“I could blame the fireflies,” Charity said with a grin, a private joke shared with her friends who joined her laughter. “For me, I just know it feels right. I don’t know if it’s forever. It might be or it will be, because we both want it badly enough.”
“That’s a big part of it,” Hope nodded agreement.
“We’ve seen failures,” Faith said thoughtfully, spooning some of the thick pasta to her plate. “I think a lot of that comes easier when you’re younger. Building a career and a relationship has got to be tough. One usually suffers and probably takes the other one with it.”
“They’re already built where they want to be,” Hope continued easily. “Even if they are involved in what, to us, seems like an enormous career shift.”
“I guess the easiest thing is the innocent until proven guilty thing,” Charity shrugged. “If he wants you, nothing will stop him, except you, Lacie.”
“That is damn true,” Faith chuckled, setting her plate down and signaling for a waitress. “Wine, please. A white and red.”
“Look at Miss Cola…ordering wine now,” Hope laughed with the others.
“I know we don’t care for it much, but they do,” Faith returned, watching the men approaching, laughing and talking and ignoring the looks around them. “They are a pack, I swear.”
“Don’t make me hit you,” Charity growled softly at her side.
“A damn good looking pack,” Hope said with a sigh and a wink at Lacie. “It’s worth the risk. Their personalities, manners…charm…even the protective nature some of us protest against.”
“I do think he resembles a wolf,” Lacie said softly, watching the men move smoothly along the tables of food. “The big silver one I saw…he had a mate and she had pups brewing,” she smiled softly. “I hope they hide out someplace safe.”
“You’d think the refuge a safe place,” Faith said with a frown. “Did the guys with guns come back?”
“Haven’t seen…been watching…I even asked Cassidy to have her guards watching out for them on the parameter patrols,” Lacie picked a piece of bread apart and ate thoughtfully. “There’s tons of land out there to hunt on…guess a refuge makes it easy for them.”
“All the guy talk covered?” Faith asked, glancing from one to the other as they sought out their other half and settled a plate on the table. She met the teasing gleam on Dominic’s face and he winked at her.
“Sports, politics, idiot governments…” Devon ticked off the topics.
“The various choices of books on the shelves of our girls,” Nico added thoughtfully.
“You want wicked discussion, get Faith involved in your baseball talk,” Dominic said with a chuckle. “And have bail money ready.”
Faith lifted her goblet of water and ignored the laughter.
“That was a little scary,” Charity admitted. “I’d never posted bond before.”
“No the scary bit was being in court with four guys who look like they belonged in a serious biker gang and Faith is in the middle looking innocent,” Dominic shook his head.
“What happened?” Mason looked around the table.
“The judge ordered that the bar repairs be paid for and dismissed the charges,” Lacie said quietly, keeping her eyes on the plate. “He didn’t believe that girls could cause the kind of trouble that the four guys claimed.”
“Girls? You were there?” Mason watched her lightly drag moisture over her lips.
“She was there,” Faith said casually. “And is killer in a discussion about tactics and talent and the stupidity of backroom managers.”
“Let’s not mention her left cross,” Hope murmured on the rim of her wine glass.
Mason sat back in his chair. “You like baseball.”
“Just keep her out of sports bars,” Nico said with a chuckle.
Chapter Eight
Lacie applauded loudly with the others in the audience as the speeches came to a close. She got up with the others and wandered as people dispersed, taken on tours around the combination hospice and women’s shelter.
“Hope…it’s amazing,” Lacie stepped into the transformed ballroom, taking in the huge play area that simulated an outdoor park.
Trees, swings, bars and slides dotted the landscape along with every possible form of climbing platform a kid could want to play on.
“I had half the lights replaced with grow lights for the plants and to give it a look of sunshine,” Hope walked with her friends along the paths.
Lacie found a quiet corner and sat on the new swing. She kicked her heels off and relaxed, gripping the chains and letting herself float with the motion. She listened to her friends chatting as they explored, laughter echoing through the large room.
Mason opened the buttons on his tux, hands in his slacks as he walked the path. Hope had told him where she was but even without that, he could hear the soft humming, an old tune from a children’s nursery rhyme.
“You manage to seek out the most solitary places, Lacie,” Mason was careful to step into her view.
“And yet you manage to find me,” she returned with a laugh, pumping her feet and gliding a little higher. “It was a very nice dinner. Hope is so very proud of Devon and this place. It was brilliant when we switched it to a hospice and a shelter. The security will be top rate.”
“You’ve helped it along, Lacie. Devon told me your donation will pay for therapists for the women for several years,” Mason watched her stop moving, allowing the swing to glide to a slow stop. He stepped forward, his hands up when she stepped into the shredded ground cover. She held tightly to his wrists, walking carefully until she was on the stone path.
“Do we need to go back upstairs?” Lacie asked, smothering the little yawn.
“We don’t. I’ve given them our farewells and called for the car,” Mason took the wrap she had draped over one shoulder and put it around her. “It’s raining and windy.”
“It’s Seattle. I like it,” Lacie moved at his side, listening to the door latch behind them as they walked across the large, open lobby.
“Have you lived here all your life?” Mason closed the door after she slid inside and went around to the other side to join her.
“I was born here. Shauna and I were both born in Seattle. Same mom, different fathers. Mother didn’t have a lot of sense,” Lacie said with a sigh. “We were raised by our grandmother. She believed in diversity in our educations.”
“I’m not sure what I’ve learned about you qualifies as simple diversity, Lacie. Is Shauna as diverse?”
“Shauna knew what her path was,” Lacie said simply. “She’s wanted to be a vet all her life. Even when we were kids…we started studying when we were about ten…and she never stopped. I swerved on some other paths.”
“When did you start drawing? I think that’s a good path for you. You put a lot of life into what you create,” Mason felt the softness of her hair beneath his palm, fingers brushing the stray tendrils from the side of her face.
“Drawing was easy. I started putting pictures on every flat surface in the house by the time I was five,” Lacie relaxed and laid her head on his shoulder, pulled her knees up and curled against him. “What you want to know is where do I fit all that varied and unusual stuff inside my head. And how I absorb it so well since I’m obviously still a child.”
“Child isn’t a word I’d used in connection with you, Lacie.”
“Child prodigy. How are those words? When you hear them enough, they actually begin to grate,” she said quietly. “Some people grovel. Some poke and prod. Some hate you. Really, genuinely hate you and you’re smart, but you can’t figure out why. You can never figure out what you did. You trust people and find out it’s all a lie. They want something. You learn the meaning of the word predator very early on,” she said with a shaky sigh. “So you throw yourself into everything just to block them out. The more you can crowd into your head, the less room there is for them to find a weakness, find a way to use you.”
Lacie close
d her eyes and let the night close in on her in the silence.
But you don’t have that problem if you surround yourself with children, Mason thought, lifting a blanket from the back and draping it over her. He eased her to his lap, stepping onto the concrete and nodding to the inside.
“Hand me her shoes, Russell,” he held out a palm, letting the small heels dangle as he entered the lobby of the resort, striding confidently to the elevator. Dark head tipped, his smile acknowledging to the woman on the front desk. The whimsical side of him wondered about the stories that would be going through the staff and guests tonight.
The shoes fell to the floor inside the suite and he continued on to the bedroom, laying her out carefully on the bed. He wondered how little sleep she’d been getting. She hadn’t moved. Murmured a little. A soft pout formed around the full lips when he tipped her to the side just enough to ease the zipper out of the way. He dropped a large tee shirt over her head before sliding the dress off and letting it fall on a chair. Mason had her tucked into the large bed before he began undressing and headed to the shower.
It was three when Lacie rose from the large bed, eyes barely open as she found the bathroom and looked around in the dark.
This wasn’t her apartment.
She saw her dress and Mason’s tux lying on the large, cushioned chair. She hadn’t realized she was so very tired. She definitely had not intended to fall asleep on the man, she sighed. Continental manners and so many other things about Mason Wells had found a place inside her that no man had ever occupied before.
Wolves mate for life, she thought as she wandered into the large open space.
She wondered if he would protest, her head tilted in thought. Lacie found what she wanted in the small evening bag she’d carried and then went looking. She knew how to tie effective knots. Ones with a single pull that would release them both from his wrists. He made it easy, she thought, by sleeping on his back with his arms above his head. She ran her palm lightly over his face, fascinated by the dark stubble as she bent down and kissed him.
Lacie stretched out at his side, allowing her hand to stroke gently over his face, slim fingers sliding into the thick hair with a little groan against his lips. His body woke and responded to her kiss.
She met the dark eyes when they opened slowly, her kiss ranging along his jaw. A tiny smile touched her lips when he pulled against the socks she had used to secure his hands above his head.
“Lacie? What…” Mason blinked and twisted, frowning at her even as she continued to kiss him.
“You were a wonderful gentlemen last night, Mason. I’m sorry about that. I didn’t realize I was so tired,” Lacie sat up, both hands stroking over the firm, warm chest. Light drifted around them from the outside, through the windows and patio doors. Just enough that he knew when she crossed her arms in front of her and pulled his tee shirt over her head.
“Lacie…” Mason felt the moisture evaporating from his mouth. “Why can’t I move?” Came the cautious question, the words in it sending his libido soaring and his cock hardened at her game.
“Because I want to explore,” she whispered against his mouth, trailing her tongue along his jaw to his throat. Kisses and nips and warm palms caressed over his body. Fingertips expertly learning the dips and strength in the muscles straining beneath her touch.
“This is supposed to be a team activity,” Mason knew his body had reacted from the first, a low groan pulled from inside when her palms stroked down his sides and along the band of his pajamas.
Lacie laughed softly, one palm gliding over the fabric and onto the strong, solid evidence. “I think part of you is participating nicely.” She pushed the pajamas out of the way, excitement blending with the anticipation. She’d seen plenty of males in her life.
Enough, at least.
But none that wanted her like this. She looked at his face as she allowed her palm to stroke over him, softly, then more firmly.
Fire burst into life in his eyes, his arms straining and making her smile as she continued kissing over his chest, onto his stomach and lower.
Mason’s head hit the surface of the bed with a long, plaintive groan. Warm and wet, she was exploring and there wasn’t a thing he could do to stop her. He lifted his head after a few minutes when the sofa bed and Lacie wiggled.
It wasn’t light enough for more than a silhouette of her kneeling at his side, small, round breasts and curving back that led to the rise of her behind. He felt her hands on him again and realized what she was doing.
“Lacie, take these off my hands…” It was a very new sensation for him, having the control of the situation taken from him. He should have been furious, not incredibly aroused.
She slid her leg over him and met his eyes. She could see so many things flair to life there, she realized as she stretched over him.
“Why? I could…it’s set up easily to set you free with the tug of one end,” she brought her mouth to his, her chest pressed against his. She allowed her hips to rotate and press, angle and moan softly when the right spot was massaged. “I think it’s erotic…I think part of you finds it incredibly arousing to have a woman seduce you. Make love to you…I like the way you taste,” she whispered against his mouth, her tongue sweeping in and teasing his to play. “And I really like the way you smell…so many senses involved…”
He felt the hot moisture against his lower body, his groan deepening when she parted her thighs further, lodging him and moving against him. Small movements. Teasing strokes that aroused and taunted and warned him. She pushed slowly against his chest until she was sitting higher, rotating her hips and taking more and more of him.
“Mason…” Lacie felt the spiral beginning, the hot center of her stretched and stroked. Part of her forgot to breathe even as she heard the soft whimper. Just outside her reach, she groaned. She leaned over him, kissed him and released his hands.
He could feel her frustrations. Her body seemed to vibrate with need, a need that rose a notch when his hands surrounded her breasts, fingers toying, stroking until the taut peaks sent a rough shudder through her. He saw the surprise in her eyes, her head back as the sensations began to mount for them both.
“Lacie…baby…you should have gone slower…you’re so fucking tight...” he felt himself surrounded, gripped and held. His cock slid along the steamy moisture, stroking deeper. His hands moved to her hips, holding her in place and stopping her from sinking as quickly as she wanted.
“Shhh…oh, Mason…” New. All new and so many sensations. Delicious sweeping sensations that had her body sparking and igniting under his touch. “More, Mason…please…”
A groan ripped through him, his cock was surrounded and clenched in the taut sheath of her muscles as he thrust hard into her at the same time his palm slid down her stomach to the tangle of tawny coils. He found the swollen nub, spread the moisture and stroked, massaged and pressed until he felt the syrup begin to flow even thicker.
He felt her body freeze, her eyes closed for the briefest moment before the crystalline shattered and she gulped in a great gasp of breath. She took his hands, palm to palm as their fingers gripped one another and she took in the fullness of him and the complete sensations that rocked her. Low, sweet moans broke from inside her finally, her hips rotating, swiveling and thrusting down, hard.
Mason was captured, his own breathing ragged from the pleasure.
Lacie heard his name whisper from her lips. She felt her body quiver from someplace very deep inside her; quake and ripple. She felt him moving, thrusting with delightful power and sending her body into a new round of convulsions, new and sweeping; she heard him calling to her and let the long flow of waves slowly, very slowly subside. Her body slid to a sweaty, damp fall against his throat, her tongue out to taste their passion.
“Oh my goodness…” Lacie blinked when his hands left her hips to frame her face and pull her mouth against his. A long, deep kiss that had her breath catching again.
“Christ, Lacie…babe, you’
re killing me,” Mason brushed the damp hair from her face, the corner of his mouth tilted when she exhaled and snuggled back against him. “You can’t stay like this…those things…where did they come from?”
“I bought them in the ladies room,” she answered, eyes wide the next instant when she was lifted and settled on the sofa-bed. He looked at the wrist he held up, one dark brow arched. She offered a weak shrug and saw them fall to the surface before he was up and headed toward the bedroom. Lacie found her panties and the tee shirt he’d given her to wear before following. She dropped them to the floor and crawled into the blankets with a long sigh.
Lacie pressed her face into a soft pillow, long legs clenched together and toes curled. Her memory held the sensations inside. She felt the bed move ever so slightly and tipped her face to the side with a long breath.
“Hi…”
“It’s four in the morning,” Mason pulled the blankets up, the dim light shining in the room giving him a better view. His hand found the end of her braid and tugged. “Does this come off?”
Lacie rolled to face him and raised one hand, pulling the band free and closing her eyes as his fingers took over and unraveled the braid before sliding against her scalp and pulling her mouth to his for a slow, deep kiss. Her hands stroked over his chest, winding around his neck and giving herself over to the hot bubbling beginning in her middle again. It spread, wildly in all directions when he tipped her to lie over him and his hands had free reign from her face to her behind.
“Oh, god that feels so good,” she whispered against his mouth.
“That’s why the hands stay free,” he laughed.
“I didn’t want you to stop me,” she said simply meeting his eyes when he welcomed her against him.
Mason vaguely glanced at the clock. Shortly after five, he thought seconds before the room was filled with strong, steady breathing. He was grateful he’d left the blinds down. He just wasn’t ready for morning.
WindSwept Narrows: #19 Lacie Page 5
