The Price of Mason (Forbidden Men 10)

She blinked at me repeatedly before shaking her head slightly. “You know I never tie my hair back?”

I shifted closer. I don’t know why I was doing this. It was wrong to mess around with her—it could only hurt her—but I couldn’t seem to stop. “I know you’re always pushing it out of your eyes,” I said.

Her gaze glazed and lips parted. A part of me knew exactly what was happening to her under those clothes she wore. Her nipples were puckering tight, aching to be sucked as moisture gathered at the seam of her sex, readying her body for me.

“I don’t know,” she said with a loose shrug even as color heightened the tops of her cheeks and her breathing shuddered unsteadily. “Don’t… Don’t you guys prefer long, flowing hair?”

I caught a strand of her dark locks and ran it through my fingers. “I can’t speak for other guys but, yeah, I guess I do like it long and flowing.” Because that’s how she had her hair. Finally focusing on what we were actually talking about, I sent her a disappointed glance. “So this is just to attract a guy then?” I didn’t like thinking of her as man-hunting. “Anyone specific?”

She cleared her throat and looked down. “No. Not necessarily. I just… I personally think I look best this way.”

Relieved by that answer, I lifted another piece of hair on the other side of her cheek until I was nearly cupping her face. She slowly lifted her gaze.

“Does this mean you’ll have caught your guy whenever you show up on campus someday with your hair in a ponytail?”

She blinked, probably not prepared for me to keep on with this conversation…when I could so easily just lean in and kiss her. “Well, then I’ll have to keep his attention, so probably not.”

I combed my finger through the dark strands until I’d gathered it all into a ponytail with my hand. “I don’t think you ever have to worry about what your hair looks like in order to attract a guy.” She could be bald or have a frizzed-out mess, and I was sure I’d still

want her right now, more than I ever wanted anyone. “You have too many other intriguing attributes to keep them interested.”

My thumb barely grazed the front of her throat.

Realization flooded her eyes. “Mason,” she damn near whispered, her body going taut and still. “What’re you doing?”

I moved in closer, pressing my forehead to hers. “Something I probably shouldn’t.”

But if she gave me the go-ahead, I’d keep doing it no matter how wrong it was. Because God, I wanted this. I wanted it so fucking much.

Her breath trembled from parted lips and her eyes went leery and tempted even as she said, “If… If you shouldn’t, then…don’t.”

Dammit.

I might have whimpered. But God, the rejection…

It hurt.

“Easier said than done,” I answered on a shaky voice, even as I combed my fingers through her hair again, one last time. But she didn’t stop me. In fact, she reached up and gripped my arm as if to keep me there, so my final caress lingered and just...kept going. I cupped the back of her neck and tipped her face up.

Nothing else mattered but learning what that mouth tasted like.

She leaned in as if to receive me. I whispered her name, my body igniting with the knowledge that I was actually with the girl whose name I said this time, the girl I wanted to be with.

How the hell was I lucky enough to be allowed here in this moment with her?

But then, it was all just stolen time, wasn’t it, because Reese seemed to come to her senses as she lowered her gaze and said, “I think… I think it’d be best if you stopped.”

Right.

Fuck. She’d already told me no. Why the hell hadn’t I stopped yet?

“Okay,” I said, except I wasn’t moving back. Shit. She needed to push me away or something, because I literally could not move back. My mouth was inches from hers, my forehead remained pressed against hers, and I swear our hearts were thumping in the same exact rhythm.

I eased my lips closer and shifted my hand along the back of her neck, trying to stimulate her into being the one to initiate the kiss. But my fingers suddenly seemed to realize the back of her neck felt different. The skin was marred, as if it held a scar.

When Reese went taut and her expression filled with apprehension, I frowned, wondering why she looked so worried.

Clutching her shoulders in my hands, I gently turned her around and lifted her hair out of my way, only to find a nasty scar that made me suck in a heavy breath.