was closed.
The Tycoon and his Honey Pot Page 10
