Page 29 of Forbidden Cravings

“Neither will Casey,” I snarled, my anger at the thought of her returning to Tides coming out in the bite of my words. I’d suspected it was coming, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.

“Maybe not, but you don’t know that. You have one more night. Take the chance.”

“I can’t, Ri,” I said, the futility of my circumstance wearing me down again. I flopped back in my chair, letting my anger go, and stared out the window into the dark night. “Tyson’s my best friend. He’s as protective of her as I am of you, and I know exactly how I’d react if he touched you.”

“Yuck,” she said, and I peered back at her, giving her a questioning look. “Ty’s like you, like another brother to me. But that’s because I grew up with both of you. Casey didn’t.”

“Doesn’t matter. He’d never forgive me.”

She walked around the desk, tussling my hair before giving me a kiss on my head. “Maybe he will if he sees what I see.”

“What do you see?” I asked as she left the room.

“Take the chance, Mace,” she called on her way down the stairs. “You have one night left.”

I satfor a long time after Riley left, my mind running wild. The situation I was in didn’t give me any option where I ended up unscathed and where Casey didn’t end up hurt. If I gave in, Tyson would hate me forever, ending our friendship, cutting me off, or even taking her from me. That was the worst-case scenario, I knew that, but I worked with little risk. The worst cases were what I lived by.

If I resisted, my decision would leave me with a craving I could never satisfy, one I wasn’t sure would ever cease. Casey would still end up hurt. She was hurting now because I’d turned her down again. I saw it in her eyes each time. And tonight had been bad. The emotion there had gutted me. The resolve and a sense of surrender replacing the seductive fight that had filled her before.

One night. Those two small words held so much power. I had one night and if I took it, I could finally have her, touch her, taste her, own her like I wanted to. One night and maybe we could make it just that. Nothing more. One night to give in to our desires, and Tyson would never need to know.

I rose, shutting the lights out and heading downstairs. I took two steps toward my room, then turned, changing direction as my heart thudded more with each step I took toward Casey’s room. Pausing outside her door, I thought about the implications of opening it and doing what I’d wanted to do since the moment she walked back into my life.

The door handle turned, and I entered the room. She looked up, her eyes wide as I shut the door behind me. Her mouth parted, the book she was reading slipping from her hands. As she rose, the book fell to the floor. The oversized sweatshirt was the only thing she had on, leaving her legs bare and the sight of them stirring the need in me.

“Mason, what are you doing?”

I kicked my shoes off, seeing understanding cross her eyes. “What I should have done the first night.”

I grasped her by the back of her neck, pulling her to me, and this time I didn’t stop myself from kissing her. Her soft lips met mine, her surprise fading quickly as she opened her mouth, my tongue quick to dance with hers. I tangled my fingers in her hair, pulling her closer, feeling her heart pound below her clothes. Smoothing my hand over her thigh, I played along the edge of her lace panties, my fingers sliding under them. Her breath hitched as I dipped, feeling the smooth skin that turned me on even more. She moaned when I slid them further, slipping almost low enough to feel how wet she was but stopping myself because I knew I’d lose it if I did. And I wanted to savor this, to take her slow because if this was my only night with her, I was going to make it last.

Sliding my hand back, I cupped her ass, pushing her further into me. Her hands threaded through my hair, pulling my head down as I continued to devour her mouth.

“Mason,” she murmured against my lips. “You don’t want this.”

I bit her lip, tugging it between my teeth as I drew back, giving her a scolding look. Releasing her hair, I moved my hands up her sweatshirt, encasing her breasts, my dick so hungry for her that it leaped at the feel.

“Shut up and let me have you, Casey.”

Her eyes narrowed, and I pinched her nipple, causing those beautiful lips to part again.

“But…” I worked her shirt off, throwing it to the side, then brought her against me.

“It’s one night. One night to do everything I’ve been fantasizing about since the moment you set foot back in Treemont. One night that no one needs to know about. One night to own you the way I’ve desired since I saw you.”

She let out a smalloh. I leaned my forehead against hers. “Do you still want this, Casey? Tell me what you want and if you don’t want me, then I’ll walk out and never touch you again.”

Her hands ran up my chest, gripping the buttons of my shirt and sending my pulse racing. “I want you, Mason. I want you to take me, to own me. I want you to ruin me for every other man out there, to leave your mark so deep in me that I can never escape it. I don’t want one night, Mason.”

Her words were like a match lighting the flames in me and sparking that feeling that had been nagging my heart since I’d held her in my arms as she slept.

“But if one night is all we get. Then I’m yours for tonight. Take me, touch me, fill me, own me. I’m yours.”

Her acceptance burned through me, and I ran my hands the length of her body. I kissed her again, her mouth greedily meeting mine as she fumbled with my buttons. Grasping her wrists, I yanked her hands behind her.

“Get on the bed, Casey.”

A small gasp escaped, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. I released her hands and watched as she crawled onto the bed,her curvy ass beckoning me to give up my control and just fuck her. I wiped my hand down my face, denying myself as she turned and propped herself on her elbows, drawing her leg up seductively. She knew what she was doing to me, how her body broke me.

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