Locked and Loaded (17 page)

Charlie's answering laughter loosened the tightness in his chest. “That would be quite the conversation piece.”

“Priceless.”

A flush rose to her cheeks. How many men had told Charlie that she was beautiful? Sensual? Desirable? Mason would tell her every day for the rest of her life if she looked at him with the same heat that smoldered in her eyes right now.

She didn't say another word. Instead, Charlie leaned in and kissed him. Mason's lips parted as her tongue darted between his lips. He swallowed down her contented moan as she deepened the kiss. His arms went around her as her fingers dove into his hair. Her kisses were precise. Languorous. Slowly, they built into something more frenzied and urgent. The flames of their passion blazed white-hot once again and Charlie murmured against his mouth, “I want you.”

It was Mason's turn to feel a pleasant rush from the compliment. “You can have me.” She could have any damned thing she wanted from him. All she had to do was ask.

Charlie pulled away. Mason resisted the urge to pull her back to him, to revel in the petal softness of her skin on his. She led him by the hand toward the bed and Mason followed. He was helpless to do anything but what she wanted. The realization shook Mason to his foundation. So far gone to Charlie, he'd trade his own goddamned high moral standards for a few minutes with her. He'd already run headlong toward a life he'd turned his back on for her. What else would he do before it was all said and done?

She stopped at the foot of the bed. Mason swallowed a groan as she pulled her full bottom lip between her teeth. Indecision marred her delicate features for a moment before she reached down and slid his boxers over his hips and down his thighs. Her eyes widened as her gaze raked him from head to toe. The admiration that flared there caused Mason's cock to harden to stone. He kicked his boxers the rest of the way off and stood still for her appraisal.

She glanced up at him from beneath lowered lashes. So coy. And so goddamned sexy. “Talk about a masterpiece.”

A rush of pure lust shot through him. Tonight with her wouldn't be enough, and he knew it. Mason wouldn't be satisfied until all of Charlie's nights belonged to him.

Every last one.

Chapter Seventeen

No one had ever made Charlie feel as though she burned from the inside out. And never had anyone helped her to feel so comfortable in her own skin. So confident in her sex appeal. Mason made her feel beautiful. Sensual. Wanted.

Bold
.

With the same detailed attention he'd bestowed on her, Charlie kissed Mason's neck, sucking gently before grazing him with her teeth. She kissed her way to the hollow of his throat, where her tongue dipped briefly before she went lower, across his collarbone, over the muscled hills of his pecs, down the firm ridges of his abs. Her hands wandered to his back and her fingers traveled the groove of his spine cut into the muscles there. Charlie's gaze settled at the V at the juncture of his hips and thighs. She ran the flat of her tongue along one deep slash, and Mason's body went taut. A satisfied smile curled her lips as she repeated the action on the other side.

He groaned.

“You're going to drive me crazy if you keep that up.”

“I owe you,” she murmured against his skin. Another lick. “Your tongue just did some pretty wonderful things to me.”

Charlie's hands glided down the small of Mason's back to cup his ass. She dug in with her nails. Mason grunted as he gave an involuntary thrust of his hips. Her hands moved lower as she went to her knees, her nails scraped the backs of his thighs before coming around to the front. She eased him backward and he settled at the foot of the bed.

In the courtroom, Charlie's skills could never be called into question. In the bedroom . . . she wasn't as sure. She wanted to give Mason what he'd given her only moments before—earth-shattering pleasure that left him out of breath and shaking. She wanted him to remember tonight for the rest of his life. Because Charlie already knew she'd never forget it.

Her eyes met Mason's. She lost herself in the endless green depths. His nostrils flared and his jaw squared. He reached out and threaded his fingers through her hair. Charlie held her breath. Waited for his grip to tighten, to make her feel that sense of being possessed that caused a thrill to chase through her veins.

The freedom she felt at giving over her control was an aphrodisiac she hadn't expected. Mason was a temptation she hadn't anticipated. Nothing had gone according to plan since the day she'd stepped on that elevator and come face-to-face with his grim countenance. And still, she wouldn't have it any other way. His fist wound tighter in her hair and her heart beat madly in her chest. Gently, he urged her where he wanted her to go and Charlie was more than willing to follow his lead.

She took the hard, silken length of him in her hand before flicking out with her tongue at the swollen head of his erection. Mason sucked in a sharp breath and groaned on the exhale. The muscles in his thighs bunched and flexed as he caged her between them. Charlie took him deeper into her mouth, just to the crown, and sucked gently. He'd teased her. Enticed her. Brought her to the point of begging. Could she do the same to him? Could she shatter his inhibitions as he'd done to her?

There was only one way to find out.

Mason leaned back on the mattress and braced himself with his free arm. Charlie came up higher on her knees and took him deeper into her mouth, sucking hard before pulling back and letting her teeth scrape over the sensitive tip. She dared a quick glance up at him from beneath lowered lashes and heat pooled in her belly when she found his attention focused on her. She kept her eyes on his. Flicked out with her tongue once again. Mason's eyes widened and the muscles in his stomach twitched reflexively.

Winning her first case couldn't rival what she felt right now, knowing that she evoked that intense reaction in him.

She continued to build that passionate response with light passes of her tongue, gentle suction before taking him deeper and hollowing her cheeks as she increased the pressure of her mouth. Charlie was sure to keep her pace slow and easy. Lazy. As though there was nowhere else she'd rather be than lounging between his thighs.

There was something decidedly illicit about the way his hips pumped with each dip of her head. The way his fist released and contracted as it gripped her hair and held her right where he wanted her. Low grunts and groans that quickened the blood in her veins and made her thighs slick with arousal.

Charlie's fingers once again found the base of Mason's cock. His free hand came to rest on top of hers and he urged her to take his girth in her fist and squeeze. “That's it,” he said between panted breaths. “Don't stop.” His hips bucked as she took him deeper into her mouth. “Just like that.” His words were nothing more than a low growl. He kept his other fist in her hair and thrust even deeper into her mouth.

The glide of him between her lips bordered on euphoric. His crisp scent and salty taste only added to her enjoyment of his body. It became a sensory experience. The sight, sound, taste of him drove her mad with want. She took him as deeply as she could. Swirled her tongue against his shaft as she sucked. She worked her mouth up and down his length, increasing her pace until Mason's breath came in ragged pants that caused a swarm of butterflies to swirl in Charlie's stomach. His muscles grew taut, his thighs began to quake. Anticipation coiled within her. She'd brought him to the edge of his control and she couldn't wait for him to topple over.

Mason leaned forward. His hand abandoned her hair to cup the back of her neck as he held her still. Charlie tipped her head up to look at him. His brow was pinched as it came to rest against hers and his breath came in heavy pants that brushed her face. “I need to fuck you,” he said in a desperate whisper. “Now.”

Charlie wasn't about to argue. Her own desires had been rekindled and burned with the heat of an unchecked wildfire.

Mason pulled her up to her feet. His mouth descended on hers in a crushing kiss that left her breathless and wanting more. When he let go of her to cross the room, she wrapped her arms around her middle as though to hold in the heat of his body that he'd taken away. He retrieved his wallet from the bedside table, pulled out a shiny metallic packet and tucked it between his fingers. His gaze smoldered as he strode back to where Charlie stood, every step precisely placed. Mason Decker truly was a living, breathing work of art. She wanted to pinch herself. Just to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

“My dad always told me, never leave the house without two things: a condom and bail money.”

Charlie laughed. “Sort of a sordid combination, don't you think?”

Mason's gaze darkened, but a wry smile curved his full lips. “He wasn't exactly good at the whole fatherly advice thing.”

Charlie's heart ached for Mason. She could only imagine what his life had been like growing up. The things he'd seen. Taken part in. The choices he'd been forced to make. That he'd wound up the exact opposite of Kieran—of his own father—was a feat in itself. He hadn't succumbed to the glitz and glamour of the criminal lifestyle Jensen had tried to sell to him. Instead, Mason had formed his own opinions and morals. He'd taken the high ground when his upbringing suggested otherwise. For that, Charlie had nothing but a deep admiration and respect.

There was so much more to Mason than anyone saw. She'd gotten a glimpse of it, though. It warmed her heart to think that he deemed her worthy. And it forged an intimacy between them she wasn't sure she was prepared to feel.

Mason rounded the bed and came to a stop inches from her. He bent his head over hers and inhaled deeply. “God, you smell good.”

She didn't think she'd ever get enough of the compliments that flowed so effortlessly and honestly from his lips. “You can thank my shampoo.” Accepting those compliments didn't come quite as easily for her.

“No,” Mason said with a laugh. “It's not your shampoo.” He ran his nose down her temple and Charlie's head tipped back as though she had no other choice. He inhaled again at her throat before putting his mouth to her. “You smell like the ocean. Salty and clean.” He kissed her again and she shivered. “You smell like sex.” He took her hand and guided it to his stiff cock. “See what you do to me, Charlie? Feel how hard I am for you.”

She took him into her hand and stroked from the tip to the thick base.

“Do you want me to fuck you, Charlie?”

Her stomach did a backflip before it drifted back into place. “Yes.”

“Tell me you want me.”

They'd played this game before, but Charlie was happy to indulge him. Especially because every word from her mouth was the truth. “I want you.”

“Only me.”

“Only you.”

“Good.”

* * *

He shouldn't have needed to hear those words from her yet again. It wasn't like Mason was some untested, unsure pup. Doubt scratched at the back of his mind. There was a piece of him that had always felt empty. Somehow, Charlie managed to fill that space tonight. It made Mason greedy for more. He couldn't kiss her enough, taste her enough, touch or take her scent into his lungs enough. He vowed she'd be ruined for any other man after he was through with her, but it was he who had been ruined.

He was goddamned lost. To her.

Mason pulled her close. Her eyes, clear and endless blue, stared back at him. Her lips, so inviting, parted on a breath. He brushed the pad of his thumb across the flawless blushed skin of her cheek and let his fingers wander to the wavy strands of strawberry blond that framed her face. She was everything he could have ever wanted. He refused to acknowledge that once they got back to San Francisco, the spell would be broken.

His mouth found hers in a slow and sultry kiss. Mason's need for her burned like a cinder in his gut, pulsed through his veins like molten lead, and ate away at his chest. If he didn't fuck her—didn't take her hard and deep right now—he'd go out of his damned mind. There would be time for softly spoken words and gentle caresses later. Now, he had to purge this damnable need from his system before he cracked.

Charlie answered his kisses with building fervor and intensity. Her mouth slanted across his, her tongue traced his bottom lip before sliding against his in a sweet, slippery tangle. His cock throbbed hot and hard, his muscles burned with unspent energy. The heat of her skin met his, her lush breasts pressed into his chest. The head of his cock brushed the crease of her thighs and Mason groaned into her mouth.

He turned and took her down to the mattress. Charlie let out a squeal of surprise and the brilliance of her smile rivaled the sun. He kissed her petal-soft lips, her cheek, her shoulder. His mouth found her breast and he sucked her nipple before dragging his teeth over the sensitive peak. Charlie gasped as she arched into the contact, her expression blissful as her eyelids drifted shut.

Mason came up on his knees, tore open the packet and rolled the condom on with a groan of relief. He couldn't wait to take her. To join their bodies once and for all. He trembled with need as he settled himself between her thighs and braced himself with one arm beside her as he guided his cock between her parted legs and probed at her opening.

Charlie's hips rolled up to meet him and he thrust home. Their mutual sounds of relief surrounded him. She needed this as badly as he did. He stilled inside of her, almost fearful to move, to break the spell that held them both suspended in the moment. She squeezed him tight, her inner walls clenching around his girth.

“Charlie, look at me.”

Her eyes fluttered open and Mason brushed her hair away from her face. He held her gaze as he moved slowly over her, shallow thrusts of his hips that caused Charlie's lips to part as she drew in tight little breaths. She was so beautiful like this: flushed with passion and completely undone. His lips found all of the places he'd already explored. Charlie's legs wrapped around the backs of his thighs and her heels dug in as she urged him to go deeper. Swept up in a whirlwind of passion, Mason obliged, grinding his hips against hers as he buried himself to the hilt. She drew in a gasping breath that released on a low, sultry moan. With every press of his hips, her clit slid against his shaft, intensifying the sensation.

There wasn't a thrill in the world that could compare to fucking Charlie. Mason thought he'd known excitement, but his life up until now was a pale representation. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, his heart pounded in his chest. Their panting breaths and low moans accompanied the sounds of their bodies meeting and parting in the quiet room. They had been reduced to creatures of frenzied, raw want and need.

They shared the same goal and Mason was going to get them both there.

“Harder, Mason,” Charlie panted. “It feels so good.”

Good
didn't cover it by a long shot. Mason didn't think there was a word in any language to properly convey what he felt right now. He wrapped his arms around her, anchored her body to his own as he fucked her hard and deep, purging himself of the emptiness that had consumed him until the day Charlie walked into his life.

Charlie pushed up and rolled them until Mason was on his back. Her thighs lined up with his and her heels pressed against him as she began to ride him. The sight of her straddling his cock, her breasts swaying with every roll of her hips, her flushed skin, her hair like a wild summer sunset, blinded him with lust. He settled his hands at her waist and pulled her down hard, thrusting upward to take her as deeply as he could. Charlie gasped, her head rolled back on her shoulders.

She reached down and guided his hands to her breasts. “You're going to make me come,” she said between pants of breath. “Don't stop.”

Never.
He molded his palms to the perfect roundness of her and squeezed gently. Charlie moaned her approval and he upped the ante, rolling her tight nipples between his fingers. Her head snapped up and her eyes went wide. Charlie cried out as she came, deep wracking sobs of pleasure. Chills broke out over her skin and he let his hands roam over the raised flesh that covered her arms, torso, the backs of her thighs. Her pussy clenched him tight and a rush of warmth bathed his cock.