Page 9 of Mason

“Please, bear, not this one. It was bad enough I saw what you got atTarget, but notHoney Birdette. This is evil.” He tried to tug his hand away, but I wasn’t letting him go.

I’d seenHoney Birdettelingerie shop when my parents had been alive, but my parents would never have spent so much on bras and panties for me or let me wear such sexy things at such a young age. I was old enough now though and I intended to not only get myself some sexy underwear, but have a little fun with Mason.

Honey Birdettewas a lot different fromTargetunderwear. It was blacks, reds, whites and tans in all sexy porn style. Just walking into the store had me straightening and feeling a bit racy. I went straight to the red lacy stuff, and got matching sets.

“You’re being very cruel, Alexa.” Hearing Mason say my name instead of bear, I turned and bit my lip to hold back my giggle. He was standing stiff, his muscles locked and his jaw clenched. You’d have had to be blind not to see his eye ticking, too. I bet if the music in there hadn’t been so loud I would’ve heard his teeth grinding also.

Power, like I’d never felt before, flowed through me. I did this to him. Bouncing on the spot I grabbed him and dragged him towards the change room. He shook his head franticly and I let my giggle slip free. “So, I take it you’ll wait out here while I try these on?” I held up the lacy numbers I chose.

“You, little bear, are treading on very thin ice. If you keep going on like you have, I won’t be holding back being a gentleman.”

Pausing at the change rooms the sales lady smiled and asked how many I had and to call if I need help. I leaned in close to Mason. “Maybe I don’t want you to be a gentleman.” Before he could reply I went to my allocated change room, but I didn’t miss his moan.

My confidence sky rocketed and I smiled as I looked at myself in the mirror before I slipped off my clothes.

By the time we left the store, I’d bought four sets, two in black, one in red, and one in tan. Mason looked like he’d just been tortured. He was so distracted he didn’t even notice one of the sale ladies flirting with him.

Tony, one of our bodyguards, had the bags shoved at him as we left the store and Mason hooked his arm around me and brought me up against him. He leaned down and his breath brushed my ear sending a shiver of pleasure through me. “Next time you pull a stunt like that, don’t expect me to be the gentleman. You’re mine, bear, and I intend to take what’s mine but I’m barely clinging on to my resolve that I won’t rush you.” He huffed and his hot breath tickled. “When I take you, you’ll beg me to. That’s a promise.”

I bit my lip to hold back my groan and turned to gaze in molten warm chocolate eyes blazing with pure need. Oh crap, maybe I pushed him too far. He tilted my chin and his lips came down on mine. It wasn’t a long kiss, but it showed me just what he wanted.

He held my hand and guided me towards the food court. “You hungry?”

I nodded, my mind still on the kiss and what I’d just done teasing Mason. I had never been this brazen in my life. With the experiences I’d had with men the last couple of years I was surprised at what I did, and wanted to do, with Mason. The more I was with this man, the more I fell under his spell. It wasn’t just him though, it was his family. I’d learned not to trust so easily, but from the moment I met Mason and his family not only did I just know I was safe, but I trusted them and I knew Mason was mine.

Maybe I needed to talk to my therapist more about this. Was this right? Should I have fallen in love with him so soon? Should I be trusting him and his family?

Mason gave me a gentle squeeze and I noticed we were at seats. “You want anything in particular? I’ll go get it. You wait with Tony and Seth. ”

Looking around I noticed it was busy, but not packed, and there were a couple of tables free. Around the food court were about ten or twelve different choices of food, from Chinese to McDonald’s to Indian and many others. “I’ll have a chicken kebab with everything, please, and a bottle of water.”

He nodded, leaned down and brushed his lips over mine before going off to get my food. I watched him with only the noise around me until, Tony spoke up. “You’re making it hard for him. You know that, right?”

I tore my gaze from Mason’s firm round butt. . “How? It was just a bit of fun.”

Tony shook his big, beefy head. “You’re young. With what you’ve gone though, he doesn’t want to scare you. Gillian, or even Bailey, would have happily come with you today. You’ve just made it that much harder for him to hold out for you to be ready. You’re not ready, are you? You’re just using him?” He shook his head. “Poor guy. You don’t get what he’s missing following you around like a puppy.”

My heart sank and I felt sick. I turned from Tony, duly chastised. Was what I’d done so cruel? I was ready for more, but only with Mason. The thought of doing anything like what I’d done in the lingerie store, or even kissing someone else, made my skin crawl and I felt like I needed to vomit. “You’re right. I’ll apologize to him.” I didn’t bother to look at him, as guilt assaulted me. I needed to talk to my therapists. I clenched my hands and then grabbed onto the end of my shirt and fiddled with the stitching as my brain went into overload. I wasn’t using Mason, was I? I had fallen in love with him. I loved him and I wanted a relationship with him. No, I wanted to be more than just a girlfriend, I wanted everything with Mason. Maybe I should give him a break though, sleep by myself or go out with his aunt or mother. My stomach rolled and I didn’t feel hungry at all.

Crossing my arms over my chest I ignored the guards and knew that I would ask when I spoke to my therapist if she could make sure anyone but Tony was my guard from now on. He got me thinking. I knew what I wanted, but maybe Mason did need a break or wasn’t on the same page as me. Was Tony right? Was I not ready to have a relationship with Mason? I needed time without him to see how I felt. Yes. That’s what I’d do.

Mason came back and I picked at my food. My mind kept repeating what Tony had said over and over. I thought I’d been doing so well, but I needed to speak to my therapist.

FUCK. THE OTHER SHOE HAD fucking dropped. Alexa was spending the afternoon with her therapist and had refused to sleep in the bed with me the night before. Since seeing her the first night all bruised and battered, this was the longest I’d been away from her and it was driving me nuts.

I paced back and forth in the gym, too hyper to concentrate on a workout. I was supposed to be training for a fight, but I was too preoccupied with Alexa and knew I was going to miss it. Mikey, my coach, was pissed to say the least. He gave me the if-I–wanted-to-have-a–carreer-as-a-professional-boxer-I-needed-to-focus-on-my-training-and-not-let-my-social-life-interfere speech. I was young, though, and I knew that I would have time to focus on my career later, but right now I needed Alexa to be my world.

My mind went over the previous day trying to think of what had happened between her teasing me at the lingerie shop and kissing me, and then the food court. She’d barely touched her food and I know she didn’t come down for dinner last night.

I needed to talk to the security who was with us yesterday. Leaving the gym, I went to the security house, only to be stopped by my mother. Tears glided down her face.

“Mum, what’s wrong? What’s happened? Is it Alexa?” I grabbed her shoulders and resisted the urge to shake the news out of her.

“Dus . . . Dusta . . . Dustan!” she wailed.

“What about Dustan?”

“They had him. They shot him. He’s . . . he’s in a . . . a coma.” Her whole body was shaking with sobs. “We need to get to the hospital.”

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