Page 27 of Forbidden Cravings

Pulling my legs from him, I sat up, maneuvering so that I was sitting on my knees next to him.

That flash of lust returned to his eyes. “When I want you on your knees, I’ll tell you,” he said, sending butterflies through my stomach.

“But you won’t,” I said, leaning closer. “You won’t let yourself and tomorrow I’ll be gone.”

He reached up, brushing a curl from my eye. I saw the desire in his eyes, the same that was simmering inside of me, waiting for us to take this further, the same that wouldn’t turn to a blazing fire because doing so would send my brother off the deep end and drive a wedge between him and Mason that might never be repaired. Tyson held grudges and he would never look at Mason the same if he had a one-night stand with me. Although I was certain from Mason’s remark earlier that, just like me, he wanted more than one night. It would never happen because Mason wouldn’t risk it. As much as I didn’t want to put Mason in that position or hurt my brother, I craved for Mason to take thechance and let me experience his touch. But I knew my brother’s expectations for Mason were too high and Mason’s attempt to meet them and ignore what was growing between us was just as high.

“Will you miss me when I’m gone?” I asked, wanting desperately for him to say yes. Needing to hear the words even if it risked hurting us both to hear him admit it.

“I can’t miss what I haven’t tasted.”

My stomach flipped, warmth spreading through my thighs.

“And what if someone else tastes me?” His teeth clenched, the muscles in his jaw tense. I was pushing him when I shouldn’t be, but fear was driving me. A fear that there was more to us and if we let this chance go, we would lose something we would regret for the rest of our lives. “What if there’s a man in Armina waiting for me to return? Waiting to take what you won’t, to own what you claim is yours, but won’t let yourself have?”

His eyes darkened, and he leaned into me, his fingers draping down my cheek before he took my chin in them, his grip firm. “Then I’ll have to make a trip to Armina to put the mutt down. No one touches my girl.”

I inhaled so deeply that the air burned my lungs. “But I’m not your girl.” I sat back, drawing my knees to my chest and resting my head on the couch, seeing the vulnerability in his face for a fleeting moment. “You won’t let me be,” I whispered.

“Is there another man waiting for you in Armina, Casey?” he asked, his hands pulling my ankles back to his lap.

I shook my head. “Is there a woman you’re turning me down for, Mason?”

His lips turned upward to form a crooked grin that made me want to pull him over and kiss him. “And what would you do if there was?” he asked, raising his brow.

I pulled my legs back, ignoring how he tried to hold on to them and crawled back over to him. His eyes perused me,a devious smile taking over his grin. “I think I told you what I thought about you on your knees. The same goes for you crawling.”

I straddled him before he could stop me, pressing down against the firmness. The thought that I was glad Tyson was still in Armina with no chance of walking in on us like this flittered in the back of my mind as Mason’s hands moved up my hips, pushing my sweatshirt until he was touching my skin.

“First, I’d tell her you were being naughty with all your flirting and touching.”

“And then?” His laugh muffled his words.

I pressed my hands into his chest, sliding them up his muscles as I leaned closer. “Then I’d have one of your men throw her in the trunk and drop her outside the city before I returned to claim you.”

“Claim me?” He tilted his head, studying me intently. “No one claims me, little girl.”

“I’m not a little girl,” I said, my lips so close to his that the slightest move would bring us together. “I’m all woman, with enough experience to know how to break you, Mason.”

Desire flared in his eyes, and his hands squeezed my waist tighter. “No one breaks me, either.”

“No?” I moved forward, my lips meeting his. He pulled me into him, moving his hands further up my back.

The kiss was deep and sensual, with an emotion behind it that was mingled with lust. His touch was soft this time, no aggression behind it as he slid his fingers under my bra, unhooking it, then cupping my breast. A moan freed from me, and he pushed me down so that I was grinding into his hardness. My body was a roaring flame that was about to ignite into an inferno. But he ended our kiss, dropping his forehead to mine.

“No one breaks me, Casey.” His fingers brushed my nipple.

“No one but me,” I murmured.

He tipped his head up, removing his hands, and leaving my body cold without his touch. He placed them on my face, holding it while he searched my eyes for something I couldn’t name.

“One night, Mason.” But I heard the doubt in my voice because I now knew what he feared more than my brother’s anger. One night wouldn’t be enough…for either of us.

He shook his head, the conflict returning to etch in the lines around his forehead. Sighing, I went to move from him, knowing I needed to be away because the craving I had for him was too hard to deny, too hard to resist if I didn’t move. But his hands lowered to my arms, holding me in place. I could see the internal struggle. It was the same I’d recognized early on and forgotten to respect. I was hurting him again, and I hated myself for it.

Raising my fingers to his face, I traced the shadow of stubble along his jawline. “It’s okay, Mason. Let me go like you want to. I’ll stay away the rest of the night and leave early for the airport, so you don’t have to see me again.”

The hurt in his eyes confused me because that’s what he was telling me he wanted. “Let me go, Mason. It’s only one more night, then you never have to see me again.” Saying the words hurt, like a knife slicing my heart with each word, because I wanted to see him again. I wanted to see him every day, to have his touch be the only one I ever felt again. I reeled back at the thought, realizing what it meant and how complicated this had become for me and possibly for him.

---