Page 46 of Mason
“Guess I’m not the only one with a hangry stomach, huh?”
I jerk to a stop at the bottom of the staircase and inhale sharply, knowing exactly who has practically snuck up behind me. Was it really only last night that Mason and I were in the kitchen together, making that snack that he never ate? My brain twists, thinking about how everything had gone to hell the moment I went up to the attic.
I turn toward him, noting the split in his perfect damn lip, a cut on his brow held closed by a tiny bandage strip, and a swollen purple bruise on his left cheekbone. It takes everything I have not to reach out and smooth my finger over the injuries. I would imagine from the way they were pummeling each other and rolling around that there are more bumps and bruises hidden under his clothing. I’m definitely not going to ask, seeing as how he’d be the most likely to strip down and give me a private viewing.Then again…
He seems unbothered by my perusal of him, and he stands there, lips twitching before he drops his gaze to my body. “Looks like you washed off my artwork before I could get a photo or two. Disappointing.”
Eyeing the cocky amusement flowing from Mason despite his banged-up face, I figure the best way to fight fire is, indeed, with fire. I cant my hip to the side, giving him a bold once-over. “You’d already mostly messed it up while you were touching me with your dirty hands.”
He smirks, his sinful gaze setting off little sparks over my skin. “Don’t deny it. You liked my hands on you. And other thingsinyou.” He skims over my collarbone with the back of his knuckles. For a moment, he’s lost in thought as he watches himself touch me. “Too bad we got interrupted the way we did.”
I should have known better than to start something here in the foyer where just about anyone could listen in on what he’s saying. And to my dismay, my nipples grow taut at his perusal, his words, and his touch. There’s nothing I can do to stop the ache that begins to build in my lower abdomen. Was some of what happened yesterday with Mason just plain fucked?Absolutely.But it was so very Mason, and I won’t fault him for dealing with his pain in whatever way he needed to. I was a little thrown by it, but I handled it, the way I always try to handle my shit. And am I thinking about how things would have gone between Mason and me if Duke hadn’t interrupted?Fuck yes.Because I’ve never experienced anything so raw and wild before. He’d been a raging fire, and I’d been completely consumed by the wicked energy of it all. There’d been something so insanely hot about the way he’d touched me, smearing a portion of what he’d drawn and rubbing it into my skin. And his cock. Holy fuck. Long and thick. He’d filled me to perfection. Before he’d gotten yanked away, that is.
“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”
Stunned to realize I’d let my mind wander, I shake my head in confusion. “Sorry, what?”
“You’re off in your head, fantasizing. Well, let me tell you, we’d have burned the entire house down with the heat between us.” Those chocolate-brown eyes of his are drowning in unmistakable lust. “If Duke hadn’t come along, I would have fucked you so good, you’d never have gone to Bear afterward.”
Shit.My face blanches, blood draining from it.Oh my god.“How—?”
A small laugh escapes him. “Your eyes have just done one of those deer-in-the-headlights things. Never mind how I know. If I didn’t already, now I definitely do.”
Panic races through me. “I—” My mouth snaps shut. I have no idea what to say, haven’t even wrapped my mind around how to explain to myself what I’ve done, much less ready to have a conversation about it.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell Duke.” He leans in, his lips grazing mine as he stares into my eyes at close range. “He’d go apeshit,” he rasps.
Deflect. Oh god, distract him.I draw in a breath, willing my mind to work as fast as his does. “Are you sure your pissing match up there was about me at all? I mean, you left me naked on the floor without hardly a backward glance. Both of you.”
Funny, but I hadn’t pinpointed until this very moment what bothered me most about what’d happened. It wasn’t that I let Mason use me like I had or that I felt embarrassed that my stepbrother had found us like that. It’s that I became a superfluous part of the background the second Duke had shown up. I cross my arms over my chest.
He huffs out a laugh, ignoring my question completely while his eyes roam over me. “Kintsukuroi, if you thought that wasn’t about you at least to some degree, you’ve got more issues than I thought.”
“Kintsu-what? What are you talking about?” I exhale harshly. When he just smiles, his lip curling, I groan out, “Whatever. I don’t know if I fully buy what you’re trying to sell me, Mason.” I shake my head. These two have a history of hatred, and I doubt what I’d witnessed had much of anything to do with me.
“Think what you want. Your perception of things doesn’t change the truth, Lennon. And it doesn’t change that you ran straight from me to Bear’s arms when he offered them.” He leans in close so his words brush over my lips. “Did he fuck you good, Lennon?” Blood rushes back to my face, my cheeks reddening. When I decline to answer, he chuckles, arching an infuriating brow at me. “Anything else we should talk about this morning?”
My gaze narrows.The only topic I want to discuss would be sure to set him off all over again—the drawings.I wasn’t the subject of all those pieces of art. I want to know more about the woman who so clearly plagues him.
Without waiting for an answer, he turns his back on me and walks away.
I choose to let him get well ahead of me, hoping that the heat in my cheeks hasn’t translated to a furious blush staining my face that the entire brotherhood will be able to read.
When I get into the kitchen, strangely, Mason is nowhere to be found, but I do spy Bear at the stovetop, transferring scrambled eggs from a skillet to a bowl. My heart sinks a little, knowing he must have opened his mouth and spilled to Mason after he helped me get Duke situated in his room. He might not have regrets, like he’d said in his text, but I’m feeling a good amount of worry over it. Mason drew all these awful words on my body, and it’s hard not to feel like in a way Iearnedthem. I let that tick around in my brain for a moment. No, fuck that. I’ll be damned if I’m going to slut shame myself.
The second Bear turns around and sets the food on the kitchen island, four brothers—Tucker, Pierre, Kai, and Brendan—all grab at the spoon, and by the time they’re done serving themselves, there’s nothing but a bite of egg left in the bowl.
Great.Now there’s not even any food, and I’m fucking starving. Disappointment floods through me as my gaze swings to an empty platter that obviously once had the bacon on it that I’d smelled all the way from the foyer.
Kai laughs when he sees me surveying dishes where the food once was before they came in like a four-man wrecking team and demolished it. “Baby doll, you need to move fast around here.” He gestures in the direction of the same cabinet Brendan keeps his candy stash. “There are Pop-Tarts in the cabinet.”
I roll my eyes at him, and make sure he sees it, too, but choose to say nothing. His attempt at making me feel somehow less than, make himself seem bigger and better—or whatever it was he was trying to do—didn’t work.I’ve done a great job at making myself feel like crap all on my own, thanks.Besides, little does the jerk know, I happen to like Pop-Tarts. With a sigh, I pull open the fridge to get some juice.
“Hey, Little Gazelle. We’ll be leaving soon.” Bear’s deep voice at my back sends my mind hurtling back to the shower last night, warm tingles shooting down my spine. Oh god, first Mason, now Bear. I swear, my face is going to be as red as a tomato if this keeps up. I don’t know how to act around him. I really don’t. Everything has changed now—including what little trust I had in him.
I pour some juice into a glass and carefully take a sip as I turn around. Briefly glancing at Bear, I tear my gaze away and look off to his side. “Okay. I’ll be ready. No problem.” I glance down at the plate he’s offering me. A small heap of eggs. Two slices of bacon. I frown, hesitantly holding out my hand to take it from him.
He gestures to the plate, narrowing his eyes on me. “What’s with the frown? Don’t you like eggs and bacon? I was told you were hungry, so I made a plate for you because these heathens never leave anything behind. But I can make something else real quick, if you want.”
