Page 43 of Bear
But then, there it is again, the breathless, aching voice behind me. “Why? Why are you here? Why do you do this to me?” Out of nowhere, hands claw at my back and shoulders, then feet push at the backs of my knees as I’m shoved forcefully across the bed.
Oh, fuck.This is not my nightmare. It’s Mason’s.
I gasp, my back bowing, trying to escape his clutches, because while he’s pushing me away, he also doesn’t let go. “Mason. Stop,” I cry out, but it’s as if he doesn’t hear me. I struggle, thrashing in the sheets, but he’s still got me in his vicious grip.
“You’re not fucking real. Get out of my goddamn head,” he hisses. “Are you going to haunt me forever? Because I can’t fucking handle it.” I can tell by his intensity that his jaw is probably tight enough that the muscles twitch and jump. He’s overwhelmed by darkness and rage.
Heart pounding furiously, I finally wrench free and manage to roll over, but my long hair is hanging in my face, and he’s already grabbed onto my wrists again. The awful truth hits me square in the heart. He thinks I’m his mother, and he won’t understand any differently until I can show him it’s me. I desperately try to flip my hair so it isn’t disguising who I really am. He needs to be able to look into my eyes. “Mase,” I gasp out, words tearing from my throat on a sob. “It’s me. Look at me.”
His uneven breaths are audible as I wrestle with him. I catch slivers of his rage through my dangling hair—dark, fathomless, pain-filled eyes and a jaw clenched so hard, I’m sure he’ll break his molars. His nostrils flare as he seethes, “What was I supposed to do? Let him keep hurting you? I couldn’t watch him do it anymore! No!” He’s in agony, working himself into an unhinged state. He barely takes in air before he huffs it right back out. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry I couldn’t stop him. I’m so sorry I pushed you. Why’d you have to leave me?” His face contorts with a raw heart-wrenching sob that rips from his throat.
His words, his angsty pleas—they tear at my soul.
“Mason!” The weight of another body hits the bed behind him.
At the same time, I cry out, “Mason, it’s me. Lennon!”
And now there are two of us battling to get Mason to see past the horror of his nightmare. Me… and Duke.
I lie there, practically helpless with the vice grip Mason has on my wrists but watch in fascination as Duke curls himself around Mason’s back, holding him tightly. His chin rests on Mason’s shoulder, and he whispers, “That’s Lennon, Mase. Not your mom. Calm the fuck down. Everything is okay.” After several nerve-racking seconds, Duke’s words seem to get through to Mason, so he continues, his voice gruff. “Let up on her. You don’t want to hurt her. I know you don’t.”
It takes Mason another few moments to digest what Duke’s asked of him. He blinks repeatedly. I know what’s coming, and it breaks my heart. No matter that he’s making his best effort at gaining control over his emotions, a single tear slips from the corner of his eye. Hands shaking, his grip on me relaxes, and I might be crazy, but I slide closer instead of scrambling away like I know I should. I cup his cheek and brush the moisture away with my thumb.
“I-I’m sorry.” He sounds absolutely defeated. It makes me so sad for what he’s been through, for what he continues to go through all these years later.
I rest my hand on his bare chest. “We’ve got you, Mase. It’s okay.” His body shudders between us, and I gently brush his hair out of his eyes. “What can we do?”
“Nothing. I just need a minute,” he mumbles, putting his lips into my hair. “I need to forget it, put it out of my head.” He exhales harshly, the rise and fall of his chest ragged under my fingertips.
I peek up at Duke from under my lashes. He hasn’t moved an inch, his face buried in Mason’s neck as he holds on tightly. His cheeks stain pink the longer I keep my eyes trained on the two of them. I definitely see it now. They’ve simply never allowed anyone to witness this side of their relationship—not that it’s an actual relationship. Maybe a better word would be attraction. I’m so freaking curious, but I bite my tongue. Does Duke really not want whatever this is he has with Mason?
Against my better judgment, I slowly bring my hand to rest on Duke’s bicep. I give his arm the slightest squeeze so he knows I appreciate what he’s doing for his friend right now, no matter what went down between them that had Duke pushing Mason away.
Mason drags in a deep breath, shifting slightly. He guides my face to his, his lips claiming mine in the sweetest kiss he’s ever given me. It makes my heart stutter in my chest and has me questioning whether this is the same person who attacked me mere minutes ago. But it is. It’s him. The solid beat of his heart and the way his lips move on mine tell me so. He’s my very own Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
A contented sigh escapes me as we sink into the kiss. His tongue slips into my mouth, slowly curling with mine, and then stroking more desperately, like he’s trying to tell me something. A hand grasps my ass as we continue to feast on each other’s lips. At first, I think it’s Mason’s, but when my eyes flutter open, I realize it’s Duke’s. He grips my panty-covered cheek and tugs me tight against Mason’s body. The pounding in my chest accelerates, and my mind races, unsure where this is going.
At a loss for words—and not wanting anything to ruin this moment—I let Duke guide me as the three of us grind together, writhing on the bed. Mason’s cock is fully erect behind his boxer briefs, nudging my lower abdomen as we move. Duke’s hand slides from my ass to my thigh, and he hitches my leg up over Mason’s hip… and his own. He’s adjusted me in such a way that my clit rubs along the hard ridge of Mason’s dick with every roll of our collective hips.
Duke shifts momentarily to reach back and yank his shirt over his head. I’ve seen him shirtless before, but I don’t know if I’ve ever truly let myself appreciate the smoothness of his skin or all those ridges and valleys of muscle. I map them with my eyes, noting how his nipples harden under my gaze. He lies back down and tugs his shorts over his ass before shoving them down his legs and kicking them away. The entire time he’s doing that, though, my eyes glue to the faint trail of hair starting just below his belly button and disappearing beneath the waistband of his underwear. From there, they shift to drink in the prominent V of muscle. I’d like to run my tongue over it, taste the salt of his skin, before finally finding out if the dick I’d copped a feel of is really as impressive as I remember. God, I hope it is.
Mason rubs up against me some more, and there’s a constant zinging sensation in my core. He palms one of my breasts, and I exhale hard, feeling my heart rate ratchet up about ten notches. The next thing I know, Mason has tugged my tank top over my head, baring my breasts to both of their gazes. We’re three pairs of underwear from naked, and the idea of it sends my head spinning.
Mason cups my tit in his hand and immediately dives his head down to lick at my nipple. The expression on Duke’s face tells me he isn’t sure whether he should be looking at me, watching this. But then in one swift move, Mason pushes me partially onto my back so he can give my other breast attention at the same time he plucks Duke’s hand from my leg. He gazes into my eyes for a moment, and I know what he’s doing. He’s letting me call the shots, just like Bear did that day in the gym. I give an almost imperceptible nod.Yes. I want this.
The moment I give consent, Mason puts Duke’s hand directly over my full breast. “Touch her. You know you fucking want to, so just do it. She’s okay with it.” Mason draws in a ragged breath, looking over his shoulder. “I need this, Duke.”
Duke grunts a bit and swats Mason’s hand out of the way so that he can massage my soft flesh on his own. “Fuuuck,” he groans, and I can’t say my reaction is any different. I never would have thought we’d get here. I arch my back, reveling in the feel of both of them touching me at once.
A moment later, Duke crawls over us to my other side. His blue eyes sear into mine as he lowers his mouth to my nipple and wets it with his tongue.Oh, fuck.Desire tangles with our reality in a relentless tug-of-war. Which will come out on top, our desperate need for each other or the fact that he’s technically family?
He flicks that devilish tongue of his over my protruding flesh, circles, and watches for my reaction. I squirm. My panties have to be damn near soaked through, and with them both using their mouths in distinctly different—but equally wicked—ways, my situation is only going to become more dire.
I slide my hands into the hair at the back of their heads, reveling in the idea that they’re more than eager to pleasure me. Their hands are everywhere, gliding over my skin, squeezing and touching in a way that has me panting for them. I gasp for air, and soon, their mouths follow their hands, trailing fiery paths of pleasure over my entire body. Their eyes meet over my abdomen, and I don’t know whether they silently agreed to what they do next, but they each send a hand south. They skim down to my thighs, and a moment later, they spread my legs and hike them up. Mason jams a pillow under my hips until I’m tilted to a position that will give them better access… to all of me. Their fingertips slowly track closer and closer to my pussy, and all I can think is that my heart really is going to burst out of my chest at the anticipation of both of them touching me down there.
Mason runs a finger downward, along the hem of my panties, teasing me with one dexterous finger slipping under the fabric. It sets off a cascade of tingles through me that has my body shuddering in a very good way. Duke drags the pad of his thumb directly down the center of the damp patch on my panties. I shiver involuntarily. I know he can see the wetness, know that’s why he’s specifically touched me right there.
There’s a tiny part of me waiting for some sort of smart comment to come flying out of his mouth and knock me on my ass, but I wait, and it never comes. His chest heaves as he looks up at me. What’s happening between us is intense and scary and so real I don’t quite know what to do with myself.
