“I . . . I dropped it.” Nerves had her rattled. Mason was rambling and she still had no idea which way the conversation was going.
“Well, that’s a damn shame.” He shook his head at the ruined red velvet cake. “I was really hoping to have another piece of that.” He paused, and his shoulders dropped. “Tessa, you don’t have to flaunt your talent in my face.”
“I’m . . . I’m not.” Yes she was. That’s exactly what she was doing, but felt too ashamed to admit it.
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter.” He took a step closer to her. “I was halfway home when I realized that I had to come back and tell you to stop it.”
She knew her cheeks were crimson while she focused on the floor, unable to look at him. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have been acting that way. I’m sorry.”
“You can stop trying to win me over, Tessa.”
Humiliation made her agitated and she tightened her jaw. She was done with this conversation and wanted him to leave. “I said you were right, Mason. What more do you want me to say?”
He put his hands on her shoulders and looked intently into her eyes. “You can stop trying to win me over, because you already have.”
She almost choked on her own saliva. “W-what?”
“I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. Maybe I did. I must have. Maybe I was just blinded by the fact that you were like a sister to me.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I know.” He crinkled his brow and curled his lip. “That sounds weird now, because I’ve been thinking about you lately in a way that is the furthest thing from a sister.”
He pulled her to him. The way his body pressed against hers, the way his eyes bore into her with yearning, and the closeness of his lips made her lightheaded. Dizzy. Euphoric. They gazed at one another with serious intensity. “What are you saying?” she asked breathlessly, her gaze traveling between his eyes and his lips.
“In my mind, you were always Lucas’ little sister. I never had that eye opening she-turned-into-a-woman moment, until you put that seed in my brain. It was as if a curtain was lifted and the opacity was gone. In an instant, you turned into this voluptuous, gorgeous woman that I couldn’t resist. That I wanted. That stirred things inside of me that weren’t there before. I see it all clearly now. Me and you. A drummer and a bassist. We come from the same background. We have the same goals. Our sights are set on the same things. What two people share a better connection than us? You were meant to be in my life.” He paused and his expression deflated a little. “My life could have been very different. I could have never known my father. Never known you. Or Lucas. Or any of the Immortal Angel family. I believe I was brought here for a reason. Fate. Fate brought me to you. I love you Tessa Blade Garcia.”
She’d waited a lifetime to hear those three little words. They were overwhelming. She had always envisioned her reaction to be one of over-the-top elation. Jump-up-and-down hysteria. But Mason’s heartfelt revelation left her exhausted with relief, and she just wanted to feel him in her arms. “Kiss me,” she breathed.
His eyes dropped to her lips, and he pulled her closer. His mouth met hers with so much heat she thought she would combust. His mouth was warm and fiery. His lips were soft. Gentle. His hands pressed against her back and held her to him, possessively. It was as if every pore in her body woke from a drunken slumber. As if they were waiting, dormant, for Mason to touch her. In a very real sense, they were. Her nerve endings were pulsing. Her heart was thundering. Nothing had prepared her for this moment. A million fantasies couldn’t conjure up the rampage of feelings spiraling inside of her. This was really happening. She was kissing the man of her dreams. Right now. It wasn’t a fantasy or her imagination. Mason loved her. He finally realized they were supposed to be together.
When their lips slowly parted, she said the words she’d practiced in her head for so long. Only this time she knew they would be returned. “I love you, Mason.”
“I love you, Tessa.”
The words finally registered, and tears sprung to her eyes while a quivering smile spread across her face. “You love me?”
“I had an epiphany. Everything cleared. Like I had my head in the sand and someone yanked it out and I could see the light of day for the first time. I always said I wasn’t interested in settling down or having a steady girlfriend because I was too involved with my music. People thought I was a player. You saw all the headlines, but you knew they weren’t true. Anyone who knew me knew I wasn’t like that. Now I realize that I never wanted anyone because it was you. I always said it was the music, but it was you. All along it was you. It was always you.”
Her skin prickled. Gooseflesh rose on her arms and trailed down her spine, causing her to tingle all over. “Oh, Mason.” She cupped his face in her hands, happiness and joy flooding her soul. Suddenly weak with relief, she fell into him, and she kissed him. His short stubble scraped against her face, and his breath gusted across her cheek. One hand moved to the back of his head, pushing her fingers through his hair. The other hand moved over his round shoulder.
He tugged at her tank top and pulled it from the waistband of her jeans. As she slipped it over her head, he pulled his shirt off. While he drank in her near naked torso, her hand went to his chest and her lips went to his shoulder. She’d seen him shirtless many times and always imagined what the hard muscles of his body felt like, but never imagined the rush of adrenaline it would give her, or the way it would made her body tingle. She caressed his shoulders and biceps, and the tattoos that covered them. Her finger traced the veins in his forearms. They were chords of strength brought on by years of drumming, and she fingered them like the strings of her bass. She felt his blood pulsing beneath her touch, and it made her heart quicken. Both of her hands traveled over his pecs and up to his shoulders. He had a drummer’s body. Strong and naturally muscled from the labor of his love.
Without warning, he picked her up with an arm across her back and one under her knees. He carried her through the apartment and kicked open the bedroom door. It swung back at them, and she stopped it with her foot, which made them both laugh.
He put her down on the bed, slid into the spot next to her and kissed her. Her mind was still spiraling, and, again, she needed to remind herself that this wasn’t a dream.
His hands, strong and confident, slid around her back, unhooked her bra and tossed it over the side of the bed. He stilled and stared down at her, then his dimples made an appearance. “You had your nipples pierced?”
She forgot that it would cause a reaction. No one had really seen them before, and she felt a little shy about it, so she did the opposite. She pushed her shoulders back and stuck her chest out. “Alyssa did them when I turned 18.”
His grin widened. “You little devil.” He cupped her breast and ran his thumb over the nub, flicking the end of the barbell. She inhaled at the rush of sensations and his eyes shot up to hers. “Does it hurt?”
She released a deep breath. “It feels amazing.”
His lips landed on her naked breast, and he licked the piercing. First one, then the other. A rough scrape from the short stubble on his cheeks, combined with the pleasuring sensations of his mouth on her nipple, made her shudder and she let out a soft moan. Her fingers found their way into his hair and she pressed his mouth into her flesh. He sucked on her nipple, and she moaned again. As he lie next to her on the bed, with his tongue dancing across her breasts, his hand firmly slid down the perimeter of her torso and waist. His hand moved with power and assuredness. He palmed her hip, owning it, the same way he owned a drumstick when he gripped it in his hand. He found the button on her jeans, popped it open and peeled them off her with determination, leaving her with nothing except her thin panties. Then he stood and undressed.
She watched him kick off his sneakers, push his jeans down to the floor and step out of them. Her gaze was riveted and her chest heaved as he dropped his briefs. She fought the urge to gasp when she saw his arousal and how much he wante
d her, and she dropped her eyes so he didn’t catch her staring. He moved to the bed and lie next to her. As he kissed her, his hand traveled over her breast and paused to run his thumb in a circular motion over her nipple, causing her body to react. Her toes were twitching and her scalp was tingling. She imagined this so many times, but never expected the rush of heat that covered her flesh or how over-sensitized her nerve endings would be. Every part of her quivered. She felt Mason’s breath on her cheek as prevalent as the touch of his hand. She could feel the air in the room ghosting over her limbs.
His palm dusted the area between her breasts and skimmed her waist, causing her breaths to deepen and her body to shudder at his touch. When he slipped the tips of his fingers into her panties she gasped slightly. “Mason.”
His hand inched lower. So low that his fingers touched the curve of her mound. “Mason. Wait.” She placed her hand over his, stopping it from going any further.
He pulled back slightly, keeping his hand in place beneath her panties, and gave her his signature dimpled smile. “I brought protection with me. I knew what was going to happen when I came back here.”
“That’s not it.” She bit her bottom lip and looked away. When she turned back to him, there were heavy creases between his brows.
He withdrew his hand, hurt and confusion plastered across his face. “You don’t want to?”
“I do. It’s just that . . .” Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, apprehension causing her cheeks to flush. “I wasn’t lying when I said I waited for you.” She paused, giving him a moment to understand.
His brows pinched together more closely. “Are you saying . . . is this your first time?”
She nodded. “I wanted you to be the one. You are the one, Mason.”
His brows skyrocketed and he blinked a few times as he stared at her.
It scared her. Maybe this was too much for him. Too much responsibility for him to handle. And then he kissed her. There was so much passion and tenderness in it that she knew she did the right thing by waiting for him.
He glanced down at her near-naked body, as if he couldn’t believe this was really happening, but she’s the one who was lost somewhere between fantasy and reality. She didn’t want to think about how surreal this was, or how shocked she’d been that he’d come back and admitted he loved her. She only wanted to enjoy a moment she’d dreamed about too many times to remember. He loves me, her inner voice echoed for the hundredth time.
Mason put his lips to her belly and rested them there while his hands held her waist. A soft breath escaped her as she automatically closed her eyes, but she forced them open to watch. His powerful hands covered most of her midsection, his face between them. She ran her fingers through his short hair then over his shoulders. “Mason.” How she had longed to touch him in this way. She’d brushed her fingers through his hair and rested her hand on his bare shoulder many times, but never in an intimate gesture, and she couldn’t get enough of him, but he was the one who perused her body, as if he wanted to take in every inch of her. The thought that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him, sent her emotions spiraling.
He looked up at her when she sighed his name and the intense gaze they shared held them together. There had always been a tie between them, only this time it was filled with longing and lust. He kissed his way up to her lips. The strength and depth of his kiss left her chest heaving. Feelings of desire filled her with insurmountable passion and urgency, something she never experienced before. She craved his touch, and she wanted it all over her body at once. “Mason,” she called his name again.
He pulled back and looked at her, questioning. Hesitant. “Do you want to take it slow?”
Slow? No. She definitely did not want to take it slowly. She’d waited too long for this moment. She was impatient, and answered by taking his face in her hands and kissing him, feverishly, twisting and turning her mouth.
He pulled back and smiled at her eagerness, which caused his cheeks to dimple under her thumbs. She let them fall into the soft gullies that made him so irresistibly adorable and gently stroked the little indents. She had wanted to caress his dimples for so long. She stared at his tattooed chest, shoulders and arms, only inches from her face. They were beautiful and masculine and accentuated the tight curves of muscle they rested upon. Her eyes went back to his face. He was watching her watch him. “Kiss me,” she whispered.
He fell into her and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, pressing his body against hers. His bare chest rubbed against her bare breasts. His hips bumped against her hips. His erection pressed into her lower abdomen. His razor stubble scraped against her jaw, then her neck, then her right breast, sending a tingling reverberation throughout her body.
With his lips moving from one breast to the other, his hand made a slow, soft descent across her hip and over her belly. She held her breath, practically shaking with anticipation, as his fingers gently touched her mound, tentatively, as if he wanted to make sure he didn’t rush anything. She quivered as she exhaled and raised her hips, inviting him to touch her more intimately. He kissed her as his fingers slipped between her legs and inside her. Unused to the rush of stimulation and sudden pressure, she gasped and broke the kiss. He paused to read her eyes, and she nodded. His fingers began to move again. In and out, then knocking inside of her. She never felt so alive. Every pore, every cell, every nerve ending shimmered with sensations. She pulled on his shoulders. Tugged at his back. Then reached down and boldly took his hard length in her hand and stroked it. Touching him amplified his touch on her. She responded twofold, panting and grunting. As her hand moved up and down his shaft, she pushed up and down with her hips. His breaths began to match hers, and she realized she was bringing him pleasure. It filled her with an intense rush to know that he enjoyed her touch.
Mason shifted on the bed, then paused as he gazed at her. He rolled off the bed, found his jeans and wallet and returned to the bed with a condom. He covered his shaft and positioned himself on top of her. Kissing her gently, he ran his hand down her cheek. “I’m going to go slow. Let me know if I’m hurting you.”
She nodded, unsure what to expect. She’d never done this before. She’d never been touched by a man nor had she ever touched a man. She wanted all of her firsts to be with Mason, and it was worth every agonizing second that she had to endure as she waited for this day. She still couldn’t believe she was about to lose her virginity. To Mason Wilder. She let out a relieved breath through a smile. It was about damn time.
He moved his hips forward and pressure tugged at her body with a deep burn. He paused when she tensed and waited for her body to get accustomed to his girth. After a moment, he slowly started rocking his hips and it soothed and relaxed her. His movements sent waves of stimulation through her body as he filled her, and she began to respond to his thrusts. She held onto his buttocks and clenched the tight muscles as she pumped her hips upwards taking his full length. She stared into his eyes, allowing the sensations to overtake her until they became too much. She panted heavily, as if she was absorbing his energy through her pores and lungs. She was lightheaded, but not from the lack of air, from the amazing man in her arms who she’d been waiting for her entire life. He was finally hers, and it brought an overwhelming sense of relief along with a strong bout of emotion. Oh God, she was going to cry. He was making love to her and she was going to cry. Embarrassed, she couldn’t let him see her tears, so she feigned wiping her brow, and let her hand slide across her eyes.
He must have noticed, because he slowed his momentum, cupped her cheek in one hand and kissed her. Not a lust-filled impatient kiss, but a hypnotic brush of lips against lips. “I love you,” he whispered.
The beauty of his declaration, at the most intimate moment, left her helpless, too overcome to find her voice and respond.
He picked up speed, a little at a time, maintaining eye contact, until he was slamming into her. Everything vibrated and hummed inside of her body. Her vision began to blur as the world spu
n around her. A multitude of sensations collided at once, and she cried out as an orgasm rushed through her. The years of pent up passion finally found release, and the emotion returned full force. This time, though, Mason didn’t notice because he was lost in his own state of euphoria. She ran her fingers through her damp hair and wiped a single tear from the corner of her eye. She regained composure quickly, as happiness and joy filled her to her core, and she gazed at Mason with a full heart. His eyes were rolling upwards, his jaw clenched. He stiffened for a few moments and then he lowered himself so their bodies were pressed together. He rested his face in the crook of her neck, and she wrapped her arms around him as her heart rate settled and returned to normal.
“That was incredible, Mason.”
He rolled off her, onto his side, but kept his face tucked into her shoulder. “I love you, Tessa.”
She smiled and placed her hand on his cheek. She’d never tire of hearing those three words from him. “I love you too, Mason.”
Mason’s head was reeling. How the hell had it taken him so long to realize how much he loved this unbelievable girl? He couldn’t tell her enough times, and planned to tell her every day for the rest of his life. He rubbed his cheek along her shoulder and listened to her even breathing. Her hair tickled him and he smiled. He found her hand, brought it to his lips and kissed her fingers. He kept her hand in his and brought it to his chest as he replayed the latter part of the evening in his head. He’d gone home early, feeling uncomfortable because he saw how hard Tessa was trying to win him over and his heart went out to her. He had just crossed through the Midtown Tunnel and turned onto 34th Street when he realized what a fool he’d been. Something had gone off in his head like a bombshell. As if a fog had cleared and his subconscious finally let the rest of his brain see the truth. He was in love with Tessa. He had spun the car around so fast he almost sideswiped a parked SUV and drove frantically back to Long Island. And then, when he found out that she was a virgin, he realized the extent of her love for him, and that love seeped into his soul and became part of his spirit. This extraordinary girl had actually saved herself for him. She was sweet and pure. Chaste. He’d never known anyone like her.
MASON WILDER: Radical Rock Stars Next Generation Duet Book 2 Page 10
