Chapter Fourteen
I’d been awake for the last three hours.
It was a little past ten in the morning. I knew that wasn’t late per se, but it was the longest I’d slept in years. My sore body more than likely contributed to that.
Everything hurt, from my puffy eyes to between my bruised legs. I wanted to lift the silk sheet off me and examine myself, but that required movement, and I just wanted to lay still.
Of all the emotions I should feel, oddly enough, betrayal was at the forefront. Was it wrong to have faith in strangers? Maybe I was just too naïve when it came to dealing with men.
He was nice to you. No one pays you any attention; you finally exist to someone other than your bitch of a mother.
“Don’t talk about her like that,” I mumbled, guilt setting in as I thought about my mom for the first time since everything transpired. She had to know I was missing by now.
Footsteps in the hall drew my attention over to the doors. One swung open, and Mason walked in, carrying a silver tray in his hands.
“Permanecer,” he said, looking over his shoulder. I peered pasthim to see three large black dogs promptly sit down on their hunches. Where had those come from?
“Good morning.” He gave me a full dimpled smile, setting the tray on the nightstand. Watching him walk across the room, I couldn’t help but marvel. He was back in a flawless three-piece suit, sans tie, looking just as good as he had the night before.
He pulled the drapes open before coming to sit on the edge of the bed. I had to shield my eyes for a second as they adjusted to the bright sunlight pouring into the room.
“Sit up. I brought breakfast.” He gestured to the tray, reaching for it in the process.
See, he’s thoughtful.
There was a monkey muffin in the center of a round dish. A glass of milk was on one side, and a single white rose was on the other.
Were the roses from him?
“How did you know I liked these?” I asked, sitting up so he could place the tray on my lap, keeping the sheet wrapped around my chest.
“I know you,” he shrugged. Shrugged, like it was no big deal he knew what kind of muffins my father used to bring me after being gone for days at a time.
“How do you know my father?” I tried a new approach. Did he know where he went?
“That’s not important. Eat the muffin.” He nudged the plate towards me. I glanced at the large dogs watching us from the hall, then back at him, shaking my head.
“I can’t.”
“You can’t?”
Eat the fucking muffin.
“I can’t,” I snapped, glaring at the plate. My gaze went right back to Mason’s when I realized I’d spoken to myself out loud again. He stood from the bed without another word, walked to the door and pushed it shut.
“Katie,” he sighed, turning back around. Does he think I’m weird now? I tried my best not to squirm under his watchful eye. He had done a nice thing, and I ruined it. The bed dipped beneath his weight when he sat back down.
“You’re going to eat this.” He moved the tray from my lap back to the nightstand, grabbing the muffin and holding it between us.
“I’m going to have my dick and my tongue in your ass, mouth, and pussy every day. Eating a muffin in front of me shouldn’t be an issue.” He broke a chunk loaded with coconut and chocolate chip right off the top.
If I could see my face, I knew it would be crimson.
His vulgarity didn’t surprise me. The way he spoke to me was embarrassingly arousing, and called forth images I shouldn’t have dared think about.
I opened my mouth, closing it around the delicious bite of banana flavored muffin. We sat like that for a good few minutes. He’d break a piece off, and then feed it to me. As I watched him watch me, question after question swirled through my head.
Mason was an enigma to me. I didn’t know anything about him, yet I knew what his body felt like. His skin was soft and warm, his chest solid and smooth, and his cock was thick and long. He wore suits, he was devastatingly handsome, and after he had hurt me, he made me feel good.
On the surface, he was the kind of man I daydreamed about. Beneath that were layers and pieces I couldn’t begin putting together. Why would a man like him take a sudden interest in a girl like me?
Why are you doing this? You want him; let him do whatever he wants to you. Stop trying to ruin this.
“Why did you kidnap me?” I finally asked him, causing him to pause in the middle of pulling another chunk of muffin off.
“Did I force you to get in the car?” He quirked a dark brow, leaning back on his elbow.
“Well, no. But–”
“I didn’t kidnap you, Katie-Kat. I gave you a chance to say no. You came with me out of your free will.”
“You said you were taking me home.”
“This is your home.”
We stared at one another. He looked amused; I was frustrated. If this wasn’t kidnapping, what was it?
“You held a dope rag over my face to knock me out. What was that, then?”
He let out a mirthful laugh and sat back up.
“Katie, that was me taking precautions. I couldn’t have you wide awake and memorizing the route. I did that for your safety. ”
“Do you have any idea how insane you sound? Were you the one behind the roses?” I held up the flower by its thorny stem. I knew the answer already, but I needed to hear it from him.
“I gave you roses because they remind me of you. They represent new beginnings, innocence, sympathy, and purity. All those things relate to you. There’s more to them than meets the eye. They have a subtle beauty that can be overlooked by others.” He ran his thumb over my cheek, pressing a lingering kiss on my forehead.
He sat the muffin on the tray before taking hold of my wrists and running his thumbs over the scars.
“You’re so much more than the strange girl your mother tries to hide from the world. No one should be ashamed of you. Your flaws make you the closest thing to perfection I’ve ever seen.”
“Mason.” Sighing, I rested my forehead against his. This situation was so beyond normal; I gave up trying to make sense of it. The biggest question was why? Why did he have such devotion to my well-being? How the hell did he know I was in the hospital?
“Why did you take me?” Pulling away from him, I looked into his eyes, searching for answers. Instead of answering me, he cupped my jaw, adding pressure to force my mouth open.
He brought our lips together, using his tongue to tempt mine. Wrapping my arms around the back of his neck, I mimicked his movements. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I registered that this was my first real kiss.
He was my first everything, making me feel things I never knew I could. I hated it. This wasn’t normal. Why couldn’t I just be normal? He tasted like fresh cinnamon and mint; it would forever be my favorite flavor.
His dark hair was still damp from a recent shower. When the sheet fell away, exposing my round breasts, I was too caught up in him to care. He broke the kiss off after a few minutes, nuzzling his nose against mine.
“You have an amazing body. I want to paint you on a mural,” he murmured.
It took me a second to understand what he meant.
“You’re a painter?”
He’s gorgeous, artistic, thoughtful, and can make you come. Who cares how you got here? Why would you want to give that up?
Mason leaned back, dropping his gaze to my chest.
“I’m a lot of things,” he confessed, reaching out and tracing my breasts with his fingertips. Could he feel how fast my heart was beating?
“Some people have vices that terrify those raised to believe certain things are right and wrong. I’m one of those people.”
What?
“What aren’t you saying?”
“I like to take people apart for inspiration.”
Fighting to keep my face impassive, I waited for further explanation. He couldn’t mean that literally.
“I don’t…understand,” I said slowly, when he didn’t elaborate.
“Come on; I’ll show you.”