Page 56 of Monsters

Chapter 21

NOW

Mason Carter had changed.

He was no longer a teenage boy baring a visible chip on his shoulder.

He was a strong, merciless and physically intimidating man. Beautiful ink covered his arms and torso, a stark comparison to the ugliness of his spite. His chiseled jaw twitched as he watched me. What had remained the same, was his cruel, dark eyes that relished in hurting me.

Mason continued moving inside Christina, his wicked smirk revealing his delight. He wanted me to watch the power of his thrust, the pleasure he could bring. Christina moaned in ecstasy, loving the way she was being taken.

But above it all, Mason was delivering a warning. That each thrust was meant for me just as it had been ten years ago with Joanie.

“Get off her!” I seethed.

I wasn’t that girl anymore.

I wasn’t the same lost and tormented teenager fearful of him.

Startled by the intrusion, Christina turned to see me standing at the door. “Jesus! Gem,” she shrieked while desperately trying to cover her nakedness with a tangled bedsheet. An amused Mason, refused to budge, thwarting her efforts.

“Get. Off. Her!” I yelled, fists clenching at my sides.

Mason’s eyes narrowed in challenge. He wanted to see how far he could push me.

Christina shoved his chest freeing herself. With zero inhibition, Mason sat back on his heels. My cheeks reddened, body heating from the inside out. Mason’s smile widened, his thick erection taking center stage.

His confidence was disturbing.

Catching on, Christina tossed a pillow at Mason’s lap. “Gem, I’m so sorry,” she pleaded, wrapping a silk robe around her body. “I should have kept an eye on the time.”

I couldn’t hear her right now. “Get. Out.” My tone was even, although inside I was raging. The asshole didn’t move. “Leave now, Mason.”

“Wait!” Christina frowned, passing a curious look between her best friend and the man she’d just been fucking. “How do you know Mason? And why haven’t you introduced me earlier?” She laughed like a giddy school girl.

“This isn’t a joke, Christina,” I snapped. She didn’t know the severity of the situation, and there was no way I could get her up to speed. There was a baby in the house and Mason was unstable.

And me? I was terrified.

Fortunately, my friend sobered quickly. “Okay…” She put her hands out to placate the tension. “What the hell is going on?”

“Go on, Gem,” Mason challenged. “Tell her.”

Breaking the hold Mason had on me, I focused on Christina. “All you need to know now is that you’re in danger.”

Still on the mattress, Christina walked on her knees until she faced me. “Don’t be absurd,” she dismissed. “Mason isn’t a danger to me or anyone else here.”

“Can I talk to you for a minute? In private?”

Christina threw her hands up in defeat. “Sure.” I kept my eyes fixed on Mason while she crawled off the bed and past me down the hall.

He didn’t seem at all fazed. Not in the slightest bit. If his stoicism was supposed to be unnerving, it was working.

Had he planned this to test if I would say something?

I met Christina in the kitchen, her hands spread wide and resting on the counter.

“What’s wrong with you, Gem?”

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