Tolerance (Heart of Stone) (17 page)

 
I was hurt, upset
and angry that he wasn’t here for me; I needed him desperately, to hold me and
tell me everything was okay, to stroke my hair and tell me he loved me. I had
sat looking in the mirror at the purple bruising around my neck; the desperate
need to get clean had me scrubbing nearly all my skin raw in the shower and all
I wanted now was my man.

I tossed and turned for at least another hour but was
stirred from my chaotic dozing sometime later when Mason climbed in behind me
and pulled me tight. He nuzzled into my neck and I could smell whisky on him as
his hands slipped around me and down into my shorts then he slipped a finger
into my groove as he pressed a raging erection into my back.
What the Hell?!!!

“Move them, now!” I snarled and he froze behind me “Ava?
What’s wrong?” he asked quietly. I swallowed heavily and sat up “Are you
fucking stupid?” I was gobsmacked at his audacity. His eyes narrowed on me and
I realised from the look of him that he’s had much more to drink than I thought
“What did you say?” he demanded angrily, his eyes blazing brightly “I asked if
you are fucking stupid?” he shot out of bed and snapped the light on then his
eyes widened as he spotted my throat “Jesus Ava” he breathed as he shot towards
me.

I reared back and held my hands up and he stilled,
regarding me warily “Don’t touch me Mason” I warned “What the fuck is wrong
with you?” he asked again and I shook my head in frustration “You really have
no idea do you?” I said sadly and swung my legs out of bed and walked over to
the wardrobe and pulled out a blanket that was stored in the bottom “Where are
you going?” he huffed “To sleep on the couch” I informed him.

His hand grabbed my arm and I flinched but he didn’t
remove it “WILL YOU FUCKING TALK TO ME!!” he roared and I bit my lip in shock and
hurt at his insensitive attitude towards me after being two seconds away from
being raped.

Tears flooded my eyes and I held his eyes “I needed you
Mason, I needed you to hold me, I needed you to make me feel safe, I needed you
to stop the tears and tell me everything was alright, I needed the comfort of
your words and your love and tenderness, I just fucking needed
you
tonight but…” I stopped shouting at
him to just stare at him “But YOU needed to sort
your
feelings out first and then have the fucking nerve to come
back, roaring fucking drunk, coked up and expecting to fuck me after I’ve been
nearly raped!” I whispered with a sob.

He glared at me “What the fuck do you want me to do? I
finished him! What more do you want?” he raged and I laughed bitterly “Did you
finish him because he hurt me or did you finish him because he’d dared to touch
your property?” I asked and cocked my head at him. His mouth opened then
snapped shut and I nodded “I thought so” I sighed heavily and turned to the
door “Don’t you dare fucking leave this room. Don’t treat me like fucking shit
because I’ve killed somebody, so have you Ava…twice” he shouted, slamming the
door shut and spun me round, trapping me in his frame against the door glaring
at me

“Yes I have Mason. I killed Dean for Katie and I killed
Lee for
you
Mason, not for me!” I
screamed at him “Bullshit Ava, you killed Lee because he raped and stalked you!”
he scoffed and I shook my head “No Mason, I killed Lee for
you
because of how much he hurt you when he sent you those
photos…not for me. FOR YOU!! Whatever he did to me, it wasn’t enough for me to
kill him, until I looked in your eyes in that warehouse and I knew he’d killed
you inside by showing you, by forcing those images into your head! That’s why I
shot him, because of how he hurt you! YOU Mason” I yelled.

His hands remained on the door but his eyes widened at my
words “Move” I warned, I was gulping for breaths now, I was so mad I thought I
might kill him if I got my hands on him “No, not until we have talked…Do you
know what it did to me to see you…like
that
?
Bent over in some fucking toilets while that…that fucking animal had his…his
fucking dirty, filthy fucking hands all over you” he cried “Yes Mason and you
finished him because of how he made you feel, not for how he had made
me
feel” I bit back and his eyes
darkened, the fury building and I had to get out, get away from him

“I. SAID.
MOVE” I lowered my
voice just a fraction to fore-warn him of my rage building. He continued to
glare at me; the fire and anger in his eyes didn’t frighten me, it saddened me.
I cupped his highly ill-timed erection in my hand and squeezed “I told you to
move” I whispered coldly, still squeezing. I could see a drop of sweat on his
forehead rolling down towards the bridge of his nose “Ava…” he warned but I
continued crushing and twisting. He bit into his lower lip, flinching against
the pain “Shit Ava, stop” he winced as I carried on and raised my eyebrows in
question “For fucks sake Ava” he bellowed and stood aside as he slammed his
fist against the wall “Thank you” I snapped and left the room, traipsing
downstairs glumly.

I curled up on the couch, pulling the blanket over me and
stared at the remaining embers glowing in the fire. He had hurt me so much
tonight. He didn’t finish Tom for what he had done to me, only for himself, to
make himself feel better, to ease
his
suffering and rage. Even Greg had admitted this when he said ‘
He HAS to take care of it Ava, he won’t be
worth living with if he doesn’t’
and then to go out and get bloody drunk
before returning to me when it should be obvious that I would need his support
was just unbelievable. What the hell was wrong with him?

I shivered as I pictured Tom’s snarl, his hands around my
throat, squeezing the life out of me. My face stuck into the vanity as he
raised my dress. What the hell was wrong with me? Why me, all the time? A tear
slipped free and then another, until I was sobbing quietly into the cushion.

I couldn’t free the images from my mind, bringing back
the memories of that night 5 years ago; being held against the wall with a hand
around my throat, being taken from behind, the hard grip of my hair, the
feeling of filthy paws all over me, touching me and taking from me.

The nausea rose again and I flung the blanket off and
darted for the bathroom, just making it as I vomited and tremors racked through
me “Fuck!” I spluttered into the bowl again. I couldn’t stop the damn images
from swarming my thoughts, the feeling of his hands on me and the sensation of
his finger swiping up my most private parts. The vomit came again as I felt
somebody pull my hair back and Courtney whispering shush to me.

She pulled me against her and stroked my back as I wept,
the tremors still flooding me “I need to clean him away” I told her as I
couldn’t stop shaking “Ava, babe, I’m here. Come on let’s get you in the bath”
she said softly as she started to fill the tub and then settled beside me again

“I heard you rowing with Mason” she said softly and I
snorted “Oh yeah, he’d rather go and get blind drunk than come back and comfort
me” I said sadly, hugging my knees in front of me “When did Greg get back?” I
asked and she shrugged “Erm about an hour after we returned, why?” she asked
and I frowned “Was he drunk?” I looked at her and she cringed under my scrutiny
“No” she said slowly “Mason came back thirty fucking minutes ago, smashed!” I
fumed “So where the hell has he been?” I demanded and she sighed heavily. Fresh
tears flowed at his apparent emotional distance and that hurt more than
anything else that had happened tonight.

Courtney tipped her head sadly at me “Come on babe, baths
ready” she pulled me up and stripped me down, helping me into the bath and sat
on the floor beside me as I cried and scrubbed and cried and scrubbed at my
crawling skin, still heaving and shaking as I tried to remove all evidence of
Toms hands. “Shush Ava” she whispered as she stroked my hair.

The door opened and Mason stood in the doorway, his eyes
narrowed on me but then softened and filled with love and regret. He pulled a
large towel off the radiator and held it out “Stand” he said bluntly and I did.
He wrapped the towel around me and lifted me into his arms, carrying me tightly
against his hard and solid body to the bedroom without uttering a single word.

He set me down in the middle of the room and proceeded to
rub me dry, never taking his eyes off mine. When I was dry he retrieved his soft
blue t-shirt from his drawer, the one I had claimed before and slipped it over
my head and lifted me again, laying me gently onto the bed. The bed dipped as I
felt him climb in behind me and pulled me tight against him again. “Sleep” his
said softly as he stroked my belly and pulled my hair to the side so he could
rest his nose in the crook behind my ear. I sighed, relaxing against him. This
was all I needed, not a revenge killing, not a screaming match, not his drunken
fury but simply his arms around me, protecting and holding me.

“I’m sorry baby, I’m so sorry” he whispered in my ear. I
didn’t answer but snuggled deeper into him and nodded as he placed a gentle
kiss in the dip behind my ear “l
love
you”. He was
really trying and my heart softened. I truly hadn’t took into consideration how
he must have felt, walking into that bathroom and finding me bent over a sink,
my arse on display and a fucking animal trying to rape me. It must have
tortured him. Mason was a strong willed man and had the deep need to protect
me, I know he had thought he had failed me but it was really my fault for
getting myself in that situation by humiliating Tom at the booth.

I sighed heavily “Thank you” I whispered to him and he
stilled “What for?” he asked quietly “For saving me” I replied and he exhaled
heavily. I could read him like a book! “You didn’t fail to protect me Mason.
You saved me just in time. It was my fault he did what he did” I appeased and
he turned me onto my back and loomed over me, sliding his hand into my hair behind
my ear “No Ava! Don’t ever say that!” he insisted “But it was, I was in a mood
and should have just ignored him but I humiliated him in front of his friends”
I sobbed and he wrapped me tight

“He touched me Mason. He put his fingers on me” I
shuddered and I felt him tense and take a calming breath “It’s okay baby, it’s
over now” he soothed as he pulled my head into the crooked of his neck “I love
you” I said and I felt his smile “I love you, my little warrior” he breathed
“Now go to sleep or Santa won’t come” he scolded and I chuckled and snuggled in
to him

“Ava” he whispered “Mmmm” I hummed “Merry Christmas baby”
he kissed my head “Merry Christmas Mason” I replied softly and planted a kiss
on his chest.

“Mmmm” I breathed, wriggling my bum into the pressure
that was forming inside me. My eyes were still asleep but my body was humming
with stimulation “Oooh, yeahhh” I moaned again, my hips gyrating of their own
accord. The throb was building rapidly, the sparks zapping my nerve endings
throughout my body.
Was I having an
orgasm in my dream? It felt very real! It must be one of those lucid dreams!

A quick flick against my clitoris and my eyes shot open
and cleared to find Masons beautiful face between my thighs “OH Fuck!” I moaned
as my orgasm exploded through me at the erotic sight of his tongue working
feverishly at me.

“Merry Christmas Gorgeous!!”
I
grinned as he looked at me through his long lashes and gave me lazy grin “And a
very Merry Christmas to you too baby”. I stroked his face as he climbed up the bed
and rested his forehead against mine “I didn’t in my wildest dreams expect to
be here with you on Christmas morning.” I sighed earnestly as a happy tear
pooled in the corner of my eye. Mason leant down and kissed the tear,
transferring it to his lips “No tears today baby” he placed another small kiss
on my cheek and then another at the corner of my mouth as his knee nudged my
legs open and he slowly entered me, inch by inch, slowly and oh so very gently.

His warm puff of breath hit my lips with his moan “You
feel so good Ava” he gazed straight into my eyes, possessing my very being as
he slowly pulled back and held himself at my entrance and then leisurely
pressed back in, rotating his hips as he plunged gradually “Mmmm, that is
sooo
good”
My man was loving me this morning, his perception of what I needed
was spot on!

“You like this baby? You like slow lazy sex?” I arched my
back in pleasure as he circled his hips slowly, stroking against my clitoris
with his pelvis “I like how
you
make
me feel Mason” I groaned as he unhurriedly made love to me.

His teeth nibbled my shoulder blade as his hands gently
massaged my breast “Holy Jesus” I moaned as my climax came close “Well that’s
appropriate today” Mason grinned against my shoulder and I smiled as I clenched
round him “Come for me Ava, give me what you’ve got baby” he moaned as his
thrusts hardened a little and he drove all the way in, pushing himself tightly
into me as he bit my shoulder gently “
Mason!”
I cried as I detonated into a toe-curling orgasm that triggered my lovers
and he rammed into me fully “
I love you
Ava
!!” he cried as he bucked and shuddered inside me.

His forehead came to rest on mine again as we panted,
eyes closed and sweat dripping “Wow” I whispered, amazed at how smooth slow
lazy sex had sated me. I liked the hard rough sex but this morning I had needed
the gentle love making and Mason had understood that entirely.

He rolled right over, holding me against him so I was
laid on top of him. I kissed him adoringly, a slow tender kiss as I sucked on
his bottom lip and nibbled it lightly “I love you Mason, so much. You’re my
protector, my lover, my life, my soul and my heart” I breathed as I suckled on
his neck, tasting his skin with a dip of my tongue “You’re mine!” I claimed and
bit his beautiful neck, the need to mark him and claim him overpowering me.
“Yes Ava, always yours” he moaned and pulled me further into his neck “Bite me
baby. Own me” He tasted amazing and all mine.