Mace (Cocky Cage Fighter #4) (18 page)

“Listen, I’ve been thinking,” he starts, and I wince, knowin’ what’s comin’ and bracin’ myself. I’m gonna have to hurt him for his own good and I don’t want to. I want him. Tonight. Every night. “Senn is a pretty good guy, and I’m starting to believe that in his own, strange way, he actually cares about you.”

“What?!?” I exclaim, almost breakin’ my neck at the speed in which I look up at him. Why is he talkin’ about Senn?

“Maybe you should give him another chance,” he says, and now I know I’m goin’ nuts.

“So…so you don’t want to be with me?” I ask in confusion.

“Yes! Fuck yes, I want to be with you,” he grumbles, squeezin’ me to his chest even tighter. “But you’re right. I’m not what you need right now, but maybe…maybe he is. Besides, there’s the bro code and I’m an asshole for having crossed it as far as I have with you, knowing you had been with Senn. But never doubt that I want you and wish things were different.”

My body sags with the weight of his words. Words that are true, I just don’t want to freakin’ hear them. I pull away from Mason’s embrace and turn my back to him. Rifflin’ through my purse, I look for a tissue as more tears start slidin’ down my cheeks. When I see the random red stirrer, I suddenly know
exactly
what I want to use it on. It’s the only way to get what I want, and to make sure he walks away tomorrow hatin’ me without losin’ a shot at a contract. I wrap my fingers around the stirrer and pull it from my bag.

“Mason, do you remember the mornin’ you were late to get me because you were fuckin’ those two girls?” I ask when I face him again.

“Ah, yeah.” He nods, strokin’ his bristly jaw.

“And you said you owed me. Anything I wanted.”

“Uh-huh. Why? You decided how you want me to make it up to you?” he asks, lookin’ down at the stirrer in my hand.

“I have.”

“Okay. So let’s hear it.”

I spread my palms over his firm, muscular abdomen and work my way down, easin’ the stirrer into the front pocket of his pants before I look up to tell him. “I want you to make love to me tonight.
Just
tonight, and then I never want to see you again.”

Mace

I’m pretty sure I love this woman, but at the moment I sort of hate her.

What Hailey’s asking…it’s gonna kill me. Tomorrow morning I’ll wake up gutted and fucking miserable when I have to walk away from her. But she’s playing the trump card that I can’t refuse. We had a deal. I told her I owed her
anything
she wanted for my selfish two-hour delay getting to the airport. Maybe I deserve to be filleted like a fish for my past sins. I honestly can’t think of a harsher punishment than to be with the woman I want more than anything and then get tossed out with tomorrow’s trash when she gets on a plane and leaves me for good.

“May-Son?” Hailey asks in her slow southern drawl when I remain silent, too shocked and hurt to respond. At the same time, the idea of finally being with her revs up my pulse and swells my cock.

“Fine, Hailey. If this…if this is what you want, then fine. But you get me for the whole damn night, until eleven tomorrow morning when we have to start getting ready for the wedding.”

“And then you won’t call me or show up in New York to see me?” she asks. Even though I hear the words come out of her mouth I know, I fucking
know
that’s not what she really wants. How do I know? Because I can see into her soul when I look in her beautiful blue eyes. She’s lonely and sad because she wants me, maybe even loves my dumbass, and she knows that I can make her happy. But for some stupid reason, she’s insisting on pushing me out of her life for good.

“You’ll never see me again,” I assure her through clenched teeth. “Well, except for family get-togethers,” I amend.

“Promise me, May-Son,” she says even though she’s blinking back tears.

“Dammit, Hailey, why are you doing this? Why do you keep pushing me away?” I finally explode in frustration.

“Because anything else is just a waste of my time. I don’t…you’re just not…I don’t think you’re the one for me.”

Goddamn, her words are brutal, but I see past them, too. She’s lying to herself and to me, I just don’t know why.

“So, you don’t think you could ever love me?” I ask her point blank, brushing my thumb over her cheek.

I hear her sharp intake of breath before she looks away, and mutters, “Uh-uh.” She makes that sound when she doesn’t want to come out and straight lie but doesn’t want to admit the truth, either. “I thought you were just sayin’ how I should be with Senn,” she deflects.

I was ready to bow out, to let Senn have his chance, but now that’s she’s found a loophole, and I’ve seen on her face how she feels about me…I can’t give her up just yet. 

“Do you think you could love
him
?” I ask and possibly chip a tooth from the amount of pressure caused by grinding the rows of my teeth painfully against each other.

“Maybe,” she says, and I know that’s her honest answer, too. But I also know he’s not her first choice. He’s the runner up. A consolation prize. “We better get back inside,” she insists. “You can go in first and then I’ll go back so no one notices we were both gone.”

“No,” I tell her. “You go first, and don’t stop at the bathroom.”

“You’re awfully bossy to be so young,” she says teasingly with a small smile.

“If you throw up, our deal is off. Voided under the vomit clause,” I warn her.

“Vomit clause? You’re so full of shit,” she replies with a shake of her head, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder before she goes back inside. The fact that her hair is down tonight makes me feel a little better about the chances of her dinner staying down. If she actually eats something.

I give Hailey a few minutes before I follow her back to the table. Everyone is so busy discussing plans for the wedding tomorrow that they thankfully don’t notice my return. Only Hailey notices.

I pull out my phone to check the time. How much longer do I have to sit here and endure small talk and steak until I get to go back to the house and get inside Hailey? Oh, it is going to be so damn good. Feeling her gaze on me, I shoot her a look that tells her so. She reads it so well she actually fucking shivers. So hard her mom asks if she’s cold and needs her sweater. Nope, no sweater. All she needs is my cock in her pussy. All. Night. Long. Great, now the Lionel Richie hit is stuck in my head.

Two agonizing hours later, we’re finally loading up in the cars to head back to the house. Conveniently, I end up with Hailey in the very back of her mom’s SUV with Claire and Linc sitting in the middle row and her parents in the front. In the pitch-black dark, I reach over and rub a hand up Hailey’s thigh, underneath her blue dress. The same blue dress from the first day I saw her at the airport. I keep moving up, up, up making her breath catch, but then it’s me who gasps like a drowning man when I go far enough to feel she’s not wearing any panties. Damn it. If I had known that, I would’ve taken her behind the restaurant.

No, that’s a lie. I wouldn’t let our first time be a quick fuck against a brick building. Hailey deserves to be comfortable in a soft bed when I love her with everything I’ve got to give, my body, my heart and my soul.  Afterwards, there will be nothing left of me, but that’s fine as long as I get to keep a little piece of her. I know she’s stubborn and not willing to surrender her heart, and she’s too self-conscious to completely give me her body, but she can’t hold back the way she feels about me. I’m convinced that my soul recognized its missing half that made it whole that day in the airport. From the second I laid eyes on Hailey, there was a shift inside me. Now there’s no turning back to the way things were before we met. That’s why having loved her and then lost her might destroy me.

Hailey reaches for my hand, I assume to pull it out from between her legs. Instead, she presses harder, trying to force my fingers inside of her. I know what she’s doing, hoping to distract herself or me from the intimacy she asked for, but is now scared of. She wants to make tonight about sex and self-gratification like usual and not emotions. I pull my hand away, literally not letting her off that easy. This is my last chance to prove to her that we can have more. We’re supposed to be together. 

After the longest car ride ever, the SUV finally comes to a stop at the beach house. Just before we can slip away into the basement, Hailey’s mom reminds her that they have hair appointments at nine a.m. Nine fucking a.m. That cuts out two hours of my time with her. I’m down to eleven hours, which is not enough time to convince this stubborn woman to agree to giving us a shot! As if that wasn’t a big enough kick to my nuts, Senn calls out for Hailey before we make it down the stairwell.

“Can I talk to you a minute?” he asks her at the basement door.

“Ah, sh-sure,” she replies with a quick glance at me before the three of us go down to our ground floor apartment.

“Good night,” I say before giving her a look that says if she doesn’t get rid of him in five fucking minutes I’ll pick him up and throw him out of the goddamn basement.

So what do I do when the two of them go into her bedroom and shut the door? I go in the bathroom and eavesdrop, of course.

Hailey

“I’m exhausted tonight, so I hope you’ll make it quick,” I tell Senn when he shuts my bedroom door. Honestly, I’m countin’ the seconds until Mason bursts into my room and tosses him out; the truth about us be damned. I know he’s lurkin’ in the bathroom. How do I know? Because I’m startin’ to know him as well as he knows me.

When Senn not only sits down on the foot of my bed but falls backwards on it, I inwardly groan. This is gonna take a while.

“What’s up, Senn?” I ask when he doesn’t say anything.

“There’s a chance I…I’m not sure, but…there’s this girl…”

“Spit it out,” I say impatiently with my arms crossed over my chest.

Coverin’ his face with both hands, he finally says, “I may have gotten a girl pregnant.”

“What the…are you serious?” I ask in shock, sinkin’ down on the bed next to him.

“I don’t know,” he replies, still flat on his back. “She says it’s mine, even though it was just one time and I sure as fuck used a rubber.”

“You think she might be lyin’? Who is it?”

Sighin’, he mumbles some ‘A’ word name that sounds like Addie or Annie. Wait… “Abby?” I exclaim, jumpin’ off the bed. “Like
Linc’s
Abby?” 

“Linc’s
ex
Abby,” he corrects.

“Well, I know that, but still. That girl must be really freakin’ fertile! Linc knocked her up and now you. Oh God. I hope she doesn’t lose this one like little Thomas Lincoln. Does she want to keep it? Of course she does, right?” I ramble.

“I guess so. We didn’t really talk much,” Senn says when he sits up again. “Mostly, I called her a liar and then flung my phone into the ocean.”

“Oh,” I say in understandin’. “And then I asked you about kids. Bad timin’, huh?”

“Yeah, but that’s why I wanted to talk to you. I mean, I still want us to work out. I could really use your help with the whole baby thing,” he says, and then he grabs my hips and pulls me forward until I’m standin’ in between his legs, his forehead restin’ on my stomach. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m gonna do, Hales.”

“It’ll all work out,” I tell him, and then pat his head since I’m not sure how else to react. When I hear the toilet flush, I know Mason’s warnin’ me that I need to wrap it up.

“What about us?” he asks, lookin’ up at me and movin’ his palms down to cup my ass. “Are we gonna work out?”

I reach around and raise his hands to my waist. “That’s…I don’t know. Can we see how things go, you know, after I go back to New York?”

“You mean you want to see if I’m gonna come see you and call you?”

“Uh, yeah. Somethin’ like that.” I need to figure out if Mason and I are really done after tonight. Even if we are…I’m not sure I’ll be ready to even think about seein’ anyone else.

“I will, Hailey, I swear. I only want to be with you.” My eyes lower because all I can think about is bein’ with Mason right now, even if it’s only for a night.

“Look, it’s late and tomorrow’s a big day, so just…give me some time, okay?” I ask to wrap up the conversation.

“Okay.” He finally nods his agreement. When he gets to his feet, I almost jump for joy. Urgin’ him to leave, I step out of his arms and go over to open the bedroom door wide, sendin’ the clear message.

“Good night,” I tell him to move him along.

“Night, Hales,” he says, and then with a quick peck of a kiss, he’s gone.

My stomach flips viciously with nervousness when there’s nothin’ else keepin’ Mason and I from bein’ together. I’ve waited almost a week for this moment. What if...what if bein’ with me sucks and is a let down for him after all the hype? I don’t want to be a disappointment. Now I don’t know what to do? Take a shower to calm myself down? That seems like a good place to start, and then I can wait for him to come to me.

With a plan in mind, I rush back into my room and right into Mason’s arms. His mouth is on mine before he reaches behind me to shut and lock the door. Then his hands are in my hair, holdin’ me while his tongue slowly but thoroughly invades my mouth and strokes suggestively against mine.

Slidin’ his palms down my neck and then my shoulders, he eases both spaghetti straps off and peels my dress until it falls freely into a puddle at my feet, leavin’ me naked since I didn’t wear a strapless bra and I went commando tonight.

Now I need Mason naked, to feel all of his warm, muscular skin against mine. I unbutton his shirt that he quickly shrugs out of. My hands shake when I undo his belt and pants so that he can kick them off with his shoes and socks. As soon as we’re both naked, he pulls me to him in a crushin’ embrace while I wrap my arms around his neck. He holds me like he’s desperate for me, and can’t bear to ever let me go. Eventually, he picks me up and moves us to the bed, layin’ me down and coverin’ my entire body with his much bigger one. I clutch him tighter with my hands diggin’ into the hard plane of his back.

There’s no foreplay needed tonight. God, it feels like we’ve had days of foreplay. No, tonight I asked him to make love to me and that’s what he’s doin’. Showin’ me in actions, not words, that he cares about me so much that our bodies can’t seem to get close enough together. There’s nothing more intimate than havin’ him raise my arms over my head so he can intertwine his fingers with mine, holdin’ my hands sweetly as he kisses me and then slips easily inside me for the very first time. He fits perfectly, like he was made for me.

My back arches off the bed and my legs wrap around his waist to urge him deeper, needin’ more. Once he’s sheathed all the way in, he pulls his mouth away to look at me as he starts to move slowly in and out. He glances down the length of our bodies to the place where we’re joined and then back up to my face. Droppin’ his forehead to mine, Mason squeezes my hands, and tells me softly, “You feel like home.”

Unable to speak any words, I nod my agreement. He does feel like home, so much so that the longer he makes love to me, the quicker the pleasure rushes through me, and the more difficult it becomes to hold back the building emotions.

Mason brushes his lips over mine again, then lower to kiss my neck at the same time as I cry out with my release. His pants grow heavy against my ear until I feel his body shudder and then the warmth of his orgasm pulsin’ within me. There’s no condom between us, but I’m on birth control and I trust him.

Our bodies slowly relax and still when we come down from our highs. Mason’s face stays buried in my neck for so long I start to worry that he may have fallen asleep. Was it that unremarkable for him? Then I feel his breath hitch and the dampness against my skin. When he says, “Please don’t leave, Hailey. Just stay with me,” my own tears spill over and race down my cheeks.

“I can’t,” I tell him, strokin’ my palms up and down his back.

“You can, but you won’t,” he mutters. “I’ll just have to try and change your mind tonight.”

I squeeze my eyes shut as he begins to kiss his way down to my chest and then my breasts. He has no idea how close I am to changin’ my mind, but I won’t. I wish I could say to hell with the consequences. Those thoughts are too selfish though, and in the end, I won’t do that to him. I’ll get on a plane tomorrow night and fly back to my lonely apartment.

“Give me a chance, Hailey,” he says with an open mouth kiss to my belly button. “I’ll never hurt you. I would do anything to make you happy.” Movin’ back up my body, he keeps killin’ me with his words and with the amount of love shinin’ out of his golden green eyes. “That day at the airport, I was watching you while we were on the phone. And the first time I saw you smile…I knew I would sacrifice everything I have just to see you smile again.”

I need to make him stop talkin’ before I say somethin’ stupid that I can’t take back. Pushin’ on his chest, he eventually eases off me. I force him to his back so that I can straddle his hips and kiss him until our lower bodies join again. Mason doesn’t stay on his back for long. He sits up so that I can wrap my arms around his neck, pressin’ my breasts against his hard chest. His hands instantly go down to what I’m pretty sure is his favorite body part, my ass, or as he would say,
his
ass. He owns it and every other inch of me like no one else ever has before.

“I’m gonna tie you to the bed in the morning so you can’t leave me,” Mason says against my lips. My pussy clenches around him just at the thought of bein’ restrained. He doesn’t miss my reaction. “You would like that, wouldn’t you?” he asks. “I would tie you up with enough slack so I could flip you over and take you from behind if I wanted. Or take this ass.” He squeezes both of my cheeks in demonstration, bouncin’ me harder on his cock. “Every inch of you is gorgeous, but this ass is magnificent.”  

“Your ass,” I tell him. He growls his approval, nippin’ at my ear before he says, “I’m gonna miss you.” He just had to go back to that unpleasant subject I’m tryin’ hard not to think about.

“I’m sure your harem will keep you distracted.”

“I don’t want any of them, just like you don’t want Senn.”

“No, I don’t,” I admit. “He only reminds me of you, and that you’re everything he’s not. But I’m tired of talkin’.”

Mason stills for a few seconds before he finally says, “Then I better get busy making sure my name and God’s are the only words that come out of your mouth.”

…

Mason

After our shower around two a.m., Hailey insists that I shouldn’t towel myself off, that she’ll lick my entire body dry for me. Who am I to argue with an amazing suggestion like that?

Back in her bed, she starts at my right foot and works her way up the side of my body, all the way to my temple, before her mouth goes to work on the other side.

Returning to eye-level, she hovers above me, her damp blonde hair forming a curtain around our faces when she says, “I love…” I hold my breath for the three words I’ve longed to hear while her fingertip swirls unknown designs along my shoulder. “Your tattoos.”

She loves…my tattoos. Okay, so of course I thought she was gonna say me. My tattoos are a start, I guess.

“I was thinking about getting more ink,” I tell her. “After I win my next fight.”

“Oh really?” she says with a grin. “Whatcha wanna get?”

“Um, well I was thinking about starting with Mandy’s name and my mom’s, Miriah, in cursive over my heart.”

“I’m sorry you lost them so young,” she replies softly, brushing her lips over the same skin I want inked. “Tell me what they were like.”

“You want me to tell you about my dead mother and sister while we’re naked in bed?” I ask, since she had been adamant about not talking earlier tonight. And talking about them…well it’ll only make me sad. 

“Yes. Why not?” she asks, so genuinely interested that I cave. I would give her anything she asked for.  

“Okay,” I reply. “My mom was…it’s only been six years, but I’m already starting to forget things about her. I hate that, you know?”      

Hailey nods and combs her fingers through the sides of my hair, but doesn’t say anything so that I’ll continue.

“She was funny and easygoing, sort of like your mom,” I admit. “She smoked like a fucking freight train, which of course is what killed her. A few months later, I found one of her old packs of cigarettes and lit one up, just because the stupid cloud of smoke reminded me of her. Then I started smoking and didn’t stop until Linc made me last year.” 

“Was it hard to quit?” she asks, resting her chin on her arms crossed on my chest.

“Fuck yes. There were all the withdrawals and then the cravings. God, I still have the craving for a stick between my fingers. To feel the rush of nicotine.”

“That sucks.”

“It really does,” I chuckle.

“And Mandy?” she asks.

“Mandy was a lost soul,” I confess. “I think even my mom knew that when we were kids. She was never happy, but I’m not sure why. As soon as she turned eighteen, she went into the porn industry because she thought it was easy money. Easy money to buy more drugs.”

“I’m sorry,” Hailey says, placing a kiss along my jaw. “It must have been hard for you and Claire to see her that way.”

“Yeah. We thought we could save her…but we couldn’t. No one could.”

“She looked like Claire?”

“Uh-huh. If she had been healthy, they could’ve passed for twins since there was only thirteen months between their birthdays.”

“Oh wow,” she says with a smile. “Growing up, I sort of wished Linc had been a girl.”

“That would’ve been a shame,” I tell her running my fingers down the curve of her spine. “Because then he wouldn’t have met my sister, fell in love, and decided to marry her. And I…I wouldn’t have met his incredible older sister at the airport coffee shop.”

“This is true,” she says with a smile that quickly falls from her beautiful face. “Tell me about
them
.” 

“Them?” I ask, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“Your harem,” she huffs in exasperation and rolls her eyes. 

“Oh. Them,” I mutter with a playful slap to her ass. “You sure about this?”

“Yes. Tell me how you ended up with not one but four women.”

“Well, I met Sabrina when I was in my senior year of high school. She was at a party my friends and I went to, and we just…clicked. We talked, exchanged phone numbers, and started dating.”