CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Adam stormed off.

We were alone.

Mason slowly lowered me so I could stand on my own and he stepped back. He watched me as if I were an animal, waiting to attack. He was ready.

He'd been hot and heavy, or so I thought, but he'd really been cold and calculating the whole time. That same unreadable mask was over him now.

"You're an ass**le," I said softly.

He nodded.

"Why'd you do that?"

He didn't respond. It took another beat before he looked away and ran a hand over his head. "Don't get all girly and shit on me. That was a show. You performed well and he bought it."

My eyes bulged out of my head. I couldn't believe this was where he was taking it. "Are you kidding me?"

Something flashed in his eyes. It was gone in that next instant. He shook his head and lifted his shoulders. "What do you want from me?"

"You played me; you pulled all the right strings."

A cocksure smirk came out. "Like you said, I'm an ass**le. That's what we do."

I took a deep breath. Something cold started in the pit of my stomach. It grew with each word he said and each second I was away from his touch. I hated how he affected me, the power he had and he knew it as well. He was fully aware of the power he had over me.

Chills broke out over me. I had to get away from him. I just had to. "I have to shower."

He jerked his head in a nod and started to leave.

My feet wouldn't go. My mind was yelling at me to leave, but my body wouldn't go. It didn't want to go. He had power over me…but I was pretty sure I had power over him too.

He stopped as he was about to go down the stairs. "What's wrong?"

I turned and locked eyes with him. I didn't know what he saw, but it worked. His hand clenched on the banister, his shoulders jerked upright. He sucked in a breath. I watched as his chest rose higher and higher.

I choked out, "Was that all a show?"

Desire was thick in his eyes. He narrowed them, licked his lips, and jerked his head in refusal.

Something flared throughout me and my legs moved now. I caught his hand and pulled him with me.

"This way." He pulled me a different way.

My heart was pounding as I held onto his hand. I was blind in my need. I could only focus on him. He led me through a myriad of stairs, through some doors, and finally he pulled me through the last one. I had no idea where we were, I hadn't cared to pay attention, but I knew we were far away from the party.

Mason dropped my hand and gazed at me. His room was dark. The shades were pulled so the morning light filtered through, but we were still in shadow.

He was watching me with an intensity that made my heart skip a beat. Fear froze me. I stumbled out, "I need to shower. I reek."

And then he reached forward and wrapped two arms around my waist and raised me off my feet as he walked to a bathroom. The shower was turned on and he stepped underneath. The cold water splashed down on me and I gasped. I surged forward in reaction and pressed my chest against him, but his mouth landed down on mine.

Oh god.

My hands curled into his shirt and I could only hold on.

His lips were hard on mine, a flame exploded inside of me, and I wanted more of him. I needed more. Then he started to move against me. His lips coaxed, nibbled, slid, and whispered against mine. His tongue touched the tip of my mouth and I let him in. I wasn't allowed not to. My body answered whatever demand he made. The thought of denial wasn't in me.

When my tongue touched his and his body trembled under my arms, I realized the power I had. It was addicting. It burst within me and I climbed up him. It was as before, but this time I didn't wait for him. I slipped my hand under his shirt and lifted it over his head.

Mason let it slip over and he hungrily already had mine off. My bra was stripped away in the next second and he cupped my br**sts.

I gasped into his mouth when his thumb touched the tip of my nipple. He teased it and laughed against me. I nibbled at the corner of his mouth and then moved back. He caught me with a hand to my back and met my gaze.

We held each other's gaze. I couldn't look away. His eyes were dark, hungry, and they grew darker the longer we stared at the other. Then I lifted a hand and touched the side of his face. I traced the edge of him, his forehead, the corner of his eye, the side of his cheek, his lips.

He was beautiful.

His muscles shifted under me and I felt him lower me back to my feet.

I groaned in protest. I didn't want to leave him, but he bent forward and caught my lips in a hungry kiss, a long kiss. I couldn't tear away from him if I had to. Mewling, I pressed against him again and then his hands were under my bare legs. He lifted them again and as I wrapped them around his waist, he came in full contact against me.

I gasped at the feel of him. He was hard and ready.

He bent and kissed my neck, on my shoulder bone, and moved around to the other side as he walked backward and pressed me against the wall. When his hands no longer needed to hold me, he started to caress me. One slid over my stomach, up to my br**sts, and he stroked them. They were hard and full. I ached for his touch. I wanted him in me, between my legs.

And then his hand moved down there. He caressed the insides of my thigh and then over my stomach, back down the other thigh. He encircled the area that throbbed for him. And then, as I gasped against his mouth, his finger slipped inside of me. His tongue swept against mine at the same time.

His other held the back of my head as his mouth consumed me, while his finger started to slip in and out. He went deeper with each thrust. I clung to him, pleading with him for more as my hips moved in rhythm. Then my hand slid down his arm, circled his slim waist, and wrapped around him.

He gasped against me this time and held still.

I grinned, intoxicated with power and need. I wanted more. I wanted him and I kissed his ear to whisper that to him.

With a guttural groan ripped from him, he pulled me from the wall and walked to the bedroom. A second finger slipped in and he curved them deep in me, deeper than before. As he lowered me to the bed, I gasped and arched my back. His fingers pushed further. He didn't need to move them anymore.

I felt it building. Spasms of pleasure joined into one long momentous ride and I rode it out. Wave after wave crashed into me. My body trembled from the climax and I lay weak in his arms. When I had settled, he grinned down at me.

I brushed back a lock of his black hair the fell forward and rasped out, "What?"