Chapter 34 Lee
Lee
Mason looked so damned adorable seated on top of me, grinning like he was a damn Cheshire cat, my heart felt like it was bursting.
Since news of Dreyven’s death, his panic attacks had lessened significantly.
He hadn’t had one in almost two weeks now, and the one he’d had before that, I’d been able to bring him out of with a few calm words and a reassuring touch.
He wasn’t cured, not by a long shot, but he was definitely moving in the right direction.
“Well, I suppose if you lose… Then neither of us gets the surprise…” he answered, the corners of his lips pulled down into a fake pout.
I almost laughed out loud at the sight. Mason didn’t pout.
He was probably one of the most stoic people I’d ever met in my life.
He just absorbed emotional pain and locked it inside.
He never reflected it or tried to make others feel bad for him, but he looked so damn cute with his lower lip stuck out, the corners of his mouth pulled down and his dark hair curling around his head, I’d let it slide.
“Does that mean you’ll help me cheat?” I asked mischievously.
“Cheaters never win!” He cried in mock horror. “How dare you suggest I help you cheat…” he answered, nodding vigorously in the affirmative.
“Okay… I will take that as a yes,” I said, winking at him. “So… Question number one… Animal, vegetable, or mineral?” I asked.
“Boooooring,” he whined, “but, animal.”
“Hmmmm… Question number two… Is it a puppy?” I asked, half wondering if that might not be the real answer.
Since Mason had met Anna and Brannon’s dog, Gracie, Mason had been gone on any animal he came across.
I’d even caught him in the back yard trying to convince Jabba to eat some raspberries out of his hand.
Jabba had been smart enough to ignore his initial attempts, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find his tubby body on the porch some morning, begging for food.
“No… but that’s not a bad idea…” He said, his head cocked sideways, looking at me questioningly.
I grinned up at him. Little did he know I'd already put in an order with the same folks who had bred and trained Gracie. Unfortunately, the waiting list was pretty long, and it could be two years or more before they had an animal that would meet his needs. In the meantime, I had a feeling we might be making a trip to the humane society “just to look around” soon. The animals there wouldn’t be service animals, but a pet to love and care for wasn’t a bad thing, either.
“Ha! Only if you house train it,” I answered, taking his hand in mine and pressing kisses to it teasingly and filing the plans for a pet away for a future date.
“Hmm… okay, so question number three… it’s an animal… Does it have fur?” I asked.
“You could say that, yes,” he answered after considering for a moment, then nodded vigorously. “Definitely furry, on certain parts…”
“‘Certain parts’, eh? okay, so an animal with fur. Is it alive or dead?” I asked suspiciously.
We’d visited the Museum of Natural History in Cleveland the week before, and Mason had been creepily interested in the stuffed animals.
The last thing I needed was a stuffed meerkat or something on the mantle.
“Ewwwww, well… part of it was dead, but someone brought it back to life,” he muttered, dropping his lips down to place a searing kiss to my own.
“Mmmmmm…” I moaned into his mouth. “And exactly what part of it did this miracle worker bring back to life?” I asked, pretty much guessing where we were heading now.
Mason just looked at me for a moment and grinned, then he covered my hand with his, gently moving it from his waist to his crotch, then slowly grinding his cock against my fingers. “Guess…” he breathed.
The feel of his length, hot and hard inside his jeans, was making it hard for me to think straight.
“Do you have more questions,” he asked, his long, talented fingers stroking both of us through our clothing.
Wait. Clothing?
“That was a bunch of questions, why aren’t we naked?” I demanded out loud.
Mason laughed at me again and scooted to one side, quickly divesting himself of his remaining clothes.
My breath caught in my throat as I looked at him, his long, lean body so beautiful, his arms and shoulders starting to show more definition as his hours in the dojo paid off.
His blue-black curls brushing his shoulders, his blue-gold eyes bright with lust.
“Looks like I win…” He smiled impishly at me.
“Win? What? Huh?” I asked dumbly, still caught in my fog of desire.
Mason took pity on me and reached over to me, sliding my shirt over my head and helping me slide my jeans and underwear off.
As the last of the clothes slid off, I couldn’t keep my hands to myself any longer, and I reached out to pull him close to me.
The feel of our cocks sliding together made me groan more, and I felt pre-cum bubble from my cock, my hole clenching in anticipation.
We’d pretty much been having as many mind-blowing, heart-pounding, orgasm-inducing sex sessions as possible over the last few weeks and I couldn’t get enough of the feeling of Mason sliding home inside me.
While I hoped that, one day, I’d be able to return the favor, I was completely happy with our mind-blowingly awesome sex life.
We tumbled backward onto the bed, a writhing pair of hot, wet mouths and searing flesh stroking against each other.
“Wait! I almost forgot something!” Mason said suddenly, pulling away from my embrace.
“What? No! Whatever it is can wait…” I said, trying to pull him back toward me, but he was a slippery little sucker and evaded my grasp. I sighed in exasperation as he leaned over the bed and retrieved a large box from behind the bedside table.
The table was the same one that I used to keep Mack’s picture on.
I’d kept the pictures in the drawer after I’d met Mason, but a few days after the con had ended, I’d felt like it wasn’t fair to him to have Mack’s ghost hanging around, especially in our bedroom.
One day while he was at the dojo, I'd gone through the house and taken down all my photos of Mack and packed them away. I hadn’t said anything to Mason about it, and I could only assume he either hadn’t noticed, or didn’t want to make a big deal about it.
I looked down at the blue and gold wrapped box and thought how much the color matched Mason’s eyes.
“Um, did I forget an anniversary?” I asked, unsure what to make of it. “I didn’t get you anything…” I began guiltily.
“No, silly. It’s part of your ‘prize’,” he said, a soft smile playing on his lips.
“Just one part of it, though,” he said huskily, winking sexily at me.
I could see the hunger in his eyes as he ran his gaze down my naked body.
His eyes didn’t skip over my scars or avoid my gaze.
To Mason, they were just another part of me, and he liked the whole package.
“Um, okay,” I began, turning my focus back to this package.
I was oddly nervous as I began to unwrap the gift.
The box itself was large and heavy, a couple feet across and wide.
When I opened it, I saw there were a couple of wrapped squarish items, along with a little gift bag.
A small card was tucked inside the gold ribbon that kept the packages together.
I opened the card and read, “To Lee, My Love, My Warrior, My Angel. We share a past, a present, and a future. All my love, Mason.”
It was damn dusty in here, I thought as my sight got a little blurry around the edges. I looked at Mason, who darted forward to place a sweet, gentle kiss on my lips before sitting back to watch me open the gifts. I slid my fingers beneath the wrapping paper and slowly opened the larger package.
When I first unwrapped the present, I could tell it was something that had been framed and I was guessing it was going to be some piece of Mason’s art. But when I flipped it over, the tears that had threatened earlier started flowing freely, because I'd never expected this.
It was a framed black and white drawing of me, Mason, and Mack.
Mason and I were seated and had our arms around each other, while Mack stood behind us, his arms around us both, as if drawing us together.
Around the framed print there were smaller photos of Mack and I.
Some I recognized, but others I didn’t remember seeing before.
There was a small bronze plaque attached to the frame.
It said “Love— Past, Present, Future.” I looked up at Mason, shaking my head in disbelief.
“What—? How—?” My throat locked up and I couldn’t seem to get any words out as I stared at the beautiful drawing.
I reached my hand out to touch the glass, sliding my fingers over first Mack’s face, then Mason’s.
“It’s… It’s beautiful. ‘Amazing’ doesn’t begin to do it justice,” I whispered.
Mason had never met Mack, but somehow he had captured the warmth of his gaze, the sardonic twist to his smile. I didn’t know what to say.
“It’s designed to be hung like a sunburst,” Mason said. “You put the larger picture in the middle, and all the smaller pictures around it,” he described, laying the pieces out on the bed so I could get the full effect.
A couple of the smaller pictures around the drawing were ones of Mason and I together. One was at the arcade, which had become a staple for our weekends together. Another was dinner at the fam’s, my parents on either side of us, Mama K holding her fingers up like bunny ears behind my head.
“Over time, we can rotate through them. Add some, remove others. But this one,” he said, tapping the glass with his fingernail, “This one stays,” he said firmly.
I gingerly set the artwork down and dragged him into my arms. I didn’t realize I was sobbing until he began kissing my forehead, moving his hands in soothing motions on my back and whispering, “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.”