Chapter 30
You’ll be the death of me, but it will have been worth every second
It turned out that dating Mason Pierce was everything I wished it to be and so much more.
Since the night of our first date almost a week ago, we’d been inseparable.
He’d even come to cheer me on during swimming practice two days ago.
Our busy schedules were often conflicted, but so far, we’d made it work.
Tonight, after my shift at Lola’s, I was spending the night at his place for the third time since we had officially become an item.
I had packed a bag earlier, and he would pick me up later.
Tonight felt more official than any of the other nights we’d spent together so far, because I had a goal.
Sleeping in Mason’s arms and kissing him senseless had been fun, but I was ready for more.
So far, he had put a stop to our make-out sessions every time things got too heated between us.
I knew he wanted us to go slow, but this had become sweet torture. Lately, I had transformed into a ball of needs—needs that had to be quenched. Only Mason Pierce possessed what I craved, and I was done denying myself.
Most nights, we kissed and explored each other’s bodies with our hands and lips.
Mason was knowledgeable in the sex department, while I had very limited experience.
Parts of me wondered if what had gone down with Nathan Bellevue back in high school—when Mason had walked in on us and prevented me from getting assaulted—had something to do with the blockages I experienced every time I’d almost had sex afterward.
I feared it had made me raise walls around me that no guy had broken through so far.
I wanted to be done with it. Mason had always possessed a special key to my heart, and somehow, it felt right to let him in.
We’d talked about it multiple times, and I’d decided tonight should be the night—the one where I let go and trusted him with more than just my heart. Inside, I was a nervous wreck, though. Outside, I hoped I was projecting confidence and enough nonchalance.
I closed all the tabs at the pub, counted my tips, hung my apron in my locker, and grabbed my overnight bag.
Entering the dining area, I noticed Mason deep in conversation with George.
My boss loved and respected my boyfriend a lot, even after Mason had butted heads with him the night we first kissed. Especially after that.
“Ready to go?” Mason asked when I wound an arm around his middle and snuggled against him.
“Yes.”
“See you later, George,” he said before leading me away and kissing me on the sidewalk as if it were the last time. He took my bag from my grip and hauled it over his shoulder. “Still coming to my place?”
I nodded, and we made the trek toward his home.
“If you prefer I drive you to the dorms, we can grab food and watch a movie or do something else. I don’t want you to feel like we always have to go to my place.”
I smiled. When Mason acted all caring and stuff, I wanted to rip the clothes off his body and let him do to me everything I’d pictured in my dreams. There was just something about him I couldn’t resist.
“Nah. I wanna go to your house.” I breathed in some air and much-needed courage. “Tonight, I want you…all of you. I haven’t changed my mind.”
He stopped and spun to face me.
“I’m ready for more, okay? I’m not waiting another minute. Take me home, Mason Pierce, and never let me leave.”
His laughter warmed my insides. “If I had my way, we’d never leave my bedroom. We’d get food delivered, and we would require no clothes because we wouldn’t need any. Just a thought.”
My smile must have looked too big on my face. “I love the sound of that.”
“Mel, just to be clear, my place is yours now. I’ll never be the one asking you to leave. I have waited for you forever.”
“What will your roommates say?”
“That it’s about fucking time, and that you’re welcome.
We talked about it when Rutherford brought Amber over the first time.
Our deal is only good for girlfriends, though.
” We exchanged one of our special smiles, the one I’d come to call ours.
The one where we needed no words to understand each other.
“Speaking of your roommates, where are they? I barely ever see them every time I come over.”
With our fingers laced together, we entered the house.
“Gone. Craig is in Elk River for the night to deal with things back home, and the guys went to some party outside of town. They won’t be back until tomorrow. It’s just you and me, love.”
He angled himself toward me, caressing my face with his knuckles, his eyes set on me. Heat spread through me at the love I could read there. Each one of Mason’s actions always proved how much he cared about me.
“We can prep a snack, watch a movie, take a shower, name it, and I’ll do it. Anything to put you at ease.”
“You would shower with me?” I asked, not sure if the idea enticed me or scared me.
“Mel, by now you should know I would do anything for you. Whatever you desire, I’ll always try to make it happen.
For the record, I’m not saying this so you have sex with me.
I mean it. Every word. I’m fucking gone for you.
” He tucked strands of my hair behind my ear.
“Our time apart was the longest stretch of my life. I missed you so much. All I did—the training, improving my grades, staying out of trouble—was to prove to you I had changed and was deserving of you. Your heart, your love, your soul.”
His mouth tasted mine, and our love wrapped itself around us.
Our lips moved in sync while my hands roamed over the expanse of his chest under his shirt, relishing the twitches of his muscles beneath my fingertips, the softness and warmth of his skin.
Mason shivered, and when he tugged me closer, I felt him growing hard against my lower belly.
Grabbing the back of his T-shirt, he slipped it over his head and let it fall to the floor.
My gaze trailed over each ripple and plane of exposed golden skin.
No matter how often I’d seen him shirtless in the last couple of weeks, I was still amazed at how hot he looked—and the fact that he was mine.
Like I’d done many times, I raised my arms, and he removed my top, leaving me in only my jeans and purple lace bra.
He leaned forward, his mouth trailing kisses all over my jawline, neck, and the swell of my breasts.
I trembled against him and filled my lungs with the scent of him, which never failed to soothe me when I was nervous.
His mouth branded my skin like a hot iron.
Except on the night when I pleased him in his bathroom after I’d caught him using drugs, every time we’d touched, we’d kept a layer of clothes—or two—between us.
Tonight, as his hands roamed over me, everything felt different, though. Electric. And highly addictive.
“Fuck, Mel. I’ll never get enough of this. You are perfect.”
With shaky fingers, I unzipped his jeans and tugged them down his legs. His erection pushed against the strained neon-green fabric of his boxer briefs.
My eyes stayed glued to the hard part of him. It pulsed, and the sight sent a thrill through me.
With slow and deliberate movements, Mason unbuttoned my jeans, and I inhaled before shimmying out of them as he dragged them down my legs.
The air around us thickened with lust and a delicious sexual tension that neither of us could escape from.
Both in our underwear, we stood a few inches apart, our breaths hastening as the reality of what we were about to do fell upon us.
Particles of electricity waltzed through me, setting my body on fire.
Even if Mason and I had given each other orgasms with our hands and fingers on a couple of different occasions, this felt more real.
More tangible. All my cells were on high alert.
Even without touching me, I could feel his caresses all over my bare skin.
“Still okay?” he asked in a husky voice.
I bobbed my head multiple times. “Yes.”
With a fingertip, he traced a line down my ribcage, and I almost came at the intensity of the shivers working through me. My body combusted under the dedicated attention. He drew featherlight circles with his fingers over my back, my ass, my thighs.
A surge of desire I’d never felt before started in my core and spread to my belly, pooling between my thighs.
Soon, if Mason didn’t stop, I’d turn into a puddle on the floor right before his eyes.
His delicate touch sent my heart into overdrive. I panted even though I hadn’t moved yet.
“How does it feel?” he asked, his lips teasing mine, his kisses taking my breath away.
“Better than anything we ever did.” I swallowed, deciding I would take control of the situation and not shut the voices in my head pleading for more. Much more. “Mase, I want you now.” Why did I sound out of breath?
“Are you sure?”
I had never been fully naked in front of anyone before, but now it felt right to share that piece of me with the boy I loved.
Biting my lower lip, I nodded. “Yeah.” I gripped his biceps, requiring his strength to stay upright as too many sensations washed through me, making me feel lightheaded and weak in the knees.
“As I said. Anything your heart desires, love, I’ll always provide.”
Without another word, he scooped me up over his shoulders, our discarded clothes forgotten, and rushed us upstairs to his bedroom, climbing the steps two at a time. I couldn’t stop laughing as he laid me on my back in the middle of the mattress, watching me like he was starving.