Chapter 9 Nova
Nova
I’m not going to lie, the moment Mason threw his arms around me at the parade, I no longer cared about the event. In all truth, I wanted to grab his hand and tug him back to his truck so we could have a little privacy to ourselves.
Every time he touches me, it’s like something wakes up. Last night, he showed me a kind of pleasure I’ve never known. Today, his touch felt different. Less of lust, and more of… love. Despite knowing how silly something like that could be, my body’s been thrumming since.
Returning to his cabin had been at the top of my priority list. All because I’m a greedy chick who wants to climb this bulky man and see what else he can show me.
Mason trusted me enough to reveal his past. He showed me that he can be vulnerable. Will I be any better of a woman if I just went for it? I should take this really, really slow to avoid messing this all up.
Despite my brain knowing the right thing to do, my legs carry me toward him. Stopping only before him, I look up at him to meet his heavy gaze.
He might not realize he does this, but when he looks down at me like this, I can’t help but feel like he wants to swallow me whole. He always stares like this.
“Did that candy ruin your appetite? Is that it?” Thinking about my poor candy cane, I recall the sound he made after biting into it—a laugh. Nothing else matches the perfection of that sound.
He grunts and lifts one of his hands. Ever so carefully, he tickles my cheek as he pushes a strand of hair behind my ear. “Quite the opposite. I’m craving more sweets now, Nova. Something sweet enough to give me cavities.”
The hum of his voice, the softness behind it, I know he’s not talking about candy.
He’s making it impossible to take things slow.
Slowly, I tease the front of his shirt. It’s another plaid shirt with another row of buttons I want to undo. Is his closet full of them? “Is this craving something you want just now—” I bite the inside of my cheek and squirm under his stare. “—or is it something you’ll want again?”
Mason makes this sound, a choking noise in the back of his throat. “Fuck, Nova. I’ll want it every day.”
He’s not the kind of man to hold back, huh? If he’s this truthful, it can’t hurt to dig a little deeper to ease my own worries.
“Is that all you want? I know it’s the safe route to feed into this. But what about… something more permanent?” I squirm as I put myself out there. “Would you want… me? Not just my body, but… my heart?”
Gosh, now we really are moving fast. I’m putting myself all the way out there, making myself feel vulnerable, too.
Mason doesn’t help by staring at me with furrowed brows.
“I mean, I’m the kind of woman who wants to settle.
Plus… I don’t think I’m going to meet another man who interests me as much as you do.
” Shifting from one foot to the other, I have to tear my eyes away when he still doesn’t speak.
“I don’t just want pleasure. I want the good and the bad, too. I want—”
“You want me.” Stating the words like they’re another language, he shakes his head. “You want me.”
Is the idea that crazy?
“I do.” Nodding, I look back at him to see a sight for sore eyes. His ears are pink, his face pinched as he tries to understand the confession. “Mason, I want you badly.”
Crazy that I’ve been holding onto these feelings for so long, and suddenly, I can’t keep them trapped inside for another second.
He moves finally, cradling my cheeks with his hands. “You won’t find someone younger? Someone better looking? Someone—”
“I won’t ever look.” Leaning into his touch, my eyes slide shut.
“How am I supposed to when you always take up the entire view? There’s no way anyone will come close.
I promise you, Mason. If you’re willing to have me—all of me—then I’ll do the same.
Not just for a limited time, either. I’m talking forever, pal. ”
His answer isn’t in the form of words. Instead, he swoops down to press his mouth against mine.
It’s not gentle. It’s a claiming, a desperate seal on the promise I just made.
My hands fly to his shoulders, clinging as the world tilts.
In one fluid, shocking motion, his hands slide down to my hips, and he lifts me like I weigh nothing.
A gasp tears from my throat, swallowed by his kiss.
He’s so strong, the ease with which he holds me sends a wave of pure heat straight through my core.
I wrap my legs around his waist, molding myself to him, my arms locking around his neck.
He doesn’t stop kissing me. His tongue explores my mouth, and I meet him with a desperate hunger of my own, sucking on his tongue, sharing the same air until I’m dizzy with it.
He carries me from the kitchen, his steps hurried, almost running us into a door frame as he turns.
He lets out a gruff laugh against my lips, and the sound vibrates through me.
One of his hands squeezes my behind, a firm, claiming grip that makes me moan and press closer. I’m already getting hot beneath my clothes, my skin tingling everywhere he touches.
He doesn’t stop at the recliner like I think he would. He turns down the short hallway, his mouth never leaving mine, and pushes a door open with his foot. When he sets me down, my back hits his blanket. Smells like pine and everything him.
I’m breathless, my lips swollen, and all I can see is the hunger raw in his eyes.
“This doesn’t feel real,” he breathes, his voice rough with wonder.
My heart hammers. “It better be. I said some embarrassing stuff back there.”
A small, genuine smile touches his lips, and it gives me butterflies. For a second, I’m just in awe that I put it there. This man needs a reason to start smiling, and I want to be it.
Melting into a throbbing mess under his gaze, I claw at the button of my jeans. “Take off your shirt,” I demand, squirming with the need to see him, to feel his skin.
He groans, and my eyes drop, seeing the clear effect I’m having on him, the firm press of his erection against his zipper. He does as I ask, his fingers working the buttons. But his eyes aren’t on his task; they’re watching me as I wiggle to get my pants off.
Finally, he shrugs his shirt off, the fabric falling to the floor.
His gaze drops from my face, burning a trail down my body to the damp strip of my underwear.
He just stares, drinking in the sight, and the heat of his look is more intimate than any touch.
Hands now free, he leans against the bed, his knuckles brushing my inner thigh.
“Look at that,” he murmurs, his voice thick.
He pushes the damp fabric to the side, and a wanting gasp catches in my throat.
He’s revealing me, and the cool air against my slick, exposed skin makes me shudder.
“Fuck, Nova. Last time… I didn’t get to look.
Didn’t get to see how pink you are. How slick. ”
His thumb strokes a feather-light circle just beside my clit, and my hips jerk off the mattress.
“This is my pussy now,” he states, the words leaving no room for argument. “Mine.”
A helpless, breathy sound is all I can manage in response.
I lift my hips when he hooks his fingers in the waistband of my underwear and tugs them off, tossing them aside without a second glance.
I watch, mesmerized, as he sinks to his knees beside the bed.
The thump of his knees hitting the floor is loud, final.
Before I can tease him for his eagerness, a giggle bubbles up as he’s yanking me firmly toward him, pulling me to the very edge of the mattress. My laughter is cut short by the dark, promising look in his eyes.
“Gonna taste you now, sweetheart,” he says, his hands firm on my thighs. “And I know for a fact this cunt is going to be sweeter than sugar.”
He parts my thighs, his grip firm and sure, opening me completely to his hungry gaze. And as I look down at him, at the fierce devotion and raw need on his face, a single, thrilling worry flashes through my mind. This man won’t leave any part of me untouched once he begins.