Page 10 of Tides of Redemption
“But why come back now?” His voice fractured on the words.
I drew in a heavy breath. “Anthony told me about Pop-Pop,” I confessed. “I couldn’t stay away any longer. Not after that. I needed to be here.” I let my walls drop completely. “For you.”
Something devastating crossed his face—pain transformed into anger in the space of a heartbeat. “You were in touch with Anthony the entire time?” The betrayal in his voice cut through the room. “You could reach out to my former roommate, but never once to me?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, the words inadequate. “Can you forgive me? For not staying in touch? For leaving you behind?” His mouth formed a thin line, and my stomach sank.
Then his expression shifted—a softening, a thawing. His shoulders slumped. “I’m…working on it.”
My breath caught. We’d moved closer without realizing it, drawn to each other like we always had been. He smelled like citrus and coffee and home. My gaze dropped to his lips.
“Mason,” I whispered and leaned in.
He didn’t back away. The space between us crackled with eleven years of longing, regret, and hope.
My lips found his, tentative at first. Light, hesitant kisses. Exploring. Questioning. When he responded with a moan, I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him loosely against me. My cock stirred, despite holding back.
Finally, after all these years, I had him in my embrace again. My heart thundered. I needed to take things slowly, carefully, as if I were handling theMona Lisa, so I wouldn’t scare him away.
But Mason had other ideas. His mouth moved against mine urgently, then he traced the seam of my lips.
Yes.My knees grew weak, and I could barely stand.
I opened for him, and his velvet tongue danced with mine. My cock hardened, and I pulled him closer. Chest to chest. Groin to groin. I could feel the outline of his erection through his pantsas he ground into me. I groaned in response, cupped his ass, and squeezed.
A sharp knock on the front door shattered the moment.
Mason jerked back, blinking rapidly. “Who?—”
“Hello? Mason?” Todd’s muffled voice called through the front door. “Sorry to bother you, but I think I left my portfolio.”
Mason put more distance between us and straightened his sweater with shaking hands. “I should…” He adjusted his hard dick and grunted.
“Of course.” I nodded and tried to hide my disappointment.
He paused at the door and looked back at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read. “This conversation isn’t over.”
Then he was gone, and I was left alone with two half-empty mugs, a killer erection, and swollen lips. But his words echoed in my mind.
This conversation isn’t over.
Maybe, just maybe, we weren’t either.
CHAPTER NINE
Mason
The storm viciously hurled itself against my apartment windows. Rain slashed in diagonal sheets, and wind howled around the corners of the building like something wounded. I paced the length of my living room, hands shaking as thunder cracked overhead.
Tides & Tales was closed on Mondays, usually my day to relax, catch up on reading, maybe bake something. But not during violent storms. Never during the worst storms.
Lightning flashed, illuminating the room in stark white before plunging it back into gray dimness. I flinched, memories rising unbidden. Deputy Crawford, rain-soaked, at our door. Pop-Pop’s face crumpling as he received the news. The way the storm had raged all night, while my world collapsed.
“You’re safe,” I whispered to myself, using Pop-Pop’s words. “It’s just weather.”
But Pop-Pop wasn’t here anymore. His steady presence, his calm voice, his strong hands that would rest on my shoulders during the worst of my panic—all gone. Just me and the storm and memories that wouldn’t stay buried.
A knock on the door startled me so badly I nearly stumbled. For one irrational moment, I was twelve years old again, certain it was another deputy with more bad news.
