19. Reed

Reed

19

I don't know what I'm offering Mason as I stand in front of him or why he'd take me up on it.

We're both so broken, neither of us has much to offer the other. But after he bared his secrets to me—setting them between us and allowing me the choice to do what I want with that information—I couldn't deny what I've been trying to ignore these past couple of months.

Mason isn't like the men I was surrounded by growing up. He isn't my brother. And he isn't Carter.

He's a man who shields those around him with his whole heart, to the point where their pain becomes his own failings. For the first time, I look into his eyes, and I understand why he doesn't entertain relationships. His fear of failing someone else he cares about is immense after the loss of his sister.

He doesn't trust himself to allow someone to get close.

But I don't fear it. I don't fear him.

Mason reaches up and brushes my hair off my face. His fingers trail my cheek down to my jaw. He traces my throat like he's making art. Finding beauty in things that I've stopped seeing as pretty years ago.

He touches me like he's healing me. Like he's the first man to see all my good and bad and want me anyway.

For six years, I've been looked over. Held at a man's side to be his trophy or used as an outlet for his aggression. But I haven't been heard or seen in so long that I forgot what it feels like.

As Mason's gaze falls to my mouth, I want him to show me I'm not as weak as I've been feeling. I want him to show me I'm worth more than I've been giving myself credit for.

Trust.

I hand it to him without an ounce of hesitation.

Asking—hoping—he'll take me up on it.

"You're testing me, Sticks. I've been good, and it hasn't been easy." He traces his thumb over my lower lip. "You can't give me permission like that. I'm not that fucking strong, and I don't want to take advantage of you."

"You aren't." I grab his wrist, pausing his hand where he's holding my jaw. "You make me feel like I'm worth something again. You don't treat me like I'm broken or I'm fragile. I want to feel that. I need to feel that. Maybe I'm the one using you."

"You could never use me." He smirks, stepping closer. "I'm too willing."

"How willing?" Grabbing his wrist, I slowly drag his hand from my jaw to my throat, over the center of my chest until it's resting on my breast.

His palm is large like the rest of him, and even if I've got a full chest, he covers me. His fingers twitch to grab it.

"Fuck, Reed." The growl that vibrates his throat sets my core on fire.

"Don't be careful with me, Mason." I look up at him. "I've had enough of that in my life. I just want to feel alive again."

His hand tightens on my breast, and it sends my blood coursing through my veins.

"I'll always be careful with you, Reed. With your body. With your heart. Because a girl like you deserves that." He drags his hand up my chest until it reaches my throat.

He grabs on, but not tight. Not taking my air away. Just enough to latch himself to me so he can pull me a step closer to him.

"But if you're worried that I'm too much of a gentleman to take you like you need me to, then don't. Because I've wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on you. And the second you give me permission, I'll fuck you exactly how a girl like you deserves."

I swallow hard. "How's that?"

He dips his face down, grazing his mouth over my cheek, sending a shiver along my spine as his lips find my ear.

"Until you're coming on my cock all night long."

"I've never come during sex." It's a sad admission, but I don't want him to feel bad when that doesn't happen.

"That's a shame." He teases my neck with his teeth. "Because that's not your fault."

Blood floods my heart. My legs shake as I skim my hands down Mason's hard chest, tracing the trail that leads to his jeans.

"Promise?"

He pulls back to look at me. His familiar cocky smile crawls his cheeks, and his flirty gaze meets mine. It reminds me of all the moments we shared last time I was in town. Before everything fell apart. It reminds me of all the temptations we've been resisting.

"Mm-hmm. You sure about this?" he asks, his fingers twitching where they're still wrapped around my neck.

Am I sure?

I've never felt desire like I do for Mason. I've never looked in a man's eyes and been more certain. I see all his good, even if he doesn't.

His pause—his question—is all I need to know. He wants this, but he'll stop himself for me if I ask him to.

"Yes." I wet my lips. "I'm sure."

Mason's fingers grip my throat, and he pulls my mouth to his. Our bodies collide, even as he has to bend down to reach me. Winding my arms up around his shoulders, he uses the leverage to lift my hips, and I wrap my legs around him.

The sheer size of his hard length presses against me, and it has my heart racing.

"Mason." My hands find his hair, and his tongue slips into my mouth.

I can't remember the last time I felt wanted by a man. Actually wanted. Mason kisses me like he's desperate for every moan he elicits. Like he needs to feel every curve of my body so he remembers it.

His hands grip my ass as he walks us down the hallway, and I melt against him. I sink into his kiss and rock my hips with every one of his steps, loving how his fingers dig into my ass, and his steps falter when I tighten my legs.

When we reach his room, I can't help pulling back to look around. I've been on the other side of this wall for so many weeks, but I've never crossed the threshold.

There's not much to look at. It's undecorated and the bed's unmade. There are a few sketches on the dresser, and a pair of jeans on the floor, but that's it.

"It's messy." He nips at my throat. "Sorry."

"That's not what I was thinking."

He pulls back, quirking an eyebrow, and a smile breaks free.

"I was thinking—it's interesting you're afraid of heights, seeing as you spend your life living up here. Is this what the world looks like when you're a giant?"

The laugh that bursts out of him is infectious, and I can't help giggling.

"You think you're funny, don't you, bite-size?"

He drops us onto the bed, kneeling between my legs.

"I'm not a candy bar."

"You sure about that?" He grins, slowly reaching for my jeans and unbuttoning them. "Because I'm going to have so much fun eating you."

Mason slips my jeans and underwear down my legs, spreading my thighs open for him.

"Fuck, Reed." His whole body stiffens at the sight of me, and the bulge in his pants is pushing firmly against them. "You're beautiful. Let me see those pretty tits."

My insides cave at his filthy words, at how desperate I am to have him inside me. I grab for the hem of my T-shirt and peel it off before reaching back to unhook my bra. And then I'm lying on his bed, completely naked, stretched out before him.

Mason's fingers skate the inside of my thighs, and I shiver. He hasn't lost an article of clothing, but he's a god on his knees for me anyway. Those blue eyes burn into my soul as his gaze finds every patch of skin on my body.

"Feel that?"

I'm not sure what he's referring to exactly, but I nod because I feel everything. His stare, his hands, the heat of the room.

"See… nothing's wrong with you, Reed." He skates his fingertips along my thighs, tracing a burning path to my core. "You've just never been touched properly."

He grabs one of my legs, and in a swift windmill, spins me around so I'm on my stomach before tugging my hips in the air.

"Now let's figure out what'll make you scream for me."

His mouth finds my pussy, and it takes my breath away. I'm on all fours, gripping the sheet, and Mason doesn't hold back. He devours me. His tongue toys with my clit before he buries it deep. His scruffy jaw has my senses on overdrive with every brush between my legs.

He works magic on my core, and when his fingers drive in, I feel every nerve ending. He's not gentle, but he's not aggressive. He toes this line with every reaction I give him. Every moan. Every time I call out his name.

It's like he's reading my body so he can understand it. He's drawing out sensations I've never experienced, even when I tried myself.

Mason hums against me as he sinks his fingers into a sensitive spot that leaves me breathless.

"That's it." Mason pulls back, thrusting his fingers and striking that spot over and over as he rubs my clit with his other hand. "Let go, Reed."

I don't realize how hard I'm holding on until he says those words.

I'm fighting this unintentionally. I'm holding back like I do with everything—scared to let go. But Mason makes me fearless. I trust him, and I want to hand myself over.

As I relax at his touch, his mouth works my core, and on the final thrust of his fingers, I detonate.

The scream that rips from my throat is barely human, so I bury my face in the blanket. His fingers slip in and out as I soak them. And when he withdraws them, he seals his mouth to my pussy so he can kiss me through the pleasure.

"Mason." I'm groaning his name, on the verge of coming again as he refuses to let up. "Mason, please."

"Please, what?"

"Fuck me." I glance over my shoulder, and he pulls back, smirking.

He grabs my hips and flips me around so my back's to the bed, and I'm looking up at him. Leaning forward, his hand finds my jaw, and he tilts my chin up. His mouth seals to mine, and I taste myself on his tongue.

It's not even the filthiest thing I've imagined, but it has me grinding my core up against his body in search of the pressure. He could fuck me until I can't move or speak, and that still wouldn't be enough.

Reaching for the hem of his shirt, he pulls away for me to strip it off him before diving back into our kiss.

My fingers work the button on his jeans, and he strips them down the moment it's undone. He kneels back to grab a condom from the drawer beside his bed, and I get my first look at him completely naked, cut from granite, kneeling in front of me.

Tattoos stretch one arm and pec, with a few others scattered throughout. But I can't focus on what they are because his hard cock juts out toward me, and the sight alone might make me nearly black out.

Everything about him is large, but that is…

"Are you going to fit?" My eyes widen as he rolls a condom down his thick shaft.

When he reaches the base, he looks up at me with dark fascination that nearly stops my heart. "Come here."

He grabs me, rolling us so he's on his back and I'm straddling him. He hands me the control, and I grab his shoulders with the rush of having him at my mercy as much as I'm at his.

My hips hover over him, and he slides the head of his cock through my slickness. I'm still relaxed and soaked, but I have a feeling that will only help so much with his size.

"Reed." He grabs my chin, forcing my eyes to his. "Relax for me, okay? Be a good girl and sit on my cock. Show me how well you can take it."

Holy hell.

My hips sink as I slowly start to lower over him. Just the head stretches me to my limits and my vision spots. It's impossible to say if I'm coming or in pain. The sensations are so intense that I take more of him in.

"Mason." I grip his hard chest, and my nails rake his skin, leaving red lines as his eyes roll back.

Lifting, I sink down again, a little more this time. Slowly adjusting as I take him more and more. Inch by inch. He's so large, and I'm so full; he's endless inside me. My hips roll with every bit, and I slowly lower until I'm fully seated.

"Holy shit." Mason grabs my hips as I sink down, grinding my pelvis over him. "You're so fucking tight."

Rolling my hips, I watch as his entire body tenses, drawing out the veins in his neck. He's large, so the pressure is a little painful at first, but I breathe into it. I adjust. I appreciate how every movement has Mason on the brink, just like I am.

He reaches up and cups my breasts in his hands, playing with my nipples, and it sends a path of electricity to my core.

"That's it, ride me." He squeezes my nipples as I start to swivel over him a little faster. "Use my cock to get you what you need."

I do, riding him unapologetically. Not caring what I look like or how I sound. Coming apart as he fills me to my core. I'm grinding my clit with every circle of my hips, and he holds me through it. He toys with my nipples, and a slow pressure starts to build until I'm overcome with a rush I've never experienced.

My climax hits me so hard I can't scream. Air evaporates from my lungs, and I'm shaking. I'm squeezing him through it, and his hands drop to my thighs, drawing out the veins in his forearms.

"You feel so fucking good." He angles his head back, and I lean forward to grab his shaggy, dark blond hair.

He tilts his face to meet mine as I press my lips to his, continuing to ride him.

Mason's entire body is rigid as he's on the verge, and I've never wanted someone's pleasure as much as I need his right now. I want this man to lose himself in me the same way I'm lost in him.

I rotate my hips until he's holding me over him and pumping up because he can't hold back anymore. He's driving hard, and it's enough that I'm coming again.

Or still coming?

I'm stardust floating in the air. We break apart, and he releases himself inside me.

Our bodies are slick with sweat as we melt into one. And when he relaxes, he rolls us so I'm on my back, and he's between my legs. But he doesn't stop kissing me. He doesn't let me go. And he hasn't pulled out yet.

He takes me completely, and I want him to have every piece.