“Chelle—” Mason stopped when he realized she’d hung up.
Shit.
Chapter Nine
“Are you from California?” the man in the seat next to Chelle asked. He was a middle-aged nonthreatening type in a suit.
“No,” Chelle answered and sank deeper into her window seat with a sigh. “Just visiting.”
“Did you enjoy your stay?”
Some of it, Chelle thought and fought back the X-rated memories of the night before. “It was different than I expected.”
The man gripped the armrest beside him as the plane taxied for takeoff. “I hate flying, but I have to for my job. I find that talking to the person next to me makes it easier. Tell me if you’d rather not.”
Chelle rubbed her hands over her face. “I’m in a funky mood. It’s probably better if we don’t. I’d end up talking your ear off.”
The man peered around her and out the window. He went a little white as the plane left the ground. His eyes sought hers desperately. “Honestly, you’d be doing me a favor. I usually take a Valium, but I used my last one getting here and didn’t realize it until this morning. I don’t know you. You don’t know me. You can tell me anything. It’ll be better than sitting here pretending I’m not about to throw up my breakfast.”
The man had a point. They hadn’t exchanged names. What harm was there in voicing the thoughts spinning through her head? “If you’re sure?”
The man nodded and wiped a napkin across his sweaty forehead.
“So it all started when I went to a wedding a few weeks ago, and I realized I didn’t still want to be a virgin when I turned twenty-six . . .” The story poured out of Chelle. She paused briefly when the stewardess delivered their water and a bag of pretzels, then continued her tale. She shared everything, even how ridiculous she’d felt when she’d realized her father might have witnessed her giving a condom back to David. She skimmed over the night she spent with Mason, but didn’t leave it out. It was necessary to tell him if he was going to understand why she was upset that she’d actually believed Mason would be there when she woke. “Then right before we got on the plane, he called and told me he wanted to talk. What do you think he wanted to say? Because I figured it couldn’t be anything good, so I didn’t want to hear it. But what if it was? You’re a man. What do you think?”
The man blinked several times, and Chelle pulled herself out of her wild recounting to study his expression. He looked shell-shocked in a pink, flustered sort of way. “My wife wouldn’t like me talking about this.”
“Oh,” Chelle said. “You said you didn’t care what we discussed. It was too personal, wasn’t it? I’m sorry. I’m so used to everyone knowing more about me than I could ever tell them. There really are no secrets in a small town.” She ended her explanation lamely.
He loosened his tie as if it were choking him. His mouth opened and shut several times like a fish gasping for air. The pilot announced their approach to San Francisco International Airport.
The two of them sat in awkward silence as the plane landed. Chelle glanced at him, and he didn’t look upset about the landing. She gave his arm a pat and said, “At least I distracted you.”
The man pulled his arm away quickly, and it was only then that she noticed a slight bulge in the front of his pants. Chelle turned bright red and spun to face the window. I may have shared too many details.
As soon as he could, the man bolted from her side and off the plane. Chelle stayed behind, letting the other passengers follow him, torn between being mortified and laughing. The more she thought about what she’d told the man, the more amusement won.
How was your trip, Chelle? she imagined Sarah asking her.
What would she say? On the positive side, I am happily no longer burdened with virginity. Yay for me. I also discovered I have a healthy sex drive and the ability to orgasm multiple times. On the negative, I made a fool of myself over a man who gave me every opportunity not to, then accidentally gave a pornographic retelling of the event to a complete stranger, who I believe is running to the nearest church to confess that he liked hearing it.
Overall, I’d call it a success. She bit her lower lip. I feel good. Free. She remembered the way she’d felt for Mason when she’d woken up that morning, before she’d realized she was alone, and amended her inner declaration. Mostly good.
And now I’m in San Francisco. She gathered up her bag and exited the plane. The answer to all of my questions could be here. What am I supposed to be doing that I’m not? Is there something here I can’t find back in Fort Mavis?
Chelle took a spot near the luggage carousel and accidentally met the eyes of the man she’d spoken to on the plane. She was tempted to walk over and apologize again but decided that would probably make the situation more awkward.
“It wasn’t easy to get here before you.”
Chelle spun around and found Mason standing behind her. She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off by hauling her to him and kissing her until she forgot why she was upset with him. When he raised his head, she stood weakly in his arms. “What are you doing here, Mason?”
“I told you—we have to talk.” He murmured the words against her neck.
Chelle found it difficult to breathe as images of the two of them, intimately entwined, rushed back. “Talk?”
He chuckled against her ear. “Among other things. All I thought about on the plane ride here was how much I want you. I want to take you in the shower, lick water off those beautiful tits of yours, and fuck you again and again. How far is your hotel?”
“Uh . . .” Chelle couldn’t remember. All she knew was Mason had come for her, and she felt deliciously pleased about seeing him again. Yes, waking up alone had been awful, but the sex before that had been too good to not want to have it again. And I can’t get this back home.
She looked away, seeking guidance, and caught the man she’d flown over with watching them. His eyes were practically bulging out of his head. Chelle nodded toward Mason and raised one shoulder in question. Should I?
He went a bit red in the face, but he nodded and gave her a thumbs-up.
Chelle turned back to Mason and handed another day over to what she hoped would be another heavenly experience. “I don’t remember, and I don’t care.” She laughed and threw her arms around his neck. “Take me somewhere amazing.”
He made a pleased sound and said, “I intend to.” With a hand on her lower back, he started guiding her out of the area.
Chelle paused. “My luggage.”
“We’ll have someone retrieve it.”
As they walked out of the airport and into the sunshine, Chelle turned to Mason. “Are you going to leave again while I’m asleep?”
“No.”
“Is that what you want to talk about?”
Mason turned her and pressed her up against the side of a car. Evidence of his arousal was huge and hard against her, bringing a flush of anticipation to her cheeks. “We do need to talk, but I have something else in mind first.”
He kissed her deeply, and passion swept through Chelle. How she’d felt that morning was nothing in the face of her need for him now. She arched herself against him and ran her fingers through his hair. “I was so angry with you, Mason, but I can’t say no to you. How do you do that?”
Her comment didn’t appear to please him. He opened the car door and helped her in, saying curtly, “Some call it a gift.”
A gift? Mason wasn’t humble when it came to his bedroom skills. Chelle smiled a little at the thought. He was talented, however. Even though Chelle was still incredibly turned on, a part of her felt guilty about it. He could be a tough man to read. He’d said he wanted her. She’d agreed to be with him. Why did he still look as though something were tearing away at his insides? Had he expected her to turn him down?
As they drove along, Chelle reached out and took one of his hands in hers. “What’s wrong, Mason?”
He turned a smile on her that was designed to charm
her, then looked back at the road. She wasn’t fooled. He was as confused as she was. She’d bet her last dollar on that.
He said, “This is wrong, Chelle. The biggest favor I could do for you would be to stay away, but I can’t. I want to spend the rest of the day tasting every inch of your body. Charles was angry that we put our fake engagement out for the press to run with. I told him it was a mistake, but I know the media too well to not understand what would happen. On some level, I wanted to publicly lay claim to you. I don’t believe in relationships, Chelle, but I don’t want another man to be with you—ever. You’re mine.”
Chelle squeezed his hand. His words did crazy things to her heart. He wasn’t saying he loved her. He wasn’t vowing to be exclusively hers. What he was describing was carnal and primitively possessive.
When he looked at her, need for her darkened his eyes, and a tingly heat seared through her. It brought out a bold side of her she hadn’t known existed. She slid a hand down the front of her pants and beneath her panties. She was wet and excited. He glanced down, then back at the road and said huskily, “Do you want us to crash?”
She settled a finger on her clit and began to tease it in the same manner he had the night before. “I have faith in your ability to drive. How far is it to where we’re going?” She loved the flush on his cheeks.
“I booked a suite at a place in Ghirardelli Square.”
Mason and chocolate? California sounded like heaven on earth. Chelle continued to caress herself and answered huskily, “Sounds perfect.”
“I’ve never been there, but I hear it’s beautiful.”
Chelle tipped her head back as the pleasure of her own touch began to heighten. “Even better.”
“It’s about twenty minutes from here.”
“That should be long enough,” Chelle said. With slowly increasing speed, Chelle caressed herself until she was breathing heavily and nearing climax. She withdrew her hand and ran a wet finger across his bottom lip.
He grabbed her hand and held it as he licked her juices off her. “God, you taste so fucking amazing. How could someone as innocent as you know exactly what to do?”
Between ragged breaths, she answered, “I read a lot.”
His chuckle barely registered.
She undid the front of her pants and guided his hand to her sex. His fingers were a thousand times more talented than hers. She leaned back and closed her eyes, reveling in the way he knew just how to send her into a mindless, writhing state where all that mattered was the promise of release.
There wasn’t much about the drive to Ghirardelli Square that Mason remembered. He was reasonably certain he had checked in with the management of the boutique hotel and declined the offer of a butler to guide them to their unit. Beyond that, every moment and every thought he’d had centered on Chelle and the moans she’d made as she’d come.
If he hadn’t been navigating lanes of busy traffic full of tourists, Mason would have pulled over and taken Chelle right there on the side of the road. Hearing her cry out as she’d orgasmed beside him had had him out of his mind with desire for her.
The scenario wasn’t unique, but how he felt was. The women he’d been with hadn’t been shy. He’d had sex in cars before, moving and parked. More than once, he’d been guilty of DWC (driving while coming)—not a safe practice, but a pleasurable one. The difference was that he normally remained in control even during climax.
Chelle had a way of making him forget about everything around them. He wouldn’t dare let her touch him while they were driving, because he was certain they wouldn’t survive it. Something about Chelle made mundane things exquisitely, unbelievably fresh and all-consuming.
They’d barely made it inside the hotel suite before they were pulling off each other’s clothing. His jacket and tie were the first to hit the floor. They rolled against the wall, kissing each other hotly as they feverishly unbuttoned each other’s pants and stepped out of them without breaking contact. She whipped her T-shirt and bra off. He pulled his shirt up and over his head, not taking time to unbutton it.
Sex was how he connected with women. He could enjoy a good fuck and remain emotionally untouched. Chelle’s caresses threatened his very sanity. He didn’t just want her—he needed her, as desperately as a person gasps a breath after being denied air.
He used the last of his coherent thought to sheathe himself in a condom before lifting her off the floor and settling her wet sex onto his throbbing cock. This wasn’t the skillful, controlled lovemaking he prided himself on. He dug one of his hands into her hair, while his other hand helped support her as he pounded her against the wall. He could hear her calling out, but God help him, he didn’t think he could have stopped had she begged him to. He was too far gone. Luckily, her cries were those of encouragement and pleasure.
He lost himself in the eager play of her kiss and her tightness around his thrusting cock. As he drove himself deeper and deeper inside her, he thought about how he’d felt when he’d realized Chelle had gotten on the plane. This was not just a fucking; it was a claiming. She was his.
Chelle cried out as she orgasmed and dug her nails into his back, clinging to him. He came with a shudder that rocked right through him.
They stood there, with him still inside her, sweaty and panting. He cursed himself for not going slower, for not being gentler with her when she might still be sore from her first time. He buried his face in her neck and said, “Chelle—”
She wrapped her legs tighter around his waist and dug her hands into his shoulders. “Wow.”
He raised his head. “I’ll take it slower next time. I’m not normally like this.”
She smiled up at him and flexed her inner muscles around him. “That’s a shame, because . . . holy shit, that was good.”
The sated expression on her face was enough to convince him she meant it. He let out a pleased chuckle and lowered her gently to her feet, quickly disposing of his condom before swinging her up into his arms and carrying her toward the bedroom.
With a light laugh, she said, “There’s more?”
“You have no idea.” He threw a few condom packets on one pillow and laid her gently down across the king-size bed, stretching out on his side beside her. Her hair was fanned out across the sheets and her body was perfection, but what moved him the most was the absolute trust in her eyes as she looked up at him.
In all his life, he doubted anyone had ever looked at him that way, and it confused him. He knew what they had could only be temporary. Yes, what he felt for her was more intense than what he’d felt for any other woman, but that was proof it wasn’t sustainable. Like a perfect day or the perfect sunset, nothing that beautiful was meant to last.
That jaded thought didn’t diminish how he felt right then. She belonged with him, to him. For that day, that week, or however long it took their wild passion to burn out—he wanted her by his side, in his bed, looking at him just the way she was. He ran the back of his hand softly across one side of her collarbone, briefly over her beautiful breasts, and down to rest on her stomach.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
He brought his hand up to tuck a curl behind one of her ears. “You’re coming back to Sacramento with me.”
“I am?” Her eyebrows shot up.
He lazily ran his hand down her other side, pausing to circle one of her puckered nipples. “Yes. I have to be there for meetings, but I can schedule trips. Tell me where you want to go, and I’ll take you there.”
A little line creased her forehead. “I’m confused, Mason. What are you saying?”
He ran his hand lower, slid a finger between her still-wet folds, and sought her clit. He knew how to tease and retreat, how to circle and then caress her nub. Between lingering kisses across her chest and down her stomach, he said, “You’re addictive, Chelle Landon. The more I have you, the more I want you. The thought of you with another man is driving me insane. I want you in my bed tonight. And tomorrow.”
Her breathing w
as already coming faster and harder. He slid a finger inside her and began to pump slowly in and out while moving back and forth over her clit with his thumb. He took one of her nipples between his teeth and gave it a gentle tug. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and said breathlessly, “And after that?”
He pushed her back down and switched his position so he was above her. He slid another condom on and moved his cock back and forth slowly between her lower lips. He took both of her hands and brought them together so he could hold them in one of his above her head. “Don’t think. Let yourself enjoy.” He dipped the tip of his cock inside her, then withdrew it and used it to tease her intimately until her eyes were wild with need for him to plunge inside her. She arched upward, offering her other breast to his mouth. “Oh yes.”
Between deep kisses, he explored her with his mouth, loving how uninhibited she was with him. Even after he released her hands, she remained in that position, gripping the pillow above her head. He enjoyed discovering exactly which touches reduced her to mindless whimpering. There wasn’t an inch his hands or his mouth hadn’t explored by the time she was begging for him to take her.
He finally slid his cock slowly inside her and watched her eyes widen as he filled her. Her hands came down to his shoulders, and she opened her legs wider beneath him to allow him better access. “Mine.”
He pounded into her. She drove her tongue into his mouth for another mind-blowing kiss. The feel of her around him, fucking him with her tongue as well as her sex, demolished the last of his ability to think coherently. It was once again a primal mating he’d lost control over.
They rolled on the bed, and she was above him, raising and lowering herself onto him. Her beautiful, perky breasts bounced up and down. She was wild, and he met her thrust for thrust and dug his hands into her hips to steady her. She cried out his name when she climaxed, and he joined her with a powerful thrust.
She collapsed on him, her body slick against his. He wrapped his arms around her and rolled them both onto their sides, then disposed of his condom and dropped onto his back, pulling her with him. They lay comfortably in each other’s arms as they each slowly came back to earth.