“Is this where you bite my head off for making an ass of myself?” Mason asked, following closely behind me. “I shouldn’t have said any of that, Sage. It was so out of line, and I wish I could take it back.”
I was hardly listening as I opened the door to the women’s restroom, thankful that I didn’t have to kick anyone out of there. I yanked him through, locking the door behind me, and turned to face the object of my every desire.
“Shut up,” I told him. His mouth fell open as he stared at me, looking wary of what I was about to do or say. “You can’t take back what you said now. It’s done. But what you can do is show me how sorry you are for going all domineering caveman on me.”
It took him a second for it to sink in, but he quickly registered what I was saying. What I was demanding of him. A purposeful smirk began to creep over his face. “And how do you propose I show you?”
“Use your imagination.”
Slowly, as his eyes roved over my body from head to toe, he pushed the sleeves of his thermal shirt up his forearms, exposing those sexy tattoos. My belly warmed, my core throbbing as he approached me with a look on his face that told me there was no escaping, those eyes of his burning. When he reached me, he pushed me back against the wall but didn’t kiss me. His hands lowered to the snap of my ripped jeans, opening them while his eyes flicked down to my faded Halestorm t-shirt.
“Nice shirt,” he whispered.
“Thanks.” His fingers dipped inside my underwear and I gasped, my lids falling closed at the feel of his rough skin rubbing over my silky folds. “Lizzy Hale is my hero.”
Mason brought his head next to mine until we were cheek to cheek. And when he drove one of his fingers up inside me, followed quickly by a second, I clutched his shoulders, needing something to keep me from rocketing up through the stratosphere.
“Let me show you how truly,” he whispered, planting kisses down my check, “deeply,” more kisses across my jawline, “sorry I am.”
Licking across my parted lips, he said the last but removed his mouth before I could take the kiss I wanted. He crouched down in front of me and before I knew it, my shoes were off, my jeans thrown onto the floor behind him, leaving me naked from the waist down aside from the bright purple cotton underwear I was unfortunately wearing. Of course, the night I would unexpectedly run into him had to be laundry day.
He grinned up at me with single-minded intent in his eyes. “Cute.”
I shrugged. “I wasn’t supposed to see you tonight.”
“Hey, I’m not complaining. It never matters what you wear around me because I’m going to rip it off, anyway.” He was quick to pull them down my legs and stare at his prize. “Mmm. I think she’s missed me.”
“Why don’t you find out?” I breathed, desperate to feel his mouth.
“Gladly.” He grabbed me underneath my thigh and lifted my leg, placing my foot on the sink and effectively opening me up wider to him. “Hold on, baby. And try not to get too loud.”
Fuck, he made that hard to do. Especially when the first contact his mouth made with my sex was when his lips clamped onto my clit, sucking it up like a vacuum.
“Oh my God. Oh, fuck, Mason…”
The man needed a medal for his service to womankind. Or at least to me because I was the only woman he would be servicing for the time being, thank you very much. He acted like it was his job to eat me, licking me up like he couldn’t get enough. Like I was the last thing he would ever taste in this world. He didn’t stop or even pause in his quest to make me come with a fury of a woman possessed.
“She hasn’t had enough attention lately,” he said against my skin as he worked one of his fingers inside me. “I’ll remedy that, though. Don’t worry.”
His mouth was determined, his tongue focused on that bud of nerves that heated my bloodstream when given such attention. It was too much and not enough all at once, reducing me to nothing more than a quivering, desperate woman in need. I held him to me, begging for that pleasure and when it hit, it was like an explosion, the shockwave radiating throughout every molecule in my body.
It was one of those that left you tingling for hours afterward. One so good you weren’t sure if you had imagined it.
“No way did you just do that.” Embarrassingly, I was sort of stunned by it.
He finished cleaning me up and reached out to grab my underwear and jeans. “Do what?”
“Make me come that hard.”
He paused in his effort to help me re-dress and speared me with a look. “Baby, whenever and wherever you want me to lick your pussy, just say so. Don’t even hesitate. Because I’ll never, ever, tell you no.”
He stood up after he got my shoes back on my feet and I grinned. “Maybe I should make you jealous more often.”
His gaze hardened, the muscles in his arms going all tight. “I wouldn’t recommend it. You don’t want to know the thoughts that were going through my head before I found out he was your brother.”
I was taken aback by his intensity, the conviction in his voice. “And what kind of thoughts were those?”
“I just…” he paused, the uncertainty on his face deepening. “I just didn’t like seeing you with anyone else, Sage. It made me realize that we never actually said there wouldn’t be anyone else involved while you and I were seeing each other. But—”
“You don’t have to say it, Mason,” I assured him. “I wasn’t planning on seeing anyone else. I assumed that was understood because I don’t like to share either.”
His whole body relaxed as he let out the breath he was holding. “Good. Just checking.” He glanced over at the door to the bathroom then back to me. “So, what now?”
I went up on my toes to lay a hard kiss on his lips, deepening it until I was satisfied with his resounding groan. “Now, we go back to our families and enjoy the rest of our night. And tomorrow, you can call me about making plans for this weekend.”
“Why can’t I see you tonight after the movie?”
I opened the door and looked back at him, smiling. “It’s part of your punishment.”
I walked away to the sound of him sighing behind me, suddenly feeling very eager for the weekend.
##
My feet pounded against the tiled floor, my hurried footsteps beating to the sound of my frantic heartbeat. I entered the principal’s office, bypassed the secretary, and headed straight for the glass door that I could see Katie sitting behind.
“My office called and told me I needed to get here,” I said to Catherine Palmer, the principal at Katie’s school. “What’s going on? Katie, are you okay?”
The other woman walked around her desk with a concerned expression. “Ms. Tucker, why don’t you and I step outside for just a minute?”
I glanced over at Katie who had her knees pulled against her chest with her arms wrapped tightly around them. “I’ll be right back, Katie.”
Several of my kids went to Catherine’s school, so I had known her for a while. I knew she had these kids’ best interests in mind. As soon as we stepped inside the vice principal’s empty office, we lost all formalities.
“What happened to her, Catherine?”
“A boy in her class was apparently teasing her about why she was so quiet all the time,” she said as she paced the floor. “Other kids in the class said that she didn’t say anything back, just sat there reading her book. And then he touched her arm.” Alarm shot through me. “He didn’t hit her or anything. The other kids said he barely touched her shoulder and Sage…she freaked out. The teacher said she just lost it. She started screaming about not wanting anyone to touch her and backed herself into the corner of the classroom. It took me twenty minutes just to get her to come back to the office with me. Anytime anyone gets too close to her, she starts mumbling, saying she doesn’t want to be touched.”
I was starting to feel sick to my stomach, a horribly heavy and familiar weight settling itself inside my heart. “Have you called Ed or Tina?”
“I tried but Tina di
dn’t answer the phone. I’m guessing she’s at work. And the only other thing that Katie has been saying other than telling people not to touch her was your name. She kept repeating your name, saying she wanted to talk to you.”
I sank down in a chair, rubbing my temples. “This is getting worse,” I said on a sigh. “Have you seen anything? Bruises, scratches, anything with Ed or Tina? Have either of them been aggressive with her?”
Catherine shook her head. “Not that I’ve seen. I’ve told all my teachers to keep their eyes open, but none of them have reported anything. Sage, I’m really worried. Something is going on in that house. If they were giving her the right kind of love and care, she would be getting better, not worse. This isn’t healthy.”
“I know,” I replied, so many thoughts running through my head. “I’ve spoken to Social Services about the situation, but they said they can’t do anything without proof, evidence of abuse or mistreatment. Or if Katie said something, but I haven’t been able to get her to open up to me.”
She stopped pacing to lean against the desk, facing me. “What about the other two children in the house? Have they been behaving similarly?”
“No. I’ve talked to all of their teachers, too, and nothing out of the ordinary has been going on with them.” So much of the situation was reminding me of my past.
“You know, Sage, better than me…” she hesitated before continuing, “what the not wanting to be touched thing could mean.”
I knew that better than anyone. And it made me want to take a tire iron to Ed Dole’s kneecaps, along with Roy’s, for making me even suspect it.
“I do know,” I whispered. “But I need some type of proof, otherwise they won’t listen and relocate her. We all know how this merry-go-round works. I need something strong to go on before I take drastic measures and bring the issue to court.”
I also knew all too well what insufficient evidence could mean to a case like this. If what I dreaded was really what was happening. And my gut told me that my suspicions were correct.
“Well, do whatever you have to do to get her out of there, Sage. And let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I’ve got a bad feeling and we can’t allow her to stay there much longer.”
I nodded to her and went back in to collect Katie. I bent down in front of her, careful to keep my hands to myself. “Hey, honey,” I said softly. “It’s just me, Katie. You know you can trust me.”
She slowly lifted her head to look at me and gave me a barely perceptible nod but I would take it. “Come on. I’ll take you home.” Her face fell and I wanted nothing more than to wrap her up in my arms and promise her that she never had to go back to whatever hellhole she was dealing with there. “But maybe we could go book shopping first? I need to stock up.”
A little bit of light came into her eyes as she stood up, grabbing her backpack, and followed me out to my car. My heart squeezed at how the prospect of buying new books could provide such a small amount of excitement to this little girl’s life.
“You want to talk about it?” I asked as I drove us to the bookstore.
“No,” she said quietly.
I took a deep breath but didn’t let my frustration show. “Sometimes it helps to talk about it. Makes you feel better.” When she didn’t respond, I added, “I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me, Katie. And I promise I’ll find a way to make things better if I’m able to just understand what’s going on.”
“What if you can’t understand?” she asked, her voice shaky. The sound absolutely broke my heart.
“Don’t be so sure that I wouldn’t,” I told her. “I was in the system once too, you know. I’ve seen how things happen. I know I’m an old person now, but I can understand a lot more than you think.”
Hoping that would encourage her, I stayed quiet for a while, waiting in impatient anticipation.
But I got nothing.
We arrived at the bookstore without her having said another word about the situation. I tried to personify a happy demeanor as we browsed, hoping to draw even the smallest smile from her, maybe even a laugh. I lost her in the store for a minute but ended up finding her in the romance section.
“I thought you liked fantasy and science fiction?” I asked, smiling at the book she had in her hands.
She shrugged. “Not so much anymore.”
“How come?”
“They have monsters in them.”
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. The way she phrased that caused eerie nostalgia to flood my mind. “Monsters?”
She nodded slowly, fingering the pages of the book. “Too many monsters and bad guys. The kind that give you nightmares. The ones they tell you about when you’re little but that you don’t believe actually exist. Then, you fall asleep each night, afraid you’re going to see them walk through your door, hide under your bed. And when they’re in your dreams, you feel like even sleep won’t make them go away. Nothing makes them go away.”
There was a lump in my throat, making it hard to breathe. It was like I was listening to my own voice from years before, hearing the younger version of myself describe my experiences to strangers who didn’t get it.
Forgetting myself, I reached forward to lay my hand on her shoulder, but she moved away before I could make contact. “Katie…what happened? Why don’t you want anyone to touch you? You have to tell me, honey. I promise you won’t get into trouble and no one’s going to hurt you.”
Please, tell me. Let me help you so that you don’t end up like me.
Acting like she hadn’t even heard me, she grabbed a different book from the shelf and showed it to me. “I prefer the ones with happier endings. The ones where the only things you have to fear are debutante women and corny dialogue. It’s much easier to write happy endings for those kinds of stories.”
As I watched her walk away to browse more of the store, I vowed that I would do absolutely everything in my power to make sure that Katie got her happy ending.
No matter what it took.
Chapter Thirteen
Sage
“Jesus,” Mason muttered after I told him the whole Katie story from the day before. “That’s horrible. And you still had to take her back to that family?”
I nodded, taking a sip from my soda. “The Doles have a clean record, no incidents with other children in their care, and no reports of abuse with any of the three kids currently in the house, including Katie. Legally and professionally, I couldn’t do anything but drop her off.”
“What did the Doles say when you brought her home?”
The laugh I released held no humor in it. “Mrs. Dole was at work at the time, but Ed Dole met me outside when he saw me pull in. He acted concerned over the whole thing with Katie freaking out at school, insisting that he and his wife would find a ‘solution to the issue.’”
“You don’t believe him?”
I shot Mason a skeptical look and when I replied, my words reeked of cynicism. “That man is full of shit. I knew it from the moment I met him. I know without a doubt that I smelled alcohol on his breath yesterday, and he seemed a little tipsy. I’m definitely going to report that, but one instance of alcohol use is still not enough to relocate her.”
“So, you think he’s…abusing her on some level?” he asked, choosing his words carefully.
I pursed my lips, feeling my blood start to boil with rage at the idea. “He’s doing something. I’ve gotten vibes of repressed anger from him and a distinct amount of tension between him and his wife. I can feel that I piss him off, but I don’t think he’s as careful about hiding it when I’m not around. But for one reason or another, that’s never become an issue with the system in the past.”
When Mason didn’t immediately respond, I turned my head to the side and saw a curious look on his face. His narrowed eyes held suspicion, and his set jaw displayed anger.
“What?”
“It makes me uncomfortable to know that you’re around a potentially violent alcoholic and that you seem to ma
ke him angry,” he replied in a hard voice. “Who’s to stop him from lashing out at you if you were to accuse him of your suspicions?”
I turned away and waved him off. “Please. He knows better than to mess with a social worker. He so much as touches me and I bring every law enforcement agency available to his front door.”
“Yeah, but you can’t exactly expect a man like him to think rationally, Sage,” he argued. “I’m just saying that I want you to be careful around him, okay? I don’t want you to be alone with him for any period of time. Can you at least do that for me?”
My heart melted at the concern in his voice. “Aw, you worried about me, Cruz?”
“Damn right I am,” he growled. “There’s a lot of low lives in disguise out there and I don’t much like the idea of you being around them.”
I sighed, mockingly. “I always knew you cared.”
He grunted and pinched my thigh, making me jump. “Careful, Tucker. You get too smart with me and you’ll end up with red handprints on your ass.”
My lady bits perked to attention. “Promises, promises.”
“That was low and outside, ump!” Mason yelled all of a sudden. “It was in the same spot as the pitch before!”
“Do you expect him to actually listen to you?” I asked in amusement.
He lifted one shoulder in a shrug, his eyes glued to the field. “You’d be surprised. It makes me feel better regardless.”
We were at an Orioles game, watching them get pounded by the Red Sox, 5-0. Mason’s brother Parker had gotten him phenomenal seats behind home plate, and when he asked me if I wanted to go, I agreed on one condition: That I could wear my Orioles gear without him giving me shit.
Of course, that hadn’t happened.
He was decked out in his Parker Cruz jersey and even though we were surrounded by die-hard Orioles fans, he hadn’t let up on the teasing.
“My brother isn’t the forgiving type, you know,” he said. “You wearing an Orioles jersey the first time he meets you is an offense he won’t easily forget.”
The Art of Sage (Cruz Brothers #2) Page 14
