Page 31 of Mason
Wetting his lips with a careful swipe of his tongue, he murmurs, voice low, “So, I’m going to run through what I know. First, my fucking father drops this girl on our doorstep. She’s my stepsister, so even though I don’t like it and know it’s going to cause problems, I go with it. Out of family obligation, I agree to look after her. He’s made aware that she tripped the alarm. Then, the asshole calls me to warn me that they had been seeing a worsening trend of odd behavior with Lennon. And I’m supposed to tell him if we notice even a hint of anything fucked-up about her or not, right? I don’t even know what sorts of things he might be referring to. It’s like we’re sleepwalking right along with her. We’re in the goddamn dark.”
I rub the towel over my head first, then dab at the sweat cascading down my chest. Exhausted from our brawl, I sigh, balling up the sweat-soaked towel and pitch it toward the laundry basket. “I still don’t get why he’d send her here in the first place.”
Duke blows out a hard breath. “Something about a change of scenery. But if you’re fuckin’ crazy to start with, I don’t know what that helps. According to him, she’s a full-blown basket case.” He slams his hand down on the mat beside him. “The fuck!”
A noise from the doorway catches my attention, and my head turns in time to catch a glimpse of gray cotton shorts and an oversize white T-shirt before the wearer—Lennon—darts away.
“Goddammit,” Duke mutters, but he’s already on his feet and charging toward the door to go after her.
Holy fuck. How much of that did she hear?
SEVENTEEN
LENNON
“Lennon!”The sound of Duke’s breath heaving and his bare feet slapping against the floor as he gives chase grows closer and closer. If I can make it to the staircase, maybe I can outrun him, maybe he’ll slow or stop following me entirely if we’re in front of other people.
No such luck.
He catches me by the shoulder first, spinning me around and backing me toward the wall. “Stop, Stella,” he gasps out, his head ducking down to put his face right in mine.
I strike out at him, hitting him several times in the abdomen and chest but it’s ineffective considering he’s dripping sweat from whatever he and Bear were doing in the gym, and my blows simply glance off his slick skin. “No, let me go.” I squirm, trying to get free from his hold. “Let thebasket casego, Duke,” I choke out as I shoot daggers into his blue eyes.
“Stella. Let me explain.” Duke grasps both of my wrists in his wrapped hands and forces them over my head, pinning them in place against the wall. The muscle at the back of his jaw twitches, clenching hard.
Fury streaks through me as I shout “No!” right in his face, trying to twist my body so I can ram my knee into his crotch. I blink, my brows furrowing as I finally notice he’s all but naked. He must have stripped down in the gym. My eyes ping frantically over his well-muscled chest and shoulders and down to the good-sized bulge in his boxer briefs, but my brain screams at me to ignore all that and get away from him.
He steps closer to block another attempt at nailing his junk with my knee and his body flattens against mine, fingers clenching reflexively over my wrists. With every breath we take, my breasts rub right against the hard planes of his pecs.
I die a little inside with every resulting tingle that shoots through my body. “Let me go. Right fucking now, Du—”
His mouth comes down hard on mine, swallowing my words. He keeps up the bruising intensity of our lip-lock for several agonizing, breathless seconds. The smell of fresh citrus infiltrates my nose, and the part of my brain responsible for logical thinking has been shoved into a far corner where I can’t hear them over the thundering of my heart.
Groaning, he wrenches his mouth from mine and stares at me for several measured beats before releasing my wrists. His jaw locks tight, and he shakes his head. “That’s one way to make you shut up.” His brows lift in challenge, and before I can say a damn word, he stalks off, taking the stairs two at a time. By the time I’m able to suck in a breath to scream at him how fucked-up that was, he’s gone. My cheeks flame with the shock of what just happened. Dukekissedme.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I open up a new message thread between the two of us.
Thanks for the clothes, asshole.
Especially the panties.
But don’t ever put your lips on mine again.
Fuck you very much,
YOUR SISTER, Lennon
It’s within seconds that a reply shoots back from him.
NOT MY FUCKIN SISTER
I touch my lips, still fuming, but remembering every second of his brutal kiss. My brain riots and confusion fills me. That fucker has thrown me so far off balance I can’t think straight.
A throat clearing from the doorway to the gym startles me. I turn around, all pink-faced and disheveled, my breath coming out in ragged bursts. Bear tilts his head to the side, his eyes narrowed on me as they move down my body, and back up to meet my eyes. I’m so caught off guard that anything I could have said flees my mind in the blink of an eye. Swallowing hard, I drop my hand from my lips.
“You okay, Little Gazelle?”
I can’t handle his kindness right now. I clamp down on my lip to stop the tremble, and I nod slowly before I turn and head up the stairs. I need the solace and safety of my room and I need it now. I reach the main floor and make my way through the house, ignoring the blatant stares from the brothers there to witness my escape from the basement. Who the hell knows what they’re thinking after Duke barged through in his underwear, and now I’ve followed? Fuck, they’re not even wrong, except they don’t have any understanding of what set everything into motion. I huff out a laugh as I let myself into my room.Hell, neither do I. Probably because I’m fucking crazy.
