Page 81 of Black Roses

He pulls me into a hug, smelling my hair as if he hasn’t seen me in three months, not three hours. “I know you can. But for once, maybe you could let someone do something for you.”

He leans over and sweeps me up into his arms, carrying me over to the stairs. “Like this,” he says. “I know you are perfectly capable of climbing these stairs on your own.” He walks up the steps with me in his arms, as if my weight is of no more consequence than a pillow—or maybe a football. “But what would be the fun in that?”

I giggle, burying my face in his neck. Even through the lingering scent of the hotel soap, he smells inherently Mason. Manly. Rugged. Spicy.

Heavenly.

chapter thirty

mason

I walk straight through her bedroom into her ensuite bath. “Tell the truth,” I say, a sly grin tugging at the corners of my mouth. “You’ve been fantasizing about ripping this t-shirt right off me since I put it on.”

I stand her on the tile and she gives me her best dramatic groupie performance. “Oh. My. God.” She fans herself with her hand. “It’s Mason Lawrence. You are so hot. Pick me, babe. Please, pick me!”

My eyebrows shoot up and I pull her close. Close enough for her to feel my burgeoning erection. “Call me that again,” I insist.

She narrows her eyes at me as she calls me by my full name. “Uh, Mason Lawrence?”

“Theothername,” I utter seductively between gritted teeth.

I watch it dawn on her as she replays her words in her head. Then she blushes. “Babe?”

I nod. “That’s the one. Say it again.”

Smiling, she rises on her toes and puts her hands behind my neck, pulling my ear down to her mouth. “I want to rip that Spaniard shirt right off your smokin’ hot body,” —she pauses intentionally as her hot breath flows over my neck— “babe.”

“Shit,” I belt out in passionate desperation. “Shower. Now.”

I look around the large bathroom. When Griffin redecorated, he gave the guest room an ensuite almost as ornate and grand as the master. I eye the Jacuzzi tub in the corner and raise a brow at Piper. “Or maybe a bath?”

“Bath?” She glances over at it and then back at me. She shrugs seductively and then nods. “I don’t have bad dreams about baths.”

I pick her up and she wraps her legs around me. She crushes her mouth on mine, her full sexy lips raw and unapologetic as she forcefully demands more with her hot and hungry tongue. My lips part for her and she moans into my mouth.

I walk backwards, Piper still in my arms, draped over me. When the backs of my legs hit the tub, I sit us down on the edge, reaching over to turn on the water, our mouths never breaking the seal.

When I turn away to plug the tub, she says, “As much as I love this shirt, I’d rather see it on the floor.” She traces the outline of the flag, my muscles twitching underneath the cheap cotton.

She’s become bold and confident with me in the last twenty-four hours. And it’s more than a little sexy. I make quick work of following her directions and deposit my shirt in a crumpled ball at her feet.

Her gaze falls to my tattoo. Her fingers follow the path of her eyes and she touches my still-tender skin. “Did it hurt much?” she asks.

I lift my hand, pulling back her hair before I place a kiss on the rose etched into the skin below her right ear. “Not as much as yours,” I whisper.

Her eyes tear up, fully understanding the deeper meaning of my words.

Then she smiles. “You know, if we don’t work out, you may have a hard time finding a woman named Roxane. It’s not a very popular name. Maybe you should have gotten something more common, say ‘Kate’ fromThe Taming of the Shrew. I wanted to play her, too.”

“Kate, huh?” I laugh. “There isn’t a shred of doubt in my mind that I will ever need to find someone else to fit my tattoo. I’m in this for the duration. All four quarters. You are my Super Bowl, sweetheart. As far as I’m concerned I’m your first, your last, and everything in between.”

She nods, failing to hold back the tears that have pooled in her gorgeous emerald eyes.

With my thumbs, I wipe the wetness from her cheeks. Then I kiss her. I kiss her like there’s no tomorrow. I kiss her like she’s the very air I need to breathe. “I love you, sweetheart,” I whisper, moving my mouth to her neck. “I love you, my beautiful Roxane.” I take her shirt off and lower my lips to her sensuous collar bone. “I love you, Piper Mitchell.”

She hastily removes her bra and pulls me up for another kiss. She makes love to my mouth the way I want to make love to her body. “I love you too, babe,” she breathes into my mouth.

A groan of approval vibrates through me as my hands seek out her breasts at the same time that she finds the zipper on my jeans.

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