Page 36 of The Spare

A hand leaves my hips to press into my stomach, and he pulls me firmly against him in a rather rough movement that has me gasping and crashing back to earth with him. I raise my arms and sink my fingers into his hair as he presses his lips to my shoulder, and I grind my ass into his pelvic to the beat of the music.

He chuckles sexily in my ear, and his minty, whiskey breath washes over my skin as we sway.

Our hands smooth over each other, and he holds me tighter and tighter until I'm suddenly spiraling again, wondering at what this is between us.

"Butterfly," he whispers in my ear, but before he can say anything else, I feel another body press up against my front and I open my eyes in shock, looking into the eyes of a brown-haired man in his mid twenties. He'd been dancing nearby, mingling with anyone and everyone, seemingly having the best night of his life. But unfortunately, he'stoouninhibited.

He leans forward, his eyes hooded, getting ready to kiss me. My jaw goes slack, but then there's a hard jerk as Mason moves fast.

His hand leaves my belly to wrap around the man's neck in a rough slap and squeezes in a grip so hard the man's eyes bug out of his head, and he's obviously so stunned he can't react. The man jerks, his body brushing against mine as he attempts to move.

I shrink against Mason's front, crying out in shock, but I'm trapped between the two men as Mason just calmly squeezes.

And squeezes.

My chin quivers as I stare into the eyes of the stranger who's eyes begin to flicker, looking like he's slowly going unconscious.

"Mason!Mason let go of him!"I raise my hands and wrap them around his forearm, tugging. The muscles are tight with strain, and when I tilt my head up to look at him, Mason's face is pulled tight in a hateful expression, and his eyes looks a little lost.

I press my lips to his neck. "Mason, calm down. He didn't hurt me. Let him go," I say, feeling my knees buckle.

Mason's chest heaves against my back, but his forearm loosens, and he makes a grunting noise as he lets the man go abruptly and thenputs his hand back on my stomach, pulling me somehow even closer. The man collapses to the ground in front of me coughing a sickening, hacking noise that has me taking another step into Mason.

Dante steps quickly in front of me and grabs him up, marching him away from us and off the dance floor.

I turn in Mason's arms, my eyes wide. I'm ready to set him out, but the look on his face draws me up short.

He's standing still. The people dance around us, not even noticing we're in our own world as he stares at me with an ashamed, slightly guilty look on his face, but he's quiet, just waiting for me and my reaction to what he just did. No doubt wondering if I'm going to reject and belittle him like everyone else always seems to.

The crowd next to us doesn't miss a beat, and so, neither will we.

From experience I know that Dante will handle the guy, and he'll probably walk away with a bunch of money after signing an NDA, so he's not my worry.

Mason is.

I bring a hand up and touch his cheek gently before going higher and running my hands through his hair in a slow, soft movement. One I've only ever dreamed about doing. His eyes close, and he takes a slow, deep breath. Though we're in public, it's so intimate that it floors me.

"I'm okay, Masey," I reassure him, stepping into him again and beginning to roll my hips slightly, urging him to dance with me. His eyes open, regarding me with a sad look.

"I'm sorry, Mel," he says in a soft strained voice. So low that I almost didn't hear him. My eyes prick. He looks so tortured, so tense, that I rise to my tiptoes and press my lips to his jaw. Letting myself have this.

He softens immediately, bringing his arms around me and pulling me in close, and I eat that up, too.

"He didn't hurt me Mason, because of you," I whisper against his ear as he relents and begins to move with me. We start off hesitant at first, but soon, he lets the incident go and puts a hand to my hip as we move together properly now, and it's so sexy.

Natural.

I wish like hell our clothes were off, but after a couple of hours he just takes me back to my dorm and leaves.

Leaves me by myself once again.

Chapter twelve

Don't Piss Me Off

"Mason, wait..." she gasps. Tossing her head, she stiffens before arching her back on a low, breathy moan. "Mason, I don't know what I'm doing…"

I look up the expanse of her body, seeing her skin shiny with sweat, dotted with goosebumps, and trembling with need.