Page 27 of Mason Wilder
“Stop saying that.”
“I know.” He crinkled his brow and curled his lip. “That sounds weird now, because I’ve been thinking about you lately in a way that is the furthest thing from a sister.”
He pulled her to him. The way his body pressed against hers, the way his eyes bore into her with yearning, and the closeness of his lips made her lightheaded. Dizzy. Euphoric. They gazed at one another with serious intensity. “What are you saying?” she asked breathlessly, her gaze traveling between his eyes and his lips.
“In my mind, you were always Lucas’ little sister. I never had that eye opening she-turned-into-a-woman moment, until you put that seed in my brain. It was as if a curtain was lifted and the opacity was gone. In an instant, you turned into this voluptuous, gorgeous woman that I couldn’t resist. That I wanted. That stirred things inside of me that weren’t there before. I see it all clearly now. Me and you. A drummer and a bassist. We come from the same background. We have the same goals. Our sights are set on the same things. What two people share a better connection than us? You were meant to be in my life.” He paused and his expression deflated a little. “My life could have been very different. I could have never known my father. Never known you. Or Lucas. Or any of the Immortal Angel family. I believe I was brought here for a reason. Fate. Fate brought me to you. I love you Tessa Blade Garcia.”
She’d waited a lifetime to hear those three little words. They were overwhelming. She had always envisioned her reaction to be one of over-the-top elation. Jump-up-and-down hysteria. But Mason’s heartfelt revelation left her exhausted with relief, and she just wanted to feel him in her arms. “Kiss me,” she breathed.
His eyes dropped to her lips, and he pulled her closer. His mouth met hers with so much heat she thought she would combust. His mouth was warm and fiery. His lips were soft. Gentle. His hands pressed against her back and held her to him, possessively. It was as if every pore in her body woke from a drunken slumber. As if they were waiting, dormant, for Mason to touch her. In a very real sense, they were. Her nerve endings were pulsing. Her heart was thundering. Nothing had prepared her for this moment. A million fantasies couldn’t conjure up the rampage of feelings spiraling inside of her. This was really happening. She was kissing the man of her dreams. Right now. It wasn’t a fantasy or her imagination. Mason loved her. He finally realized they were supposed to be together.
When their lips slowly parted, she said the words she’d practiced in her head for so long. Only this time she knew they would be returned. “I love you, Mason.”
“I love you, Tessa.”
The words finally registered, and tears sprung to her eyes while a quivering smile spread across her face. “You love me?”
“I had an epiphany. Everything cleared. Like I had my head in the sand and someone yanked it out and I could see the light of day for the first time. I always said I wasn’t interested in settling down or having a steady girlfriend because I was too involved with my music. People thought I was a player. You saw all the headlines, but you knew they weren’t true. Anyone who knew me knew I wasn’t like that. Now I realize that I never wanted anyone because it wasyou. I always said it was the music, but it was you. All along it was you. It was always you.”
Her skin prickled. Gooseflesh rose on her arms and trailed down her spine, causing her to tingle all over. “Oh, Mason.” She cupped his face in her hands, happiness and joy flooding her soul. Suddenly weak with relief, she fell into him, and she kissed him. His short stubble scraped against her face, and his breath gusted across her cheek. One hand moved to the back of his head, pushing her fingers through his hair. The other hand moved over his round shoulder.
He tugged at her tank top and pulled it from the waistband of her jeans. As she slipped it over her head, he pulled his shirt off. While he drank in her near naked torso, her hand went to his chest and her lips went to his shoulder. She’d seen him shirtless many times and always imagined what the hard muscles of his body felt like, but never imagined the rush of adrenaline it would give her, or the way it would made her body tingle. She caressed his shoulders and biceps, and the tattoos that covered them. Her finger traced the veins in his forearms. They were chords of strength brought on by years of drumming, and she fingered them like the strings of her bass. She felt his blood pulsing beneath her touch, and it made her heart quicken. Both of her hands traveled over his pecs and up to his shoulders. He had a drummer’s body. Strong and naturally muscled from the labor of his love.
Without warning, he picked her up with an arm across her back and one under her knees. He carried her through the apartment and kicked open the bedroom door. It swung back at them, and she stopped it with her foot, which made them both laugh.
He put her down on the bed, slid into the spot next to her and kissed her. Her mind was still spiraling, and, again, she needed to remind herself that this wasn’t a dream.
His hands, strong and confident, slid around her back, unhooked her bra and tossed it over the side of the bed. He stilled and stared down at her, then his dimples made an appearance. “You had your nipples pierced?”
She forgot that it would cause a reaction. No one had really seen them before, and she felt a little shy about it, so she did the opposite. She pushed her shoulders back and stuck her chest out. “Alyssa did them when I turned 18.”
His grin widened. “You little devil.” He cupped her breast and ran his thumb over the nub, flicking the end of the barbell. She inhaled at the rush of sensations and his eyes shot up to hers. “Does it hurt?”
She released a deep breath. “It feels amazing.”
His lips landed on her naked breast, and he licked the piercing. First one, then the other. A rough scrape from the short stubble on his cheeks, combined with the pleasuring sensations of his mouth on her nipple, made her shudder and she let out a soft moan. Her fingers found their way into his hair and she pressed his mouth into her flesh. He sucked on her nipple, and she moaned again. As he lie next to her on the bed, with his tongue dancing across her breasts, his hand firmly slid down the perimeter of her torso and waist. His hand moved with power and assuredness. He palmed her hip, owning it, the same way he owned a drumstick when he gripped it in his hand. He found the button on her jeans, popped it open and peeled them off her with determination, leaving her with nothing except her thin panties. Then he stood and undressed.
She watched him kick off his sneakers, push his jeans down to the floor and step out of them. Her gaze was riveted and her chest heaved as he dropped his briefs. She fought the urge to gasp when she saw his arousal and how much he wanted her, and she dropped her eyes so he didn’t catch her staring. He moved to the bed and lie next to her. As he kissed her, his hand traveled over her breast and paused to run his thumb in a circular motion over her nipple, causing her body to react. Her toes were twitching and her scalp was tingling. She imagined this so many times, but never expected the rush of heat that covered her flesh or how over-sensitized her nerve endings would be. Every part of her quivered. She felt Mason’s breath on her cheek as prevalent as the touch of his hand. She could feel the air in the room ghosting over her limbs.
His palm dusted the area between her breasts and skimmed her waist, causing her breaths to deepen and her body to shudder at his touch. When he slipped the tips of his fingers into her panties she gasped slightly. “Mason.”
His hand inched lower. So low that his fingers touched the curve of her mound. “Mason. Wait.” She placed her hand over his, stopping it from going any further.
He pulled back slightly, keeping his hand in place beneath her panties, and gave her his signature dimpled smile. “I brought protection with me. I knew what was going to happen when I came back here.”
“That’s not it.” She bit her bottom lip and looked away. When she turned back to him, there were heavy creases between his brows.
He withdrew his hand, hurt and confusion plastered across his face. “You don’t want to?”
“I do. It’s just that . . .” Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, apprehension causing her cheeks to flush. “I wasn’t lying when I said I waited for you.” She paused, giving him a moment to understand.
His brows pinched together more closely. “Are you saying . . . is this your first time?”
She nodded. “I wanted you to be the one. Youarethe one, Mason.”
His brows skyrocketed and he blinked a few times as he stared at her.
It scared her. Maybe this was too much for him. Too much responsibility for him to handle. And then he kissed her. There was so much passion and tenderness in it that she knew she did the right thing by waiting for him.
