Scooping Wendy off his shoulders and setting her down, Mason scoffed. “Unlike you two, she didn’t get the jump on me.”
“No.” Shaun shoveled a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. “She just kicked your balls up into your—”
“Okay!” Julie quickly intervened. “There are children in the room.”
Shaun had the decency to wince and mutter, “Sorry.”
She turned to the two wide pairs of eyes watching the interaction with mute curiosity.
“Why don’t you guys get your swimsuits? I’ll pack us a lunch and we’ll go for a swim.”
Rick and Wendy practically trampled over each other trying to get out of the room. Dustin was nowhere to be seen, but Julie had a suspicion he was the one parked in front of the TV.
Julie exhaled and turned to find three sets of eyes studying her every move. Unlike the night before, they shared a unified expression—confusion mixed with a touch of suspicion.
“We were never introduced properly.” Luis broke the silence. “I’m Luis. This is Shaun—”
“She knows, dumbass,” Shaun muttered, returning to his breakfast ... brunch.
Some of Luis’s smile faded and was replaced by a splash of coloring that darkened his otherwise pale complexion. “Right...”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Julie said, ignoring Shaun and no longer feeling half as bad about giving him two black eyes. “I’m Julie.”
Luis broke into a charming smile that revealed slightly crooked teeth. “So that was seriously some impressive tactical maneuvering last night.”
Julie chuckled. “That was eight years of my father insisting his daughter would never be anyone’s victim. But thank you, and I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
“Whoa!” Mason, no longer entertained by the interaction, stepped forward, hands up. “Whoa, whoa, wait.” He jerked a thumb towards Luis. “How come he gets an apology?”
Julie snorted at the ridiculous question. “Because I like him.” She shot Luis a wink.
Luis beamed. “Well, it was seriously hot...” Luis flushed. “I mean...”
Stifling her laugh, Julie inclined her head. “Thank you.”
“Back off, Romeo,” Shaun mumbled. “Stop slobbering all over her.”
“I wasn’t slobbering!” Luis looked to Julie. “I wasn’t.”
Biting the inside of her cheek to contain her laughter, Julie started around the counter towards the fridge.
No one said anything as she pulled items out for the picnic and set them on the counter. Mason and Luis parked themselves on a stool on either side of Shaun and began a very detailed discussion on making a trip into town for supplies.
Julie fought desperately to ignore Mason’s dominating presence, but it was like ignoring a forest fire when it was only feet away from you. She could feel his heat washing over her through the space dividing them. But she pulled together a quick lunch of sandwiches, cheese and fruits and was absently sweeping clean the counter when Luis slid back his stool and announced he had emails to check. Shaun, after finishing his cereal, dumped his bowl into the sink and stomped off to find a chair in front of the TV with Dustin, leaving Mason there to pick idly at the container of roast beef until Julie threatened to cut his fingers off.
“You are truly a violent woman,” he decided. “I feel like no part of me is safe with you.” Before she could stop him, he snatched a large chunk of meat and scurried towards the door. “For the road,” he said around the hunk he had shoved into his mouth.
Julie watched him warily as he strolled from the kitchen and disappeared into the hallway. She shook her head as his footsteps faded into the distance.
She was still standing at the island, staring at the giant sun spill burning blindingly on the hardwood floor from the open terrace door, when Wendy bounded into the room. She had to blink back the splotches of light before she could focus on the girl.
She wore a one piece yellow swimsuit and flip flops with a pink towel slung over one tiny shoulder. She threw it carelessly over a stool and scrambled up onto another to watch as Julie collected herself out of her own thoughts and tried to remember what needed to be done next.
“Can I go to the lake?” she asked.
“Let’s wait for everyone else,” Julie replied.
Wendy mashed her chin into her palms and huffed. “But I know how to swim,” she said.
“Yes, but you still can’t go alone.”
“But I’m nine!” Wendy argued.
Julie looked up at her. “Yes, but you need to wait, okay? There are still a few things that need to be done before we can go down and I don’t want you there alone.”
Wendy puckered her lips, but didn’t push.
Rick bounced into the room next, wearing navy blue trunks. He shoved Wendy’s towel to the ground and scurried up on the stool.
“Rick threw my towel to the ground!” Wendy wailed.
“It was taking up a whole stool!” Rick protested.
Julie sighed. “Guys, keep it together. We’re almost done. Rick, please pick up the towel and put it over a chair.”
Grumbling, Rick slipped off the stool, snatched up the towel, and tossed it heedlessly onto the table where it slid across the glass and stopped short of flipping off the edge and onto the floor again.
With the basket packed and two of the three kids ready, Julie turned to the children.
“I’m going to run upstairs and get dressed. You two are not allowed to leave the house until I get back, okay?”
The two nodded with all the looks of innocent angels. Too bad she knew them too well.
“Promise?” Julie urged. “You have to stay right here.”
Again, the two nodded, but in no way did it ease her mind. She was contemplating taking them upstairs with her and making them wait in their rooms until she was done when Mason sauntered in. His dark hair had been shoved back by hasty fingers, yet several strands had tumbled recklessly over his brow and the black plastic of his sunglasses. His jaw was freshly shaven and Julie was torn between which look she liked better on him. He was topless, miles of taut, toned muscle bared for viewing pleasure. His torso reminded Julie of Greek battle armor, chiseled and defined with absolute perfection. Everything from the hard cuts of his breast plates to the taper of his narrow waist and the rock hard groves etched into his stomach were designed to make a smart girl go stupid. Black swimming trunks hung low on lean hips and her gaze was caught in the V that disappeared into the waistband.
He meandered to the opposite end of the island, tossed down a towel she hadn’t noticed him holding, and swept off his glasses. He gingerly folded the plastic arms, rested them on the counter next to the towel, and drew his bottom lip between his teeth. The right corner quirked. His lashes dropped to half-masts over twinkling blue eyes as he peered through them at her.
Julie, who was scarcely breathing, never mind being capable of rational thought, could do nothing but stare back, wide-eyed and flushed.
Mason rolled his tongue over his teeth and cocked his head ever so slightly to the side. “Just tell me when, baby.”
Julie blinked. The movement felt slow and dazed. “When what?”
He folded toned forearms on the counter between them and lowered his voice to a gravelly purr only she could hear. “When you want me to make that aching stop.”
The slow, steady thrum that had been building high in the junction of her thighs gave a desperate twang. The walls clenched like they could somehow wrap around his guttural words and ride them straight to climax. Arousal slickened her folds, dampening her panties, and she wished he would stop watching her so she could at least shift her weight to elevate some of the pressure.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied, horribly when her voice gave a tremor, betraying just how hot the longing was.
His grin was slow and devastating, but it was also knowing and wicked. “Don’t you?” His gaze traveled down her flushed face to linger on the front of her top where she could feel the fab
ric straining over the hard peaks of her nipples. They tightened almost painfully under the hot scrutiny of his eyes. “Well, then, I would be really careful how you watch a guy, sweetheart, because I will fuck you, long, hard, and fast. That’s what your eyes are begging me to do.”
The pang blossomed into a full blown throb of agony that almost sent her to the floor. It shot splinters of electricity up her limbs to crackle in the pit of her stomach. Images of him filling her, stretching her walls, and sliding deep inside her nearly tore a whimper from her lips. She bit it back and willed herself to get a grip.
“You’re imagining things.” She muttered with far more resolve than she possessed. She swallowed audibly and turned her attention to the two fiddling with Mason’s glasses. “Can you two go upstairs while I change into my swimsuit?”
“I’ll watch them.” Mason took his glasses off Wendy’s face and tweaked her nose fondly.
Julie hesitated. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely! Now hurry.” He rounded those darkened eyes on her face, the look in them hungry. “I want to get you wet.”
Jelly-kneed and tongue-tied for the first time in her life, Julie could think of nothing to say that wouldn’t wind up with her begging him to make it stop. She had to remind herself he was toying with her. That he probably didn’t even mean it, in which case, it was just cruel and she was sure she would die from female blue balls—if such a thing existed.
Turning on her heels, she hurried from the room and down the hall. At the front doors, she paused, wondering if anyone bothered picking up that morning’s paper. She then wondered if anyone even bothered delivering that far from town.
Bypassing her original destination towards the stairs, she crossed to the door, wrenched it open ... and screamed.
Chapter Four
They hung from the doorframe, a macabre wind chime held by fishing wire, their limp little bodies swaying with the late afternoon breeze that was now tinted with the coppery scent of blood and meat that had been left in the sun too long. It was the smell that instantly shut her up. It slammed into the back of her throat, tickling her gag reflex.
Julie staggered back, away from the smell and sight, and collided with something that had long, strong arms snapping around her. She didn’t care whose hold she was in. She turned into their naked chest and mashed her face into their neck.
“Julie?” The pulse at Mason’s throat hammered against her lips. “What...?”
Words failed him as he stared at the open doorway. His arms tightened around her as he swore under his breath.
“What’s going on?” Wendy appeared in the hallway alongside Rick. A second later, Dustin and Shaun were also standing in the hallway with confusion and alarm on their faces.
Mason came out of his shock first; he slammed the front door shut and turned to the crowd with a trembling and clammy Julie still clasped to him protectively.
“Mouse,” he told them with a completely calm tone. He even sounded amused. “Girls,” he added and she could almost hear the roll of his eyes.
Rick giggled.
“I’m not afraid of a mouse,” Wendy declared, affronted.
“But you’re brave,” Mason told her. “Julie ... not so much. Hey, I think I saw a box of cookies in the cupboard. Why don’t you guys wait for us in the kitchen, okay?”
“Julie said we can’t—”
“It’s fine,” Julie choked out, extracting herself from Mason’s sturdy hold. “Just stay in the kitchen.”
“Come on before she comes out of her shock!” Rick hissed and grabbed his sister.
Wendy didn’t need to be told twice. She chased Rick into the kitchen. A moment later, a new set of feet hurried down the stairs. Luis glanced anxiously from face to face with questions in his eyes.
“What’s going on? I heard screaming.”
Rather than answer his friend, Mason waved Dustin over. “Can you do me a favor? Can you keep an eye on Rick and Wendy for a few minutes?”
“Why? What’s going on?” Dustin asked.
“Some cat brought a dead mouse to the door. I don’t want them to see it when I clean it up.” Said so smoothly, even Julie, who knew it was a complete lie, almost believed him. Wanted to believe him. “I could really use your help, bro.”
Dustin seemed to swell with the idea of being needed, especially by someone he considered as cool as Mason. He puffed out his thin chest and gave a terse nod. “No problem.”
“Thanks, man.”
With a shared fist bump, he darted into the kitchen with his siblings. And only when he was gone did the light fade from Mason’s eyes. He marched to the door and wrenched it open. Julie was prepared this time—she turned away. The hand she had no recollection of mashing into her mouth felt sweaty and hot against her skin, but she didn’t take it away.
“Whose idea of a sick joke is this?” he growled in a low hiss, gaze darting between Shaun and Luis.
“Dude, I was in the living room the whole time,” Shaun said.
Luis just stared, open mouthed in horror. There was a green tinge soaking through his pale complexion. She prayed to god he didn’t vomit, because there would be no stopping her from following suit if he did.
“Someone did this,” Mason said fiercely. “And since we’re the only ones tall enough to reach—”
“Why are you looking at us?” Shaun snapped. “It could have easily been her.” He jabbed a finger towards Julie.
“It wasn’t me!” Julie willed herself to say. “I would never do something so vile!”
“Well, we’ve been in the house this whole time,” Shaun said. “One of us would have heard if someone was hammering kittens into the doorframe.”
Julie’s stomach heaved at his blasé attitude towards the situation. She tasted bile in her throat when she swallowed.
“Keep your fucking voice down!” Mason snarled. “We were out for most of the morning with the kids. You two were the only ones here.”
“And we didn’t hear jack!” Shaun replied hotly. “Unless you’re accusing us of being psychopaths?”
Mason straightened his shoulders and stared at his two friends. “We are the only people here for miles. It’s literally an hour drive into town. That’s how isolated we are. Someone here did this.”
No one spoke, or looked at anyone else. The silence was deafening, overpowered by the stench Mason was letting waft into the foyer through the door he held open. Julie wished he would shut it. With every soft breeze, the limp little figures swayed and the sight was just revolting and heart wrenching.
At long last, when it became apparent that no one was going to admit to the crime, Mason shut the door and sighed.
“Help me clean it up before the kids see,” he said to his friends.
“Wait!” Julie moved to stand between them and him. “You can’t clean it up. We have to phone the police. This is serious.”
For one fleeting second, Mason and Shaun exchanged glances over her head before those blue eyes were on her once more.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” he said.
Julie blinked and then frowned. “Not necessary? Someone butchered those poor...” She couldn’t even bring herself to say it. “And then hung them up like Christmas ornaments. I’m sorry, but we’re phoning the police.”
Mason exhaled so heavily that it ended in a low growl. “Okay, fine. I’ll phone them. You get the kids out to the pool.”
“The pool? Why—?”
“Because they’re expecting it and if you want to keep this from them, they can’t be here when the police arrive.”
Julie shook her head. “But I—”
“I’ll call you when they get here. I promise,” he added when she continued to stand there.
Cradling her insides together solely by willpower alone, Julie accepted his assurance with a solemn nod. She ducked her head and made a straight line to the powder room and the solitude it promised.
Inside, she locked the door and slumped over the sink. Her s
tomach muscles churned and coiled like an angry serpent prepared to lash out. It writhed until she was all but sagging under the counter. It was by sheer grace that she heaved herself up. Her fingers fumbled with the knob as she twisted cold water into the porcelain basin and scrubbed at her face. The icy burn of it on her flushed face made her choke upon contact, but she splashed until she was no longer in danger of fainting.
It had to have been Shaun, she thought, snapping the water off and reaching for a hand towel. No one else was capable of that much cruelty. She had often wondered how Mason could be friends with someone who took pleasure in terrorizing others. But shoving people in the hallway and knocking books out of people’s hands was a far leap from torturing and killing innocent creatures. Or was one synonymous with the other? Escalation of crimes wasn’t unheard of. Small, cruel things later growing into more heinous and nightmarish acts. At least, that’s what her textbooks said about serial killers. After all, wasn’t the torture of animals the first step?
She shuddered and held her breath as another wave of nausea passed over her. Her heart drummed between her ears, almost muffling the low, urgent whispers coming from the hallway.
“You’re not seriously going to phone the police,” Shaun was saying when she held her breath and moved to listen more closely.
“I said I would,” came Mason’s short retort.
“Why? Because some walking vagina told you to?”
Julie’s gasp of disgusted outrage was swallowed by Mason’s agitated response.
“No, because it’s the right thing to do.”
“Right,” Shaun scoffed. “You know exactly what will happen the minute you call the cops, and yet you’re still going to do it because you’ve always been a little bitch when it comes to her.”
“This has nothing to do with her.”
“Bullshit!” Shaun spat. “She is the root of everything you’ve ever done.”
Confusion drew Julie’s brows in a knot between her eyes. She pressed closer to the door, but whatever Mason said was too low to hear, although the tone rippled with an anger that left a hot wave through the room.
Kissing Trouble Page 6
