He groaned and raked both his hands through his hair. A litany of curses spilled from him.

“I’m taking that you don’t have a condom on you?”

He shook his head with a wolfish grin. “Doc told me I shouldn’t do a lot of physical exertion.”

I snorted and fell back against the wall. My knees were starting to fold and I felt myself starting to slide down. Mason crossed the room in two steps and held me up. He tucked me to him as he pressed against me. He moved up and down and nibbled on my ear. “You ever done that before?”

I grinned against his neck. My tongue swept against him and he pressed harder to me. “Not really.”

“Not really?” I felt his smile against my cheek.

“There were…” I frowned. “Attempts with Jeff. I hated it.”

He pulled back and gave me a tender kiss. “You hate that with me too?”

My breath was caught and held in my chest. I couldn’t admit what I had felt. Then I shook my head and kept my mouth shut. I felt my cheeks get red and buried my head into his chest. He laughed and swept my hair up to place a kiss on the back of my neck.

I felt the laughter rumble through his body as he held us both up. “Maybe we could do that again?”

I nodded, my tongue against my cheek, and peeked back up at him.

Mason was grinning down at me. He looked like the cat that found the cream.

“Now?” I asked in a husky voice.

“I’d carry you upstairs, but I’ve got this problem with my ribs.”

I caught his hand in mine and led the way.

There was something freeing in my laughter.

*

It was a few hours later when I collapsed on top of him. He ran his hands up my thighs and lifted my head to his. His lips found mine and lingered there. It was a long, exploratory kiss. Both of us were panting by the end of it, and he groaned when his lips left mine. His head collapsed on the pillow beneath him. A few curses slipped out.

I grinned as I slid to the side but was quickly pulled back against him. Tight.

“Are you okay?” My hand touched the largest bruise. I tried to skim it.

He groaned. “Yeah. I’m good. Thank god we found those condoms in your nightstand.”

I laughed at the memory. He had stashed them after the first night, in case he couldn’t make the long trek to the bathroom. I shivered from the feel when he slid back into me. It was like he’d come home. He belonged to me. I belonged to him. That thought had me shivering again.

“You okay?” He pulled a blanket over us.

I nodded. My throat was thick with emotion.

My hand rested on his chest and he caught it. His fingers slid through mine and his eyes closed. When his breathing started to even out, I ventured, “Are you hurt?”

“Yeah.” One of his eyes opened. “But I’ll heal. You okay?”

“You keep asking me that.” I shifted and sat up. I drew my knees to my chest and rested my head on them. I turned to watch him. Then I sighed on the inside. He was beautiful. His eyes were bright. The green contrasted against his black hair that he had cut short to a crew cut. The rest of him was a golden tan, except for the bruises and the rash that ran up and down over his right side.

His shoulder muscle shifted under his skin as he lifted his head. “What’s wrong?”

I closed my eyes and felt him touch my lips. He skimmed them in a tender motion and then ran his hand down my arm and leg. He scooted closer to me.

My hand went over his hair. It was so soft. “Tell me what happened at the police station. It’s been killing me. I should’ve been there.”

His hand dropped from my leg. “I know.” He expelled a deep breath. His chest rose up and down from the motion. “But I’m glad you weren’t. Those guys were there. They didn’t even look sorry about what they’d done. I saw the clip. They edited that piece of crap.”

“They did?”

His mouth tightened and I felt him grow rigid beside me. My heart fluttered again as I felt his fury. He bit out, “They made it look like I went on a killing spree. That wasn’t how it was. They never showed the guy choking Logan or how they dragged me. They didn’t show the three guys stomping on Nate.”

His chest rose up and down in a rapid motion. It was increasing with every word he spoke.

I put my hand on it and willed it to slow down.

He held my hand with his again. “The cops thought I had gone after them. We said different, as you can figure. Then they called in the rest of their football team.” He expelled another deep breath. “I guess a few of their guys were feeling guilty because they told the truth. They told ‘em what they’d done to us and that it was in self-defense for me, but the rest of their douchebags swore those others were lying.”

“My dad said something about that. That their stories conflicted.”

“Yeah.” His chest caught and held. He sounded in pain. “The longer we were all there, more of them started to change their story. I think the detectives figured out what was going on and laid into them. We couldn’t leave. Nate, Logan, and I were held in a back room the whole time. We could only leave if we needed to piss.”

“Your dad was there the whole time?”

He cursed again and grinned from the corner of his mouth at me. “His lawyers were there, but he wasn’t.”

I frowned. “David said my mom and James were at a hotel next to the station.”

“I believe that, but they weren’t there.” He lifted a hand to scratch a bruise on his chest. “I’m sure he was waiting.” He groaned again as he lifted himself up and scooted back against the headboard beside me. His arm draped over my shoulder, and he pulled me to his side. “My mom’s coming back.”

My eyes closed and my forehead fell into my hands.

He chuckled beside me. “It’ll be fine. Charges were dropped against me. I think my dad’s already told his lawyers to start a civil lawsuit against some of them.” He grinned crookedly at me. “Doesn’t hurt that my dad hates some of theirs. Business rivals, you know.”

I shook my head and held onto his hand. “Just as long as you’re okay.” Then I remembered my day and a soft curse slipped from my lips.

“What?”

I looked up and frowned. Why was I always nervous to tell him about my day? And then I started.