Chapter 24

Mason

Leah slept the entire flight. Exhaustion has a chokehold on me, but I’m fighting it. I think we’re both caught up in our heads. Aly definitely rattled Leah last night, and I think Landon did, too. I just don’t know how.

I’ve got my own shit to deal with though, and as much as it pains me to say it, I need to focus on my problems, which will start as soon as my family hears the news about BanditFX.

I’ve lost my empire. I’ve lost my power.

I’m starting over.

The only thing that makes it bearable is that I’ve made my best friends filthy rich. I’ve also secured jobs for all my current employees. Well, former employees now. They’ll each be getting substantial raises.

I have every confidence that the man who bought my company will do amazing things with BanditFX but…

My heart still hurts. That company was my baby.

My everything.

There’s a new hole in my chest that makes it hard to breathe.

It was a good business move to make. The right one to make. And even though Kerrington and Gage will stay on as board members, Landon and I aren’t part of it anymore, which terrifies me.

What if the one thing I built crumbles now that I’m no longer with it?

Get a grip, Mason. It’ll be fine. BanditFX isn’t your responsibility anymore .

I need to have faith that I made the right decision. Business is always a risk. This overwhelming need to take care of everyone, to make sure every employee’s needs are met, will pass. They’ll be fine.

My financial freedom was worth losing my company for.

My heart’s still broken about it, though.

I could have kept BanditFX and continued to rake in millions, but it was time to let it go. I have more business ideas to invest my time and money into. This isn’t the end. It’s the beginning.

“Wake up, baby.” Kissing Leah’s forehead to rouse her, the scent of her shampoo calms me. “We’ve landed.”

Her eyes flutter open, and she looks out the window, relieved because we’re on the ground already. “I slept through touchdown?”

“You were out like a light.” I stand and stretch. “The plane’s just about empty, too.”

“Holy shit.” Leah looks mortified. “Why didn’t you wake me sooner?”

“I was in no hurry for this trip to end I guess.” Mesmerized by her sweet facial expressions, the little noises she makes, the way her hand would twitch on my lap, it was a perfect distraction for my racing mind during the flight. “You talk in your sleep.”

Her gaze narrows. “Do not.”

“You said all kinds of things.”

“Like what?” She stands up while I grab our luggage.

“Mason is amazing. Mason is so sexy. I love his big tongue.”

Her cheeks turn crimson immediately. “I did not say that.”

“You definitely did. It just kind of came out as ‘mmmsehr mmmphrr’. Very mumbly, but I could totally tell what you were saying.”

Her laughter fills the cabin. “Come on.” She slaps my ass. “Get me off this flying metal death trap.”

We head out of the airport in this suspended state of brittle bliss. Like we’re both trying to hold on to the last remnants of the past couple of days when we both know some things are going to change any minute.

Lacing my fingers with hers, we walk out of the airport together. I don’t want to let her go. Not even to get in my car.

“So, when do you head back to your home-home?” Leah’s hair curtains her face, falling over her shoulders in dark blonde waves.

I need to touch her again. It’s not sexual, it’s comforting. “I’ll drive home tonight.”

“Drive?”

“Yeah, it’s a bit of a haul, but I need time to think.”

She shifts away from me a little. “Well, I hope you get home safe.”

“I’ll call you when I arrive. If you’d like.”

That little extra crinkle between her eyes fades a bit. “Yeah. That would be nice.”

“I’m not sure when I’m going to be back in town, but…” I pull out my key. “Take this. Enjoy the bathtub at my condo.”

She stares at the key like it’s going to bite her. “Ummm.”

“Take it.” Kissing her forehead, I add, “It’s just temporary.”

I’ve been planning to buy something bigger in the area because this is where I want to make roots and start a new company, but Leah’s welcome to use my space for however long I have it. Except she pulls away from me and crosses her arms. I have no clue what her problem is. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, Mason.”

“ Princess .” I try to put my hand on her thigh, but she tilts out of my reach. My chest tightens. “ Leah .”

“It’s just temporary. I know.” Her voice shakes. “It’s fine.”

My mind’s too exhausted to catch up with her words fast enough, but by the time we pull into a neighborhood of single houses, I think I get where the miscommunication is. “I meant my condo is temporary. Not us.”

She keeps staring out the window instead of at me.

“Leah, look at me.” My jaw clenches as I juggle driving, following the GPS, and giving my girl attention at the same time. “I’m keeping you.”

She doesn’t say a fucking word.

“Look at me, Princess.”

She finally turns towards me and there are flecks of gold shining in her brown eyes from the sunset glowing through the windows. “How’s this going to work, Mase?”

“I have no idea, but it will. I’ll be traveling back and forth for a bit, but I plan to settle down here.”

“ Here ?” She repeats that word like I’m stupid to do so.

“This city is starting to boom. There’s a lot of potential and opportunities. Besides…” I lock my gaze with hers. “I love it here.”

Holding out my key again, relief floods my system when she takes it this time.

“ You have reached your destination .” Tapping End Route on Leah’s phone, I park in front of a red brick rancher.

With her hand on the door handle, she looks back. “Do you have time to come in?”

I’ll always have time for her. “Absolutely.”

Her next smile is an arrow through my heart. We head up the narrow cement walkway and she digs her keys out of her purse.

The first step into her house and I’m smacked with Leah’s scent. “It smells like you in here.”

She drops her keys on a table in her little foyer. A fat black cat jumps down from the couch and starts meowing loudly. Leah picks it up and scratches the side of its face aggressively. “I know. I’m so mean leaving you alone.” She holds it out to me. “This fat bastard’s name is Wicklow. We tolerate each other.”

I scratch his head until he starts wiggling and meowing louder. Leah puts him down and fur flies all over the floor. “Let me give you the grand tour.”

Her home is pretty. Colorful and fun, like her. Pictures hang all over the walls and clutter side tables. Most of them have Leah with other people, but there are a few colorful art prints hanging too. We have very different styles. Hers is better than mine.

“I have a feeling my entire house could probably fit in your living room wherever you really live,” she half jokes.

She’s right. Leah’s home is lovely, but her entire kitchen is smaller than my second pantry. “Your home is perfect.”

Like her.

“Not hardly, but I love it. It’s enough for me.”

It’s a home . There’s no comparing what we have because no matter what house of mine you go to, it’s the same. Stark walls, pretentious art prints I didn’t even pick out myself, plain furniture with no comfort. Leah has one, two, three… seven blankets in the living room alone. I have a white comforter on my bed and that’s it.

“Let me show you my favorite space.”

I think she’s going to bring me into her bedroom, but I’m lured into a spare room with bookshelves lining all the walls and a collection of mugs and candles on display.

“Welcome to my nest.”

There’s a gigantic bean bag in the center of the room. More blankets and extra pillows are piled onto it and scattered on the floor. Wicklow bumbles in and climbs up a cat tree, settling on the highest perch.

It smells like pumpkin spice and vanilla.

“These…” She fans her arms out dramatically, “are my book trophies. I listen to an audiobook, then buy a physical copy so I can look at it.” She plucks one off the shelf and pets it. “So pretty.”

There are more books in this tiny space that I had in my parents’ library growing up. “And how many trophies do you have?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, we don’t count. No, no. None of that. We just look at the pretties and love them. Numbers don’t matter.” She shoves the book back on the shelf and plucks a coffee mug up that says, Talk Darcy To Me. “This is my most favorite mug in my ever-growing collection.”

She’s adorable.

“I fucking love you.” I don’t care if she wants to hear it or not. I don’t give a shit if it’s too soon to say it—because it definitely is. I’m not holding back. I never have before and I’m not starting now. “You’re the realest person I’ve ever been around.”

Leah runs her hands up my arms and hooks them around my neck. Dragging me under a wave of lust, she whispers, “I want you one more time before you leave.”

She’s got me for life. It just hasn’t penetrated her head yet. “Whatever you want, Princess.”

We waste no time between kisses, nipping and teasing, as we strip out of our clothes. Leah drops to her knees and takes my dick in her hands. Looking up with those big doe eyes, she opens her mouth wide and sucks on my head.

I’m marrying this woman.

Not because of the wicked moves she can do with her tongue, or because she’s the sexiest creature this side of the universe, but because she’s everything . She’s my missing piece. The secret ingredient to the life I’ve always dreamed of.

“Does my princess like sucking my cock?”

“Mmm hmm.”

I wish I could get this on camera. Her cheeks hollow out when sucks me and that little crinkle comes back between her eyes because I’m too big to fit down her throat, no matter how hard she tries.

Sinking my fingers in her hair, I grip a handful and rock my hips and fuck her pretty face. Then I pull out. “Your mouth is where I finish .” Reaching between her thighs, I test to see how wet she is. My girl is sopping wet. “I want to taste you.” Carrying her over to the beanbag, I toss her onto it. “Spread those luscious thighs for me.”

Leah does no such thing. In fact, she holds her legs closed. “Beg.”

Fuck, I’m so in love.

Dropping to my knees, I give her what she wants. “Please let me taste your pretty, sweet, messy cunt, Princess. I need it.”

“How bad do you need it?”

“More than my next breath.”

Leah spreads her legs. It’s like opening the pearly gates to heaven.

I drag my tongue along her slit. Her arousal is sweet, tart, and addictive. I swallow it greedily, and go back for seconds. “You taste so good, Princess.”

She reaches down and spreads herself wider, putting it all on display for me.

I devour her pussy, alternating between my tongue and fingers until I have her writhing, begging me to make her come. Every time I sense she’s getting close, I switch things up and prolong her release.

“Please, Mason.” She lifts her head so she can watch me eat her out. “Please. I’m dying.”

Dramatic little thing.

I shove two fingers inside her and drag them along her inner walls, watching her toes curl. “Fuck!” she squeaks. Her knuckles turn white as she clings to the beanbag. Her inner walls flutter and I double down, sucking on her clit.

Her orgasm rips through her. She screams like she’s being murdered. “MASON!”

There’s no relenting on my side until I’m sure she’s spent. Then I shove my dick inside her.

“Oh my God .” Her eyes flutter shut.

Hooking her legs over my shoulders, I fuck her hard. Pressing my hand on her belly, I relish the way my cock feels, sliding in and out of her body.

“Fuck… oh my god… shit… too much!” Leah gasps. “Too deep!”

I ease back and only push halfway in. “Better?”

Her hair’s a wild bird’s nest at this point. Cheeks flushed, and eyes heavy-lidded, she pants, “Give me a hand necklace. Please. Pretty fuck… fucking… holy shit that feels so good.”

I’m buried balls deep again as I wrap my hand around her throat and continue fucking her until I’m ready to come. “I want you to swallow me, Princess.” Another minute of hard thrusts and I pull out. Leah immediately sucks me off like I’ve got some kind of magic elixir in me. “That’s a good girl.” Groaning and panting, I’m getting close. “That’s such a good fucking girl .”

I blow my load so hard she chokes. “That’s it. Keep going, Princess.” It’s too much for her to swallow all at once. My cum drips out of the corners of her mouth and down her chin and it’s so goddamn hot I think I might come again.

Leah pulls back and sucks in a harsh breath.

Leaning down, I lick her mouth and kiss her. We’re salty and sweet together. Perfection.

My cell rings from the floor. Leah’s gaze falls to it and that crinkle is back between her eyes.

“Ignore it,” I say.

“What if it’s important?”

“Nothing’s more important to me than you.”

Her expression shifts and I think I’ve said something wrong again.

My cell won’t stop ringing.

“Here.” She reaches it before I can.

We both see NICOLE written across the screen.

Of all times for this to happen… S hit, shit, shit . I want to ignore it, but if I do, that’ll lead to more problems. Hitting the answer button, I hold it up to my ear. “What?”

Leah slides off the massive beanbag. Her cat stares at me like he’s judging me.

“You sold BanditFX?”

“Yeah.”

“Jesus Christ, Mason. What are you thinking ?”

“I told you I had everything handled.”

“You didn’t tell me you were handling it like that! Why didn’t you tell me? I had to hear about it from the fucking news. Seriously, Mase?”

“I can’t really talk about this right now.” Leah’s gathering her clothes from the floor, dressing faster than my mind can put together. She tosses my boxers and pants onto the beanbag and leaves the room. “I’ve gotta go.”

“Mason Finch, don’t you dare hang up on m—”

I hang up on her.

Stuffing my legs in my pants, I hop on one foot to chase Leah down. She’s made it to the kitchen already. Wicklow runs past me, and straight to her. “Sorry about that.”

She picks the cat up and hugs it. “Nothing to apologize for.”

“Nicole’s a… friend.”

“Good for Nicole.”

Is she jealous? “She’s only a friend.”

“Mason.” Leah lets her cat go again. “It’s fine. Why are you acting so guilty?”

Guilty? I didn’t think I was, but… okay, maybe I am. It’s just that Leah doesn’t know everything yet and telling her after fucking her seems like really bad timing. “She’s a family friend and a nosy bitch.”

“Okay.” Leah puts her hand on her hip and leans against the counter. “And?”

“And…” My cell goes off again.

Leah rolls her eyes. “Answer it, Mason.”

Without even looking at the screen, I take the call. “Yeah?”

“You’ve been busy, Mason.”

My mother’s tone triggers a trained reaction from me. My walls slam into place, and I keep aloof. “Always am.” Leaving Leah glaring in the kitchen, I head into the spare room to grab the rest of my clothes. “What can I do for you?”

By now, she’s received my letter attached to the paperwork drawn up by my lawyer.

“Do you still plan to attend the gala?”

“Of course. I gave you my word that I would be there.” But I hear what she’s not saying.

Her first-born son has no place at her side anymore. There will be no seat at the family table for me. I’m officially cut out.

“Fine.” She hangs up.

Numbness seeps into my body, starting at my face and spreading down my chest, arms, and legs. I don’t feel the fabric of my shirt as I button it. I don’t feel the floor beneath my feet as I walk back into the kitchen. I don’t feel my tongue when I say, “I’ll see you soon” to Leah, and I don’t feel the doorknob as I turn it and leave.

Risk is a wild thing. It can bring you everything you’ve ever wanted and take everything you have.

In both cases, you’re left wanting.