Chapter Five #2
I feel Noah’s eyes on me, but I can’t look at him.
“Look how eager she is.” Mason’s voice slides like silk across my skin. “So willing, and I’ve barely done anything.”
“You’re disgusting,” Noah spits, fury coating his tone. “That doesn’t prove anything.”
Mason’s hand moves further down, and I inhale sharply when he stops over the waistband of my jeans.
God forgive me, but I want him to touch me.
I want it so badly I can barely think straight.
All I can imagine is his long and deft fingers stroking my wet bundle of nerves.
Mason’s mouth moves to my ear, and he tugs on the lobe. “She was wasted on you. I could tell from the moment I saw you two together. She needed a real man.”
“Mason, stop. I—” I cut off when he begins to stroke me, eyes rolling to the back of my head. “We can’t.”
“We can,” Mason says into my ear. “I’m sure Noah wants to get on with his life. I’m just offering him some incentive.”
His hot breath against my skin is doing strange things to my insides, as is the sound of his voice, smooth velvet caressing every inch of me.
Goosebumps break out across my flesh, and I shiver as Mason’s hands move to cup my behind. He rubs himself against me, and I sag against him.
“Mason, we have to stop.”
Mason kisses me behind my ear before turning to address Noah.
“You know she still cares about you, even though you’re a piece of shit who doesn’t deserve it. You betrayed her trust and put her and her parents in danger just to get me out of the picture in the hopes she would run back into your arms.”
Mason throws him a look before he turns back to me.
“You’ve done nothing to earn her love, Noah, and certainly not enough to keep it, but here we are,” Mason continues. “She still can’t bear to see you get hurt even though you have it coming, but I think that says more about her than it does about you.”
My hands are trembling as I reach behind my back and wind my fingers through Mason’s hair. “Please.”
Mason tenses, and I wonder if he’s going to keep pushing just to prove a point.
This is as much for me as it is for Noah.
He has us both where he wants us, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do to stop him.
Mason stops rubbing against me, and a rush of cold air moves between us.
He takes a few more steps away, and I wrap my arms around myself and wait for the air to rush back into my lungs.
When I finally turn to look at Mason, he is standing by the window in the corner, bathed in the silver light of the moon.
There are several retorts on the tip of my tongue, but I don’t say any of them.
He’s infuriating, and I want to bang my hands against his chest and throw something at him, but I also want to take him into my arms and kiss him soundly.
Mason has my emotions in a spin, but I still love him.
So much so that it makes my heart ache.
Even after we’ve been through together, he still won’t let me all the way in.
You can’t blame him, can you? At least not when it comes to this. Well-intentioned or not, you are hiding things from him.
I stare at Mason for a while longer, but he won’t look at me.
With a sigh, I reach for the glass of water on a nearby table and hold it up to Noah’s cracked lips. He licks his lips, clears his throat, and looks away from me.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, before taking the glass away and returning with more water. “Just tell him what he needs to know.”
“Someday, you’re going to get tired of justifying his behavior. I know it, and so do you.”
As soon as he’s done with the second glass of water, I look at him. “You don’t know me anymore, Noah.”
Hurt flashes across Noah’s face.
I set the glass of water down on the nearby table, and I study the man I once envisioned an entire future with.
It’s like looking at a stranger now.
Mason comes to stand beside me, and I wordlessly follow him upstairs. He breaks the silence in the hallway outside the door.
My heart cracks a little as I reach for him, and he lets me.
“I’m sorry.”
Mason searches my face, and his expression hardens. “I’m surrounded by people I can’t trust, people who don’t know the meaning of loyalty.”
I frown. “I’m not one of those people, Mason. You can trust me.”
Mason raises an eyebrow.
“You can,” I maintain. “I know this is messed up, and with everything happening lately, you have every right to question people, but I am not one of those people.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know I’ve said the wrong thing.
How can I stand across from him, look him in the eye, and ask him to ignore the warning signs?
Even I know this is insane, and for the umpteenth time, I debate whether to tell him the truth.
“You know how you told me there are things you can’t tell me because I wouldn’t be able to handle them? Why can’t you accept that this is similar?”
Mason scoffs. “Whatever you think this is, I assure you it’s not the same thing.”
“How do you know it isn’t?”
Mason’s eyes darken. “Because you’ve seen the world I live in, and what I have to handle. Don’t patronize me.”
“I’m not,” I reply a little too quickly. “I’m doing what I can to help. I know you don’t want to be worried about me, but you can’t ask me to sit around and twiddle my thumbs.”
“You are not twiddling your thumbs,” Mason replies gruffly. “You are keeping yourself safe. Don’t underestimate how important that is.”
“Don’t underestimate me,” I snap. “I’ve made it this far. I’d appreciate it if you gave me some credit.”
Mason stares at me in disbelief. “You can’t expect me to give you props for not dying. It certainly isn’t because of how careful you are, or do I need to remind you what happened the last time you tried to help?”
“I remember what happened,” I say. “I was there.”
“It seems like you’ve forgotten. Maybe you need another reminder—”
“How dare you. You weren’t the one being held prisoner. Do you think I could ever forget what it felt like to be held in that room, to wonder if I was going to be left to waste away and not knowing if each breath or each meal was my last?”
A shadow settles over Mason’s face, and a muscle ticks in his jaw. “You could’ve come to me, and you chose not to.”
I throw my hands up in the air and shake my head. “Un-fucking-believable. That’s what you want to focus on? The fact that I didn’t come to you so you could fulfill your hero complex? I don’t need you to swoop in and save me, Mason.”
“Yes, I’m sure you would’ve figured out how to get out of that mess on your own, or was it your father who was going to get you out of it?” Mason says.
“Don’t be a bastard.”
“Don’t be stupid.” Mason’s eyes narrow. “You knew what you were risking when you went to save your dad and Noah, just like you knew what you were risking when you went out there today.”
“Are you more upset that I was in danger, or that I didn’t listen to you?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Mason says. “You constantly underestimate the danger, so don’t expect me to applaud your recklessness. It’s not just your life on the line, London.”
Guilt gnaws at my insides. “You think I don’t know that?”
“I think you don’t know a fucking thing.” Mason’s voice is filled with fury. “So don’t come crying to me when things go to shit.”
“Fine then. I won’t.”
Without waiting for a response, I throw the door to his room open and slam it in his face.
A moment later, the door opens, and Mason comes into the room, a tight expression on his face.
In a few quick strides, he has me pressed against the wall, and my heart stops when he places one arm on either side of me.
“I give you a lot of leeway,” Mason says quietly. “But don’t ever forget who you’re dealing with.”
My eyes sweep over him uneasily. “Is that you talking, or your dad?”
“On some things, we do agree.” Mason’s face is pressed against mine now, and I have nowhere to go. “Don’t ever slam the door in my face again.”
I refuse to be the one to look away.
Someone raps on the door, and for a minute, I think Mason will ignore them. Eventually, slowly, Mason draws back and crosses over to the door. A heartbeat later, the door clicks shut behind him, and I’m left alone with my thoughts.
Olivia, you’d better know what you’re doing, and this better pan out.
Otherwise, we’re all screwed, and I don’t want to be the one to face Mason’s wrath with nothing to show for it.
Bringing his enemies back to the table is a start, but stopping the war before it escalates will cushion the sting.
I have to see this through before the lies catch up to me and make sure it’s worth it.
It has to be.