Metamorphosis (20 page)

I desperately tried to free myself
from his grasp, but I had no leverage as I struggled to stay on my feet while
being pulled through the bodies. I was drug through the warehouse and out the
main door into the cool November night. Finally we came to a stop a few feet
outside the entrance. “What do you think you are doing?” I screamed. Ash turned
around, glaring at me through thunderous eyes. He didn’t say a
word,
instead, he cupped both sides of my face into his hands
and pulled me into a toe-curling, heart-stopping kiss.

As soon as my brain registered
what was happening, I pushed him away. “Get off of me! Have you lost your damn
mind?” I was furious.

“Scarlett, I’m sorry, but I had to
get you out of there. You have to stay away from that guy. He’s bad news.
He’s…”

“He’s what Ash?” I cut him off
mid-sentence. “He’s a self-absorbed, arrogant, pompous ass womanizer? Is that
it?” My voice was still elevated, but I had brought it down a notch, hoping to
avoid any unnecessary attention from the people walking by. “I’m sure it’s
pretty easy for you to recognize the type since you stare at one in the mirror
of every Goddamned day!”

He took a step forward with his
arms stretched out towards me. “Butterfly, please,” he begged.

I took a step back. “Don’t,” I
said shaking my head and holding my arm out in front of me. “Just don’t.”

He stood there silent, shifting
his weight from one foot to the other, just looking at me. The anger in his
eyes from just moments before had turned to either sadness or disappointment or
a combination of the two.

“You know Ash, whatever this is
between us, whatever we are, it’s all your doing,” I hissed. “You knew how I
felt about you. You knew what I wanted. But you were the one that insisted that
we just be friends. I didn’t like it, but I went along with it so that I could
keep you as a part of my life. And now, the first time that you see me with
another guy, the first fucking time that you feel threatened, you go all
caveman on me and then play the ‘Butterfly’ card?”

“That’s not true,” Ash argued. “I
see you with Dylan all the time and I never say anything.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s because
you know as well as I do that nothing is ever going to happen between Dylan and
I. We see each other one night a week only in locations full of other people,
like a restaurant or Jacob’s.”

“Scarlett, I’m just worried about
you,” he tried to explain.

“No need.” I snapped. “Look Ash,
you’re the one who told me I needed to experience life ~ to try new things, to meet
new people, to learn about myself from my mistakes. Remember?” He ran his hands
through his hair and sighed in frustration. I knew this conversation was not
going the way he had planned, and much to my chagrin, I found myself wanting to
hold and comfort him.

My voice softened but remained
stern as I looked intensely into his eyes. “Ash, our relationship has grown
into something very special over the last couple of months. I could not imagine
my life going forward without you in it; I cherish all the time we spend
together. I also know that no matter what we call it, we will always be
something more than just friends. I can’t explain it and I don’t think you can
either.” He shook his head in agreement and a small smile briefly crossed his
lips. “But I’m not going to sit around, waiting and pining after you while you
gallivant around and fuck half of the female population in Houston. I’m going
to have a life, which includes dating other guys whether you approve of them or
not. I hope that doesn’t interfere with us continuing our relationship the way
it was before it got all weird tonight.”

Without saying a word, he walked
towards me with his arms stretched out in front of him, and this time I did not
deny his embrace. He held me tight against his body, his face buried in my
neck, my arms locked around his waist. We stood there silently for a few
minutes,
both of us needed an opportunity to reflect on the
events of the evening.

People started filtering out the
door of the warehouse signaling that closing time was approaching. Before
letting me free from his arms, Ash whispered in my ear, “I know I really messed
up tonight and I’m sorry. I’ll work on it, I promise. I can’t lose you,
butterfly.”

I took a step back from him and
gave him a small smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, okay? Be careful going
home tonight.” As I turned on my heel and headed back towards the entrance, I
could feel his eyes on me the entire walk. Just before I slipped back inside, I
glanced back at where he still stood. I gave myself a silent pat on the back
for standing up to him and not giving in, even if my inner voices were having a
knock-down, drag-out over whether I should run back to Ash’s arms or continue
flirting with trouble inside with Mason. I would’ve said it was my inner angel
and devil, but in this case I had two devils. I knew I was playing with fire
either way I went.

Evie
and Mina had followed Ash and I
out when he had abducted me. They had given us our space and privacy, but there
was no way that
Evie
was going to let me be out there
without her. I found them lingering outside the door, waiting to make sure I
was okay.

“You alright, Sam?”
Evie
asked as I walked over to her.

I nodded and forced a smile.
“Yeah, I think it’s all going to be okay. Now I only hope that Mason is inside
and still wants to hang out tonight.”

“Do you want me to go in with
you?” she asked.

“No, I’m fine, I promise. I’ll
text you if I need you,” I reassured her. She gave me a quick hug and kiss on
the cheek, and then she and Mina bounded off across the parking lot to where
Noah and Max waited for them. I couldn’t help but smile at how happy
Evie
was tonight.

Back inside the warehouse, the
overhead lights had been turned on and other than the employees, there were
only a few people lingering around. I instantly spotted the back of Mason’s
tall frame standing at the bar. I drew in a deep breath and made my way over to
him.

“Mason?” My voice squeaked as I
tried to get his attention. He sat his bottled water on top of the bar and
turned around to face me. When he saw me, his face lit up and he exclaimed,
“Angel! You’re still here!” His enthusiasm to see me made my heart swell. He
appeared so tough with his big muscles, tattoos, and piercings, but for the
short time I had been around him, he had been so sweet, soft, and cuddly.

I walked right up to him so that I
was only inches from his body and looked up into his mysterious gray eyes. “I
thought we had some unfinished business to attend to.” He leaned down and
lightly swept his lips over mine. The warm, silkiness of his flesh on mine
accompanied by the cool metal piercing set my body on fire. Mason slipped his
hands under my arms, and in one swift motion, he lifted me up, turned us
around, and sat me on top of the bar. Instinctually, I opened my legs so that
he fit between them.

The next kiss was not quite as
sweet as the first, and the one after that was nearly obscene. His lips and
tongue expertly teased and tortured my mouth, my face, my ears, and my neck
while his large, strong hands caressed me from my head down my back to my hips.
When he paused briefly with his mouth on my shoulder, I took advantage of his
lull and repaid each of his tormenting kisses with one of my own. My inner
thighs throbbed while the rest of my body buzzed with desire. His hands found
their way back in my long, straight hair. He was massaging my scalp when
suddenly he grabbed two handfuls of my hair and yanked my head back, offering
up my entire neck to him. A raspy growl emerged from my throat and I felt my
panties moisten. I locked my legs around Mason’s waist and pulled him as close
to me as physically possible. He tugged on my hair again, harder the second
time, and again, I couldn’t help but groan at the overwhelming jolt of pleasure
that shot through me. I arched my back with my legs still wrapped around Mason
and he lowered me back onto the bar. I was so caught up in the moment that I
didn’t even stop to realize that we were in the middle of a public place, and
even if I had noticed at that point, I’m not even sure I would’ve cared. The
night had been such a mixture of emotions with meeting Mason and dealing with
Ash, but while laying on my back on top of that bar, the only thing that
mattered was Mason, me, and the fact that we both had way too many damn clothes
on.

“Oh my God, Scarlett. You are the
sexiest fucking thing I have ever laid eyes on,” he said as he gazed down at
me. I smiled at his gratifying words and lifted my right hand to his cheek.
“You’re not so bad yourself, Mason Templeton.” He turned his face so that he
could kiss my palm.

“I need some fresh air. You’ve got
me so worked up, Angel, that I almost forgot that we weren’t alone here,” Mason
said as he looked around the bar to the handful of people who were pretending
to be busy and not watching our steamy, bar-top make-out session. I blushed
thinking about the guttural sounds that I had made just minutes earlier. “Good
idea, let’s get out of here,” I replied. Mason lifted me up back into a sitting
position and pulled me in for one more kiss. I could feel his hard cock pressed
against my lower abdomen and I wanted so bad to reach down and rub my hand up
and down it, but I controlled myself. I wasn’t quite sure what it was that
Mason evoked in me, but I yearned for both his touch and to touch him like I
didn’t think was possible. It was like my body was hungry for his, starving
actually. Finally, I understood the draw towards the bad-boy image that so many
girls and women could not resist. If I was Mason’s angel, he was my perfect
devil.

“
Wanna
grab a bite to eat?” he asked as he lifted me off of the bar and down to my
feet. Oh, there was something I wanted to put in my mouth, but it wasn’t food.
On cue, my stomach growled loudly. “Well, I guess that’s all the answer I
need.” He joked and kissed my forehead.

“Not really what I had in mind,
but I guess that my stomach has different ideas.” I admitted.

He grabbed my hand and laced our
fingers together as we headed towards the door. “You’ve had a busy night,
Angel. I need to feed you and get you home so you can rest. It’s nearly 3:00 in
the morning. We can pick up where we left off another night in a place with a
little more privacy.”

Mason led me across the parking
lot to his car, a new, black Infiniti G37. The car was gorgeous, but I was
actually quite surprised he didn’t drive a motorcycle, which would’ve completed
the image perfectly. When I told him just that, he jokingly apologized for
disappointing me in not being the “full package.” I sighed over-dramatically
and teased him, “I guess you’ll do for tonight, but you’re going to need to
step up your bad-
assness
if you expect me to go out
with you again.” Playing along, he assured me he was going to buy a motorcycle
the very next day.

We continued our playful banter
over pancakes and orange juice at a local IHOP. I quickly discovered that Mason
was a child trapped in a twenty-three year
old’s
body. We joked, teased, and clowned around throughout the entire meal. I had
never had so much fun just eating with anyone except
Evie
.
I wasn’t embarrassed to say or do anything around him, and I could tell he felt
the same way about me. And even though we refrained from touching and kissing
each other too much while in the restaurant, the physical ache I felt for his
touch never subsided.

When we reached my dorm, Mason
insisted on walking me all the way to my door. I wasn’t surprised to find that
Evie
hadn’t made it home. I was happy for her, knowing that
it had been so long since she had been with a guy. I actually was a little
worried for
Max,
the poor guy probably didn’t know
what had hit him once she got him alone.

Mason followed me into the living
room area of the suite. “This is really nice for a dorm. It’s a lot bigger than
I thought it would be,” he said while looking around the place.

“Yeah,
Evie’s
parents paid a pretty penny for us to have an upgraded suite. Usually freshman
don’t get these, but her mom is on some president’s council here or something,
so she pulled some strings for us,” I explained. “That’s
Evie’s
room over there and this one is mine,” I continued as I pointed to each of our
doors. “We each have our own bathroom and then, obviously we have our common
area and kitchenette here. And that completes the tour.” I said in my best
fake, over-the-top HGTV realtor voice.

Laughing, he grabbed my hips and
pulled me close to him. He looked down at me, his gray eyes twinkling, and he
pressed his forehead against mine. “I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am
that you walked in my bar tonight, angel. You’re like a breath of fresh air
that blew into my life.”

I swatted at his shoulder. “Oh
stop, you don’t have to say all that. I had an awesome time tonight. It was a
night full of new experiences for me, definitely a night I won’t soon forget.”
I rubbed my nose against his in an Eskimo kiss.

“When can I see you again?” he
asked. The question completely caught me off-guard. I honestly thought this was
going to be a one-time kind of thing. I guess my faced showed my confusion
because he frowned and questioned, “You do want to see me again, don’t you?”