He blinked at her, obviously stunned at her outburst, but then he shot to his feet, a new storm brewing in his gaze.
“What? We’re not screwing right now. I can call you whatever the hell I want. If you’re going to be a jackass, I’m going to call you out on it. So, tell me, are you going to tuck tail and hide behind your own goddamn insecurities for saying your name? Because it looks like you’re about fucking to do that. But what the hell does it even matter if you’re kicking me out anyway?”
In the back of her mind, a part of her was screaming out a warning that even if this man wasn’t a murderer, he could still be dangerous, and she shouldn’t provoke him. She really had no idea what he was capable of, but she was too consumed with the barrage of emotions coursing through her.
“Shelby,” he growled, and came closer. “I don’t know what you want from me.”
“How about the truth, Mason.” It was now or never. Only seconds ago, she’d considered fleeing, and now she was confronting him instead. If she didn’t do it now, she may never get another chance. This was the moment she’d waited for…and one she’d slowly come to dread.
His eyes flashed right before he yanked her to him and she gasped at his sudden movement. “You want the truth? You can fucking have it.” He crushed his mouth onto hers, and she tried pushing him away as she squirmed closer. She wanted him, but she knew she shouldn’t. He was kissing her like a man starved, and what little battle she put up waned at his dominating seduction. This was crazy.
This was need. A desire so deep she didn’t know how to control it. Not in this moment. Maybe never.
Her back slammed against a wall, and she gripped his shoulders to steady herself.
“Hands above your head,” he barked.
She immediately obeyed.
The few buttons she’d fastened flew to the floor when he ripped open the shirt she had on. He pushed in closer, panting into her ear.
“You…only you can do this to me.” He shoved at his shorts while her body shook with anticipation. He’d just told her he couldn’t do this, but now neither of them could get close enough to the other fast enough.
He pushed into her without hesitation and fucked her hard, nothing like the tender loving he’d shown her last night. He was punishing her, punishing himself, and she loved every second of if.
“Mason,” she breathed, and once she said it, she couldn’t stop. She chanted his name over and over as he plowed into her. The freedom to say it during the height of pleasure too good to verbalize anything else. As if she even could.
“God, baby. You feel so good.”
She locked her legs tighter around him and met his powerful thrusts as best she could. It was frenzied, and she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to last, and she wanted him owning her, owning this thing between them. He couldn’t say the words, but his body was screaming them at her. He couldn’t deny he felt something, and she knew it. If not before, she did now.
Her climax caught her off guard, her back bowing as she screamed.
He roared, not slowing as he joined her. Uninhibited.
Unprotected.
Oh no.
She was on birth control, so that wasn’t the issue. And because of Mason’s lifestyle and the possibility that they would have sex, the FBI had secured his medical records. She knew that even though it had been careless, she was still safe.
Yet, that didn’t matter. Letting him come inside was giving him another part of her soul. She’d never had unprotected sex before. Ever.
“Shit,” he breathed, and she figured he’d realized this little tidbit, too. “I’m sorry. I never lose control.”
He stiffened against her before he eased her to her feet. No, she figured he didn’t like losing control at all. “It’s okay. I’m on birth control and clean.”
“I am, too.” But he still didn’t sound happy as he moved away from her, closing himself off. It hurt like hell that he was doing it so soon after taking her.
“Look, Mason—”
He laughed without humor, keeping his back to her. “How wrong is it that I like you saying my name?”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
His shoulders dropped, and he faced her. “Some things came up at work. I need to go in.”
There went her heart again. He might as well punch a hole in her chest, rip it out, and be done with it already. “Are we just going to leave things like this?” she asked softly, not wanting to know the answer but unable to keep her mouth shut.
“I’ll call you when I’m ready for our next scene.” He turned to walk away, and dread like none she’d ever experienced before engulfed her. This all still felt very final. Sex hadn’t changed anything. She was old enough to understand that, but it still hurt. “And after? What then, Mason?”
He turned to look at her, staring for several seconds before speaking. “I can’t answer that, Shelby. Not yet.”
She searched his eyes, but he was unmoving. “I don’t know what’s going on, but whatever it is, it’s making you miserable.”
“You don’t know me.”
If he’d slapped her, it would’ve hurt less. Because it was hateful and truthful all at the same time. She didn’t know him. Nor did she know herself if she was capable of falling in love with a man who could kill someone for financial gain. Or could toss her feelings away as if they didn’t even matter. The fact that the latter bothered her more was an unwelcome wakeup call. Unwelcome, but there all the same. “You’re right,” she said, resolve settling in. “I don’t.”
She turned to leave, but looked over her shoulder. “You don’t know me either. It’s better if it stays that way.”
“Shelby.”
She didn’t wait around to hear what he had to
