"Sam, she isn't your issue. She has nothing to do with you!"
"She already has!" I yelled back at him and pushed him away.
He fell back, surprised, but he quieted.
I closed my eyes and turned away. What had I said? I couldn't believe I'd let that slip.
"Don't torture yourself. You were honest just now. You were honest with me, maybe the first time. " He took a breath and touched the back of my elbow. His voice was soft. "You were saying that Tate's already had something to do with you? What did you mean by that? I'd like to know. I care about you. "
And then movement appeared from a back corner. I swung my gaze up, stricken. I hadn't even known a back corner existed.
Mason gave me an unreadable look, but he spoke to Adam, "What do you want here?"
Adam's head jerked up and I knew he was surprised.
I turned away. I wasn't. I'd witnessed when Mason went in for the kill. I knew it was happening now.
"What are you talking about?"
Mason laughed to himself and gestured to me. "What do you think, dickhead? What do you want? Her?"
Adam's eyes went wide.
Mason's eyes went to disdain. "Be honest. Right now, right here. You and me. Her. You want her, right? I know you do. Just say it. Put it out there, it might work. "
I glanced at him. What was he doing? Mason refused to meet my gaze. His jaw was hard. Everything about him was hard in that moment. And no matter what Adam said, I knew he'd already dealt his hand.
No one won against Mason.
Then Adam broke and threw his arms out wide. "What do you want? Yes, I want her. " His chest heaved up and down. "I want her, okay? I've known her all my life. "
Mason grinned. "How long have you wanted her?"
"For half of that," Adam spat back at him. "Are you happy? I've wanted her since seventh grade, since the first time Sallaway noticed her. "
"That's a long time. "
"Stop," I snarled at Mason. He was encouraging him.
He ignored me and narrowed his eyes. Slowly, his hand reached out and grasped my elbow. He pulled me behind him and moved himself forward. It was done so slowly and so smoothly that Adam didn't notice.
I held my breath and waited for his reaction. It never came.
"You've wanted her a long time?"
"Yes," Adam cried out. "Can you blame me? You want her too. I can tell. "
Mason shrugged. It was another moment like my mother's. He went in for the kill and I was pressed against his back. I pressed against him, not to hide myself, but to keep myself from saying something I'd regret. And what would I even say? I pressed the back of my hand against my mouth. I had no idea. My heart was beating so fast. It was like I was running still.
"You're right. " Mason's voice was so soft, almost delicate. "I do. I'm not denying that. "
"Oh god. "
I flinched when I heard the disgust in Adam's voice.
Mason pressed on, almost tender still, "But I'm not going to screw another girl wishing she were Sam in my head. I'm not going to do that because you know why?"
There he was. He was going in for the kill. Adam cowered now.
It was enough. I swung away and shoved him back.
Mason glanced over.
I pushed him some more. "Go away. "
"Sam. "
"Now!" I pointed downstairs. "You don't have the right. "
His jaw clenched. "Are you kidding me?"
"I'm not your whore. I'm not your stepsister. I'm not your anything. I thought I was your friend, but maybe not even that. You don't have a right, Mason. You'd never do this for Lo—"
He shoved his face in mine and I gasped as I fell back against the wall. "This is exactly what I did for him. You want to know what that whore did?"
I couldn't look away. My eyes were wide. My back was against the wall.
Adam ceased to exist.
"I…" I couldn't breathe. He was so close.
He pressed into me and placed both hands against the wall beside me. He trapped me, but I didn't want to go anywhere. When his knee nudged between my legs and moved up, I closed my eyes and fought back a sigh. The need throbbed inside of me again.
I was starting to think that need for him would never leave. It was so powerful, so consuming.
He nuzzled against my cheek and asked quietly, his breath a caress to me, "You want to know what she did to hurt Logan and me?"
I fell against him. I couldn't hold my head up.
I felt him smile against me, but he held me upright. He took my weight. "She screwed him. She got him to love her. For two years, Sam, she had him thinking he loved her and then she decided she wanted me. "
I felt the coldness in him, even as he rested against me, and I reached out to it. I slid my hands up his arms, over his shoulders, around them, and kneaded the back of his neck. I wanted the tension gone. I was blind in it. And I was blind how he now held me in place. His hands moved to cup my bottom and my legs wrapped him. I wanted him. The need throbbed in me and I pressed against him.
I felt his reaction and grinned against his cheek.
"She came to me at home one day. I was in my room. She'd been in his and Logan was asleep. They'd screwed and she came to my room. " Mason lifted me away from the wall.
I held onto him as I had the previous night. He had protected me then. He was protecting me again? Lust had confused all rational thought within me. I didn't know where we were anymore, but it didn't matter.
I slid a hand to his cheek and cupped it. I wanted him. I moved my lips so they brushed against his as he spoke.
"She wanted me. She had him and she thought I'd want her. I don't know why. I'd never given her any reason to think that, but she thought she could have two brothers instead of one. I called him. I let her try and seduce me and I let him hear the whole thing. It didn't take as long as it seemed. I saw when the call ended. Three minutes, that was all it took. Logan came around the corner with his phone to his ear. She saw it and looked at me. I held mine up and told her he'd heard the whole thing. "
A tremor wracked through me.
He kissed my ear, my cheek, my neck. He whispered to me, "She tried to come between me and my brother. That's why I hate the bitch, but he still loves her. That's why he has a soft spot for her. "
"Mason," I breathed out, holding on tight. I grabbed his face and held him still. I pulled back and met his gaze.
They were cloudy with desire, much like my own. Satisfaction surged through me. I affected him the same as how he affected me. It went both ways.
And then he killed the moment when he turned to the side. A ruthless emotion came through, thick and heavy, when he clipped out, "Have you been watching? This is why I'll never do what you have to do. I have her. I won't have to dream about her. "
Everything stopped in me. A cold shower went over me and I was sputtering in the harsh reality.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Adam stormed off.
We were alone.
Mason slowly lowered me so I could stand on my own and he stepped back. He watched me as if I were an animal, waiting to attack. He was ready.
He'd been hot and heavy, or so I thought, but he'd really been cold and calculating the whole time. That same unreadable mask was over him now.
"You're an ass**le," I said softly.
He nodded.
"Why'd you do that?"
He didn't respond. It took another beat before he looked away and ran a hand over his head. "Don't get all girly and shit on me. That was a show. You performed well and he bought it. "
My eyes bulged out of my head. I couldn't believe this was where he was taking it. "Are you kidding me?"
Something flashed in his eyes. It was gone in that next instant. He shook his head and lifted his shoulders. "What do you want from me?"
"You played me; you pulled all t
he right strings. "
A cocksure smirk came out. "Like you said, I'm an ass**le. That's what we do. "
I took a deep breath. Something cold started in the pit of my stomach. It grew with each word he said and each second I was away from his touch. I hated how he affected me, the power he had and he knew it as well. He was fully aware of the power he had over me.
Chills broke out over me. I had to get away from him. I just had to. "I have to shower. "
He jerked his head in a nod and started to leave.
My feet wouldn't go. My mind was yelling at me to leave, but my body wouldn't go. It didn't want to go. He had power over me…but I was pretty sure I had power over him too.
He stopped as he was about to go down the stairs. "What's wrong?"
I turned and locked eyes with him. I didn't know what he saw, but it worked. His hand clenched on the banister, his shoulders jerked upright. He sucked in a breath. I watched as his chest rose higher and higher.
I choked out, "Was that all a show?"
Desire was thick in his eyes. He narrowed them, licked his lips, and jerked his head in refusal.
Something flared throughout me and my legs moved now. I caught his hand and pulled him with me.
"This way. " He pulled me a different way.
My heart was pounding as I held onto his hand. I was blind in my need. I could only focus on him. He led me through a myriad of stairs, through some doors, and finally he pulled me through the last one. I had no idea where we were, I hadn't cared to pay attention, but I knew we were far away from the party.
Mason dropped my hand and gazed at me. His room was dark. The shades were pulled so the morning light filtered through, but we were still in shadow.
He was watching me with an intensity that made my heart skip a beat. Fear froze me. I stumbled out, "I need to shower. I reek. "
And then he reached forward and wrapped two arms around my waist and raised me off my feet as he walked to a bathroom. The shower was turned on and he stepped underneath. The cold water splashed down on me and I gasped. I surged forward in reaction and pressed my chest against him, but his mouth landed down on mine.
Oh god.
My hands curled into his shirt and I could only hold on.
His lips were hard on mine, a flame exploded inside of me, and I wanted more of him. I needed more. Then he started to move against me. His lips coaxed, nibbled, slid, and whispered against mine. His tongue touched the tip of my mouth and I let him in. I wasn't allowed not to. My body answered whatever demand he made. The thought of denial wasn't in me.
When my tongue touched his and his body trembled under my arms, I realized the power I had. It was addicting. It burst within me and I climbed up him. It was as before, but this time I didn't wait for him. I slipped my hand under his shirt and lifted it over his head.
Mason let it slip over and he hungrily already had mine off. My bra was stripped away in the next second and he cupped my br**sts.
I gasped into his mouth when his thumb touched the tip of my nipple. He teased it and laughed against me. I nibbled at the corner of his mouth and then moved back. He caught me with a hand to my back and met my gaze.
We held each other's gaze. I couldn't look away. His eyes were dark, hungry, and they grew darker the longer we stared at the other. Then I lifted a hand and touched the side of his face. I traced the edge of him, his forehead, the corner of his eye, the side of his cheek, his lips.
He was beautiful.
His muscles shifted under me and I felt him lower me back to my feet.
I groaned in protest. I didn't want to leave him, but he bent forward and caught my lips in a hungry kiss, a long kiss. I couldn't tear away from him if I had to. Mewling, I pressed against him again and then his hands were under my bare legs. He lifted them again and as I wrapped them around his waist, he came in full contact against me.
I gasped at the feel of him. He was hard and ready.
He bent and kissed my neck, on my shoulder bone, and moved around to the other side as he walked backward and pressed me against the wall. When his hands no longer needed to hold me, he started to caress me. One slid over my stomach, up to my br**sts, and he stroked them. They were hard and full. I ached for his touch. I wanted him in me, between my legs.