Double Coverage

  He just nodded to her question while resting his hands on her hips. Her jeans rode low so he was able to get a good peek at the tattoos on her hip bones.

  “These are my favorite,” he said, while stroking them.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because only the luckiest people get a glimpse of them.”

  “Who says you’re lucky?”

  He rubbed them and his thumbs gravitated under the waistband of her shorts, just shy of the underwear she was wearing. He felt her squirm under his touch, but she never stopped looking him in the eyes and she never pushed him away. He decided not to go any further. He didn’t want to push his luck.

  “I’m pretty damn lucky right now.”

  She licked her lips, looked at his mouth and then back at his eyes. He wasn’t going to make the first move; he kept telling himself that. If she wanted him, she was going to have to take him. He felt her hands skim down his body until her fingers tugged on his belt loops pulling him closer. His erection pushed up against her stomach and she smiled at the fact that she turned him on. It wasn’t a hard thing to do where Piper was concerned. She was sex on a stick.

  Her fingers looped in his belt loops and her thumbs started to mimic the torturous pattern he was running along her skin, occasionally dipping under the waistband of his shorts. Fuck he was hard.

  “Tell me, Mason, why are you rubbing me, making me incredibly wet when we are supposed to be friends?”

  Shit, damn it….fuck! Mason was dying a slow painful death. He would not give in and take her. She would have to make the first move.

  He cleared his throat. “I always make my friends wet. Ask Ryker, one look of me with my towel on and he’s exploding in his pants.”

  Piper laughed and slowly moved her hands down his pants so they were on either side of his erection, rubbing the side of his legs. She smiled up at him like the little she-devil she was and continued to rub against him.

  “Fuck, Piper. What are you doing?”

  “Seeing how far I can push you.”

  “I’m trying to be good here.”

  “Why?” She skimmed a hand across his erection for one second, sending stars through his eyes. He thought he was going to black out. He was going to fucking black out while waiting to get a tattoo. Wolf would come back into the room, see him flat on his back while pitching a tent big enough for the entire Stallions team and their family to sleep under.

  Mason was about to pull her down on the chaise when Wolf came back in. Mason turned Piper so her back was pushed against his chest and her bottom was right up against his erection. He wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled at Wolf.

  Wolf laughed. “Well, sorry I must have interrupted something. If you wanted a little more privacy, you should have let me know. We have a room that locks.”

  Mason laughed. “No privacy needed. The little lady is just trying to embarrass me by turning me on in the most unfair way.”

  Wolf winked at Piper. “Good, this man needs to be brought down a few pegs. I was able to free some time.” He nodded at Piper. “Nice art, you looking to get something done as well?”

  Piper nodded and Mason answered for her. “Do you think we can get worked on together? Is Jason free too?”

  “Let me check…uh continue what you were doing. I’ll be right back.”

  Wolf left and Piper tried to turn around, but Mason didn’t let her. He kept her in place. He had one hand wrapped around her stomach where his thumb was stroking her belly and the other hand was pulling her hair back, exposing her ear.

  “Payback can be a bitch, babe,” he whispered in her ear. He didn’t dare kiss her, but he would touch her, just like she touched him. He ran his free hand down the side of her face, across her collarbone, down her side, slowly touching the side of her boob, making her breath catch in her throat. Her head fell back so it was resting on his chest. He ran his fingers down her ribcage, brought them gently back up and caressed the underside of her boob, but never fully touched her. She squirmed in his grasp and silently moaned under her breath.

  He moved his hand down her stomach to just above her waistband. She was completely leaning against him now, so he took his other hand and pressed his palms on her hipbones and his fingers caressed the side of her bikini line, but never touched her sweet spot. He kept that torture up until she finally broke away from him, spun around, and stared at him with fire in her eyes.

  Her chest was rapidly rising up and down as she glared at him with her silver eyes. She ran her hands through her gorgeous hair in frustration.

  “Fuck, Mason what are you doing to me? I have a boyfriend who I spent the morning having sex with and now, here I am about to fucking come in my pants from your breath on my shoulder and your hands on my hips.”

  Mason had no clue what to say. He was happy to hear that he could affect her as much as she affected him, but he didn’t care to hear that she was fucking some other man this morning.

  “We were supposed to be friends. I was supposed to hate you, but I think about you and wonder what it would feel like to have you inside of me. When I’m around you, it’s like you suck me into our own little world and I forget about all my morals.” She paused for a second and then continued, “I love another man, a man who is kind and caring. I shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t let you touch me, since I have a boyfriend, but I can’t help it.”

  “Will you shut up about whomever it is you’re dating? I don’t want to fucking hear about him,” Mason said angrily. “Every time you mention him, I feel like you’re throwing a dart into my soul. He does not exist. Do you hear me?”

  Shock first registered across her face at his angry expression, but it was soon replaced by fury. “Are you telling me what to say?”

  “I’m telling you that when you are with me, you are with me, you are not with him and you will not mention him.”

  “I can mention whoever the fuck I want!” Piper shouted.

  Mason came up to her, pushed her against the wall with his body, grabbed her hands and put them above her head. His face was inches from hers, so close he could practically taste her.

  “You will not mention him when you are with me. He does not exist; you are mine, Piper. You hear me? You might not be right now, but you will be. You feel that, that pull between us? We are meant to be and if that means I have to be your friend until you realize we are meant for each other, then so be it, but I refuse to hear you talk about another man around me…a man who’s only a filler until you’re ready for me. I will respect the fact that you are with someone else and I will not make a move until you do. You call the shots, but I swear to God, if you mention him one more time, you will not like the consequences.”

  Their chests were rising and falling together, as they tried to catch their breath.

  “Is that a threat, Mason?”

  “That’s a promise, baby.”

  “Fine.”

  Mason felt like he had to shake his head and clean out his ears. Did she just concede?

  “Fine?”

  “Fine, I won’t mention him. But we are friends, that’s it.”

  “I’ll take what I can get.”

  Mason let her go and stepped away. He turned away from her because he needed to gather his composure. She pushed every single one of his buttons and pushed them to the limit. She would be the death of him, he knew it, not football…nope, Piper Shores would make him keel over and die either from heartbreak or eternal erection syndrome.

  When he turned around, Piper was lounging in one of the chaise chairs with a bright smile plastered across her face. Her hair was fanned out around her and her creamy skin stood out against the red velvet of the chaise. Her long legs stretched out on the length of the chair and her tattoos peeked out from her waistband. Her breasts were weighing against her chest and were lifted from her bra. Fuck him. She giggled, because she knew what she was doing to him.

  “You’re the devil, you know that, right? The actual devil.”

  She
twirled a curl with her finger. “What’s wrong? I’m just lying down.”

  Mason shook his head as he lay down in the chair next to her. He grabbed her hand and entwined their fingers together. He looked over at her and smiled.

  “Tease.”

  “Ass,” Piper countered. “So, are you all right to get a tattoo right before the season? Isn’t that going to hurt?”

  “No, what will hurt is two, two hundred and fifty pound men tackling me from both sides. I’m not worried about a tattoo.”

  Piper winced and rubbed his hand with her thumb. “You’re safe, right?”

  “As safe as I can be, babe.”

  She turned away from him and stared at the ceiling. Mason’s heart soared at the thought of her caring about his safety. She might want to be friends right now, but sooner or later, she was going to be his. There was no denying the pull that drew them together; it was impossible to miss and he was going to make sure she knew that.

  They spent the rest of the day together, holding hands and getting their tattoos. Piper’s tattoo was placed across the side of her ribs in loopy cursive and “Free Yourself” was written in the black hole over Mason’s heart. They shared stories about their tattoos, their first ones and which ones hurt the worst. They also talked about random things like favorite movies, hers being The Wizard of Oz and his being Rudy, as well as their favorite types of food and, of course, music. Wolf talked about the upcoming season and Piper, surprisingly, chimed in about some of her predictions for the season. She was obligated to say the Stallions would make it to the Super Bowl, but she also said the Thunder looked like they might have a good season, given the amount of rookies they’d have starting. Mason almost had a full-on boner when they started talking about their love for classic rock and bands like Queen, ELO and Led Zeppelin.

  The more time Mason spent with Piper, the more he knew she was it for him and he would be damned if he let her slip through his grasp.

  They admired each other’s tattoos and drove home in silence. It was late and he forgot about dinner.

  “Shit. I didn’t feed you.”

  Piper was smiling, but then her face went white. “Fuck,” she said, under her breath.

  “Is everything alright?”

  “Uh…yeah.” They pulled up to her apartment and she practically flew out of his car, while checking her phone. “I have to go. Thank you for the tattoo.” She looked at her phone again and winced. It must be the boyfriend, Mason thought.

  “Not a problem. I will…uh…see you around.”

  “Yeah…see ya.”

  She shut the door and flew up the stairs to her apartment. Well, that was a very sour ending to an almost perfect day. Mason was going to have to hunt down the man who currently owned Piper’s heart and get rid of him. Even though she said she loved him, Mason knew that she wasn’t fully in love with him because today, she gave him a little bit of her heart and he was going to cherish it until he could be in possession of the full thing.

  Chapter 11

  Piper sprinted up the stairs to her apartment, feeling like she was going to either throw up or start crying hysterically. She could not believe that she forgot to text Jax about dinner. When she looked at her phone, she had five text messages from him and three missed calls. She felt awful. When Mason said he didn’t want her to talk about Jax when they were together, she apparently took his request to a whole new level and completely forgot about Jax.

  The time she spent with Mason was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. The damn macho man was right¸ there was some kind of pull that was bringing them together and she couldn’t deny it. The fact that she was in love with Jax, but felt up Mason in a tattoo parlor, teased him and in return was turned on by him to the point of an almost-orgasm was inexcusable. Before she opened her door, she sat on the step in front of it and put her head in her hands. What was she going to do?

  She banged her head against her door and leaned into it, trying to think of a way to get out of her predicament. Why couldn’t Mason continue to be a giant ass? Why did he have to turn on the charm and claim her as his? Shouldn’t that be turning her off anyway? She never liked to be told what to do.

  All of a sudden, her door flew open and she landed on her back…half in her apartment half on the stairs outside. She looked up and saw Jax standing over her.

  “What are you doing?”

  Piper scrambled to get up and walked into her apartment to see a cold dinner on the table, two empty beer bottles on the counter and a disappointed Jax staring at her. She felt like a massive pile of dog shit.

  She went to put her hands around him, but he moved away from her. Her throat instantly clogged up and tears threatened to fall. She couldn’t do this; she couldn’t make Jax upset.

  “Jax, please I’m so sorry. I lost track of time. I didn’t know you were planning dinner for us.”

  He sat down on her couch and massaged his head with his palms. When he looked up at her, his face looked so tired and distraught Piper thought she was going to start crying right there on the spot.

  “Where were you?”

  She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want him to know she was with Mason because he would get upset, but she didn’t want to lie either. Instead, she didn’t say anything. She couldn’t even if she wanted to because her throat was so tense from not wanting to cry. She felt like she had a grapefruit-sized lump in her throat.

  “You were with him, weren’t you?”

  Piper couldn’t hold back any longer, the tears she was so desperately trying to hold back came flooding out of her eyes.

  “It’s not what you think. We’re just friends.”

  “Then why are you crying?”

  “I feel bad that I forgot about dinner and I know how sensitive you are about my friendship with him, but there is nothing to worry about, Jax.”

  Jax blew out a frustrated breath and looked at her with total despair in his eyes. More tears fell from her eyes.

  “It’s not that you went out with him and left me alone in my bed, although that does sting. It’s the fact that you forgot it’s your boyfriend’s birthday today…the man that you supposedly love. I’m a little rusty when it comes to relationships, but I’m pretty sure birthdays are a big thing.”

  Piper felt like a speeding train smacked her into a brick wall. She felt dizzy and lightheaded. She sat on the floor and put her head in her hands. She could not stop crying, she could not even comprehend the awful twisting in her stomach. She forgot her boyfriend’s birthday and, instead, spent it with another man, holding his hand, laughing with him and almost climaxing from his touch. She knew what she was doing with Mason was wrong, but it felt so right and now she was facing the consequences. She hurt Jax, terribly.

  She couldn’t even look at him, she felt so ashamed. How could she ever forgive herself for doing such a thing to him? He had been nothing but loving and caring toward her. She didn’t deserve him or his love.

  She looked up at him to find him looking at his hands. He couldn’t even look at her, either; she didn’t blame him.

  “Jax…I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. She got up and pushed him back on the couch so she could straddle his lap. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I’m so, so sorry.”

  Jax put his head down and shook it. “Do you even love me?”

  “How can you even ask that? Of course I love you. Jax…” A shattering sob escaped her as she tried to catch her breath. “I love you so much. I feel at home when I’m with you.”

  “It just seems like you would rather be with someone else. Maybe this isn’t working….” A tear fell from his eye and she quickly kissed it away.

  “No, please, don’t say that. Please Jax. I’m so sorry. I told you, Mason and I are just friends. There is nothing to worry about. If you want, I won’t ever see him again. I promise. I only want you. I need you.”

  “You would do that? You would stop seeing him for me?”

  She gripped both sides of his face and stare
d into his eyes. “I would do anything for you. I love you so much. Please don’t walk away from me. You’re the reason I’m here, the reason I hung curtains, the reason I haven’t left for a new city. I don’t want to go anywhere now that you are in my life.”

  “You really mean that?”

  “I wouldn’t lie to you. I promise.” As she said those words, guilt washed over her because she would lie to him and she had lied to him. She said Mason was nothing to her, but that wasn’t true. Mason was something to her, she just didn’t know what. She couldn’t stop thinking about him, his touch, the way they connected on a deeper level or how she wanted to explore every last inch of his body, but the thought of losing Jax was incomprehensible. He made her realize that running to a new city every month wasn’t the key. He helped her find a home.

  “I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel. I love you Piper and I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to tell you who you can hang out with and I know we have talked about this before, but I only want you for myself and myself alone. I can’t handle knowing you are with a man who thinks he can get whatever he wants.”

  “He can’t have me, Jax. I’m not his for the taking and he knows that. I’m yours, only yours.”

  “Good.”

  She swept his lips against hers and she took the initiative to deepen the kiss, while moving around on his lap. She could feel his erection already and smiled to herself.

  “I can’t help myself. It happens the minute I see you.”

  “Good to know you will always be ready when I’m around. So about your birthday…”

  “What about it?” He smiled, while she undid his shirt.

  “I need to make it up to you.” She took his shirt off and started working on his pants.

  “And what did you have in mind?” he said in his husky southern voice that got deeper whenever they were intimate.

  She wiggled her eyebrows at him and slid down his body so she was kneeling between his legs. She grabbed his jeans and boxers briefs to slide them off; he obliged by lifting his bottom so she could fully pull them down. When she returned from putting his pants to the side, she got a fantastic view of how turned on he was. Piper licked her lips and smiled up at him.