The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone (190 page)

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. Something was off, something big and I hated the fact that she didn’t feel she could tell me.

We had been to hell and back in our past and I thought she now trusted me.

Yes, I had been an arse to her. The drugs and women had nearly been the end of us, but we dragged our relationship through it and came out the other end, both of us stronger and more in love; or so I believed.

My phone rang in my pocket and I groaned at the name when I pulled it out. “Wendy” I greeted austerely. This fucking woman was a liability and would be the death of me.

“Mr Fox . . .” she flustered and my hackles rose at her tone, “You need to get here quick, it’s . . . Yvonne, she’s been . . . strangled and . . . and well not nicely.”

The fuck! Was there any nice way to be fucking strangled? Stupid woman.

“The fuck?” I barked at her and I grit my teeth at her gasp.

“Last night. Dunno what happened but Fran’s only just found her.”

“Fucking Christ” I spat as I pulled on my shoes and slammed the front door behind me.

Chapter 2

Ava

I PAUSED WITH my hand on the handle before taking a deep breath and stepping in. “Ava” Nate smiled at me but I didn’t return it.

He sighed and gazed at me. “Ava, please, you know I need to do this.”

“And you know I can’t, Nate. It would end us.”

“Why, Ava? All that shit is in the past, it doesn’t need to affect the present.”

I scoffed and shook my head sadly, “You know Mason won’t see it like that. He’ll kill me before he lets me work with him. Look at last year with Layla, it still eats away at him Nate and I can’t do that to him.”

He slumped in his chair as he rubbed his eyes in frustration. “But, I can’t do this without him. I need to sort this, Ava, you know I do.”

I nodded and smiled in understanding, “I know” I said simply as I placed my resignation on his desk in front of him.

He closed his eyes and groaned. “Ava, please, don’t do this. Please. I’m sure you and Mason can work things through over this. Your relationship is strong enough.”

Was it that strong? Would Mason relent and yield just to keep me happy?

No!

“We’re still friends, right?”

He tutted loudly as he came around the desk to me and drew me in. “You know that, sweetheart; always. If there were any other way around this, you know I’d do it.”

I nodded against his chest as a tear slid free. I loved my job, or rather, I
had
loved my job. It was me, just a small part of my life that was mine, and now I had lost that, what was left of just me? “I know, Nate. I hope he finds what you need.”

“I just don’t know how long it will take him, Ava. It could just be a matter of weeks or it could take bloody months. You can’t hang on until he’s finished?”

I shook my head sadly, “I can’t do that Nate, and it wouldn’t be fair to all three of us. I would go mad at home just waiting for your call, I can’t do that. Fair enough, if I haven’t managed to find a job when this is over, then I would love to walk back in.”

He grasped my chin lovingly between his finger and thumb and planted a soft kiss to my forehead.

This man was my best friend, aside from Courtney, and I hated to let him down and make him feel accountable. “It’s all good, Nate. Maybe a change will do me good. I’ve been feeling a little . . . hell, I don’t know, just . . .” I shrugged as I struggled to find the words to describe how ‘lost’ I had been feeling lately.

I couldn’t explain it; it was just there, inside me, bubbling away in the pit of my stomach. Like something was missing from my life; not something huge, just maybe lots of little things that were niggling inside my head and making me look at my life differently.

I was constantly asking myself if I was happy, even if I was content, but I couldn’t even put my finger on why I was feeling like that.

It was like a bomb counting down on an internal timer, waiting for the precise moment to detonate and ruin everything I had managed to secure over the last thirteen years, and especially the last eight years with a man I loved with everything I was. But even my marriage, my lover and my soul mate felt like they were being dragged away from me without any pull from anything specific.

I just felt disoriented and adrift with life.

Maybe this was a good thing; a time to regenerate and discover myself again.

We remained silent for a while, both of us drawing in each other before I pulled away, nodded and took one last look around what had been my second home for the previous eight years, before I descended the fifty floors and went home.

* * *

“You wanna meet for lunch, hun?” I asked Courtney as I wedged the phone between my shoulder and chin so I could open the mail.

“What’s wrong?” she asked immediately. God, I loved this girl; she knew me inside out.

“Over lunch” I told her.

“Sure, usual?”

I confirmed with her as I ended the call and frowned at a brown envelope bearing Mason’s name. The typed name was solitary, no address or postage, so I knew it had been hand delivered but I placed it on the pile I had assembled for his office and moved on.

I snorted loudly at the birthday card for Mason . . . in Rebecca’s writing. I knew it was her writing because she still hounded him relentlessly.

The woman could win an award for perseverance. She was damn unyielding, refusing to give in, even after eight years of pursuing my man but I now found it humorous.

I chuckled slightly as I placed it with the rest of his cards, knowing the language that would filter through him when he opened it.

We were off up to Greg’s Scottish cabin for the weekend to celebrate Mason’s birthday, his fortieth, which was currently playing on his mind. I think he thought when he hit forty I would instantly stop desiring him. Pfft, I don’t think I would ever stop wanting Mason.

Since the day I had first met him all those years ago, my body had craved him in a way that was uncontrollable and wild, sometimes quite overwhelming and I knew he felt the same.

I had a surprise planned for him at the cottage. I knew Connor was going up, Greg’s brother, who always played a third in group sex and I just hoped it would be what Mason wanted; otherwise the weekend could go terribly wrong.

My phone rang and I pulled in a breath before I answered. “Hey, Lay.”

“Ava, what the hell is going on, love?”

“Word travels fast.”

“Of course it does, its NSC. Lucas just told me.”

I sighed and looked out of the window, desperately trying to divert my attention away from the tears that wanted to roll. “How the hell am I supposed to work with Kade after everything, Lay? Mason would shit his soul and make my life unbearable.”

“Why the hell has Nate fetched him in anyway? I know he’s an IT analyst and that tells me something odd’s going on round here.” Layla was far from stupid.

“On the hush, Lay. The whole NSC systems have been hacked twice, some important documents have been altered and a lot, and I mean a lot, of money has been transferred somewhere Nate can’t track. That’s why he needs to bring Kade in.”

“Shit!”

“Mmmm, I know it can’t be helped and Nate needs to sort it. I’ll be fine, I’m already looking for something, so if you hear of anything, let me know.”

She was quiet for a moment then she lowered her voice, “There’s a bar job going at the Panther.” My eyebrows rose and I pursed my lips. “But I don’t think Mase would be too pleased do you?”

“Well tough, to be honest, Lay. If I can’t work with Kade, I’ve gotta do something. I don’t wanna be a sit at home mom, it would kill me . . . Shit, gotta go, Mason’s home. Tell William I’ll ring him later and to save me the job.” It sounded perfect for a life change; entertaining, anything but boring, and William would be an adorable boss, as I knew he was to all his current staff.

“Will do, bye love.”

I shunted my phone back into my bag as Mason stepped into the kitchen with a deep frown marring his handsome face. He tipped his head and narrowed his eyes and I instantly recognised which mood was dominating him today—Mr Stroppy and I rolled my eyes inwardly.

“Why are you home?” He asked as he kept his eyes trained on me whilst he stalked towards the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.

“Headache.”

He nodded slowly as he unscrewed the cap and downed the entire contents in one. “The same one you had this morning?”

I nodded in return as he held my gaze, his eyes still narrow and hard. “The
fake
headache you had this morning, resembling the
fake
one you have now?”

I sighed and lowered my gaze when he took the two steps needed with his long legs to reach me. I was instantly backed up between the worktop and his solid chest as his finger tilted my head back so I was staring into his beautiful eyes, the liquid honey of them drawing me in and taking me hostage under his scrutiny.

Shit! I didn’t need this now. I was feeling too raw and emotional at losing my job and I knew if Mason got wind of the new job I was after, I wouldn’t stand a chance. He would squash any hope I had at procuring the position at The Black Panther. No way would Mason allow me to work in an exclusive adult club.

He scrunched his nose a little and sighed deeply before he sucked air through his teeth and I knew I was in for a grilling. “Baby, it’s only 11:30 and my day has already been shit enough to kill the most patient of men. Please don’t make it any worse.”

God damn this fucking man!

“Mason. I came home because I have a headache; you’re looking for things that aren’t there, baby.”

He scoffed once then clicked his tongue as a hand slid around the nape of my neck and held the roots of my hair, not painfully but enough for his irritation to shout out a warning at me, in addition to tilting my head further back. I swallowed harshly, “Mason, please. There is nothing wrong, just a headache and at the moment, you’re making it bloody worse.”

He placed his lips softly on my forehead and I felt his eyes squeeze closed. “Why, baby?”

My heart broke at the distress in his voice but I couldn’t tell him, it would create world war 3 if he knew Kade was back at NSC and especially that I’d had to leave because of his return, “Why what, Mason?”

His nose now circled the soft skin on my forehead as he inhaled my scent deeply, like he needed me to survive. “You’re drifting, Ava. Why do I feel like I can’t snag the rope and drag you back in?”

His sullen eyes locked me down and I bit my bottom lip as my heart ripped against my breastbone. “You’re not losing me, Mason. You’ll never lose me, baby. I’m yours.”

“Mine” he whispered immediately as his hand slipped further into my hair and fastened into the strands with his long fingers.

My breath caught as his erection throbbed against my belly and arousal flooded my core.

“Yours always” I whispered in reply.

“Mine.” He repeated as his perfect lips took mine perfectly.

My man could kiss; had always transformed me into a wet, panting mess when he loved me with his mouth. The flawless rhythm he moved with demanded each of my senses dominantly, commanding me as his and only his in that precise moment. He dictated my mind, my body and my emotions every single time he kissed me.

His grip in my hair became firmer as I imitated his hold and slipped my hands into his soft brown mane, grabbing as much of a handful as I could in my desire to take him as mine, just like he did with me.

“Mine” he growled as his mouth dropped to my neck and sucked in the soft flesh as his teeth bit down. Every time he bit me my body surged to life, my synapses electrifying like lightning and blasting shots of pleasure into every nerve I possessed. Mason knew this, and knew he could overpower me very time.

He pulled back slightly and the fire in his eyes heightened my arousal to a fierce roar, my body harmonized completely to my husband’s wants, needs and desires.

“Take off your dress.”

Without any hesitation I found the zip on the side of my dress, lowered it then pushed it from my frame. His eyes flashed with hunger as they roamed over my underwear covered body.

His finger traced along the edging of my bra, over the swell of my breast before he slid a finger inside and stroked it over my nipple, causing it to pebble as an excited shiver rippled through me. “This is mine.”

I nodded, the deep ache inside me rendering me mute. The same finger trailed slowly across my breastbone and teased my other nipple, this time over the lace of my bra, “And this.”

I mumbled something incoherent as my eyes fluttered closed. “Look at me, Ava.”

I blew out a small huff and focused on him. “Nobody else will ever make you feel like this, like I do. Nobody else would ever sate the craving you have.”

I nodded again as he glided down each strap of my bra, before pulling each cup down under my boobs and exposing me for his approval.

My breasts suddenly felt heavy and weighted with my wantonness but he quickly remedied my discomfort as he took each in his large hands and lifted them slightly. “Nobody else would ever be enough for you, baby.”

He mouthed a hard nipple, suckling heavily on it as his teeth clamped down and I yelped out a surprised moan as his bite shot straight down through me and hit my clit head on.

“I need you, Mason.” I breathed as his mouth moved onto its twin, torturing my left breast just as passionately as he had my right.

“How much?”

“God, with everything. Deep down inside.”

He caressed my nipple with the flat of his tongue as his eyes lifted to mine, “Tell me.”

I swallowed on a moan as I palmed his cheek. “I need your tongue on me, Mason. I need you to lick me.”

He groaned as his thumbs hooked into the edge of my knickers, before he twisted and ripped them off. No sooner were they off than he was on his knees with one of my legs draped over a shoulder and his tongue was circling my clitoris as he inserted a finger inside me, circling it round in perfect symmetry as his tongue on my nub.

“Oh God, yes.” I groaned as my thighs started twitching uncontrollably.

“Hold it, Ava.”

“I don’t think I can.”