Chapter 7 #2
He continues to caress my hair, the back of his fingers faintly grazing my cheek.
Then he steps closer and brings his mouth to my ear.
“I know how tight your abstinence has made you. Or it could be that you’re naturally tight.
” His chest rises and falls, and he seems to be lost in his own head.
“No matter. Either way, the first time will be fast and a little rough. I haven’t fucked anyone in a very long time.
But after that, I’ll take my time… make you ready to accommodate me.
But not too much time. I want to stretch you, make you feel every inch of me.
To do that, I’ll have to get a little rough.
But you can take it, my little nerd girl. Can’t you?” he breathes in my ear.
A full body shiver engulfs me. I turn my head slightly so my mouth is close to his ear. I wait a beat, make sure I have his full attention. “Maybe I can. Maybe I can’t. You will never find out,” I say.
I step back and summon a smile I’m far from feeling.
His eyes gleam with a simmering fire before his features smooth into a blank canvas I find impossible to read. “You’re fucking someone else?” he bites out in a low but ferocious tone.
I laugh at the sheer audacity of him. “You think the only reason I’d refuse you is because I have someone else in my bed? It can’t be that I don’t want you?”
“Are you denying that you do? Or are you denying that you’re involved with someone else?” he challenges, his eyes narrowing.
“What does it matter which one it is?”
He grabs my upper arms in a tight hold, and his nostrils flare in such an animalistic exhibition of rage that I swallow. “I’ve never quite mastered the art of sharing my things, so yes, it matters which one of those you mean.”
I fight the heat dragging through my pelvis with everything I’ve got. Through the material of my sweater I feel the naked stamp of his touch on my skin. “There’s this wonderful little thing called free will that lets me say yes or no to whatever and whomever I want.”
“Answer the question, Keely. Are you fucking someone else?”
I wish with all my heart I can answer in the affirmative. But even the “mind your fucking business” that rises to my lips dies a quivering death when confronted with the dangerous vibes spiking from him.
I open my mouth to answer when a throat clears behind us. “Excuse me, sir?—”
“Leave!” Mason snarls, his gaze not once moving from my face.
I gasp at the depth of his rudeness, and my head swivels to see the crew member hightailing it down the stairs. “You can’t speak to the staff like that!”
He catches my chin in his hand and forces my gaze to his. “Keely.” He breathes my name with a rumble that shoots straight to my belly.
“Jesus! No, I’m not screwing anyone right this minute. But I can’t promise that won’t change anytime soon.” I pull myself forcefully from his arms and he lets me go.
“Do you have anyone specific in mind?” he enquires silkily.
“Why?” I toss back, bewildered at the path of this conversation.
“So I can ensure they meet an unfortunate end before they get anywhere near you.”
Normally, a statement like that would be uttered with a smile or joviality intended to take the threat and bite out of it. Mason Sinclair says the words with a lethal bluntness that makes my eyes widen. “Did you crawl out from under some rock recently?”
“Yes,” he answers, again with that deadpan look. “I’ve spent most of the last four years in the Amazon with a tribe cut off from the rest of civilization.”
My mouth drops open. “You… Are you serious?”
His lashes sweep down in a slow blink. “Why would I lie about something like that?”
I shake my head to clear the conflicting messages bombarding me.
“Regardless of that, there’s no excuse for your rudeness considering who you are.
” His eyebrow starts to spike, and I purse my lips.
“Yes, I know exactly who you are. I googled you. People do that nowadays. In fact, it’s considered an insult not to google a person you meet at the first opportunity. ”
His mouth twitches. “Duly noted. But the facts that interest me about you won’t be online. Unless you’ve been a very naughty girl,” he drawls.
God. I can’t make up my mind where my exasperation ends and my excitement begins with this man. All I know is I need to get away from him. Now. Before I lose my mind. Or throw myself at this hard wall of a body.
I drag my gaze from said body and look around to find that while we’ve been engaged in what can only politely be labeled as verbal intercourse, the sun has set and lights have come on aboard the other boats and along the marina.
“I’m going to find the captain of this yacht. I’m sure he’ll give me a tour since you don’t seem inclined to.”
I hurry to the sofa where I dropped my clutch and head for the stairs, which lead God knows where. As I near the stairs, I hear him behind me.
“I’ll give you your tour. But bear in mind that each hour you force me into this useless dance with you is another hour I add to your punishment board.”
I hide a shiver of excitement and thread a bored tone through my voice as my heels click on the solid wooden floors down a wide hallway. “Give it up, Mason. Not every woman you meet is destined to fall at your feet in abject worship.”
I come to a halt when the hallway forks into four crossroads. With all that’s happened so far, I feel like this is some sort of ominous sign.
Mason stops behind me. His breath brushes the top of my head as the heat from his body engulfs mine. Every single cell in my body stands to attention at the ominous feeling that washes over me, as if the moment is an important one that I can never retrace my steps from.
I feel his touch a second before his fingers trail down my arms, eliciting a deep shudder he can’t miss.
“No. But you are. You’re destined to fall at my feet and stay there.
Not because I want you to, but because you’ll like it.
And because you won’t want to be anywhere else. I promise you that, Keely.”