Page 67 of Forbidden Cravings

Chapter Twenty-Two

CASEY

Mason’s words resounded through me like an acknowledgement that encased my heart and bound it to his forever. He loved me. They were words he didn’t speak often, just like my brother didn’t, the two not attaching themselves to anyone, the armor they wore too thick to penetrate. But he loved me, and I loved him.

Our lips parted, and I pushed back, my hands on his firm chest. “So, you ruin me for any other man and now you want me to give up my life so that I can do what? Prance around in my lingerie while you work?”

“Fuck yeah. You can interrupt my business calls anytime you want, sweetheart. In fact, if you want to drop to your knees and use that gorgeous mouth on me while I’m talking, I’ll be happy to punish you once you’ve swallowed.”

“Punish?” I asked, layering my voice with as much seduction as I could. “I thought you didn’t dole out punishments on anyone but your enemies.”

His hand rose under my shirt, taunting my nipple through the fabric of my bra. “I don’t, but I think I’ll make an exception from now on because the idea of smacking that ass again untilyou come is making me hard. And you’re definitely getting punished for wearing this outfit and those panties.”

My heart raced in anticipation.

“Turn around princess.” Damn, he’d called me princess again, and it soaked me every time he did.

I stood, letting my eye drop to his hard-on. “Don’t worry about that. You’ll take care of it in due time.”

He grabbed my waist and turned me. I wanted to scold him for continuing to use the arm with the injury, knowing it had to hurt, but he’d stood and had me bent over before I could say anything. He weaved his hand through my hair and tugged as his other hand caressed my ass. His arm put pressure on the cut on my back, the one that had remained hidden under my hair, and I hissed. He stopped, pulling me up and lifting my hair.

“What the fuck, Casey? You’re injured?” There was so much worry in his voice I felt bad that I hadn’t mentioned it. He shoved my shirt up, slowing down as he reached the gash. I gritted my teeth against the pain. The material stuck to the wound now that the blood had dried. “Shit, Case. Did they do this?”

“No,” I whimpered as he pulled it up the rest of the way. He forced my shirt up further and moved my hair around my neck.

“That’s gonna leave a scar.” I felt his fingers gingerly touching the surrounding skin before they lifted. He moved from me and rummaged through the medical case Leo had left on the seat across from us. “Take that shirt off the rest of the way, Case.”

I followed his order, noting how his eyes dropped to my chest when he turned. “Damn, those tits are by far the sexiest I’ve ever seen.”

Arching my brow, I said, “And should I ask how many you’ve seen to compare them to?”

“Enough,” he answered with a chuckle, tossing the bottle of water Breck had used into his stronger hand. “But I won’t be seeing any but yours from now on, sweetheart.”

My heart jumped at his words. “That’s going to sting,” I said, biting my lip.

He moved behind me again, yanking my hips back. I heard his grunt and knew from the sound it wasn’t because of my position. His shoulder was hurting, but he wouldn’t admit that to me.

“It won’t sting as bad as my hand will when it’s smacking that ass later.”

A shiver shuddered through me. His hand smoothed along my ass, causing a moan to softly fall from my mouth.

“None of that, sweetheart.” The warmth of his hand disappeared and within seconds, the sharp sting of the water on my wound scalded through me. I yelped, biting the inside of my cheek to silence it. “That’s a sexy sound,” he teased.

“Fuck you,” I bit back through my teeth.

“Be patient, princess.”

That word he’d stolen from Tony had become my favorite word. Where it had made my blood curl when Tony said it, it sent a rampage of butterflies through me when Mason said it. He could bring me to climax with the way it fell from his mouth.

“Wanna tell me how this happened?” he said, while he cleaned my back. “It’s bad enough the assholes bruised your face, but this…”

“This wasn’t them. Remember how I said I got out of the rope they had tied around my wrists?”

“Yeah.” He blotted the wound gently, but it still burned, and I clenched my teeth against the pain before continuing.

“Well, I may have left out a minor detail. They had us tied to poles and when I scooted up the pole, I sliced my back on a jagged piece of metal.”

“Fuck,” he muttered, bandaging the injury.

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