by Nicki Rowe
“They were thinking about getting a divorce, but Dad wanted to make it work so they went to marriage counseling and saw a therapist individually once a week. Whatever happened in those sessions seemed to work for them. They are still together, and still trying to make it work.” Mason paused, and tightened his grip on my body. “I don't want to be like that. I don't want to be just going through the motions.”
I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to make promises to him that I didn't know if I could keep, so I opted for silence.
“Didn't you promise me a day of adventure?”
Mason rolled out of the bed and stretched. I marveled his naked ass. I had no intentions of getting out of bed, but I had promised Mason this would be his day. I needed to tell him more about me. He needed to know what he was getting himself into, but I couldn't tell him the truth about the man that I was. I couldn't see the look of rejection on his face when I told him the secret that has been haunting me for six years. I couldn't tell him why me, Ma and Austin finally felt free to leave Chicago all those years ago.
Mason looked back at me, his soft features clouding with concern. “You okay? What's wrong?”
“Nothing.”
I rolled out of bed and followed Mason into the bathroom.
Mason
“I hope you don't think that there is a prospect of shower sex,” I told Axe as I started up the shower. “You owe me a proper date.”
“You'll get your date, weirdo,” Axe said, pushing me up against the bathroom counter and pinning me with his body. I hissed in a breath when his erection brushed against mine. “But I'm getting my shower sex too.”
I smirked at him. “We'll see about that.”
Axe reached down and wrapped his hand around my already hard cock. “It seems like you want shower sex as much as I do.”
“Unhand me,” I retorted, but there was no heat in my words because he was right. I wanted this as much as he did. “Sure, I wouldn't mind some hot and steamy shower sex, but I want food more.”
“I can feed you my cock,” was Axe's reply.
He nibbled at my neck, and I was almost powerless to stop it. He pulled back, his green eyes meeting mine, waiting for me to make the next move.
“Such the romantic.”
Something shuttered in Axe's gaze. He pulled back from me even further. “I never said I was going to be romantic. Yes, I want to date you, and I am going to try to be the man you deserve, but I don't know how to do all that romance bullshit.”
“Axe,” I said patiently. I could already see that this was going to be an ongoing battle with him. I placed my hands on either side of his face. “I wish you could see the man I see. I wish you could see how strong, amazing, funny and yes, sometimes sweet you are. I don't need flowers, and candy or as you call it 'the romantic bullshit'. I just need you.”
“There's still some things you don't know about me,” he replied, his voice small and full of guilt. “I've done things....”
“You'll tell me when you're ready and when you do I will still be here.”
“Why?” he asked.
His eyes searched for something in mine. I don't know what he was hoping to see, but his gaze made my heart squeeze—not painfully, but squeeze in a way that I knew that my feelings for this man went beyond what I had orginally thought. I needed him. I didn't want to give voice to the words that were trying to force their way out of me so I clamped my mouth shut.
“Why do you want me?”
“Because,” was my simple reply. “Because I know who you truly are.” I placed my hand over his heart. “I know the man in here.”
Axe gave me one of his rare and treasued half smiles. “This is getting too sappy for me.”
“Okay, weirdo,” I said, smiling up at him. I planted a kiss on his cheek. “Let's take a shower.”
Axe released me and stepped in under the hot spray. He pulled me to him as soon as I shut the shower door behind me. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him down for a quick kiss.
“Shower sex?” Axe asked.
I laughed. “You seriously have a one track mind.”
Axe snorted. “With you? Always.”
I shook my head at him. “I'm serious, Axe. No sex until I get food.”
“You're withholding sex? You are denying me what's mine for food?”
“What's yours?”
“You,” Axe said simply. “You are mine.”
I smiled up at him. “Finally.” The word rushed out of me before I had time to think about what I was saying. But it was true, I had been waiting for the moment that Axe claimed me as his.
Axe looked at me quizzically, but I just spun him so I could begin washing his back.
“I have been waiting for the day you said those words.”
Axe turned around and caged me in with his arms braced against the shower tile. He leaned his head down so his lips were only inches above my own; I could feel his breath fanning my face. “Mason, you have been mine since the day I won our bet.”
I rolled my eyes good naturedly. “That's not fair. I had tequila that night. I wasn't really on my game.”
“You never did tell me what tequila does to you.”
Axe turned so I could finish washing him. I trailed my fingers over the tattoo on the back of his neck, and the scars that ran along his shoulder blades and spine. I pressed a small kiss to his back once the water washed away all the soap.
“Get a few shots in me and you'll find out.”
“How long ago did you turn twenty-one?” Axe asked, and his question was just a reminder of all the things we had yet to learn about each other.
I smiled. I couldn't wait to learn everything about this man.
“December 15.” I turned around when Axe told me to do so. “When's yours?”
“Today.”
I turned so fast I almost slipped, luckily Axe caught me before I could crack my skull on the tile. I pushed him back gently, but forcibly enough that he knew I was irritated. My voice went low. “You weren't going to tell me, were you?”
Axe shrugged, looking at me amused. His amusement frustrated me even more. “Eventually. Birthdays were never a big deal in my house. I didn't even know when my birthday was until I was nine.”
“We're doing something for your birthday.”
“We are doing something today.”
I rolled my eyes at him and slapped his bicep. He caught my wrist before I could do it again and pinned my arm against the wall above my head. My cock stirred, but I was too annoyed to pay attention to the rush of lust that was going through me. “You know what I mean. I'm getting you a present.”
Axe encircled me in his arms, and I stood there, not hugging him back but not pushing him away either. “Don't make a big deal out of this, Mason.”
“Oh,” I replied into his chest, “you bet your ass it's a big deal.”
Axe snorted. “I knew you were going to be dramatic when I told you.” He looked at me with fondness and something else that made my insides flip-flop. “Now, shower sex?”
I huffed at him, and got out of the shower. I had my towel wrapped around me and was halfway out of the bathroom when I heard him turn the water off and step out behind me.
Chapter Eight
Axe
“I have to admit this is not what I thought we would be doing when I told you to pick anything you wanted to do today,” I said to Mason as we made our way up the trails in the forest thirty miles outside of Glensville. “Of course I would want to date someone who was into hiking.”
“Are you complaining, Mr. Knox?” Mason turned so he was walking bakwards. He stuck his tongue out at me. “Are you telling me you don't love this?”
“Fuck no.”
My lungs were burning. I had worn my motorcycle boots, which evidently weren't made to go hiking, and I think I had been bitten by more bugs than I could count. I fucking hated hiking.
Mason turned to make sure I was doing okay, but something on my face was telling him to tak
e mercy on me. He fell back into step beside me. We walked in silence for a few minutes, Mason's hand snaking down to capture my own.
“I actually don't really like hiking,” he confessed after a few minutes. “I just wanted to torture you for not telling me that your birthday was today.”
I pulled up short, almost yanking Mason's arm from his shoulder. My gaze burned into his and I pressed my lips together until they were nothing but a thin white line.
“You mean to tell me we have been hiking for over a fucking hour because I didn't tell you my birthday was today?”
Mason smiled and wrapped his arms around my neck. “Don't be mad. I promise to rub your sore muscles later.”
“You fucking better,” I grumbled.
“You think you got another twenty minutes in you?” he asked, placing a quick kiss to my lips.
“I guess.”
“I promise you'll like it when you see it.”
I followed Mason further up the trail. We didn't speak, and I was okay with that. I was comfortable in silences. There weren't many people out, but the ones that did pass us stopped to tell us about everything that was worth seeing up ahead. Mason thanked them and we continued hiking. It wasn't until we came to a small trail that led to a grove surrounded by trees that Mason stopped and sat down in the grass. He handed me a water bottle.
“Why are we here?”
“This is your present.”
I gave Mason a confused look that had him chuckling.
“This was my spot after Neil died. No one knew I would come here to cry, to think, to just forget about everything that had been happening in my life. I had stumbled upon it a few days after Neil had died. I had been come up here to clear my head and I just found this spot. I hadn't even realized I had veered off of the trail until my legs gave out and I fell in the grass over there,” he said, pointing a few feet away from us. “I came out here every day for a month, and my parents never even noticed I was missing. I think after Neil died they stopped noticing a lot of things that were going on with me.”
I pulled Mason to me so that he was straddling my lap. I drew my knees up so he could lean back against them.
“This was my haven after my brother died, and I want to share it with you. Since I was short on notice I had no time to special order some weapon or motorcycle part that I am sure you are wanting.”
I snorted and wrapped my fingers around the back of Mason's neck and pulled him down for a kiss. “Thank you,” I whispered against his lips. “Thank you for sharing this with me. Thank you for taking me on that shitty hike. Thank you for giving me the best birthday ever.”
“It's not over yet.”
“Oh?”
“No. I told Jayson that you needed a cake so were going to Greta's before we go back to your house.”
I sighed. All I wanted to do was get Mason underneath me, but I guess that was going to have to wait. We both stood, rubbing the grass off of our clothes and made our way back down to my truck.
“I thought about throwing you a party, but I didn't think you would like that,” Mason said once we were settled in the truck and heading back to Glensville.
“No. I don't need a party, Mason. I just want to spend my birthday with you and no one else.”
“Why don't you like being around people?”
I slid my hand over Mason's thigh and gave it a small squeeze. “I don't trust easily. With the way I grew up, in the neighborhood I grew up in, trust was a hard thing to come by. Trust got you killed. The only person you could count on was yourself.”
“Do you trust me?”
“I trust you more than I trust most people,” I replied, never taking my eye of the road.
I saw Mason nod out of the corner of my eye. “I trust you.”
I nodded because I didn't know what to say. That warm feeling in my stomach unfurled even more and I was starting to recognize it for what it was: love.
Mason
“This is damned good pie,” Axe said a week after his birthday, licking cherry filling from the corner of my lip.
I moaned. Rubbing my body against him. We were sitting on his couch, me straddling his lap, and him licking bits of cherry pie we had ordered from The Diner from my naked chest. Of course, I hadn't fought him very hard when he suggested we ate the pie this way. Anything to do some sexy things with Axe.
Axe's phone began ringing, he picked it up and groaned when he saw who ever was calling.
“What's wrong?”
He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Now don't get mad at me.”
“Why would I be mad?” I stiffened. What was he going to tell me? Who was calling him? I began to get up off his lap, but his rough hands circled around my wrists, holding me there.
“Tina, my ex-girlfriend, is coming for a visit,” Axe said.
“Okaaay,” I said slowly. I couldn't fault him for being friends with his ex—after all, I was still friends with Diego. “Why would that upset me?”
“We were still...”
“You guys were still intimate?”
“We're not anymore!” He said quickly. He was looking at me earnestly, he looked at me like I wouldn't believe him.
I cupped his cheek. “I know, Axe. I know you haven't been with anyone since we officially got together.” He had told me about the woman in the bar, and while I was hurt at the time he told me, I had gotten over it.We were not together at the time and he hadn't fucked her, so it was easy to forgive him. He had promised me that he wouldn't cheat on me, and I believed him.
“You do?”
“I trust you.”
Axe relaxed. His phone had fallen silent, but he made no move to call whoever called him back. “You're too good for me, Mason.”
“Stop!” I said sharply, startling even myself. He blinked rapidly at me. He looked shocked, but even a little turned on by my tone of voice. Okay, storing that away for later. “Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, but you need to stop thinking that you're not good enough for me, Axe. I think you are the best man for me. Let me judge if you are worthy of my feelings, and you are.” I kissed him. “You are more than worthy.”
“Mason, you don't know everything about me.”
“I know,” I said. It bothered me that he still hadn't shared what was holding him back from me, but I would wait for him to tell me whenever he was ready. “I won't look at you any different.”
“Why?”
I cocked my head to the side and looked at him. I wanted to tell him the three little words that had been rattling around in my heart for the past two and a half weeks, but I knew he wasn't ready to hear that so I said, “Cause I like the way you fuck.”
That made him snort, so I knew my attempts to distract and cheer him up worked. “Is that all?”
I shrugged. “Yes.”
He snorted again. His lips tipped up into one of his minute smiles.
“So, when is Tina coming?”
“In three days.”
“And you're waiting now to tell me?” Axe looked at me sheepishly. I shook my head at him. I wasn't angry, but I still wished he had told me. “We need to work on your communication skills.”
A frown pulled Axe's mouth down. “I know,” he said somberly.
“Baby,” I said, pausing slightly after the endearment, gaging Axe's reaction. His eyes widened with some warm emotion, so I smiled slightly before I spoke again. “I'm not being serious—well, a little serious, but I was mostly joking. I know our relationship is going to be work, but I wouldn't want to be with anyone but you. We're going to fight, and then we're going to make up. This isn't just a learning curve for you. It's one for me as well. I have never been with someone that meant so much to me. I am afraid to lose you.”
“I don't want to lose you either.”
I slid off of him and pulled him up off his couch. “Good. Glad that's all cleared up. Now, ravage my body.”
“God,” Axe said playfully. “You're so weird.”
I whirled on him. Naturally, I stumbled
in the process, and Axe reached out to hold me steady. “I am not weird. I'm unique.”
Axe pulled me to him by the loop of my jeans. “No, you're definitely weird.”
“You're more weird.”
“No, I'm not.”
I put my hands on my hips and tried to look as irritated as I could manage, when really all I wanted to do was laugh and kiss Axe. I loved this playful side of him. Honestly, I loved all his sides, even when he was being sort of dickish. “Are you done arguing with me?”
“Mase, I'll never be done arguing with you. I could argue with you forever.”
My facade fell and I leaped into his arms. “Axe, I know you said you don't do romantic bullshit, but that was a pretty goddamned romantic thing to say.”
“You're rubbing off on me,” he replied grumpily.
I rubbed my lower body against his. “In more ways than one.”
Axe snorted. If Axe never laughed at any jokes I would be okay with it. His snorts were his way of finding me amusing and endearing (I hoped). And I treasured each one of those snorts like I treasured his mini-smiles.
Chapter Nine
Axe
Three days with Mason seemed to pass too quickly. We both had work, but all our free time was spent together. We went out to eat at The Diner, drove up to Seattle to catch a movie, but mostly, we stayed in bed and fucked each others brains out.
Mason was bouncing in the passanger seat next to me. He had insisted on coming to the airport in Seattle to pick up Tina. He was eager to meet her, but I was nervous. What would she tell him? Would they like each other? Would she tell him what I had been hiding from him? I loved Tina, she was one of my good friends, but her visitng was causing that familiar fear to rise up in my chest. Would Mason really stick around if he found out about the things I had to do in order to survive in Chicago?
