Return to Her (4 page)

But Cassie was different.

She was a friend, a
really
good friend. A
friend he’d fallen for and that raised the stakes all around. With
Cassie, there was no coaxing. She’d already wrapped him around her
little finger without even knowing she’d done so. At first, her
magnetic pull had felt odd, but now he couldn’t imagine being
anywhere but by her side.

Over the course of the two years she’d
dated Dave, Mason had slowly become ensnared by the woman. He
enjoyed her friendship and her company, and he couldn’t recall ever
having a real female friend without a sexual relationship, in his
entire life. It wasn’t until Dave had skipped out that Mason had
realized just how much he felt for her.

Cassie had been too good for her ex.
Way too good.

Maybe the guy had realized that fact.
If Dave knew he wasn’t man enough, perhaps he’d self-destructed
unconsciously and he’d screwed everything up on purpose. Either
way, Cassie was better off without him. Mason just hoped better
would include him.

“
There’s a question I’ve
wanted to ask you,” Mason said as he pulled onto the
interstate.

“
What’s that?” she asked
as she pressed buttons on the radio, searching between stations.
She was fiddling—which meant she was nervous. Why was she
nervous?

“
Why did you stay with
Dave so long? You were together two years. I’d say that was twenty
three and a half months too long.”

Cassie sat up straighter, frowning.
She looked deep in thought when he glanced her way.

“
I’m not really sure. It
was … comfortable, I guess. He had his moments.”

“
You were too good for
him. You know that, right?”

Cassie squirmed a little in her seat,
apparently uncomfortable with the conversation. “Why are we
discussing this now? I’m over Dastardly Dave.”

Mason chuckled at her
nickname for Dave. The smile on his lips slowly faded as his mind
whirled. “
Are
you
over him? Really?”

Cassie was silent a moment. “Totally
moved on,” she said firmly.

Mason felt a jolt through his body,
his limbs tingling. “So you’re ready to date again?”

Cassie stiffened beside him. “Ready to
date? Um … yeah. I guess. Maybe.”

Her inability to answer
deflated him a little. He’d kept his distance the last few months
because he’d wanted to give Cassie time to get over Dave, not that
she’d appeared overly torn up. Mason hadn’t wanted to take
advantage or end up being one of her regrets. The little snippet of
her conversation he’d overheard replayed in his mind.
I’m not Mason’s type. I never will be. There’s no
point ruining what we have.

He needed to show her that she was
indeed Mason’s type. His mission wasn’t without risk. Mason valued
her friendship and couldn’t imagine being without it. But the
reward was worth the danger.

He cast another quick glance her way
and his chest tightened. Her chestnut hair was swept up tonight.
Cassie’s long, graceful neck was on display. His fingers itched to
stroke her there, a precursor to his lips. Then he’d move them down
her lithe body, learning every inch there was to her.

Mason could still see those long,
delectable legs from the corner of his eye. How much better they’d
look wrapped around his waist as he found comfort inside her
body.

When he did, she’d look at him with
her lovely gray eyes and they would become one. As he came, he
would kiss her full, swollen lips, and breathe in her screams of
release. He wondered what her cries would sound like and knew he
needed to hear her satisfaction. If he had to seduce her tonight,
he would turn on the charm some.

Mason shifted slightly in his seat.
His body was hard for her. A tremor roiled through the hand that
rested on the stick shift, near her long legs. Soon. Soon he would
show her how he felt and hope she shared his feelings.

Mason took her exit and headed for her
house as quickly as possible. After months of patiently waiting, he
wasn’t leaving the States without letting her know exactly how he
felt about her. It could be his last chance to face her. Tonight,
Cassie was his.

* * * *

Cassie walked into the darkened
apartment and headed straight for the nearest light. Her legs felt
like rubber and she was scared she’d trip on her own feet in the
dark. She flipped the switch and spun on her heel to glance his
way.

What she saw in his gaze nearly took
her breath away.

The conversation about her ex in the
car had confused her. She’d felt something in the air between them,
yet he asked about Dave? Then he asked if she planned to start
dating? It only showed how wrong her instincts were when it came to
him. Her desire was making her see things that weren’t
there.

“
So what did you want to
do?” she asked before swallowing her longing. “A movie?”

He stared at her, the emotions on his
face completely alien to her. She knew this man, but right now, he
was changed. Mason wasn’t acting at all like himself and it was
throwing her off guard. Cassie swayed, moving her weight from one
foot to the other while she waited for his response. She was so
amped up, the thought of standing still was impossible.

Mason stalked a little closer, his
stare focused on her. Stalked was a good word for it, too. She felt
like his prey. He stopped inches from her and she saw the heat in
his gaze. There was no more denying it. Mason wanted more than
popcorn and a movie on her couch.

Her body was driven to the edge, the
desire to reach out to him immense. But she couldn’t do that. Their
friendship was at risk.

Or could she? She felt so damned
jumbled, her nerves frayed.

“
I’m thirsty,” she
announced and rushed to the kitchen. She wasn’t sure what was going
on, but the air between them was suddenly electric, filled with
promise. Cassie needed a moment to clear her head. She didn’t want
to fight the rising need within her, but what choice did she
have?

She reached for a glass, then moved to
the fridge. Once she opened the freezer to get some ice, she felt
the blast of cold air coursing over her heated skin. The chill felt
refreshing and she stood there a moment, hoping the brisk air would
help her think a little more clearly and cool her fevered
body.

When she felt Mason’s lips at her ear,
she nearly jumped out of her skin. Her glass slipped from her
fingers. Luckily Mason had cat-like reflexes and he caught it, only
losing a couple of cubes. She turned to look at him, pulling her
head back some to truly see him. “What are you doing?”

“
The cold air feels good,”
he murmured, one of his hands landing on her hip.

A shiver raced up her spine at the
close contact. Uncertainties spun in her head, but the confusion
was slowly ebbing away and the developing desire was taking over.
After so many months of hiding how she felt, the idea of acting on
her emotions was so tempting—to taste him, to love him—before he
left her. They weren’t promised a future. These next few days could
be all they’d ever have.

Cassie shook off the
negative connotations of that last thought. He
would
return to her.

She leaned back into his hold,
wondering if she was making a mistake. Cassie felt him stiffen
slightly, and her stomach pitched. When he pressed a chaste kiss
against the side of her forehead, she could breathe again. Mason
sat her glass on the counter before grasping her other hip with his
now free hand. Need built even higher within her so quickly, making
her tremble.

“
Are you cold?” he asked,
closing the freezer door.

“
No,” she
whispered.

Mason pressed his lips against her ear
in a tender kiss. Although gentle, it wasn’t the kind of kiss you’d
give a friend. It was a lover’s kiss and when she realized his
intentions were seductive, her heart began to race faster in her
chest. Her neck bent involuntarily, offering more of her ear, her
neck, to his firm, full lips.

“
Are you afraid?” he
asked.

“
Yes,” she answered. “And
no.”

Mason pressed a kissed just behind her
ear and she melted a little more into his embrace.

“
I don’t want you to be
afraid of me,” he whispered in her ear. “I would never hurt
you.”

Cassie sank back further
into his arms. “I know you wouldn’t.”
Not
intentionally.

After Mason turned her to face him, he
stared down at her, a whisper of a smile on his lips. She wanted
those lips to kiss her senseless, had wanted him to do so for so
long. He lifted a hand to brush a few tendrils of escaped curls
away and cradled the side of her face in his hand. “You’re my best
friend,” he whispered. “I’ve held back, but I can’t any longer. I
need more. And I won’t leave without you seeing how much I want
you.”

Her pussy throbbed with need. She knew
want and she wanted him with every fiber of her being. No man had
made her long like she longed for Mason. “You asked me why I stayed
with Dave so long. I didn’t tell you the whole truth.”

Mason leaned back slightly, a frown
changing his expression. “What’s the truth?”

“
If I’d left him, I
wouldn’t have been able to … spend time with you anymore,” she
answered. As soon as Mason had asked the question in the car, it
was the answer that had sprung to mind. But she’d been too afraid
to say it.

A smile stretched Mason’s lips as he
gathered her face in his hands. Leaning in, she thought it had to
be a dream. When his lips met hers, she felt she’d combust from
within.

The kiss started gently, as he tested
her with little nips and pecks. Soon enough, he was drinking from
her lips, a starving man feasting on her mouth. Cassie opened to
his insistent tongue, letting him slip it inside and taste her.
After a few moments, she grew embolden and pressed her own tongue
against his, warring with him.

Mason let his hands fall away from her
face. He grasped her waist soon after and tugged her closer, until
their bodies molded together. Mason’s hardness fit against her soft
curves, and made her writhe against him so she could feel even
more.

Cassie tugged at the edges of his
t-shirt, needing to touch the hard plains and ridges of his body.
Once she gathered them up halfway, he took over. Mason drew from
her lips for a moment and the shirt was no more. As soon as it was
floating to the floor, his mouth was back to teasing and tempting
her again, making her wish he’d taste her elsewhere.

Her pussy throbbed with every heavy
beat of her heart. She wanted him to touch her there, along her
folds. Cassie was wet, her body opening for him. Mason’s hands
began to roam, trailing up and down her back, gripping her ass, and
pulling her ever closer. There wasn’t an inch between them, their
bodies pressed to one another, yet he seemed unsatisfied with their
distance.

As was she.

Their clothing needed to disappear.
She pushed him away slightly and started to unbutton her shirt with
shaking fingers. Mason rested his forehead on hers and watched as
each one was pressed through the small hole. Cassie struggled to
get her fingers to do as told. His breathing was rapid; the heat of
it rushing across her already fevered skin. Sweat beaded on the
back of her neck and along her brow, the heat of his body adding to
the inferno building within.

Impatience apparently got the better
of Mason. He brushed her hands away and took over the task of
disrobing her, but he wasn’t as gentle as she. Cassie heard the
gentle ping of some of her tiny pearl buttons hitting the floor
around them. She couldn’t find the energy to care about them at
that moment, not when he was pushing her blouse down her shoulders
and pressing his muscular chest against hers.

Skin to skin, she could feel his heart
beating like a drum and smiled to herself. He was just as wound up
as she was, and that helped to build her confidence. Under assault
from his wandering hands and kisses, she let her own fingers roam.
Cassie went to the core of him, gripping his hard shaft through is
jeans, letting her fingers trace the girth and length of him. Her
lips parted as she noted his large size. Mason would fill her more
than any other and she was suddenly overwhelmed with the need for
him to be inside her—now.

Her skirt soon found its way to the
floor as well, and she stepped out of it, leaving it in a pile
along with their tops. Cassie stood there in her bra and panties,
along with the heels she still wore. Mason stepped back. His gaze
traveled down her body and back up. She sucked in the little pooch
she had, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious with him seeing her
nearly naked for the first time. With him standing there observing
her so keenly, she felt vulnerable.

Her body wasn’t perfect like his cut,
hard planes. She was a little curvier than her friends, and the
women Mason usually dated.

“
Beautiful,” he whispered
as he stuck out a hand and trailed his fingers along her thigh.
“Perfection. Just as I knew it would be.”