by Brook Wilder
When he was ready, and not a moment before, he pushed me over the table and plunged into me. I moaned in appreciation of the suddenness of his penetration. Mason grabbed a handful of my hair as he pulled back out then plunged back into me again and again. I couldn’t catch a breath. I gasped as his thickly engorged dick stretched my pussy. The warm sensation in my abdomen built and urged me to move, to find a release.
Only Mason would not allow that release. Not yet. Not until he was ready. He held me place, his hand in my hair.
“Oh, Mason!” I moaned.
I pushed up off the table with my arms. I tried to look at him over my shoulder, but his hand in my hair kept me from doing so. I accepted my fate and let him take me on his terms. He wanted me to come for him, and I would. I could hear his breath coming in harsh bursts as he thrust into me.
He slid his hand under me as he thrust, and I felt his fingers brush against my nub. The sensations knifed through me, and I knew my climax was not far away. I had no choice in the matter. My body wanted what it wanted. I rode the sensations that Mason sent through me with his fingers and his thrusts. My body clenched around him. I panted as I came for him.
Mason cursed under his breath as he thrust into me deeper and harder. As a feeling of warmth emptied into me, Mason collapsed over me on the table, sucking deep breaths.
I lay spent on the table with Mason’s weight on top of me. His breath tickled my ear.
“Good girl.”
He slipped out of me and, when I made no move to get up, he scooped me up as if I weighed nothing to him. He carried me to our room and deposited me on the bed, where I lay still and content until I fell asleep.
Chapter 12
Cassie
My eyes blinked open. Mason was not in bed beside me. Voices came from the front room. The small safehouse where Mason and I had bunked down was so small that I could clearly hear Mason’s deep voice. I slipped out of bed and pulled on the panties and jeans Mason had dropped in a pile on the floor by the bed. As I pulled my shirt over my head, I edged closer to the door.
Khloe’s voice came to me.
“This is on you, Mason. Those girls died because of you. I was trying to protect you.” The woman’s voice trembled with anger. “I’ve strived to stay neutral, but you had to go and pull me into conflict with that maniac.”
She sounded upset and my brow furrowed in worry. The girls at the brothel had been killed? I gasped softly.
“You can’t lay that on me,” I heard Mason growl back. “No one told you to stick your neck out for us.”
“So, that’s how it is?” Khloe’s voice was filled with disgust. “I’ve had enough. You aren’t worth this. I’m not risking my girls for any of you anymore. I just thought you should know that Ruiz is after Cassie and you. I gave you up, for all the good it did my girls.”
My mind stuck on the comment about Mason not being worth this. I was so wrapped up in wondering what that meant that I missed part of the exchange between the two of them.
“We’ve been through a lot,” Mason growled.
“Don’t I fucking know it,” Khloe sounded outraged. “You brought that girl out here to play house. I don’t care about the war. Now its personal. You and Ruiz can measure you dicks all you want. In the end, you’re just sad little boys.”
There was a crashing sound, and I cringed. They sounded like old lovers fighting. I had heard arguments like that before.
Before I could even begin processing all the doubts and fears in my mind, I heard the door slam and Mason sigh and curse under his breath.
I realized it would look like I’d been eavesdropping if Mason came back into the room now. I quickly took the clothes back off and tried to pile them back the way they had been. If he came back in, perhaps he wouldn’t notice.
I slipped back under the covers and pretended to sleep, but the minutes dragged by and Mason did not return.
***
The next morning, I found Mason sitting at the kitchen table. I wondered suddenly if he had even been back to bed. Obviously, he had changed clothes at some point. He had on clean jeans and a gray t-shirt. The look he gave me held a sadness that I did not expect.
“Morning,” I said softly.
I grabbed a glass and got some of the orange juice I deemed still relatively safe to drink. It was hard to keep up with groceries when we were moving around so much.
“You okay?”
Mason grunted. He had a bottle I didn’t remember seeing before in his hand. Had he been out? My mind went back to Khloe’s visit. He must have been upset by what had happened, but he didn’t know that I knew about that. I bit down on my questions.
“Did you sleep?” I asked, raising the glass to my lips.
I took a sip of the juice while I waited for his answer.
Mason shrugged.
“Some… Listen. I don’t know how much I’m going to be around. Lay low, and I’ll be back when I can.”
He stood up and chucked the empty bottle into the trash, with a resounding crash of glass that told of other empty bottles already in the trash.
“Are we hitting another warehouse?”
I knew that the plan to hit the Cartel where it hurt was going well, and I was happy to help keep the momentum going forward. However, it sounded like I wasn’t being invited to the raid.
“No ‘we’,” Mason grumbled. “You stay here.”
“But we’re a team,” I reminded him. “We work well together.”
His eyes locked on mine.
“Maybe we should change that,” he said. “Things are getting dicey, and I need to have my full attention on the fight. This is my fight, not yours after all.”
I folded my arms in front of my chest.
“How chivalrous of you,” I observed sarcastically.
Mason slammed his hand on the table, causing me to jump.
“It’s not up for debate,” he said firmly.
I nodded numbly. He was worried. I could see that. I had grown accustomed to him. And, although he liked to hide behind his bravado, the real Mason shone through to me. He was scared. I’d never known him to show so much fear, and it shook me.
“I don’t want you getting hurt,” he said, “and it’s inevitable if you keep acting like you’re one of us instead of…” He shook his head abruptly. “Stay here.”
Again I just nodded. Anger rose in me at he thought I wasn’t one of them, but I held it in check. He was worried. As he turned to leave, I whispered:
“Be careful.”
He nodded and caught my eye for just a moment. Then he was out the door.
I locked the door behind him.
***
Mason’s words rang true. I saw less and less of him, until one night he never came home. I sat up petrified.
A knock at the door brought a surge of hope, But when I answered it was Diesel.
“Hey there,” Diesel said as he stepped inside. “Sorry to drop in like this, but Mason sent me round to let you know he won’t be in.”
I felt relief that he was okay, but disappointment that I wouldn’t be seeing him. I’d gotten used to having him there. He made me feel like everything was okay, even when I was sure it wasn’t.
“Oh,” I said softly. “Can I get you a soda or something?”
Diesel shook his head.
“Gotta get back to the boys.”
“Is Mason with the boys then?”
Diesel laughed.
“Nah. He’s at the brothel with Khloe. Boss gets all the best jobs.” Diesel shrugged. “Listen, I have to go or the boys will mutiny.”
“Yeah, sure,” I nodded and numbly followed Diesel to the door.
After Diesel had gone, I stood behind the door, lost in thought, for goodness knows how long.
Mason was with Khloe. They had broken ties, from what I had heard. Perhaps he was trying to patch things up? My mind wandered to all the ways he could ‘patch things up’ with a woman like Khloe.
I frowned as my memory went unbidd
en to the time I found my fiancé with my sister. Old fears and insecurities reared their heads. I tried to squash them down. Mason had been so concerned about me that he had made me stay here where I was safe. That meant something. Or had he merely wanted me out of his way? I had reacted badly to the way the girls were being treated, and how some of them had ended up in that situation in the first place. Mason was no saint, and he might not want to show me that side of himself any more than he had to.
I knew I was getting nowhere fast with all those contradictory thoughts flying around in my head. I sank down onto the one ragged couch the small safehouse offered. The old leather creaked under my weight.
I sighed.
What was I going to do?
Chapter 13
Mason
The long days and longer nights were taking their toll on me. I drove back to the safehouse where I had left Cassie sheltering. Diesel had texted to say he had given her my message, so at least she wouldn’t have sat up all night waiting for me. The boys were in another safehouse a few miles from our current location. It was better for us to split it. It would help to keep us under the radar.
I parked my bike and kicked the stand down. I sat for a moment a heaved a sigh. Cassie and I had barely spoken over the last couple of days. I hadn’t been looking forward to spending the night negotiating a new deal with Khloe, but I needed to have as many people on my side as I could. Khloe was a trusted figure with a lot of the groups, and I needed her on my side. It had taken the better part of the night, but I’d finally secured her backing.
Weariness settled over me as I swung my leg over the motorcycle. I saw the shape of Cassie move away from the kitchen window. Had she been watching for me? I needed to let the girl go. The talk with Khloe had made me see that Cassie was just going to get hurt.
The door to the cabin opened before I’d made it just a few feet from my motorcycle. Cassie strode toward me and I admired the way she moved. Her brown hair swung with her strong and purposeful gait, as did her other assets.
She stopped a few feet from me.
“I need you to be straight with me,” she said, her fists clenched by her side.
I shrugged.
“About what?” I asked flippantly.
“I know you were with Khloe last night. I know it doesn’t take all night to do whatever it was you were doing, and it certainly didn’t take the better part of today as well.”
Cassie’s eyes sparked, and her nostrils flared. She was jealous, I realized.
“You’re right,” I chuckled. “It doesn’t take all night.”
I strode past her.
I pondered not telling her the truth and just letting her believe that I had fucked Khloe. It would be a quick and easy way to get her to break ties with me. The pain in her voice stopped me in my tracks however.
“Tell me the truth,” Cassie pleaded.
Turning toward the petite brunette, I noticed tears welling up in her eyes. The story of how her engagement had ended sprang to mind. That had taken its toll on the girl.
I sighed.
“I was negotiating a new deal for the GRMC with Khloe. We need all the alliances we can get.”
Cassie eyed me for a moment. I could see her watching me for some sign I was lying, and I stared back at her defiantly, challenging her to find fault with what I’d said.
She took the challenge head-on. She shook her head.
“I don’t believe you.”
“That’s up to you,” I told her as I spun on my heel and headed toward the house.
Let her believe what she wanted. I had things that I had to do.
Cassie was right behind me, dogging my every step.
“Have you and Khloe slept together?”
“No,” I said simply.
Khloe was a fine piece of ass. But business was business, and I liked to keep it that way. Of course, that hadn’t worked out so well where Cassie was concerned.
The girl’s eyes held distrust. Her fiancé had really done a number on her, but I really didn’t have time for this. I slammed through the front door and went into the bedroom, where I gathered up some clothes.
She followed me, all the time asking questions about Khloe and our relationship.
“You keep asking me bullshit questions because you’re so fucking afraid you can’t keep a man,” I growled.
Cassie’s mouth fell open.
“That’s the last time you get to say that to me,” she hissed when she had finally regained her composure.
“Don’t forget who’s in charge here,” I reminded her.
I was gratified when she took a small step back. I hated throwing my weight around, but I didn’t have time then for unruly bitches – or for anyone, for that matter. It stung that she didn’t believe me, but I was never one to plead. If she chose not to believe me, that was her problem.
Cassie flipped her head haughtily.
“Is that what you had to remind Khloe of?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I had to remind Khloe of,” I ground out.
The girl seemed to have her mind made up and was just looking for evidence, the way she blew off everything I said. There were good reasons that I chose not to get close to others, and this kind of bullshit was just one of them.
Cassie glared at me as if I owed her something. What, honestly, did I owe her?
It dawned on me that I owed the girl her life back. It was because of me she was here and in this position. It was because of me that the club was in the position it was in.
Fuck, I owed everyone.
Cassie’s face was a picture of hurt and mistrust.
“She knew about Dana long before I was even in the picture,” she said. “I know you don’t like talking about that. I know, because it took so much for you to let me in. What did it take for you to let her in?”
I shook my head.
“I didn’t tell her anything. She just heard about it. We’ve been friends for a long spell. I don’t bother her, she doesn’t bother me. That’s all there is to it. If you don’t like it, then that’s just too bad.”
Cassie raised her chin defiantly.
“Maybe it would be better if we slept in separate rooms tonight.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” I agreed.
I dropped the clothes I’d been gathering up and grabbed a pillow and blanket off the bed. I tossed them at Cassie.
“There’s a room down the hall.”
She looked like she was going to start another fight, but she just turned on her heel and stalked out of the room.
I had to admit she was sexy when she was mad. That thought made me think of the first time I’d fucked her. That brought a smile to my face.
Sighing, I rubbed the smile away. I couldn’t let the girl distract me. I had to get ready for Ruiz’s next move. Khloe had heard he was insisting on taking care of me personally> And, frankly, that suited me just fine. There were a lot of things I wanted to do to Ruiz and punching a few teeth down his throat was just the start. If it hadn’t been for that fucker, I wouldn’t be in the situation I found myself in.
Everything was Ruiz’s fault. I knew my own flaws, but that sick bastard had driven us all to this. It was time he paid.
Cassie didn’t come back out of the guest room. I thought at one point that perhaps she’d tried to run again. But when I knocked on the door, she told me to “Fuck off.” I assumed that meant she was just fine. I settled down in the kitchen and pondered what to do next.
A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I instinctively reached for the gun at my side. No one was due here. And only the crew and Khloe knew the location of the safehouse.
I turned the door handle and held the gun at the ready.
Ruiz’s face greeted me as I cracked open the door.
“Evening, Mason. Thought we could have a chat.”
***
“Relax,” Ruiz said with a smile. “I’m alone. I thought I would come and parlay. Perhaps we can reach a resolution to all
this unpleasant business without all the drama.”
I opened the door wider and peered past the man. He was telling the truth. Or else his thugs were really good at hiding in the desert.
“I’m listening.”
I pushed the door open and motioned with the gun for Ruiz to enter.
