Kissing Trouble (26 page)

Dean glanced between them again. “Of course,” he said at last. “I’ll swing by on my way out of town and call the house if I learn anything. I have a few other cases on my plate, plus the children now, but I will try to stay on top of this.”

Thanking him, Julie went inside to round up the kids. Dustin was already on his way out. Rick and Wendy were a little trickier. They couldn’t decide who sat on which side of the car. It didn’t seem to matter that there was no difference.

Finally, after what felt like ages, Dean pulled away and they watched his taillights fade into the distance. But it wasn’t until the crunch of tires on gravel melted away that Mason turned his attention towards Julie. He gave her a crooked grin that dripped sexual appeal and sent the butterflies in her stomach tumbling.

“Well, it’s just you and me now, Jewels.” He bit his lip and took a dangerous step closer, invading all her space. “Scared?”

Terrified.

W
ith the children gone, the house seemed vastly too large and too quiet. Julie had far too much time on her hands and not enough books to keep her occupied. She spent the majority of the time locked in her room trying to finish a book she was definitely no longer interested in, or cleaning. Even with the kids gone, it was as though they had never left and while every instinct in her body told her to let Shaun clean up after himself, she knew he wouldn’t and she didn’t want to live in a house filled with flies.

Luis helped her, occasionally running the vacuum, or sweeping the floor. He tried doing the dishes once, but Julie begged him not to do it again when half of them had to be redone. It made her wonder what their apartment back home looked like, but every time she thought about it, she cringed.

Then there was Mason. The guy had made it his mission to go out of his way to unnerve her. Simply by walking into the room, he managed to set all the alarm bells off in her head. His easy grins and the not so accidental brush of his fingers along the curve of her spine and lengths of her arms had the flames in the pit of her stomach leaping. He was driving her insane and he knew it.

But while he taunted her, he never took the leap. The touches, the deep, hungry survey of his eyes, and the way he always came just a little too close, but not close enough, always ended with him pulling back. It drove her insane, which, she was sure, was his plan.

“Hey, Martha, when’s supper?”

Perched on her bed, book in hand, Julie looked up when Shaun stalked into her room unannounced and loomed over her.

“Excuse me?”

Still lost in the pages of her book, in the coil of words muddling her brain, Julie wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly.

“It’s after six,” he said and glanced at his watch to confirm. “We’re starving.”

So she had heard him right.

Julie laughed, short and filled with disbelief outrage. She closed her book and set it down on the mattress.

“There are three of you,” she said slowly. “Three grown men who live without a woman.” She squinted at him. “How did you survive before me?”

Shaun scowled, which had become a common thing between them. Honestly, Julie didn’t care. His thoughts and feelings meant shit to her.

“We survived just fine, but it’s after six and you always make supper.”

Evidently, she was to blame.

“So because I made dinner a few times, you think I am now you’re personal chef?”

His eyes only seemed to narrow further. “Are you going to make food or not?”

It had been on her list, just as soon as she finished the chapter, but now she was just annoyed.

“Nope.” She plucked up her book and flipped it open. “I think I’m going to leave dinner making to the men tonight.”

“Seriously?”

Leaning back against the headboard and crossed one ankle over the other, Julie shrugged. “Yup.”

She pressed her nose into the folds of her book and pretended not to hear Shaun when he muttered a curse and stormed out. She was still smirking when another figure stepped into the room. But she sensed him even before the door closed with a muffled click. Her heart leapt as she lowered the book to keep him from seeing her fingers trembling.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” she murmured.

Mason grinned. “Don’t trust yourself alone with me?”

Setting her book down and getting to her feet, Julie met his gaze squarely. “Are you here to get me all hot and bothered and then leave again? Because I have to be honest, I will probably dropkick you.”

His smile broadened, wide and breathtaking. He was in front of her now, tall and imposing in the dwindling daylight filtering through the sheer curtains. The golden hue spilled through his hair and down the perfectly defined ridges of his face. They traced the lush arch of his mouth and reflected in the blue of his eyes, and she imagined that was how the ocean looked with the sun leaking its rays over the gleaming surface.

The eyes she’d been scrutinizing darkened. They were so close, she could see the irises expand as heat and hunger collided. She should have been immune to that look and yet it never failed to sear through her like lightening. “You know, it’s very hard for a guy to be noble when you say things like that.”

She hadn’t realized she’d been staring at his mouth until his lips moved, forming the words that took a moment to register. She blinked and looked away.

“Maybe I’m tired of you being noble,” she heard herself murmur.

He made a sound that could have been a chuckle if it hadn’t been self-deprecating. “Fuck, baby...” His fingers closed around her chin and she was forced to face the fire behind his eyes. The rough pad of his thumb glided over the curve of her mouth. “That’s not fair.”

“What are you waiting for, Mason?”

His fingers tightened on her face. She was drawn closer. Her front came up flush against his. The crack of his heart beat against hers. His breath mingled with hers. His heat engulfed her.

“Are you sure you want to know?” His fingers glided back through her hair to cup the base of her skull. “Because once I tell you I’m going to kiss you and I might not be able to stop.”

How was she supposed to resist that when the pit of her stomach had all but melted into a puddle of aroused goo that was tightening her nipples and dampening the fabric of her panties? Damn, the guy didn’t play fair.

“Yes.”

His fingers tightened in her hair. His breathing was ragged, scraping against her cheeks. His heart rocketed against the hands she had no memory of raising, never mind planting against his chest. He pulled her still closer by the arm anchored around her middle.

He lowered his head and she caught her breath, expecting him to kiss her. Instead, he stopped inches from his mark.

“I’ve been waiting for you to want me half as badly as I want you.”

She made a sound between a laugh and a choke. “You know I want you.”

He gave a short shake of his head. “I knew you did once, but I needed to be sure you still did.”

“Are you always this cautious?” she wondered breathlessly.

Mason chuckled. “Only when it’s something that really matters to me.” His smile faded. His expression grew serious, giving weight to the words he spoke next. “You matter to me, Jewels. I told myself long ago that if I ever got this chance with you, I would do it right.”

It was impossible not to fall in love with him all over again after that, not that she had ever not been in love with him. Even when she had told herself she hated him, a part of her had still wanted, needed, and loved him.

“Is that it?” she whispered. “Is that everything you had to tell me?”

He gave a nod and rolled his shoulders in a shrug. “Pretty much. Yeah.”

“Good.” She curved the full length of her front into his, raised her arms and folded them around the width of his shoulders. Her pulse spiked when his eyes darkened and his heart gave a hard thump against hers. “You promised me a kiss, Brody. You
owe
me a kiss.”

He was breathing as hard and fast as she was. The heat in his eyes mirrored the hunger gnawing at her insides. She was ready for this. She had dreamt of that moment for so long that it almost felt surreal. Any moment, she expected to wake up and find herself in bed.

When his head lowered, Julie caught her breath, holding it tight in her lungs in fear of shattering that moment. Her heart hammered as her nerves jittered. Her lashes swept closed the exact moment his lips brushed hers.

It was no more than a flutter. Barely a breath. Yet it struck her square in the gut with a white hot surge of desire. Her gasp parted her lips, leaving his path clear to deepen the kiss with an agile sweep of his tongue.

Julie moaned. She melted against him. Her fingers tightened in his hair as she opened for more. Need propelled her tongue out to meet his, to caress the velvety length of his. The hands gripping her turned bruising at her waist. Against the soft planes of her abdomen, the proof of his need lengthened, burning through fabric to further fan the fire raging through her. The very notion that he craved for her half as much as she yearned for him ignited a fresh wave of delirium. Places that hadn’t felt a man’s touch in a damn long time pulsed. Her skin prickled with a desperation that could only be sated by his hands. Against the material of her camisole, her nipples swelled, pushing against the firm span of his chest for attention and teasing the sensitive peaks.

Her low whimper was met by the hands that roamed down to anchor her backside through her thin shorts. She was lifted and her legs wasted no time coiling around his lean hips. His growl vibrated against her mouth when she rested perfectly over the straining erection pushing up against his sweat shorts. But all Julie could focus on was how moving against it calmed some of the pressure building between her thighs.

“Jewels...” Her name tore out of him in a sound between a snarl and a plea. His fingers bit into the curves of her backside, urging her harder against him.

“Yes!” Julie sobbed, tightening her knees.

Still devouring her mouth, Mason stalked across the short distance and dumped her onto the bed. He paused for a split second to rip off his top before he was on her, crushing her into the mattress. One toned thigh found its way to the crest of her body as the rest of him was eagerly gathered in her arms.

His kisses trailed along the length of her jaw, down the column of her neck to nip at her collarbone. His fingers wrapped around the thin strap of her camisole and tugged it over the slope of her shoulder, following the path with his mouth. His free hand did the same with the other side, drawing her top down her chest in the process.

Julie bit her lip, scarcely breathing as the collar inched over the swell of her breasts, caught on the sharp points of her nipples, and then dragged free, but not before kindling a new wave of hunger that exploded in the pit of her stomach. She writhed beneath him, desperately trying to get him between her legs where he belonged. But he kept her pinned, holding her prisoner as he feasted on her with his eyes.

“So fucking perfect,” he breathed through every pant.

It would be even more perfect if you had your pants off and were buried deep inside me,
she wanted to say and was about to when his head dropped and he caught her right breast in his mouth.

All thoughts of speech vanished as he assaulted the nipple to the point of pure agony. He suckled, all the while watching her as she squirmed beneath him. His blue eyes were dark pits of ravenous pleasure that bore straight into her. Then, with a nip of his teeth that tore a wail from her, he switched, leaving the abandoned nipple throbbing, shriveled and wet in the cool air of the room.

Julie squeezed her eyes closed tight, bit her lip, and hissed as her back arched, shamelessly begging for more. And Mason didn’t disappoint. He closed his hand around the thigh not trapped between his and thrust it aside to palm the inferno blazing in between.

A series of prayers and curses burst from her lips as she all but climaxed on the spot. Her eyes rolled back into her skull.

“Is this what you want?” His lips were grazing the curve of her jaw. One finger slipped through the gaping hole left in the pant leg of her shorts. It skimmed the inside seam of her panties before moving inward. He hissed and then groaned huskily against her skin. “Your panties are soaked.” He pressed with two fingers against the damp patch, making her cry out when it pushed against her throbbing center. “But it’s not enough. I want you wetter.”

The elastic gave way easily under his demanding attention and his fingers were slipping through her folds, parting them, and diving into the pool gathered at the core.

“Mason!” Her hoarse cry was met with a wicked grin from him as he circled her opening with the tip of one finger.

“I want a closer look.” It wasn’t a request, but a demand that darkened the gleam in his eyes. He twisted his hand around, fisted the material of her panties and shorts, and began tugging them downward. “I want to see your pussy before I fuck it into exhaustion.”

She choked on her gasp and a fresh flood of arousal trickled free. Mason’s smirk only intensified.

The band of her shorts dragged over her hipbones and crept along her pelvis when suddenly, he stopped. His expression went from predatory to alarmed.

“Do you smell that?”

For a second, she almost took offense, when suddenly the bitter stench of something burning chased away the passion haze cocooning her.

Mason scrambled off her and bolted upright. Julie hurriedly straightened her clothes and followed him to her feet. But Mason was already out the door with a hasty demand that she stay put. Jelly-legged and painfully aroused, Julie ignored the command and hurried after him.

The smell was stronger when they hit the bottom of the stairs. A thick, black cloud poured out of the kitchen, forming a dark halo around the hallway light. Coughing, they followed the smoke and the clang of pots and pans into the kitchen and found Shaun cursing and waving a towel over a two foot high flame leaping over the grill.

Mason clamped one hand over his mouth and nose and dove deeper inside. He rushed to the pantry, threw open the door, and disappeared inside.