22. Chapter 22
Lucian
Maybe it was the former rich kid in me, but I never fully grasped the importance of money.
Even as an adult, I never had to worry about bills being paid.
When Sophia and I struggled to make ends meet after the twins were born, her moms always made sure we had what we needed.
But sitting on the floor of what had recently been a decrepit basement, I realized just how much could get done in a short period if you had the funds to do it.
When we got back from France, Mason’s agents were practically foaming at the mouth for a chance to get a piece of me.
That was fine for three days, but then Sophia told us we were disrupting her meetings and needed to find somewhere else to make music.
Instead of looking for a studio, Mason asked if she could pay someone to finish the basement.
Sophia didn’t care as long as we stopped interrupting her meetings.
In less than a week, the damp corners and cracked cement floors were gone. The area was now well-lit, the carpet was soft, and the furniture was more comfortable down here than upstairs.
I put my guitar to the side and sprawled out on the carpet, stifling a yawn .
“What are you doing?” Mason called from her place on the couch. “We’re supposed to be working.”
“Taking a break.” I rolled over just enough to shoot her a lazy smile. “Now get your pretty ass down here.”
“Two things.” She held up her fingers for emphasis. “One, we’re on a deadline. You have three more demos to record and one song to write.”
Eh, I could do it in an hour. “And two?”
“If my pretty ass gets down there, it’s not getting up,” she warned.
“God, you act like you’re pregnant or something.”
“You’re not funny.”
“I’m hilarious,” I said with a stretch. “Now get down here. I mean it.”
Mason rolled her eyes but didn’t protest. She slowly lowered herself off the couch before straddling my hips.
I grabbed her left hand and held it up. The light caught in the golden band on her ring finger, and I turned her hand slightly to look at the gems. It wasn’t anything spectacular, just an oval-cut emerald in the center surrounded by a halo of diamonds in a sunburst pattern.
It was the ring my mom had given me for my wife.
That’s why Mason couldn’t wear it unless it was just us.
We didn’t need the whole fucking house pissed at us because we eloped without telling them.
“ Mi Esposa ,” I hummed, loving the way it sounded. “ Mi corazón. Mi vida . I love you so much.”
My smile was so wide that it made my cheeks hurt as I kissed her knuckles over and over and over again, that was until I saw her glaring at me.
“What?” I asked, eager to pacify her if it meant getting her down here so I could love on her.
“We need to get back to work,” she reminded me.
“I recorded most of the songs they wrote for me. Isn’t that enough?” I groaned.
Mason shot me a look that pierced me straight through my core. “If you don’t start writing your other song now, you’re going to get down to the wire and panic; then I’ll have to do it for you. Just like you did in school.”
“It’s not my fault that I got better grades when you did my homework. ”
Plus, I was fairly certain Mason liked doing my homework.
Even during my half-semester in college, she begged for my Blackboard log-ins so she could help because she was bored.
Mason just liked learning, which made it incredibly funny that she didn’t even have a high school diploma—not like she needed it, though.
“I’m going to get up and go back upstairs.” she warned.
“Nooooo,” I whined, holding her by the thighs.
Her hands found mine, and my heart lurched. Mason had this weird ability to make my world stop spinning in the best way possible.
“Then get your notebook and start working.” she commanded.
Ugh, how could I get her away from wanting to work? What could we talk about that would distract her?
I took a deep breath as I lifted her hand, softly rubbing my thumb across her knuckles before realizing her fingers were a little swollen. By this point, I was used to Mason’s swelling—that’s just what happened during pregnancy. But it was a little worse than usual.
“Hey, how’d your appointment go today?”
Mason sighed as she closed her eyes before sinking into the couch. “Fine, I guess…” She hesitated for a moment. “They’re inducing me on the twenty-ninth, and I won’t be able to go to Portland with you guys for Thanksgiving.”
Her tone took on a somber note, and while I was disappointed she wouldn’t be coming to visit my sister and Sophia’s family, I could live with that.
Instead of staying the whole week like we normally did, we could go up on Wednesday and come back on Friday.
We’d just need someone to stay with Mason.
But we’d figure out exactly who closer to the date.
“Did they say why?” I prodded.
I wasn’t going to ask directly, but I was a little concerned about Mason’s blood pressure.
At her last appointment, the doctor said it was a little high but nothing to be concerned about yet.
That being said, the twins’ mom, Ashley, had pre-eclampsia, so I was acutely aware of the signs.
In addition to swollen ankles and fingers, Mason had been getting tension headaches, she’d been short of breath, and she’d been in pain everywhere .
“Just because Rosie is big. They’re worried I won’t be able to push her out if she goes the full forty weeks.”
“...Did they mention your blood pressure at all?”
Mason nodded. “It was actually a little low.”
That helped me feel a little better, but it didn’t fully alleviate the feeling of impending doom. Maybe Sophia had just gotten into my head. I didn’t want to think about this anymore, so I figured a trip down memory lane would be an easy topic change that didn’t involve me actually working.
“Do you remember that time you, Sophia, and I drove to California?”
Actually, it was more like Mason and I taking turns driving because we both valued our lives too much to let Sophia behind the wheel for extended periods.
“You let it slip that you thought all of America was either like Texas or California, and I wanted to prove you wrong.” A smile unfurled across my lips as I remembered everything.
Sophia and I walked the stage to receive our high school diplomas, and less than an hour later, we were in my Jeep.
Sure, the trip was under the guise of enjoying our freedom as almost adults, but in all actuality, it was to try to help Mason with how upset she was about not graduating.
She never said anything to us, but the lack of spark in her eyes told us everything.
If she didn’t take the fall for me getting caught with pot, she was on track to be the valedictorian.
However, after the principal made an example of Mason, her four years of hard work went down the drain. Driving almost four days straight was the least I could do, considering she saved my ass. But I still felt a little guilty when I thought about it.
“I remember having to send Tori our exact location every time we stopped.” Mason sounded a little annoyed, but the softness of her expression told another story.
Sophia’s moms were weird, and I was sure that came from the trauma of being lesbians in the nineties.
But they always cared about everyone who entered their home.
For some reason, Sophia’s mom, Victoria, never trusted anyone or anything.
She always said the world was too dangerous of a place to be kind; that’s why she always liked me with her daughter.
She always knew I’d stick up for my girls.
“I remember when we actually got to the Pacific Ocean,” I started.
If I thought hard enough, I could still feel the sun streaming into the open top of my Jeep. Both girls were totally asleep when we got there, and I drove onto the beach before actually waking them. I’d never seen Mason light up the way she did during sunrise on a beach.
“I took my shoes off and ran out to where the waves met the sand.” Mason stared at me as she spoke, and my heart felt painfully full. “And you lifted me up and forced me into the sea, but you had your phone in your pocket.”
The shrill rush of Mason’s laughter had been worth replacing my phone. I remembered Sophia cheering me on as I pinned Mason to the sand and kissed her. She tasted like salt, sand, and everything I ever wanted in my future. And to this day, a life with Mason Albright was all I wanted.
“It was worth it.” Hell, I’d throw my current phone into the ocean if it meant living in that moment just one more time.
That comment earned me a kiss from Mason. Sure, it took her a moment to get into position to do it, but when her lips met mine, the wait no longer mattered.
I could have let that forever rest in sweet moment territory… but that wasn’t really my style.
I placed my hands on her back as I rolled us over so I could be on top of her. Mason giggled as I looked down at her.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Showing you how much I love my wife .” I dropped my voice to a husky whisper before capturing her lips with mine.
Her kisses may have been sweet, but mine weren’t. They were demanding, full of a need only Mason could satisfy. A hunger that drove me to need her morning, noon, and night.
Her breath hitched as my hands roamed her body, making quick work of slipping the oversized shirt off her. I took a moment to rub the swell of her stomach before moving to her breasts .
“Lucian.” She whined my name with a new sense of urgency. “We should be working.”
“Shh.” I pressed a finger to her lips. “Just a little longer. I need to hear you scream my name.”
Her protests vanished under the weight of my kisses as I traced the contours of her body as if I’d never have a chance to touch her again.
My lips moved to her neck and then to her chest. I’d been working on being gentle for her, but between the drugs in my veins and my need to claim her, restraint went out the window.
“L-Lucian.” She breathed my name as if I’d stolen her ability to speak.
“Save that pretty voice of yours, fucktoy.” My voice was rough with need as I made my way down her stomach.
Every chance I got, I’d suck on her skin, leaving rosy imprints of my last kiss as she bucked against me. Mason’s fingers tangled in my hair as I slipped her underwear down. Warmth radiated from her needy cunt, and I thought about which way would be best to devour her.
I used one hand to split her legs before positioning myself between them. She was so wet that her pussy practically glistened, and the idea of tasting her was enough to make my mouth water.
I started slowly by pressing kisses to her inner thigh. She shivered and gasped with every motion, and I realized just how fun this was about to be.
“Lucian, please,” her voice came again.
If she’d said our safe word, I would have stopped before she could finish the word. But she didn’t, which meant this was fair game.
I grinned against her skin, trying not to blow a gasket at just how desperate she sounded.
“You’re going to have to be louder than that, fucktoy.” I teased, letting my tongue flicker just above her clit.
It was close enough to make her squirm, but not really much else.
“Lucian, please.” Her hips arched into me.
“What happened to needing to get to work?” I teased .
“Fuck work.” Her tone was raw with need. “I want you, finish what you started.”
Eh, close enough.
“Your wish is my command,” I murmured, finally giving her what she wanted.
I savored her taste as my tongue danced along her slit. Her hips jerked as she moaned. I could have made her come in a minute if I’d wanted, but why rush something so beautiful?
So, instead of rushing it, I alternated between slow licks and quick flicking motions that seemed to drive her crazy. Her hands tightened in my hair, spurring me to do a little more.
While she was distracted, I pressed two digits into her while my tongue stayed focused on her clit. Her walls clenched around my fingers, and that little reaction made my own arousal almost unbearable.
But I could bury my cock in her in just a minute; right now, I wanted to feel her come. Her moans grew louder as I slipped another finger in, curving them in just the right way to make her legs shake.
“Lucian–” A sharp inhale broke her words.
Her thighs clamped around my head as she screamed my name so loud that it echoed through the basement, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone upstairs heard us. Once she went limp, I finally stopped.
When I lifted my head, she was panting and sweaty.
“Ready to get back to work?” I said, tossing myself onto the carpet beside her.
“Y-you’re an asshole,” she managed through ragged breaths.
“But I’m your asshole.”