Page 176 of House of Payne

I’ve never felt more alive.

My release looms closer and closer until I cry out, and my body shakes. I’m still shaking and riding out my high when Mason nudges my legs farther apart and unlocks my handcuffs. He laces his fingers through mine and continues to grunt, the sound like music to my ears. Suddenly, I’m falling again, hurtling toward the edge as ripples of pleasure rip through me.

When I blink, I’m on my back and Mason is over me. He pins my arms on either side of me and lifts my legs over his shoulders. Then, he eases in and out of me with slow, practiced strokes. Little by little, his movements change, becoming wild and frantic. As he starts chanting my name, I turn my head to the side and exhale.

I’m still shaking and trying to force air back into my lungs when I feel Mason’s mouth on my nipples. He moves between the two, licking and biting until his release comes. In a few quick thrusts, Mason comes undone. Once he stops shaking, he stays on top of me, letting my legs fall against the mattress.

Then, he presses his forehead to mine and breathes deeply.

I have no idea how long we stay like that, trapped in our own bubble, existing outside of time and space.

But when he shifts, and I feel a draft of cold air between us, a hard knot settles in my stomach. I turn onto my side to watch as he sits on the edge of the bed and leans over. Slowly, he turns to face me, and the look on his face makes something in me melt. Wordlessly, Mason snaps his boxers back on and throws the covers away. He drapes an arm over my shoulders and tucks me into his side as tears prick my eyes.

I curl against him and sigh, my body going slack.

Don’t get your hopes up. Having feelings for each other doesn’t mean any of this will be easy. It doesn’t change who he is.

But I already know that everything has changed for me.

Mason releases a deep breath. “You realize there’s no going back?”

I lift my head to look at him. “I know.”

Mason’s eyes are softer now, and more open. “Do you?”

I nod and sit up straighter. “I do. Mason, I… before you, I didn’t know that this…” I make a vague hand gesture, “any of this was possible.”

Mason raises an eyebrow. “And now you think you couldn’t possibly go back.”

I hold his gaze. “There is no going back. Not for me, at least.”

For the first time in a long time, I feel I’m where I’m supposed to be, and with who I’m supposed to be.

It feels like I’m opening my eyes and seeing myself clearly.

Not through anyone’s lens but my own.

It seems fitting that Mason was the one to unlock this side of me.

I’m still clinging to the belief that I could go back to the comfort and familiarity of my old life and start over, but I push that voice to the back of my mind.

“I know what I want,” I add, my voice stronger now. “Maybe that’s crazy to you, but it all makes sense…”

Mason’s eyes move over my face, and he doesn’t say anything.

Finally, he squeezes my shoulders and looks away. “It shouldn’t make sense, but it does…at least to me.Youmake sense to me.”

I wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t.

I’m not sure he can.

At least I know we’re navigating this unfamiliar terrain together.

I lower myself back onto the mattress and look up at him. “What happens next?”

Mason’s grip tightens, and a shadow settles over his face. “Now, I have to figure out how to make them pay for taking you.”

I swallow. “That’s bad, isn’t it? Aren’t they meant to be your allies?”