Chapter 14
T AYLOR TOOK A BITE of her chicken taco, moaning in appreciation. The fresh salsa, cilantro, and avocado pieces atop the seasoned chicken were pure perfection. She took a swig of her beer and smiled as she caught Mason watching her.
“I thought you said you were a wine drinker.”
“I am. Usually. I happen to love a beer with spicy Mexican though.”
“Hoorah,” Mason said, holding up his longneck before taking a swig. “I’ll have to remember that.”
She laughed, watching him inhale the rest of his food.
She’d ordered two tacos plus homemade chips and guacamole for her dinner, but Mason had gone with a huge assortment of food.
He took the last bite of his steak burrito and then grabbed one of the beef tacos he’d ordered.
He still had an enchilada and his own order of chips and salsa.
“This food is fantastic. I can’t believe I’ve been stationed at Little Creek for years and never eaten there. How’d you find it?”
“It’s kind of hole in the wall,” Taylor admitted. “A tiny little place, but the food is amazing. We used to come here when I was a kid.”
“I didn’t know you were from here,” Mason said, popping the cap off of his second beer. “Do you have family here?”
“No, my parents moved down to Florida—from one beach to another,” she said with a wry smile. “They’re happy down there with the other retired folks though.”
“Any siblings?”
Her smile faltered. “I had a sister. Have a sister. She was killed in a car accident ten years ago. We were just teenagers then.”
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” Mason said, reaching over and taking her hand. “Were you close?”
She looked down at his hand holding hers, his thumb absently tracing small circles over her skin.
Looking back up, his blue eyes were focused on her.
Patiently waiting for her to collect her thoughts.
“Yeah, we were close. Best friends. She was only a year older than me, so we did everything together. I know some siblings close in age don’t get along, but for whatever reason, we always did.
It feels like a million years ago now though. We were practically kids.”
“What happened?” Mason asked quietly.
“A drunk driver hit her. She stayed out past curfew, and my parents were furious. I guess she figured she’d live dangerously for once.
She was usually a rule-follower just like me.
Didn’t drink, didn’t do drugs—none of that stuff.
She was at a friend’s house watching movies, and I was home sick.
Maybe if I’d been with her, she would’ve come home on time.
She left around midnight to sneak back in, and someone T-boned her in the intersection.
A drunk driver with an alcohol level way over the legal limit.
I saw photographs of the scene afterwards, and both cars were totaled.
He didn’t survive either, but my sister was innocent. ”
She sniffed, swiping away the tears that had begun to fall.
She hadn’t told anyone that story in years. Bailey knew about her sister of course, and Eric had as well.
Ironic, to realize now how concerned Mason was that she was upset.
Eric had nonchalantly commented that he was sorry but had been more concerned that she wanted a tattoo with Tessa’s initials.
Mason rose from his seat, taking the beer bottle she didn’t even realize she had in a death grip.
He set it aside as he knelt down in front of her, and then he was pulling her into his arms.
Holding her as she quietly cried.
“Shhh, I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’ve got you,” he murmured, running one large hand down over her hair.
She sniffled again, relaxing into his warmth. This was the second time tonight she’d fallen apart in his arms, she realized. What must he think of her? Her whole life felt like it was in shambles at the moment.
Pulling back slightly, she looked right at Mason. He thumbed away a stray tear rolling down her cheek but stayed knelt beside her.
“I’m thinking of getting a tattoo of Tessa’s initials,” she confided. “Maybe just a small heart with ‘TR’ in the middle and the day that she died.”
“You should do it,” Mason said, his voice thick with emotion. “She was your sister and best friend. What a beautiful way to memorialize her.”
“You really think I should? I don’t have any tattoos.”
“Absolutely. I love the idea.”
Taylor huffed out a breath. “Yeah, me too. Eric was always against it. He said he didn’t like tattoos on women.”
“Eric was an asshole,” Mason said immediately. “A controlling jerk. Maybe he wasn’t physically abusive toward you, but trying to control your life was a different type of abusive.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right. And I’m really starting to wonder if he messed with my car, too. He was controlling in ways I didn’t quite realize, and after we broke up, it’s like the worst side of him finally came out.”
Mason glanced at the clock on wall. “It’s late, sweetheart. Let’s make sure everything’s locked up and get to bed.”
“So you’re really staying. I mean, I know you have to get up super early....”
“Hell yes, I’m staying. And not just because of your jackass ex. I love holding you in my arms. It feels right somehow.”
“Yeah,” she said, flushing slightly.
“Once again, I’m here and don’t have any of my stuff though,” he said with a chuckle.
“I’ve got a spare toothbrush,” she said. “I don’t think I have any clothes that would fit.”
“It’s fine,” Mason assured her. “I can sleep in my boxers.” His eyes heated as he looked at her. “I don’t mind if you sleep in next-to-nothing either. Those lacy little panties you had on the other day were sexy as hell.”
She blushed, letting him take her hand as they stood.
“I love the way you blush around me,” he said, his voice gravel.
“It’s embarrassing,” she insisted.
“Wrong. It makes me imagine that flush all over your skin. It reminds me of making you come. Of hearing you cry out my name in bed, with my fingers or my mouth on you. Of my cock deep inside you. I love touching you. Pleasuring you. Making you forget about everything else but me.”
Their leftovers suddenly forgotten, Mason was lifting her up into his strong arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, and felt his erection nudging against her core.
She moaned as he lightly thrust against her, letting her feel the delicious friction between them as he carried her down the hall to her bedroom.
The room was dark save for the moonlight coming in through the slatted blinds. But she felt safe. Content. Protected by the man she was falling for.
Laying her gently down on the bed, Mason was tugging down her jeans a moment later. Tossing her panties aside, his fingers trailing over her skin.
And then his mouth was upon her as he devoured her. His hands spread her thighs even wider apart, his fingers gripping her soft flesh as he held her in position. She rose quickly to the precipice, waves of pleasure buoying her up. Carrying her along.
His tongue trailed through her damp folds, laving against her swollen sex. Her clit throbbed for him, and then he was flicking his tongue lightly against it while she squealed in delight.
He circled her clit with the tip of his tongue as he edged two thick fingers inside her molten core.
She moaned as he curled them just so, nudging against some secret spot inside.
He began thrusting his fingers in and out, slowly driving her out of her mind.
Finally, Mason took her clit between his lips, suckling her swollen bud, and then she was falling.
Screaming his name. Coming over and over again.
Mason growled in approval as he kissed her sex, and she fluttered against his mouth, her orgasm never ending. Gently, he released her legs, kissing her one final time as she lay gasping. Fumbling around in the darkness, he muttered that he didn’t have a condom.
“I’m clean,” she whispered. “And on birth control.”
“The Navy tests me all the time. I’m clean, too, sweetheart,” he affirmed.
“Take me,” she said, meeting his heated gaze in the dim light.
“You want me bare?” he asked, his voice gravel.
“Yes. Please Mason. I need you. I want to feel you deep inside me. Make love to me.”
“With pleasure,” he ground out. He pulled his erection free, not even bothering to push his pants all the way down, and lining himself up with her core, thrust into her in one long stroke.
The heat from his thick length felt like he was branding her as his.
Claiming her forever. Making her forget about anyone or anything except him.
He thrust into her again, groaning. She couldn’t see where they were joined together in the darkness, only feel. He pumped into her again, moving slightly faster, and she gasped at the pure pleasure.
“You feel so good like this, Taylor. God, I can’t hold back anymore. It’s too much.”
“Don’t hold back,” she said, grabbing his ass and pulling him even deeper inside her. “Come inside me. Take me, Mason.”
His cock hardened impossibly more, and then with another quick thrust, he began pounding into her, leaving her gasping for breath.
With one more thrust, he exploded, coating her with his hot seed.
His short, rapid thrusts hit her in exactly the right spot, and suddenly she was coming again, too. Crying out as she clung to him.
His cock softened slightly, still buried deep within her walls, until finally he pulled free, ducking down for a lingering kiss.
A few minutes later, Mason was walking back from the bathroom with a warm washcloth.
“Let me take care of you,” he said.
Much to her utter embarrassment, he cleaned her off, softly rubbing the material against her sex. Their eyes locked in the moonlight, and as his gaze softened, she knew she was lost to him.
Helplessly falling for him.
Her world had shifted completely off of its axis since they’d been together, and somehow, she knew it would never be the same again.