Mason didn’t know how he got talked into going to Brooks’ house with his friends. He would much rather have stayed at his own place and wallowed in his self pity, but he’d secretly needed their company and so he allowed them to bully him into moving the pity party to his friend’s house. Now he knew why they had all been so insistent that he come. Abby was here and she was looking at him like he hung the moon.

“You sent my book to my editor,” she said.

The room around them fell silent, or he blocked out every other sound just so he could hear her voice.

“It’s a great book, Abby,” he said, taking a step closer to her.

She stood from the couch so that she wasn’t craning her neck to look at him.

“You liked it?” she asked.

“I loved it,” he said, taking a few more steps so that he was close enough to touch her.

“You don’t think Hyde is too much like you?”

“I wish I was like Hyde,” he said and the corner of his mouth tipped up. “Abby, I was wrong.”

She blinked up at him, her eyes glassy. “No, Mason—”

“Shh, just listen for a minute. I was wrong to accuse you of betraying me. I should’ve known that you wouldn’t do that. The honest truth is, I was scared. I’ve never felt like this before, the depth of feeling I have for you scared the bejesus out of me. I should have stayed and let you explain, I should have trusted my gut and not my head. I should have trusted you.”

He lifted a finger and touched her cheek, skimming it down over her cheek, her skin soft beneath the pad of his finger.

“I love you Abby. I’ve told you before and nothing that has happened has made me love you any less. After reading your manuscript I think I might even love you a little more.” She smiled at his attempt at levity. “I’ve never been in a situation like this before and I’m bound to make mistakes, can you forgive me?”

Abby threw herself into his arms and he held her tight, breathing in her scent, relishing her lush curves as she moulded herself around him. He kissed the top of her head as she burrowed into his chest. They stood like that for an eternity and for not long enough before she pulled away and looked up at him.

“You really still love me after I broke your trust?” she asked.

“Abby, you didn’t—”

“No, I know I did. You trusted me with something precious and I knew the rules. You felt betrayed, like I had disrespected you and your story. I never meant to hurt you Mason, I never meant to betray you and I understand why you had to walk away and I will understand if you can’t love me anymore—”

He cupped her face and kissed her to stop the words from coming out of her mouth. How could she stand there and tell him it was okay not to love her because she messed up?

“Do you still love me, Abby?” he asked when he lifted his head.

“Yes,” she breathed, her eyes full of unshed tears, “So much.”

“So even though I made a mistake and walked away from you, you can and have forgiven me and still love me?” he asked.

She tried to nod, but he still held her face in his hands. “Yes, of course,” she said.

“So why can’t you believe me when I say that I forgive you and that I still love you? I messed up Abby and it probably won’t be the last time I mess up. This is all new to me, being in a relationship, having someone who I love with every breath that I breathe. I don’t exactly know what’s expected of me or when I’m doing something wrong. But please believe me when I say that my loving you has no conditions on it. We are both going to make mistakes. We are both going to fall short sometimes, and when that happens it’s our love for one another that is going to fill in the gaps and smooth over the rough patches. As long as we keep loving each other, nothing can come between us.”

She searched his eyes and he let her see right into his very soul. He wanted her to know that he spoke from his heart and that he wasn’t just trying to win her back, but that he actually meant everything he said. Her tears fell then and she looked at him with such adoration that he was humbled by it. This woman loved him and it made him both more powerful than Zeus and weaker than the tiniest mouse.

“I love you Mason,” she said, her voice thick with tears, “And nothing can ever change that.”

She cupped his face and he closed his eyes at the feel of her palms on his skin. He had never wanted another woman to touch him, not after the abuse Francine had inflicted on him, but Abby’s touch he craved. It felt like a healing balm, erasing the bitter memories of his past and blotting out the hurts inflicted on him by a woman who should have loved him. But he knew better now. He knew that family wasn’t always the people that shared the same blood in their veins. Mothers aren’t mothers just because they give birth. His friends; Brooks, Harper, Declan, Hunter, Bailey and Jonathan were his family. Abby was his family and for the first time in his life he was able to let go of the fairytale. He would never have a loving mother and he would never regain the father he’d lost, but he had a family he loved and who loved him and it was enough. More than enough.

Mason managed to get them extracted from their friends and back to her hotel suite in record time. Abby was glad, and as much as she loved her new friends and was grateful for both their intervention and their desire to celebrate her and Mason reconciling, there was plenty of time to do that later, after she and Mason had had a proper reconciliation.

He unlocked the room with her keycard and dropped her bag in the foyer.

“Make yourself at home,” she said to him, “I just need freshen up.”

Abby walked into the bedroom and through to the ensuite. She stripped out of her dowdy dress and stepped under the shower spray. She washed quickly, not wanting to waste time, but needing to wash away the residue of her mourning, and it had been a period of mourning.

She stepped out of the shower and then dried off. She tied her hair back in a simple pony tail and then walked back into the bedroom where she climbed on the bed and kneeled in the slave position, her eyes lowered and her hands behind her back. It didn’t take long for Mason to come and investigate where she was and she stayed still as he inspected her. She could feel her body’s response to his presence, her skin flushing with heat and her core dampening. Her nipples bunched under his gaze which felt like a caress on her skin and her breathing became shallow as her pulse sped up.

“Beautiful Sweet Abigail,” he said, his voice like warm chocolate poured over her.

She waited for him to touch her, but he didn’t. She resisted the desire to lift her head and look, instead closing her eyes and just letting her other senses take over. She heard his belt buckle hit the floor and then the sound of his zipper. She heard the rustle of fabric and her body responded with desire, the anticipation of what was to come ramping up her need.

His hand cupped her jaw and then slid around her neck to grasp her pony tail. He wrapped the hair around his fist and tugged, causing her face to lift and then he kissed her, long and hard, invading her mouth with his tongue, devouring her lips with nips and sucks and sips.

“Sweet Abigail,” he murmured against her lips, “I need you so badly.” He kissed her again and she melted into him, softening under his onslaught. “This first time tonight is going to be rough and hard and fast. I have missed you so much and I need you so much that I don’t think I can control myself. Use your safe word if you have to.” His lips hovered over hers, waiting. She tried to nod, but his hand in her hair held her tight. “I need your words, poppet,” he said roughly.

“Yes, Sir,” she replied in a whisper.

His lips crashed down on hers once more and then he was moving them, laying her down, shuffling their bodies up the bed so that her head was on the pillow. He lay over her, his body covering hers and he took her hands, entwining his fingers with hers, his palm against her palm, and rested them either side of her head, not letting go.

He kissed her jaw, licked her neck, nipped at her pulse all the while sliding his stiff erection through her folds, but not entering her. She thrust her hips up, needing the contact. Her breasts ached with the need to be touched, her nipples were tight buds begging for his hot mouth. He didn’t disappoint. He drew a hard peak into his mouth, sucking hard as he slammed his cock into her, finally entering her with a powerful thrust that had her crying out in relief and ecstasy.

He pumped into her relentlessly even as he switched his attentions to her other breast, suckling and nipping the tip before licking the underside and suckling and nipping there too. He gripped her hands, keeping the connection of palm on palm and she closed her eyes, lost to the sensation of being completely owned by the only man she had ever loved.

The rough, hard slide of him in and out of her wet channel and his unabated attentions to her breasts had her flying, her orgasm building with surprising and breathtaking speed. He murmured against her skin as his breathing became harsh and his rhythm punishing. She wrapped her legs around his hips and tilted her pelvis so that he slid deeper and he groaned against her, his hot, wet, mouth not leaving her sensitive and fevered flesh.

He lifted his head and kissed her mouth, his tongue thrusting into her like his cock was and she was overwhelmed with sensation. She gave herself over to it all, relishing it, delighting in the complete superfluity of the emotions that flooded her body and mind. This was what it was like to be loved wholly and completely… and to love wholly and completely in return.

“Come for me Sweet Abigail,” Mason murmured in her ear and her body obeyed.

Stars burst behind her eyelids as she contracted around him. The ripples of pleasure seemed to multiply exponentially as her body let go and peaked. She heard herself cry out, as Mason thrust into her one more time. She felt his girth swell inside her and then felt the throb of his release which sent her over again, her overstimulated body a slave to his touch.

He buried his head in the crook of her neck, his fingers still gripping hers. She felt the tension leave his body and melt into hers and she responded in kind. His weight on her was good, it felt secure and safe, holding her together when she felt like she might fly apart in a hundred different directions. She closed her eyes and soaked him in, absorbing him through her skin, connected to him in the most primitive of ways.

This was all she needed. Just him. The two of them stripped down with nothing between them, no secrets, no lies, no baggage from the past. Naked in more ways than just a lack of clothing. This is where their souls touched, joined, became one. This is where she finally felt whole.

They slept for a while then, both of them exhausted by the emotional turmoil of the past week. Mason held her close, needing to feel her body next to his. He didn’t dream, not like he had dreamed in the past. There were no nightmares, just the beautiful slumber of a man content and in love and loved in return. He had found peace at last.

But sleep only held them for a while and it wasn’t long before Mason was nuzzling her awake, needing her again, needing to be joined with her in the most fundamental of ways. His body needed reassurance that this was real and his eyes needed to see her, his hands needed to touch her. He needed to kiss her and show her with action how much he adored her, how he craved her.

There was no bondage or dominance, not tonight. Tonight he just needed her, exactly as she was. He thrilled at her hands on his skin as they explored his body and he delighted in further exploring hers. They would still have their little games, they would still satisfy their needs for bondage play and dominance and submission, but they had the rest of their lives to play, what they both needed now was the deep connection that came when everything else had been removed. They had both been carrying hurts around for a lifetime and this night was about healing each other with touches and words only born of love.

They slept and woke to make love and then slept again until finally the room was light and the new day had begun bringing with it unlimited possibilities. Mason slid out of the bed, careful not to wake Abby, and he walked out into the living area and over to the big window that gave them a view of the city. Melbourne sparkled in the morning light, the buildings glinting with gold as the sun’s rays hit them. His mind had never been as clear and untroubled as it was in this moment and he breathed deep, relishing the fresh air in his lungs.

With a smile on his face, he rang for room service and then went to take a quick shower. He slipped on a fluffy hotel robe and went to open the door when breakfast came. He set out the food on the dining table and then went back to wake Abby. She looked adorable sleeping on her side, her hands tucked under her cheek. He leaned down and kissed her temple, sliding the hair off her forehead. Her eyes fluttered opened and she smiled up at him, causing his heart to melt into goo.

“Good morning, my love,” he said, “I have sustenance for us.”

She yawned and stretched and he couldn’t help but watch and appreciate the way the sheet slid over her body giving him tantalising glimpses of what was underneath.

She followed him out to the living area, slipping on a matching robe and sat at the table, her eyes wide at the overabundance of food.

“Hungry?” she asked looking up at him with a sweet smile.

“I thought we’d need to keep our strength up,” he said with a wink and she grinned.

They ate, talking and laughing and being quiet sometimes and it felt like a dream, a dream so perfect that he never wanted to wake up from it.

When Abby had set down her coffee cup and leaned back in her chair rubbing her belly and declaring that she couldn’t possibly eat another bite, Mason’s hand reached into the pocket of his robe and fingered the velvet box that he’d put there earlier.

“Sweet Abigail,” he said, reaching across the table to take her hand. “I love you so much.”

She squeezed his hand and smiled adoringly at him. “I love you too,” she said.

“Neither of us had much of a family growing up,” he said after taking a deep breath, “We’ve both struggled to find our place in the world and I thought I’d found it when I met Brooks and Declan and Hunter and Jonathon. They became my family and I was convinced that they were all I’d ever need. And then I met you.”

She gasped and covered her mouth with her free hand, her eyes sparkling with tears.

“Abby, you turned my world upside down and challenged me in ways that no one ever has and because of that I am here before you a better man. I cannot imagine a future without you in it and I want you to know that, to know I’m yours for however long you will have me. I want us to be a family, Abby.” He slid off the chair and onto his knees in front of her, pulling the ring box out of his pocket and flipping it open one handed, making sure to keep hold of her other hand, needing the contact. “Marry me, Abby. Marry me and be my family.”

She looked at the ring and then looked at him and his heart was pounding out of his chest as he waited for her to respond. Her tears overflowed, dripping from her lashes and sliding down her cheeks. When she removed her hand from her mouth she was smiling and nodding.

“Words, Abby, I need your words.”

“Yes,” she said, sliding off her chair and into his arms, “Yes, Mason, I will marry you.”

She kissed him then and he could taste the bitterness of her coffee, the sweetness of the maple syrup, the saltiness of her tears and that unique taste of her, his Abby, his Sweet Abigail.

“I love you poppet,” he breathed into her hair as he held her to his chest, “I’ll always love you.”