Page 78 of Mason

For years, I thought this life—the blood, the power, the loyalty of my brothers—was enough. That I didn’t need anything outside of it. That love—real love—was a distraction at best, a liability at worst.

But then Shelby happened.

And now?

Now I can’t even tell you what my life was before her.

I try to remember it, but it’s like looking into a black hole. Empty. Void of color. Nothing but endless nights, fleeting highs, and a hunger that never quite settled.

I thought I was living. I thought I had everything I needed. But I see it for what it was now.

A fucking mirage.

Because now that I’ve had her—now that I’ve felt her beneath me, all soft and perfect, now that I’ve memorized the way she breathes my name, the way she lets me in in a way no one else ever has?—

There’s no going back.

No world where I don’t wake up next to her.

No life where she isn’t woven into my very bones.

I drag a hand down my face, exhaling slowly, trying to make sense of the mess I’ve become.

I was so sure.

So damn sure that no woman would ever do this to me. That no woman could ever hold this kind of power over me.

But Shelby?

She doesn’t hold power over me.

Sheisthe power.

And now, the only question left is?—

How the hell did I ever think I could live without her?

She’s got this cute way of scrunching up her nose when she smiles. Like she doesn’t even realize she’s doing it. Like it’s this unguarded, accidental thing she gives me, and Jesus, does it wreck me.

Because when Shelby smiles, the whole goddamn room lights up. She lights up.

And me?

I’m a man who’s spent too much of his life in the dark.

My fingers tighten on her thighs, dragging her closer on the countertop, pulling her flush against me. She gasps softly, her hands gripping my shoulders, her legs instinctively wrapping around my waist like she belongs there.

Like she was made to fit against me.

I can’t fucking breathe.

I tilt my head down, brushing my lips against her ear, my voice low, rough. “You have no idea what you do to me, do you?”

Her fingers dig into my shoulders. “Show me.”

Fuck.A challenge.

I don’t hesitate. I lift her, her body molding to mine, and walk us through the house like I own every inch of her—like I have the right to. Because maybe I do.

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