Chapter 23
Mason
I saw how hesitant Ash was to buy the clothes in the store, but I was determined to make her throw caution to the wind. I’d stepped out of my bubble to find her, and it had thrown me for a loop. I wanted to be there for her when she stepped out of her regular life.
I knew she’d have to work past the prices and finally understand that she wasn’t paying for any of it. It warmed my soul when I watched her start to slowly begin plucking things from the racks and looking at them, instead of the price tags.
And then, my phone rang.
“Hello?” I asked without looking at the caller ID.
“Mason! Sweetheart! Where in the world are you?”
Great. Mom.
“I’ve just taken the helicopter up the coast for the weekend. Everything all right?”
“You didn’t leave a note or anything,” she said.
“Well, you told me you had plans for the weekend, so I made plans as well.”
“I’m shocked you’re not with Eva. I saw her for lunch yesterday!”
“Sounds fantastic, Mom. Listen, is everything all right?”
The last thing I wanted to do was hear that name while I was with Ash again. I was determined to make this weekend as special as I could for both of us, and I didn’t want any complications from our lives interrupting the beauty we had already jumpstarted. I was shocked enough that she was willing to forgive me, but I knew if I dug myself another hole, I might not be as fortunate next time.
“Well, need I remind you we are set to leave for Milan at the beginning of next week?”
“And I’ll be home in time for the family trip, I promise, Mom.”
“I mentioned the trip to Eva, and she seemed delighted!”
My heart sank. “What, Mom?”
“I mentioned the family trip to Eva. After all, this time next year, she will be family, and I thought she would enjoy it. I told her I could take her wedding dress shopping in the heart of Milan.”
“I don’t remember proposing, Mom,” I said lowly.
“Oh, don’t be silly,” she said breezily. “You’ll get around to it.”
“Mom. I do not love Eva. No one is proposing marriage to Eva.”
“Nonsense. She’s a wonderful woman!”
“Mom—”
“Mason. I know you believe in true love and all that nonsense, and I know you’ve been gallivanting around just like Winston has been the past few years. Eva has watched you court around other women and held her head high, just like a fiance should.”
“I haven’t proposed, Mother!”
“But you will,” she said sternly.
“No, I won’t,” I declared. I had now officially had enough. I glanced over at Ash who was walking up to the register, and I knew I had to cut the call short, thank god.
“Eva will be going on the trip to Milan, and I thought it would be a beautiful place to propose,” my mother suggested.
“Then you’ll be sorely disappointed,” I sighed.
“I should hope not. Your father would be rolling over in his grave if he knew—”
“That I was marrying someone I didn’t love? Funny, he got to marry someone he loved.”
My mother fell silent on the end of the line, and although I knew she was saddened, I meant every word I said. My father revolted against my grandmother so he could marry the woman I was now arguing with on the other end of the line. My mother was hardly my grandmother’s choice for my father, and here she was, forcing me to do the same thing while my father’s legacy flew from her lips.
And then, an idea popped into my head, and I knew exactly how I was going to get my mom to drop the Eva issue altogether.
“I gotta go, Mom. I’ll see you in time for Milan.”
“Mason, wait—”
I hung up the phone just as the woman handed Ash her bag, and when she turned to me, she had a massive smile on her face. It warmed my heart to see her so content and happy, and when she walked up to me, she asked me what was next.
I wanted her to have the perfect day, so I told her we could go do anything she wanted. I was surprised when she wanted to go back to the hotel. We climbed into the Mercedes and made our way back to the penthouse, and when we walked into the room, she quickly began shedding her clothes.
I watched her clothes fall to the floor while her curves emerged for my viewing pleasure, and she swayed her luscious hips before she threw open the balcony door in our bedroom and stepped out and into the hot tub.
“Care to join me?” she asked.
We sat naked in each other’s arms on the private balcony while the water bubbled around us in the hot tub. I held her close to me while my dick throbbed against her body. She wiggled around in my lap and smiled when I would finally buck into her, but something told me she would do nothing but tease me until the time was right for her.
And I was willing to follow her into the abyss if it meant feeling her body wrapped around my dick again.
“What would you like to do about dinner?” I said in her ear.
“Well, I bought a new dress. Maybe we could go out somewhere?”
“Sounds wonderful. I know exactly where to take you.”
We got dressed, and she slipped into the bathroom. I found it curious that she was hiding getting dressed from me after we had spent an hour in the hot tub, naked and rubbing against one another. But when she emerged, I took in the bright blue, white, and green floral fabric that fell from her shoulders, fluttered around her chest, and wafted around her thighs. She looked absolutely radiant, and she was smiling bright at me. All I could do was shake my head and rake my eyes along her body.
“You look…” I trailed off.
She smiled and blushed underneath my gaze. I strode across the room and pulled her close to me. I felt her breath pulsating against my lips before I placed a small kiss on the tip of her nose, and when it crinkled, I felt my heart physically tug in ecstasy.
“Ready to go?” I said.
“Always,” she whispered in return.
I took her to a restaurant that overlooked the crashing waves of the ocean, and I couldn’t keep my hands off her. I held her fingers within the palm of my hand while she watched the ocean, and when she turned her head back to me, she flashed that beautiful smile I’d come to adore.
“Thank you so much for the clothes, Mason. They’re beautiful.”
“It’s nothing. Really. This dress looks beautiful on you.”
“They’re the most expensive things I own now,” she said nervously.
“And you deserve much more than that.”
Her gratitude was astounding to me, and it was in that moment that I realized just how much I took for granted in my life. Honestly, I’d never seen a light bill or a phone bill, or even a bill of sale for something I’d purchased.
It was nothing for me to forgo receipts and never once take a look at price tags, and I realized that all of this was a dominant force in Ash’s life. Bills and receipts, budgets and clothing sales, all of it was how she built the life she had. Never once did I ever need to take any of that into consideration.
I could see the gratitude and thankfulness in her eyes, and it sucker-punched me in my gut, in the best way possible.
“If you’re up for it,” I said. “I have one last thing for you.”
“Oh, really now?” she asked, smiling. “And what might that be?”
I dug around in the pockets of my coat and pulled out the jewelry I’d purchased her the day before that stupid charity dinner. I set the dark velvet boxes in front of her as her eyes followed my movements. I watched her breathing speed up slowly, and I chuckled when I realized what she thought was happening.
“No, none of these are rings,” I said.
I saw her release a breath of relief, but I realized I wasn’t doing the same thing. I realized that my body didn’t panic when I mentioned buying Ash a ring, and there was even a small part of me that could actually envision the type of ring I would get her.
I watched her hands slowly move to the boxes, and when she opened them, I saw tears burst forth from her eyes. She picked up the necklace and lightly fingered the precious beads adorning them. Then she moved to open the box for the earrings and realized they not only matched each other, but also matched her dress.
“Mason,” she whispered. “These are absolutely beautiful.”
“I got them when I saw them. They reminded me of you.”
“When did you get these?” she asked. “We’ve been together all day!”
“I got them the day before that idiotic charity dinner. I wanted to give them to you that night, but you already had such nice jewelry on already.”
I mentally kicked myself for bringing that night up again, but Ash clutched my hand while her eyes sparkled with happiness.
“They’re absolutely beautiful, Mason. Thank you.”
“You deserve all of it, Ash. All of it, and so much more.”
I looked into her watery green eyes, and suddenly, it all fell into place. Tears streamed down her cheeks while she held the necklace tight in her other hand, and I realized why everything suddenly felt so different, why the earth had suddenly shifted, and why I suddenly couldn’t catch my breath.
I was falling in love with Ash, and I realized then and there that I would do anything I could in order to have her.
“Could you help me put it on?” she asked, holding out the necklace to me.
I got up and rounded the table. Ash piled her hair high on her head, and I slipped the necklace around her neck and fastened it. I bent down and kissed the back of her neck while she slipped the earrings into her ears. Then I helped her with the bracelet before I took her hand and sat back down.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off her during dinner. I appreciated that she wasn’t afraid to order off the actual menu. A salad to her was an appetizer and not the main course, and I reveled in spoiling her with all the incredible foods this restaurant had to offer.
She wanted her own dessert, and we got to share and try each other’s. When the check finally came, I couldn’t pay it fast enough. She looked radiant in the things I’d bought her, and I wanted to get her back to the hotel so I could slowly peel her layers back and lick every exposed part of her.
We tumbled into the hotel suite, and my back landed against the back of the couch. We toppled over and laughed when the both of us hit the floor on the other side, but I soon flipped her over onto her back and planted my lips firmly back onto hers. Her red lips cascaded down my cheeks and neck, and her hands were trembling too much to get my clothes off. I couldn’t wait to get everything off us.
I needed her, and I needed her now.
I pulled her into my lap before I rose up and set myself back onto the couch. Her hands flew to my pants. She pulled my throbbing dick from its confines just before it started leaking from its tip, and her knees planted next to my hips before she pushed her panties off to the side.
She sank herself down onto my dick, and I could feel the lacy number she was wearing underneath her dress. I told myself I was gonna pull them off with my teeth when I could finally lay her down on her back.
Her hands gripped my hair, and she rocked back and forth in my lap. The fire that shot through my body was nothing short of mind-numbing. I forgot about the trip to Milan, and I forgot about my mother pushing that insane woman into my life. I even forgot about the threat that bitch made toward my family fortune.
“You’re incredible, Ash,” I whispered.
I grasped her ass cheeks and rose up with her, and while I was still seated inside of her, I shuffled out of my pants and slowly walked us to the bedroom. I laid her down and threw the crooks of her legs over my shoulders. I felt her fingertips grip my strong thighs in anticipation for what was to come.
I pounded my hips into hers while getting a peek of the bright orange lingerie she had on underneath. A low groan escaped from my lips when her pussy began to flutter around my dick. I bent over and rested my body on her hamstrings, pinning her to the bed, and her jaw unhinged in silent delight as my balls began to slap against her ass cheeks.
“Oh, god,” Ash choked out.
I pinned her wrists above her head and felt her juices covering my balls. For a split second, I debated on keeping her here. I could beg her to quit her job, and we could live on the edges of Big Sur and never look back while we lived our lives. I’d offer to pay all of her debt off, get her a better car, and buy her a completely new wardrobe with lingerie I could peel off with my teeth every night.
I plowed myself into her hips and felt her body molding and shaking underneath mine, and I realized I was falling in love with Ash.
And I didn’t want it to stop.
“I’m coming,” she moaned.
Her body trembled, and her throbbing walls pulled me deep into her body, and for the first time, I didn’t give a shit that I didn’t come. Pleasure cascaded across her features, and I watched her hard nipples push through the fabric of her beautiful dress. When her pussy was finally done sucking down my cock, she slipped her legs off my shoulders.
I laid down, my face planted right into her luscious breasts, and I felt her heave for air while her hands slowly ran through my hair.
“Did you come?” she finally asked.
“Doesn’t matter,” I murmured into her skin.
“Well, that just won’t do,” she huffed.