What is this? One last fuck before she runs back to her boyfriend? If that is what’s going on, I don’t have the strength to tell her no. I’m too weak, too sold out for her to turn her down. Pussy-whipped and fucking drunk on her to push her away.
I keep my gaze on hers and she pulls open the glass. Stepping one delicate foot at a time onto the heated tile, she closes the door behind her and stares up at me. Her eyes communicate a pain that she hasn’t given a voice to. God, I wish she would. Is she hurting as much as I am?
A war wages within, the fight to run from the pain, but the draw that demands I soothe her. My fingers itch to touch her and before I can contemplate the consequences, they move.
I cup her jaw, wiping the dark smudges beneath her eyes with my thumbs. “Why are you crying?” Steam rolls around us, leaving a sheer mist upon her skin that calls for my lips. This is wrong. I should let her go, but—
A sob rips from her throat.
“Stop holding back from me.”
With a gentle tug, I pull her to me. Her breasts press against my ribcage and my hard-on to her stomach. Disgust rolls in my gut at how I can be so fucking hard for a woman who’s ripping my heart from my chest.
“Mason, I . . .” She shakes her head and her gaze drops away from mine.
“Talk to me.” It’s all I can get out before my lips crash against hers. Hunger fuels my body as my arms wrap tightly around her. Our tongues tangle together in a cocktail of fury and possession. She groans and hitches her leg to my hip and I drive my hands to her ass, gripping hard until she whimpers. Adrenaline bursts through my veins at the satisfaction that comes with her pain. I lift her up, slamming her back against the wall while I delve deeper into her sweet mouth.
Her heels press against my ass, her body begging for me to enter her, to take what, after tonight, will belong to another man. I growl into her mouth as anger rips through my body. She wants one last good-bye fuck, a pity party for the poor schmuck who lost the girl. I want to. My dick and the drive to punish her tell me to fuck her hard and walk away. Leave her with an ache between her legs, matching the ache she’ll leave in my chest.
She claws at my arms. “Please, I need you.” She said herself that she uses her body as a tool, which is exactly what she’s doing now. As angry as I am, I’m incapable of using her. She’s worth more than that, even if she doesn’t realize it.
I force my lips from hers, and her eyes pop wide with shock. Reluctantly, I unhook her legs to place her gently to the ground. I put as much distance between us as possible in the confined space.
“I can’t do this.” I run a hand through my wet hair. “I won’t.”
“Why?” Her voice threatens to unman me. “Will you look at me?”
I contemplate saying no, telling her that looking at her will only remind me of all I’m about to lose. I can’t bear to see her regard me like I’m just some guy rather than her only guy.
“Please.”
I shake my head, but peek up at her. “What?”
She’s covering her breasts with her arms; her lip quivers. “I love you.”
The words hit me like a roundhouse kick to the head. “What? How . . . what?” I blink and lean closer, sure I misheard.
“I know this is soon and sounds crazy, but I’m in love with you, Mason. The head-over-heels kind, the making-big-changes kind, the forever-and-ever kind.”
“How drunk are you?”
“Not drunk enough that I don’t know how I feel.”
This is bullshit! All of it.
My thoughts spin with confusion. “What do you want from me, Trix?” My hands shake as I step closer to her, not sure if I want to grab her into my arms or wrap my hands around her neck.
She stands tall, confident. “I want to be a better woman for you, wake up every morning with you. I want you to wonder what kind of mother I’ll be and dream about the future we’ll have together. I want you to want to marry me, spend the rest of your life with me, and be proud to do it. That’s what I want from you.”
A low growl rumbles in my chest. “That’s a lot to ask seeing as you just told me you’re leaving me for someone else.”
Her gaze sinks to the floor. “I know. But there’s a lot you don’t know. If you’d give me time to explain, I think you’ll understand. I hope you’ll understand.”
“Start fucking talking.”
Twenty-seven
Trix
I take a shaky breath and wipe my eyes with the hem of the T-shirt Mason gave me to wear. Sitting cross-legged on his bed, I want so badly for him to hold me in his arms, but he’s all the way across the room. His back is to the wall, elbows on his knees, with his head in his hands.
“It took me two years of working at Zeus’s, trying to get close enough to every biker who came in and hope beyond hope they knew something.” Every word that leaves my lips seems to deliver Mason physical pain, but he needs to know. He needs to hear it all. “When I met Hatch, he warmed up to me, and it was easy to get him talking. Found out he had ties to Northern California.”