Chapter 23

Charlotte

Something wasdifferent with Mason tonight, but I wasn’t sure what had changed. He always touched me, but today…

His hands have been all over me since he’s been home. And when he’d worried I’d been hurt as he’d touched me everywhere multiple times.

Even in front of his family, I’d been crushed against him the entire time. I don’t know much about dating, but I suspect that men who didn’t care do not take such pains to be close, especially if something else might have drawn away their attention.

Something like a bombing.

The absurdity of that washed over me even as I tipped my head back in the water. Was I the target? Or had my association with Mason brought even more trouble my way? Was that even possible?

Without him, I’d likely be dead.

I shiver in the warm water and that’s when the shower door opens.

Mason steps in, the rippling muscles of his body making my breath catch. “Hi.”

“’Lo,” he murmurs as he closes the door and then closes the distance between us. He’s got me crushed against him, his mouth covering mine before I’ve barely taken a breath.

I cling to him as he kisses me over and over, his strength under my hands calming my racing heart.

“Are you all right, sweetheart?”

“I’m fine…” I know my breath catches on the words. I was fine. I held it together. Cleaned up the mess. “Or at least I was until I stepped into the shower.”

He nods like that makes sense. “You were good as long as you were busy.”

That’s probably it. I slide my hands over the ridges of his biceps, the water making our skin slide in the most erotic way.

My worries start to fall away again, and when his mouth captures mine in a long kiss, I forget to be afraid.

Keep busy. Makes sense. Does Mason understand as he slides a hand from my waist down to my rear end, cupping it in his palm and pulling our hips tightly together? I can feel the strong press of his erection against my stomach as I use one of my legs to twist about his, binding us even tighter together.

My hands are in his hair, holding him as close as I can. I don’t even realize I’m crying until he swipes a thumb over my cheek. “Charlotte.”

“I’m all right. It’s just water.”

But his hands on my body ease, relaxing. “You have every right to cry, but I need you to know, I’m not letting anyone hurt you. Not now, not later, not ever.”

The words make my chest tight. If I close my eyes, and I do, I could almost believe that what’s been happening between us is real. Mason was so protective today because he cares.

I want to believe it so much because I know my feelings have definitely taken a turn. I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love.

My heart stutters at the realization and I pull back to look up at him, water from the rain head running down my face.

He reaches for my face, using his large palms to swipe the water away.

“Please don’t let the Italians or the Dukes…” My voice catches again. I feel nearly as raw as I did that first night.

He’s back to holding me tight. “You are mine, Charlotte. Mine to protect.”

I nod. I know that. We have an agreement. “They were so close today.”

Grabbing up the soap, he quickly washes me and then himself, shampooing the dust from his hair. My hands skim his body the entire time because touching him keeps me grounded, sane.

When he turns off the water, he opens the door, a rush of cool air filling the shower before he wraps me in a towel.

Then he lifts me in his arms, carrying me out of my room and into his. “Where are we going?”

“My bed,” he answers. “It’s larger and I think I’m moving you into my room anyway. We end up sleeping together every night regardless of where we both start.”

I blink down at him, trying not to read too much into those words. But they sound like he’s planning on me being here for a while. Hope replaces the fear.

“Why did you agree to have me pretend to be your fiancé? What do you get out of that arrangement?” I don’t even think about it before I ask.

He stops in the middle of the room. “Your virginity. You know that.”

His words are so plain that something in me unwinds, relaxes. “And after?”

“I told you in the shower. I’m not allowing anyone to hurt you ever, Charlotte.”

More plain words that have me melting into him. My arms around his neck, my hands in his hair, I kiss him again, our tongues tangling together as the kiss grows and builds.

I barely feel when he lays me down on the bed but my thighs naturally part to accommodate him and as his hips settle between the softness of my thighs, I feel the hard length of him press against my seam.

We’ve never been closer to closing the deal, but I have another question and I tear my mouth from his. “Mason?”

“Yes, princess?”

“If you take my virginity tonight, I can stay with you after? At least until?—”

“You can stay Charlotte,” he answers, his gaze drilling into mine. His hand goes to the back of my knee, lifting my leg higher and opening my hips to even more to him. “I told you, I’m not letting anyone hurt you. And here is the safest place for you tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that.”

I nod, feeling far better at his words as his hand slides up the back of my leg, his fingers only stopping when the tips are grazing my sex.

I forget to be afraid as lightning courses through me at his touch. Mason has always had this effect.

I’m a slave to the way he makes me feel and I forget all the reasons I should be worried when he starts touching me like this. But his fingers are only a light brush against my overheated flesh before they’re gone again.

I give a small cry of frustration, wanting more of him. But he doesn’t touch me again, instead, he chuckles next to my ear.

“Remember what I said. We only get to have your first time once. We’re going to take it nice and slow because we are going to savor this, princess.”

I circle his broad shoulders with my arms, sighing into his ear. “I know, I know. Patience. But I have been waiting forever. Like really, my entire adult life. It took me so long to find you and even after we met…”

He laughs then. “It has been a bumpy beginning, hasn’t it?” He traces my collarbone with the tip of his index finger. “And I know you’ve been waiting. But we want this to be worth the wait.”

Slowly, gently, he slides his hand up my body, over the towel, pulling out the tucked end and opening the fluffy fabric.

My breath catches as the cool air hits my torso, my nipples pebbling at the change in temperature.

His eyes fix on them and then be bends lower, sucking one into his mouth. I arch into the touch, gasping out my approval.

But not to favor one over the other, he moves to the other side, kissing and sucking his way to the already-erect tip of my other nipple.

It feels so good that I’m grinding against him, my legs locking about his hips, though the towel, still around his waist, keeps me from the contact I really crave.

He slides a hand down my rib cage and over my hip, settling his fingers between my legs. His touch is only a light brush still, through the curls and over the lips, but I shiver in pleasure wanting more.

How does he do this to me? My hands twist up in the sheets as he brushes down my length again, applying no more pressure and making me crazy as I thrust my hips up into his hand.

He finally increases the pressure even as he starts kissing a trail down my belly. One of my hands wraps around his neck, my fingers digging into his skin. I can still see the scratches I left last time, I try to ease the tension in my hand, so as not to draw blood again, but he feels so good.

“Go ahead and mark me,” he rumbles as though he heard my thoughts. I don’t ask how he knew, I just dig my fingernails into his skin, spreading my thighs wider to accommodate his shoulders.

His fingers are still sliding up and down my seam as he kisses the sensitive junction between stomach and leg and then moves lower to the inside of my thigh. Part of me wants him to give me the pleasure I am dying for inside, while another revels in these gentle touches and light kisses.

He’s treating me like something precious. He has been all day today, and it’s starting to mess with my head. How am I going to keep things straight? This is an arrangement born of necessity. He’s not in love the way I am…

I’m dripping wet and squirming against him when he finally swipes his tongue against my clit. With a low moan, my nails dig into his neck, a keening cry ripping from my lips.

I’m so ready that it feels like I could orgasm at any second, but Mason has settled into this light and easy rhythm that keeps me right on the edge.

I give a frustrated whimper, digging deeper into his neck. That’s when he chuckles against me. “Who knew that my demure Charlotte would be so impatient?”

But I don’t have to answer as he increases the pressure, sliding his fingers inside me so that my body tightens in the exact way I’ve been craving.

I’m mindless now, grinding against him as the first wave of the orgasm knocks into me, my breath exiting my lungs in a rush of air.

Wave after wave crashes into me until I’m so spent that I wilt into the bed. This was the mindlessness I’ve been craving all night.

But Mason isn’t done. He climbs up my body using one hand to rip the towel off his waist and toss it on the floor in a single motion.

I would normally be impressed by the small display of athleticism but I’m too busy watching the predatory way he’s climbing above me, and then there is the hard press of the head of his cock against my soft folds.

This is the moment I’ve been waiting for, but nerves make me tense again.

He slows, his elbows resting at my sides, his forearms running along my ribcage as his hands cradle my head. He kisses me long and slow, the taste of me on his lips and tongue.

I relax into that kiss. This is Mason and whatever else worries me, I’ve always trusted him with my body.

And that’s the moment that he sinks inside me…