He's looking straight at me.
I can't help myself. I should be running away. I should be protecting myself from what Mom can do to guys.
But I don't run away, do I?
I stay here as he comes up to me.
I can smell his cologne wafting into my nostrils and I close my eyes as I inhale. He smells like...man.
All of those thoughts of self-preservation that were in the back of my head are now completely gone.
All of the dark, twisted, sexual desires that I've been living with Mason—fucking my older stepdad—are back and stronger than ever.
It's as if the demon Lust has taken control of my body. Because when I open my eyes, Mason's standing in front of me.
He looks at me silently. He's so confident. So strong.
And why shouldn't he be?
He knows he owns me.
The way he grabs me by the arm and starts walking toward the open door to his apartment. I have no choice but to follow. And even if I had a choice, we both know that I would go wherever this man took me.
I feel more than hear the door to the apartment close behind me.
But just as suddenly as he grabbed me and pulled me in, Mason lets me go and turns toward me.
I notice the skyline visible through his open window. The skyscrapers of New York City glitter in the evening. It would be a breathtaking view, if I could even compose my thoughts at the moment.
I mean, my Mom walking out of Mason's apartment.
Adjusting her clothes.
There's only one reason that she could have been here. Only one thing she could have been doing.
"Becca," Mason says to me, looking at me. As much as he acts the completely dominant alpha-male around me, I see in his eyes true concern for what's going on in my head. He takes a step closer to me. "Listen to me before you jump to any conclusions."
"There's no conclusions to jump to, Mason," I tell him, surprising myself with how calm and cool I sound. "I think I have a pretty fair idea what you two were up to."
Mason sighs. "We didn't fuck, if that's what you mean."
Maybe he sees me wince as he says the word fuck. I'm imagining my mother claiming him. My Mason being conquered by Mom. Taken away from me.
Maybe because I start trembling.
"Hey," Mason says and I'm about to respond but the fact that I'm about to lose this man to someone as vile and deceitful and conniving as my mother is enough to make my knees tremble.
The next thing I know, Mason has his arms wrapped around me and he's holding me from falling.
My knees have given way and had Mason not held me, I would have crumpled to the floor.
But holding me up is seriously about as much effort on Mason's part as maybe opening a door.
With ease and almost no exertion, he picks me up and starts walking to his bedroom.
"What's the matter with you today, babe?" he asks, his eyes finding mine as he walks into the bedroom.
I shake my head.