Back at the carriage, Lilly climbed up and settled in, happy to be back by Mason’s side. Worried about his injuries once more, she would tell him about Stefan, but not just yet. Once he was home safe and healed, she’d let him know.
“Should we go to the Elders or can you mend on your own? I’ve never seen injuries this bad.” Shot at such a close range, the damage had been extensive.
“I’ll manage it myself.” Mason shifted in the plush seat of his carriage with a groan. “Were you able to trace Jack?”
Like a dog with a bone once he had something in that one-track mind of his.
“I followed his energy as far as the green but once there, it seemed to be everywhere. I’m convinced he took the time to mask his trail before going to the house so we’d not be able to follow.” She took his hand and gave it a squeeze, for Jack’s intentions were becoming clear. “He knew you’d be waiting for him, Mason. I think he planned to injure you in retaliation for meeting with his wife.”
Mason scoffed, as he gave her a sideways glance. “And that surprises you, love? You are too naïve.”
She yanked her hand away from his. “I’m not naïve, Mason. I just try to give others the benefit of the doubt.” She shifted in her seat to pin him with a steely gaze. “How do you think we manage to maintain any relations? For certainly, I’d not come within ten feet of you if I didn’t have just a little faith in your humanity and kindness.”
“My humanity and kindness, aye?” A hard bump in the road left Mason stifling a groan and Lilly wondering whether he was healing quickly enough. Despite his condition, he leaned over and kissed her cheek, a hint of a smile upon his lips. “Well, if there’s any hope for me, then it’s to your credit.”
He was doing it again—tearing at her defenses with words unexpected. Words made all the more potent when set against his normal crass antagonism. Words that left her confused and vulnerable.
Not wanting to discuss their relations again, she decided to distract him, instead. “While I was looking for Jack, that man—the one who can see our true nature—approached me.”
“Why did you not say?” Cursing out loud, Mason grabbed her hand. “Did he hurt you?”
“No, though he did a good job of frightening me.” She hated Mason knowing how vulnerable she felt, but thought it best to be honest with him. “His name is Stefan, though he did not give me a surname.”
“And you’re not harmed?” He looked her over as if seeing her for the first time that evening, though in the shadows of night, she knew not what he expected to see.
“Mason…” She swallowed hard at the recollection. “He said we’d soon meet again and would have plenty of time to ourselves. The way he said it… it scared me.”
“I promise I’ll keep you safe, love.” He cupped her cheek, and she leaned into his hand, desperately needing to feel him close, despite the distance she’d been trying to put between them only moments earlier.
“I do not like that he keeps turning up. How does he even know where I’ll be?”
Mason pulled her into his arms, and she carefully leaned her head on his shoulder, hoping she’d not hurt him. “It could be that he’s following you, though if he’s clairvoyant, he may also be using his ability to find you. Either way, I do not like it one bit.”
“What will we do?” With her days spent wandering about London on her reaps, she knew it’d be impossible to constantly keep her guard up.
“We’ll need to speak to the Elders. They may have an easier time finding the man. In the mean time, I want you to stay with me.”
“In your home? It’s out of the question.” Her heart would not stand a chance if she started playing house with Mason.
“Is it really? When there’s a maniac following you?” And then she felt a change in him, his head cocked, his eyes hard. “Well, I’m afraid you’ve no choice in the matter. You’re not only important to this investigation, but imperative, if we have any hope of catching Jack. I’ll send someone to fetch your things.”
Lilly cocked an eyebrow and crossed her hands before her chest. “And the chancellor returns once more.”
As chancellor, he’d be infuriating, but safe. However, living under the same roof as him, even if just a temporary measure, was anything but. If there was one thing that was dangerous, it’d be having Mason close by with no way to escape his charms. Her heart wouldn’t stand a chance.
Quite frankly, she’d rather take her chances with Stefan.
***
Lilly carefully peeled Mason’s shirt from his body, the dry blood sticking the fabric to his skin. The shot had torn through his chest just right of his heart and come out the other end. Though the wound had already closed up on the surface, it was clear he’d need more time to fully heal. She kept telling herself he could not die, but she knew, had he not been a reaper, he’d likely have bled out in her arms, then and there.
“Should I send for Pierce? I’m sure he’d want to know about your injury.” Lilly knew Pierce and Mason were close.
He shook his head while she helped him lay back onto the bed. “No. He’ll do nothing but fret, and I need him to finish his investigation in the country. I sent him to check on Jack’s family outside of London.”
“You know Pierce will be none too happy when he finds out you got shot—and even less happy that you didn’t send for him.”
Mason let out a grunt of dismissal. “I’ll heal before long.”
“Well, I’m glad you can so easily dismiss getting shot.”
Still worried, Lilly retrieved the cloth and bowl of hot water. With a gentle touch, she sat by his bedside and cleaned away the blood while trying to keep her hands from shaking. How could Jack shoot him like that? Without hesitation or remorse.
Mason said nothing while she tended to him, and it only made matters worse since the silence brought her emotions to the surface. She dropped the cloth in the water now tainted crimson with Mason’s blood. “Have you sent word to the Elders?”
He pursed his lips in annoyance. “No. It can wait until tomorrow. I want a chance to heal fully before dealing with them.” He took her hand in his, fingering the silver ring she wore on her right hand. “I’ve sent for your things. I know you’re not pleased about staying here, but I’ll not risk that maniac getting his hands on you, especially when your defenses as a reaper have no affect on the man. You know not what he’s capable of, and though you cannot die again, there are horrors far worse.”
“The thought never occurred to me, Mason.” Lilly refrained from further sarcasm, still on edge from all that had occurred. “Do you think you’ll have healed fully by tomorrow?”
“No. Not fully, but certainly enough.” He said no more as eyes of hazel took her in for a silent eternity.
She held his gaze as long as she could, but in the end she could not match his intensity. She turned away, but he tilted her chin towards him, so she was looking into murky green pools once again, only this time they were but a heartbeat away.
“My dearest Lilly.” It felt like he’d stolen her very breath and the only air left was too thin to sustain her. And then, as if he was her sole lifeline, she clung to him as he kissed her, his lips hard on hers.
He pulled her towards him, their bodies pressed against each other, her fear of losing him to injury mingling with the heat of passion. Thoughts of her own vulnerability died in his kisses, even though she knew he’d claim yet another piece of her heart. The battle she’d long fought was slipping from her grasp.
He nipped his way down the slope of her shoulder before trailing kisses back up her neck and to her lips. She knew she should stop him, stop herself, for it was too dangerous, but in the end, all she could manage was a half-choked moan of need. She’d last taken him to her bed over a month ago, yet she’d been in his company the entire time, stoking the fires that lie deep within her.
She wanted him, needed him, yet if she let herself by swept away by his charms, she’d fall off the edge she’d been teetering on. At some
point, her feelings for Mason had turned towards the serious, sneaking up on her with little warning. Yet she was sure it was one sided, for he’d always made it clear that his position as chancellor took precedence—and Mason was not one to let anything stand in his way. Certainly not love.
Knowing he would only shatter her heart, she gathered what strength she could and pulled away. “I cannot do this, Mason. I’m sorry.”
“If you’re worried about my injuries, I’ve healed enough to not be too bothered, and quite frankly, it’s a trade I’m happy to make.” A smile curled upon his lips, his eyes looking at her languorously before he bent forward to kiss her once more.
Again, she stopped him. “Though I worry about your health, it’s not the reason why.”
He pulled back and looked at her confused. “Then what is it, my love? Have things changed between us? Because I do not recall the matter ever being this difficult. Do you not trust me?”
“Do you think I’d be here if I didn’t trust you?”
“Then what is it? Something has changed, and if you’re going to push me away, then the least you can do is tell me why.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “We’re good together, love. Do you not see that?”
Lilly tried to clear her thoughts but they were too tangled in the web of emotions Mason spun whenever he was near. “No. I’m afraid I don’t.”
He leaned in and nipped at her lips. “Then perhaps I need to refresh your memory.”
Chapter Thirteen
Mason felt her soften in his arms as he kissed her, his pulse thundering in his head as he pressed her body to his. He’d not let Lilly go until he was well and ready. As if having the investigation turned over to Nelson, and getting shot by Jack hadn’t been trying enough. He had too much vested in her, not only with the investigation, but with their relations. He needed to make her see that he was worthy of her trust, if not her heart.
They were good together, and if she needed help seeing it, then he’d do just that, pain and injuries be damned. He’d not let her throw it all away so she could dwell on the past and be miserable.
“Mason, you were just shot. You’ll do yourself an injury.” She tried to free herself, but he was having none of it.
His words were rushed between kisses. “I’ve healed.”
Working quickly, he freed her of her garments, not wanting to give that pretty little head of hers even a moment to start thinking. For that was part of her problem. Instead of giving in to the attraction and passion between them—to what could be—she let herself over-analyze everything.
Well, he’d not give her the opportunity.
Freeing her of the last bit of clothing she wore, he helped her as she rid him of his remaining garments, though the work had already been half accomplished from her earlier ministrations to his injury. He cupped her full breast, the weight of it heavy in his hand. He then pulled the hardened nub into his mouth, while his hand wandered over silky flesh to the small of her back and the fine curve of her arse.
Laying her back upon the pillows, he took advantage of his position to trail kisses down her milky skin and over the slight swell of her belly. He loved that she had some curves to her, so very reminiscent of the women of his time, and so unlike the women of this day, who preferred to starve themselves to nothing, and in the process lost all their womanly charms.
He kissed the curve of her hips, but she stopped him. “Mason, please.”
Those two simple words could mean so many things. Mason, please, I want more. Mason, please, don’t stop. Mason, please, take me. And yet he knew it meant not one of those things. Indeed, what it meant was he’d done an insufficient job distracting her from her thoughts.
He shifted and covered her lips with a kiss, barely pulling away to speak. “What is it, my love?”
While she answered him, he kept up his distractions by nipping at her ear. “Damn it, Mason, stop.” But he didn’t, for even as she spoke, she was leaning into him for more.
“This is not a place for thoughts and contemplation, love—at least not at this very moment.” He bit her bottom lip, but when she put a hand on his chest and applied gentle pressure, he pulled himself away and took her hand in his.
Her eyes were wide with a panic he did not understand. “I cannot stay here, Mason. And I cannot keep falling into bed with you.”
Though he’d heard her make similar statements before, this time it hit him like a fist to the gut. Never before had he seen her so hesitant about their relations, and truth be told, it had him worried.
“Lilly, talk to me. Whatever the problem, I doubt the matter will work itself out on its own, and I want to do all I can to help. You were out of sorts even before I got shot.”
She pressed her fingers to her temple and let out a shrill laugh filled with desperation. He’d never seen her like this, and it had him worried. Not since his wife had he let himself get attached to anyone, and though he’d not admit to his feelings being of such a serious nature, it’d pain him to lose her.
Pulling a blanket off the end of the bed he wrapped her in it to give her some decorum of modesty. She quietly thanked him and then with a deep breath, pulled herself upright and pinned him with a hard gaze that would catch even the most minute thought or emotion that crossed his face. “What am I to you, Mason?”
He would have groaned had he not been under such scrutiny. Clearly, now would not be the time to try skirting the issue. He let out a sigh and prepared for the worse—honesty. “You are my lover,” he brought her hand to his lips, “and my friend. Someone I trust utterly and completely.”
“Your friend?” When her eyebrow perked up in sarcastic question, it took all he had to not kiss her, take her. He wondered if she did it on purpose, if she knew what it did to him when she got feisty and defensive. “I’ll admit I had not expected that one.”
Unable to resist much longer, he cupped her face and tangled his fingers in her hair, as he pulled her to him for a hard kiss. “I do not know what you want from me, love, but I’d like nothing more than to oblige you. Have things changed between us?”
“They have, but it was not of your doing.” When she lowered her head, looking away, loosened locks of her dark silky hair fell before her face. He brushed them away, and she sighed, sounding defeated. “I’m sorry if I’m not making much sense.”
Mason pursed his lips as he thought of what could be bothering her. When had this all started? He did not remember any issue before that morning. As he gave it some more thought, he recalled waking to find his bed empty and Lilly agitated.
“Is it because of the Elders? Nelson?” Or was it because of the child?
“Neither.” She touched his cheek and gave him just a whisper of a kiss, though it lingered as if it were their last. “I need more than you can give me, Mason. I thought it was enough—and it was for a while—but now… I’m sorry.”
Her words left him frustrated and hurt, his heart breaking that she could think so little of him.
“How would you know what I’m capable of giving, Lilly? Have you ever bothered to see past the façade you built for me? Have you?” He got up and threw on his undershirt, before pacing to burn off some of his energy, ignoring the twinges of pain. “Well, I’d not want you to accuse me of bullying you into something you’ve no interest in pursuing. I’ll have a guest room made up for you.”
“You’re twisting my words around.” She stepped in his path, the blanket draped precariously around her naked body. Her cheeks flushed red against her porcelain skin. “I cannot give in because I already care too much. Damn you, Mason.”
She stood there like a goddess of fury and desire, her hair disheveled and falling over her skin, dark on light, setting his soul on fire with eyes of ice blue.
“Damned indeed.” With his passions aflame, he was on her like a wolf taking down his prey. Their lips locked in a heated kiss, his hands lifting her off her feet and landing them on the bed, as her legs wrapped around his.
She spok
e between kisses. “You’re injured, Mason.”
“I’ve healed.” His lips found hers once again, his head spinning as she returned her passions. Yet he fought through his need and pulled back just enough to keep her at bay, worried about how upset she’d been and the words she’d spoken. “Are you sure, love?”
In response—almost as if she could not bring herself to speak the word—she thrust her hips towards him as her legs held him close, sheathing him in her slick heat. She left him dizzy, every nerve charged with tension, his focus intent on the only thing that mattered—Lilly.
Had he always loved her, but refused to admit it even to himself? Or had it been gradual, as she charmed him little by little until he knew nothing but her? It did not matter, he decided, for though he could entertain the thought for now, he’d not be able to submit to his heart in the light of day. He’d like nothing more, but knew she’d not find happiness when so much of his life revolved around being chancellor.
Jack - A Grim Reaper Romance Page 10
