The ache between my legs started again. Hearing him call my butt a sweet ass excited me, apparently. I liked how it felt when he touched my bottom. I squirmed in my seat, and his hand tightened around mine.
We didn’t say anything else. By the time he parked the truck at my apartment, the air felt hot, and I was breathing heavily. Glancing at Mase, I saw his jaw clenched tightly. His hand still held mine firmly.
When he cut off the engine and finally let my hand go, he jerked open his door and was out so fast you would have thought it was on fire. I watched him as he took long strides to my side of the truck and threw open the door. I started to get out, but then he was backing me up, crowding me in.
His nostrils flared as he got close to me, and his eyes flashed a needy look I understood. My entire body felt feverish, but his hands only touched my hips. His head lowered to my ear, and he ran his nose down and back up my neck. “God, you smell so good. I could smell you for fucking ever and be happy.”
I grabbed his shoulders and held on. Words like that coming from Mase Manning made a girl light-headed.
“When we get inside, I want to take this dress off. Let me see you in this swimsuit. Please. I won’t ask for anything more. Just let me look at you and touch you . . . Just a little.”
My body felt so fevered I was ready to rip everything off right now for him, but I knew the moment I did, I would panic. Reality would set in. I managed a nod and let him lead me out of the truck. He pressed a hot, hard kiss to my lips, more aggressive than the ones that had come before. I held on while he took that kiss. It wasn’t one of his easy, sweet ones, but it was exciting.
When he tore his mouth off mine, he muttered a curse, then led me to the apartment door and unlocked it before ushering me inside quickly.
Before I could catch my breath, his hands were taking the bottom of my sundress in his hands. “I’m just going to take this off. That’s all. Just need to see you,” he whispered close to my ear, but he didn’t move until I nodded my head.
When I gave him the go-ahead, he lifted the dress slowly. Once it was over my bottom, he groaned. I lifted my arms, and he pulled it up and off. I didn’t move. I knew what he was looking at, and I closed my eyes tightly. I hadn’t looked at my butt in the mirror in a long time. There was a good chance it was dimply. I really hoped it wasn’t. I walked a lot still. I was sure walking all my life had been one reason my bottom wasn’t massive.
His fingertip brushed the underside of my left butt cheek, and I gasped, but I didn’t move. He was touching me. Barely.
“There’s a freckle right here. I love this freckle. Best fucking freckle in the world,” he said in a thick, deep voice.
Then I heard him move, and I glanced back to see him going down on his knees. I started to turn, and his hands grabbed my waist and held me still.
“Please, Reese. Don’t. Not yet,” he begged. So I stayed still.
His warm breath hovered over my skin, and I trembled. Knowing his face was so close to any part of me was exciting, but this was almost too much. Then his lips grazed the same spot he’d touched, and I released a strangled cry from the shock and pleasure.
“Just had to kiss it,” he said, pressing his lips against that spot again. Then his hands slid up over my bottom, and he squeezed gently. “Swear, Reese, this ass is perfection,” he said in a reverent tone. “So fucking glad you didn’t wear this swimsuit in front of other men tonight. This is my ass. I don’t want anyone else seeing this juicy little piece of heaven.”
I closed my eyes tightly. Was I really letting him kneel behind me and play with my bottom? My heart was racing, and the fever in my body was at an all-time high.
Mase moved some of the swimsuit covering my butt over until more of my cheek was bared and pressed another kiss to me. Oh, God, he was kissing my bottom.
“You even smell good down here. I can smell how this excites you. It mixes well with that sweet cream cinnamon smell that clings to you.”
I really needed something to hold on to before I melted into a puddle. My knees buckled a little, and Mase’s hands tightened on my waist as he stood back up behind me. He didn’t cover my bared cheek back up, and he slid his body up against mine.
He kissed my shoulder, then brushed my hair back off my neck and ran his nose over the curve of my ear. “I don’t want to do anything you aren’t ready for. But I want to touch you. That’s all. Nothing more. Are you ready for that? If not, it’s OK. I can just look.” It sounded like that last part was ripped from him unwillingly.
All those beautiful women throwing themselves at him, and he wanted me. He chose me. I could let him touch me some. I wasn’t panicked yet, and right now, all I could think about was Mase and how he felt. How he made me feel. “Yes,” I said, sounding as if I was completely out of breath.
He ran a finger down my neck and wrapped a strand of hair around his finger. “Thank you. For trusting me. You don’t have to, and knowing that you like my touch is the most fucking beautiful thing anyone’s ever given me.”
He didn’t start groping at my body. Instead, we stood there, as he played with my hair and continued running his nose and lips over my neck and ear. I slowly leaned back into him as my body relaxed under his gentle caress.
“Your hair is like playing with silk,” he whispered. “And your skin.” He ran a hand down my bare arm and slid that same hand over the butt cheek he had left exposed. “I’ve decided I’m obsessed with silk,” he added.
I started to squirm when his hand slid back up my body, circling around to the front and stopping on my stomach. “Turn around, and let me see you,” he said, stepping back from me.
I was breathing heavily, and I knew he could see it. But facing him made it more real. I would be able to see him as he looked at me.
His gaze ran down my body slowly, then back up again. There was a worshipful look on his face that made me feel cherished. Important. Protected.
Those were three things I had never felt.
I would not cry.