MASON (Second Chance Novels Book 2) (19 page)

"I won't either, you asshole. But do you really think I could live with myself if I let you drag me away? To play the helpless victim? You would break me harder than anything they can do to me!"

My fight moves from a place of anger to its true resting place: fear.

"Unless they kill you," I say through an angry whisper, choked up at the very thought.
 

"I'm not that easy to take down," she grits, now speaking quietly with me.
 

I close my eyes and breathe deeply, trying to calm myself enough to deal with this shit. Fuck! I want my Glock in my hand right now so I can stand guard over her every minute, no sleep.
 

"If anything…" I choke out.

"It won't," she assures me, softly moving her hand to my face. Our two a.m. stand off ends in a tender moment. I need her close, and she understands exactly. She leans into me and kisses me deeply, getting her nails grazing along the military haircut I never gave up. I gather her into a bear hug and walk her to our room. Her legs wrap slowly around me.

"Shhh," she says as I look at her with a pained expression. My fear, anger, and angst won't let go of me. I've already lost so much. I can't lose her, too. She reassures me as best she can. "They won't touch me again."

"I'll drop anyone who tries," I say intensely.
 

"I know. But right now it's just us. Only us, Mason. Don't let them take that."

I push my lips onto hers hard, needing her more than I ever have. I pull at her body and kiss her strongly, but I make no attempt to undress her. Tonight's need is different. I don't need to fuck her in order to experience her strength or know she's as safe as possible here beside me. I simply need us connected, which is stronger than the impulse to get inside her. Her body tucked against mine is the only way I want her right now. I keep my body between hers and the window, allowing my instincts to protect her at every turn.
 

I pull her face away from me so I can look at her. For the first time, I think I see a hint of fear behind her determination. Of course she's scared. She'd be stupid if she weren't, but she's determined to conquer her fear and move on. She's hiding that dangerous emotion from herself as much as she is from me, but part of her is dying right now. Fear is one of the few things that can break her from the inside. So rarely do I see her vulnerable like this. Sometimes I have a hard time believing she has any side other than badass, but I'm ready for any part of her she'll show me.

A few days of tension and worry mark our time. Her time at the precinct is the worse it's ever been, and I can do little else but fuck with the people on our board I put back together, waiting for the DA to catch up. I can't finish this until all the pieces line up. One single fact is obvious above all others: Mayor John Bennett is the head of this entire web of arrogant power-plays. We can take down people here and there, we can fluster them all we want, but until that single corrupt asshole is out of his official position and rotting in jail, this doesn't end. The rest will crumble without his leadership.

All week I'm fighting my instinct to play well-armed body guard to my woman. Damn her independence, and damn her ability to kick my ass if she wants to. By Thursday, my angst is consuming me completely. I don't have a shift at the bar, so I have nothing to distract me from my worry. These assholes have made no attempt to attack her, but I know how their strategy will be played out. They're distracting me, and the mind games are more specifically intended to weaken her, so when the assault finally takes place, she is expected to have little fight left in her. They don't understand a damn thing about the person she is. Still, I know both of us are on edge, hoping they don't make good on their threats.
 

She comes home ready for dinner, and all I can do is take her in my arms strongly and appreciate the moment I have to protect her. "I love you," I finally say into her beautiful hair.

"I love you, too," she says, allowing herself a long moment in my arms.
 

"Good to know," I answer, guiding her to the table for dinner. Burgers off the grill offer a sense of simplicity and normalcy the rest of our lives don't contain. We eat, rifle through our investigation details again, determined to find usable evidence against the mayor. So far everything is circumstantial or not provable in any way that's legal. After only a half hour tonight, however, I drag her away from the mess of papers, pictures, and yarn.
 

I walk her to the garage and we spar for a while, enjoying the connection and the chance to feel the fight. I'm sure she has the mayor in her mind's eye as she's punching strongly into my mitts. We lift weights and do some cardio with the jump ropes. The physical exhaustion is welcome after all the stress.
 

Showering together offers soft, intimate time to be close until we settle into bed. Sofia fits herself against me. Unable to help myself, I wrap her up and run my fingertips between her shoulder blades.
 

I remember thinking so many times that I'm not a cuddle-guy, yet here I am holding Sofia against me, not wanting to let her go. I realize the difference, however. Holding Sofia is not about social necessity between two people in a relationship. With Sofia, holding her, touching her, protecting her, not letting her go…this is
connection,
a necessity. Feeling her strong frame against me allows every curve and plane of her body to align with mine. There is a constant, life-altering flow of energy between us. We breathe together as our connection soaks in through every point of contact, and all this is possible because she holds onto me with equal strength. She balances me in perfect complement, and is mine on every level, from intellectual to primal…my true mate. If I let go of her now, I'd be ripping half of myself away. Cuddle? I scoff at the concept.
 

And I'll be damned if I let those assholes harm one glorious hair on her head.

The next morning, I need to lighten our connection. So much tension plagues us constantly, and I need to remind her that life can be beautiful. Not every moment has to revolve around stress and goals and guns. When she wakes beside me, I'm smiling and walking my fingers up her tiny belly.

She doesn't exactly smile in response, but I see her spark. She's willing to let go of the stress along with me. She adjusts her head and grins almost in amusement at the half-ornery expression on my face. Even with my determination to keep things light, I can't help but notice how fucking sexy she is right now, wearing comfy cotton pjs with her hair across my pillow with her arms up by her head and the covers tossed from her body haphazardly. My imagination is running wild as I ogle her from her lips to those sexy toes.
 

"Oh, Sofia," I say with an ornery glint. "Do you have any idea what I'm going to do to you?"

She narrows her eyes and looks at me half-sideways. She doesn't say a word, but I can't wait to tell her.

"Hmmm…let's see. First, we lose the pajamas. Then I'm going to suck that pinky toe of yours into my mouth because it's so damn cute. I want to see if that'll make you squirm."

"Really." She keeps her voice flat, but I see her amusement. I start working on those pajamas.

"Yes, really. Then I'm going to run my tongue straight up your ankle until I get to your calf, then I'm going to drag my nails down your skin and lick the stripes I leave. I want to see how much
more
I can make you squirm." I drop her panties to the floor.

"What makes you think I'm going to let you do any of this?"

"Because I'm irresistible," I grin, taking in her wider smile and eye roll at my bullshit, wondering when I sold my soul to have her. Her naked form knocks me over every time I see the perfection of her body. "I'm going to bite my way up your thigh, along your hip, and up that sexy tummy of yours until I've got my teeth on your tight little nipple. Then I'll give my tongue a turn. Then it's onto your neck, and up to your earlobe."

"And then?"

"And then I'm going to work my hand down to your pussy and get you as hot as I can before I fuck you just right."

"Mason."

"What."

"Stop talking, start doing." She pushes her foot in the air toward me and wiggles her toes, a smile sneaking through again. Ah,
hell
yes.
 

I offer her a growl-laugh before I take her tiny foot into my hands and lick across the pad of every single toe before sucking on that little pinky. I lace my fingers into her toes and pull her leg in the perfect position to do what I want…and I do everything I promised to do. Every reaction of her body gets me hotter than the last.

"I told you I'd have you squirming," I say through long, licking circles around her tight nipples. She makes some sort of sexy noise as I move my way up to her neck. I spend plenty of time playing this little game, including getting my hand between her thighs. I watch her squirm as she looks in my eyes. Fuck, I want inside her.
 

She rolls her hips to meet my hand. I'm nearly jumping out of my skin at this point. With one final hot look, I roll on top of her and push my cock into her body for a strong, slow rise in friction. I can feel her tension replaced by passion as we move. I can't help my hot smile against her neck as she gives herself over completely.
 

She needs only moments of my body over hers before she rolls me over and rides me in strong, slow movements of her hips. I lace my fingers through hers and hold my arms taught for her. She breathes heavily and closes her eyes as she uses the leverage to grind harder. I simply watch her in wonder. She continues her sexy drive until both of us are panting and allowing small sounds of pleasure to sound from our bodies. My eyes close of their own will, allowing my body to concentrate on every sensation.

"Look at me," she breathes, on the edge of giving in. My eyes open for her. Only moments later we shatter together, locked in our gazes, gripping with our hands, and connecting in a single point of pleasure which radiates through the rest of us. She stays on top of me for a long time, keeping my cock captive in her body. I love that she needs to keep me inside. I'd stay forever if I could.

Sofia offers one more kiss and gets ready for her day of being a detective. I know she will gracefully tolerate her new partner, refuse to give Miller any satisfaction by reacting to him at all, and keep keen watch for any potential attacks from every angle.

I see in her eyes this morning a calm determination rather than coiled-tight tension. I smile at myself. The concept of a phoenix fits her perfectly. Every day tries to knock her to her ashes. Every night she rises and flies again. I nearly see the fiery totem inside her as she leaves. Before she walks out the door, however, she walks over and grabs my chin with a strong grip. She pulls me down for a chaste kiss, staring me in the eye as she does.

"I needed that," she says.
 

"I know," I respond. I kiss her with the same basic acknowledgment of what we have together. "Be careful today."

"Bite me," she smiles.
 

I smirk and watch from the front door as she drives away. I make a quick call to the DA to share updates on our investigations. He can make no legal connection between the mayor and the threats, but we both have no doubt he's the fucker behind Sofia's attack and the continued harassment. The depth of Bennett's corruption is worse than any of us originally thought.

And, damn it, that very fact is causing me to lose focus. This is a crucial point in our investigation, and my fucking brain drifts continually backward. In my Army career, dealing with one single power-hungry asshole changed the entire course of my life. The anger, the frustration from that time of my life is warping the view of our current situation. My tension only grows due to the meshing of those two fuckers in my brain.
 

Though I try to maintain my cool professionalism with regards to our current situation, my walls are crumbling. Add to that the worry over Sofia's possible victim-status again, I'm losing my mind. I manage to complete my tasks, though, but barely. My life-long determination to follow through with my goals is the single thread holding me together.

At least I know Sofia well enough to trust her instincts with regards to the threats against her. She keeps her pistol on her person at all times now. She wears her belt-holster and her badge beside it, even off duty, to avoid questions. She's as intelligent as she is fearless. I swear, this woman is stronger than I am, maybe even as I was in the Special Forces. I am so damn in love with her, and knowing that Mayor fucking Bennett is gunning for her makes me want to put a bullet in his skull, and a few in his chest for good measure. He is a clear and discernible enemy whom I have little leeway to attack. Fuck, this is hard.
 

For the next four days, my tension grows in proportion to my inability to positively link Bennett to the threats. I work to maintain some sort of normalcy. I buy a new couch. I run errands. None of this helps my focus on our project. I distractedly toy with the targets on our board as well, getting two of them to resign their positions to avoid public exposure. With renewed ardor I research with even more detail any minute connections between each of them and the mayor, hoping to find a shred we can use to take him down.