by Opal Carew
The simmering heat in his eyes startled her. She’d always believed he returned her feelings of attraction, but this blatant confirmation was unsettling. She wanted this—so much—but it unnerved her all the same.
He drew her back to a sitting position.
“Dana, are you absolutely sure this is what you want?”
She just nodded, unsure of her voice right now.
“Well, I’m not sure about this.”
She clutched at his lapels. “Please don’t turn me down, Mason.”
His lips compressed. “I’ll need to think about it. In the meantime, I’d like us to get to know each other again. Spend some time together.”
“Anything you want.” She would do anything to make this happen.
* * *
The following Friday, Mason picked Dana up at her apartment in his limo. Three hours later, the car pulled up in front of the mansion where she had lived for two years. And where she’d met, and lived with, Mason.
The driver gathered their luggage and Mason opened the front door, then gestured her inside. She stepped into the entryway and glanced around.
“It’s just like I remember it.”
“Nothing’s changed. Chas moved out about five years ago. I come here a couple of times a year, but mostly it sits empty.”
“That’s a shame,” she said, gazing at the big staircase with the oak banister, spiraling upward to the private rooms upstairs.
She had loved this house when Mason had been in it, but once he’d left, she’d found it cold and lonely. She wished she knew why he’d left, but she didn’t know if she’d ever find the courage to ask him. More because she was afraid she had been the reason, and she really didn’t want to know that.
Especially not now when her dream of being with him, at least for a short time, just might become a reality. She didn’t want old memories to ruin what was happening right now.
“So, want to race to our old rooms?” he asked with a grin.
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to make you feel old when I beat you.”
“Ha,” he said, then lurched toward the stairs.
Watching him in his designer suit, running up the staircase made her laugh, but not before she raced after him. The butler—someone new—watched them without even blinking.
Mason beat her to the door of her room. He laughed, then punched in the combination. The door opened and she peered inside. It was exactly as she remembered it.
They’d never redecorated. It had felt old and stuffy when she was sixteen, but now it felt elegant and luxurious with its cream velvet couch and chairs, rose satin drapes, and four-poster bed, dresser, and bedside tables in ornate cream-stained wood. The dining area and office nook were in the same style of wood furniture, all with soft, rounded shapes.
The artwork on the walls was very feminine. Mostly flowers and some paintings by Tricia Romance. One had become her favorite: of a young mother holding her curly-haired toddler in her arms, ribbons flowing from their hair. Sweet love emanated from the painting, and Dana had always wished she’d had a mother who adored her like the woman in the painting clearly did her own daughter.
The butler appeared with her luggage and brought it in the open door.
“You get settled in,” Mason said. “Then come to my suite when you’re done. I have a surprise for you.” He smiled. “And if you’re going to change, do you have anything turquoise? I still remember how lovely you looked in that turquoise sweater you used to wear.”
She started. In fact, she knew exactly which sweater he was referring to. She had been wearing it the first time she’d met him, and he had told her several times how much he liked it on her. So she could never bear to part with it. She’d even brought it.
“I do. In fact, I brought that same sweater for old times’ sake.”
He beamed. “Well, since you did, I’d love you to wear it.”
Then he slipped out the door and wandered down the hall, following the butler with his own luggage.
A surprise? Maybe he’d bought her some sexy lingerie. That would mean that maybe tonight would be their first time together.
Her stomach fluttered. She hoped their first time wouldn’t be their last time, too. But he’d invited her here for two weeks, so she had high hopes.
She unpacked her bags into the drawers of her dresser—except the turquoise sweater which she placed on top—then hung up her dresses. She placed her book bag on the desk, then she pulled off her shirt and put on the sweater. It was a little snug over her breasts, which made it look sexy. She went into her bathroom and ran a brush through her long, dark hair until it gleamed.
About fifteen minutes later, she walked down the hall and stared at the door to Mason’s suite. Finally, she knocked.
A moment later, he opened the door.
“There you are.” He smiled and gestured her in.
She couldn’t help but notice the way his gaze dropped to her sweater and lingered, then his deep blue eyes heated.
Butterflies fluttered through her stomach as she stepped into his suite. Her gaze fell to the couch where she’d spent so many nights cocooned in the comfort of the soft, cashmere throw, with Mason’s even breathing nearby.
“Sit. Are you hungry?” Mason sat on that same couch, patting the spot beside him.
Oh, God, he was so handsome in his snug jeans and blue striped, casual shirt.
“What’s the surprise?” She glanced around, hoping to see a box wrapped with a big ribbon. She’d open it and pull out a skimpy, lacy, next-to-nothing negligee.
“Well, I have the same movies that we watched the first night we met. And pizza will be here in about five minutes.”
“From Genario’s?” she asked. If the surprise wasn’t going to be a skimpy bit of lingerie, then a pizza from Genario’s, the best she’d ever eaten, would be the next best thing.
Mason grabbed a couple of sodas from his fridge and placed one in front of her. The same type she’d had that first night.
A knock sounded at the door, then the butler opened it at Mason’s invitation and carried in a large pizza box that he placed on the coffee table. The aroma emanating from it was heavenly.
“Would you like me to serve it, sir?”
“No, Henry, we can manage.”
“Very good, sir.” Then Henry disappeared out the door.
Mason opened the box and served her a big, gooey piece of pizza, placing it on one of the two fine, bone china plates he had stacked on the table. She took a bite, enjoying the dreamy delight of the rich, cheesy slice.
She sat back on the couch. “It’s been so many years. I was only sixteen that first time we met.”
“Sweet sixteen.”
She frowned. If he kept thinking of her as that young teenager, he’d never do what they’d come here to do. She leaned closer. “But I’m not sixteen anymore. I’m a grown woman.”
He laughed. “Down, girl. We’re going to spend some time together to get reacquainted, remember? You are not dragging me off to bed before I’m ready.”
She pursed her lips. “Shouldn’t that be my line?”
He grinned. “By all means. Tell me to keep my hands to myself and give you space.”
She smiled. “But I’m not going to do that. You can invade my space all you want.”
His expression turned serious as his gaze locked on her. She shivered as he leaned closer, heat blazing from his intense blue eyes, and she found herself leaning away.
“Do you want me to take you now?” he murmured, his voice deep and seductive. His hand brushed her arm, sending sparks flashing across her nerve endings. “Right here on the couch?”
She could see the need in his eyes. The blatant desire.
She found it hard to catch her breath. “Uh … well…”
The intensity of his deep blue eyes, simmering with heat, unnerved her. She wanted this. Wanted to feel his hands all over her. But right at this moment, she wasn’t feeling quite as ready as she’d thought.
Then his lips curled up in a smile. “Or do you want to relax and watch the movie?”
She nodded. “The movie.”
He was right. She wasn’t ready. Damn. He was always looking out for her. And he always seemed to know what she needed better than she did.
They finished the pizza and he turned down the lights as they settled in to watch the second movie, but she soon started to get sleepy. It had been a busy day at school, then the three hour drive here. Soon she dozed off.
Then she started awake and realized the closing credits of the movie were scrolling on the screen. She glanced around and realized she was leaning against Mason’s strong, sturdy body, his big arm around her. Just like the first evening they’d spent together, she’d fallen asleep, but last time she’d found herself lying on the couch alone, with Mason in another chair. He’d given her space. This time, he hadn’t moved away.
She snuggled closer, wishing he would sweep her into his arms and carry her to his bed.
He flicked off the TV.
“Hey, sleepyhead. Time for bed.”
She smiled up at him. “Okay.”
He chuckled. “I didn’t mean mine.” He stood up and took her hands, then drew her to her feet.
“So you really want me to go back to my room?” she asked.
“That’s the plan.”
She sighed and headed for the door.
“And I assume you’ll be back after you change to sleep on my couch, as always.”
She turned to face him, eyes wide. “You knew?”
He grinned. “Not at first, but yeah, after a while I figured it out.”
“And you didn’t stop me?”
He shrugged. “I knew you were lonely. And as long as you stayed on the couch, I didn’t think there was any harm.”
She smiled as she trotted to her room. Once she’d changed, she headed back to his suite. She’d take his couch over her lonely bed any day of the week.
* * *
Mason heard the door open and Dana come into the room. The lights were off, but moonlight streamed in the window so he could see her small form move to the couch and settle onto it.
He’d been used to her sleeping there when she was younger, but even then, it had caused him some restlessness. Now, knowing what they were going to do, or at least, what she wanted him to do, it was causing him more difficulties. In the form of a straining hard-on.
Fuck, he would love to drag her into his bed right now and sink his painfully hard erection into her soft body, but he wasn’t really comfortable with this whole arrangement. He was hoping they would get to know each other anew and she’d become comfortable with him again. Even reconsider the whole thing and decide to take his money as a gift.
That’s what he’d hoped, but the way she looked at him made him seriously question his plan.
As did his raging erection.
And he couldn’t even find relief. Not with her sleeping less than twenty feet away.
Fuck!
He finally fell asleep, but it was a restless night, and he woke up with a raging erection again. He grabbed his robe and headed to the bathroom where he took care of things in the shower. When he came out, he found that Dana had already left. Just like when she was younger, she’d probably set her phone alarm to wake her before his normal rising time.
That day, they drove into town and looked around, and later played some tennis. Then they went in the pool. Seeing her in a skimpy bikini wasn’t the best way to keep himself sane in this situation, but she had a beautiful body and he couldn’t help but admire it.
* * *
Dana loved how Mason couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off her while they lounged by the pool. He certainly did seem to find her attractive and she loved the feeling. And watching him, his muscular body tight and sculpted all over, was like heaven. Especially as he dove into the pool.
That evening, she was hopeful that things would progress to the bedroom, but any time she even hinted at moving forward, he teased her out of it. By the third night, she was determined to make something happen.
She decided to try something crazy, so she went into town to shop on her own, telling him she had some lady things to buy. Then after dinner, she slipped back to her room and changed.
* * *
Mason rested on his couch and sipped his beer. He didn’t know what Dana was in the mood for tonight. She’d said something about a game, so he suspected she’d return with a favorite video game.
A knock sounded at his door, then it opened.
When he saw what Dana was wearing, his mouth gaped open.
She was dressed like a sexy maid. Fuck, the neckline of the buttoned top dipped low enough to reveal a huge amount of cleavage. More than he ever suspected she had to reveal. And the short, flouncy skirt revealed her long legs, made all the longer by the six-inch spiked heels that she wore. The skirt didn’t hide the sexy garters she wore, nor the strip of bare thigh above the black stockings.
He just stared at her as she walked toward him. His cock swelled, pushing uncomfortably against his jeans. God, he wanted to fling her onto the bed and run his hands all over her.
But why the hell had she chosen a maid costume, of all things? The sight of it brought up bad associations. Maria had done a number on him. He didn’t mind fucking his subs in maid costumes. In fact, it was a real turn-on. Probably helped him to exorcise, or at least replace, his memories of Maria. But he wouldn’t do that with Dana. He couldn’t.
“I thought we might try a role-playing game,” Dana said as she sashayed toward him.
But his anxiety turned to anger and he snapped at her, “Take off that costume.”
Her eyes widened.
“Now, damn it!”
Before he knew it, she had stripped off the top and dropped it on the floor, her eyes wide.
“No, Dana, I meant—”
But before he could finish, she’d tugged off the skirt and dropped it, too.
Had she reacted to his command without thinking? Heat rushed through him at the thought that she might be a natural sub. His natural sub. Where she just automatically responded to his commands.
Fuck. She stood there in a black lace push-up bra that showcased her beautiful breasts. She still had the white, frilly apron around her waist, hiding her panties from view.
His heart raced and, as much as he wanted to order her to cover up … he couldn’t.
“I didn’t mean for you to take it off here,” he muttered once he found his voice.
“I’m sorry, but you yelled at me and I just … did it.” Her voice sounded shaky.
“I didn’t yell.”
She pursed her lips. “True. I just…” She raised her wide-eyed gaze to him. “It sounded like an order.”
“It was, but…” Fuck it. He wasn’t going to explain his intent. Right now, she was standing in front of him, practically naked, and he was having a hard time remembering why he wasn’t pulling her into his bed and driving his hard, aching cock into her.
“Never mind.”
He stood up and walked toward her. Her cheeks flushed a pretty pink as he approached. He stopped in front of her and stared down at her soft, creamy breasts.
“You really want me to take you, don’t you?”
She gazed up at him, her eyes glittering, and nodded. But he could see it in her eyes. The nervousness.
He took her hand and led her to his bed, then sat down and drew her between his knees.
“You have beautiful breasts, Dana. Do you mind if I touch them?”
“No,” she said, breathlessly.
The sound of it made his cock lurch to attention. Her breasts were at his eye level and he reached out and stroked one fingertip across the top swell of them. God, they were so soft and silky.
She reached behind her.
“No, Dana.” But he was too late.
She unfastened the bra and rested her hands on the cups, then her gaze locked on his, her cheeks flushing even darker, and she pulled it away.
<
br /> “Fuck.” The sight of her pert breasts—their tight little nipples peaking straight at him— took his breath away.
“God, Dana. They’re perfect.”
“You said…” She drew in a deep breath. “That you wanted to touch them.”
He smiled. She certainly was eager.
He reached for those perfect mounds and cupped them. They filled his hands, the tight little buds pressing into his palms. He closed his fingers around them and kneaded them.
She made a small, strangled sound in her throat.
“Do you like that?” He wasn’t sure if the sound indicated pleasure or something else.
“Oh, yes.”
He chuckled, then glided his hand under her breast, lifting its weight, and stroked her hard nipple with his thumb. Her eyelids fell closed and her head tipped back.
“So beautiful, baby.” He leaned forward and ran his tongue over the puckered nipple, then drew it into his warm mouth. Aroused by her small moan, he began to suckle.
Her fingers slid through his hair and she pulled him tight to her bosom.
He sucked harder.
“Oh, yes,” she cried.
He smiled and moved to the other breast, then suckled until she was moaning steadily, her head tossed back.
He chuckled. “You’re going to get a sore neck like that.”
He stood up and wrapped his hands around her waist and set her on the bed, then he knelt beside it. He lapped at her nipples, moving from one to the other until her head was flinging back and forth on the pillow and her moans filled the room.
Fuck, she was so responsive to his touch. His cock ached to be inside her, but he would not allow that.
She was clearly turned on and he was dying to know how much. He began to lift her apron, wanting to get at the silky panties underneath, but suddenly she sucked in a breath and pressed her hand down on the apron, stopping him from lifting it.
“What’s wrong, Dana? Do you want me to stop?”
“God, no. But I … uh…”
He waited patiently.
“I just don’t want you to … uh … look.”
His eyebrow arched. “Really?”
“I thought you would … I mean if you go inside … you don’t have to look, do you?”
