Price of a Kiss (Forbidden Men, #1)(76)

A single tear trickled down my cheek. My smile trembled with effort. “I love you too.”

Mason choked out a sound and then shook his head. “You…No. You shouldn’t.”

I touched the side of his face. “But I do.”

Closing his eyes, he muttered something under his breath right before he sealed our mouths together. We both made a sound as our lips locked. He pulled back just enough to gaze at me. And then he went back for more.

It was everything I’d ever dreamed about and so much more. As his lips plundered persistently, I wrapped my arms around him and tipped my face up for more. Tethering me around the waist, he pulled us flush as his tongue stroked the roof of my mouth before tangling with mine.

My legs went around his waist, and he hoisted me higher, cupping my butt.

We tipped to the side, disturbing a row of keys hanging by the back door until a couple jingled to the floor. Stumbling into the cabinets, he propped me on the counter and deepened our kisses with long, drugging pulls that left me gasping for more. His body pushed more firmly into mine as he cradled my face. Then he ran his hands down my neck and over my back.

Even through my clothes, he knew how to make me react when he cupped my breasts. I choked out a surprised sound of need and threw my head back, cracking it on the cabinets behind me.

“Shit,” Mason gasped, his lips tearing themselves from mine. Rubbing my noggin for me, he muttered, “We can’t do this.”

But he still burrowed his face against my shoulder as he panted. I clung to him shamelessly, tucking my own cheek into his neck. Stroking his back, I whispered, “If this is going to be the only time I get to touch you, then can you wait at least a minute longer before coming to your senses?”

He released a breath. “Okay.”

Damn, my powers of persuasion amazed even me.

I lifted my face to him, he lifted his to mine, and the kiss was on again. I loved the feel of his jaw under my fingers. I loved his hands that slipped up the back of my shirt and caressed my spine. I loved the entire experience.

“Okay, we should stop now.” He gave it another halfhearted attempt, though his lips clung to mine and his thumbs became fascinated with each bump on my vertebrae. “Reese, we should stop. I need to stop before it’s too late.”

“Why?” I kissed my way down his neck.

He groaned and cupped my waist, sending thrilling tingles along my nerve endings. Then his mouth was on my throat and he was tugging me to the edge of the counter to snuggle our bodies closer.

When the heat of his erection nudged me through his jeans and my shorts, we both sucked in a harsh breath.

“Damn it.” He broke away from me, severing all contact before he backed away, putting a good five feet of space between us.

I had no starch left in my body, so I wilted against the wall as I slid off the counter. I could still feel him everywhere. Mason wiped a hand over his face before leaning his forearms against another wall and bowing his head.

“Do you realize what you’re doing to me, Reese?” His voice sounded broken as he thunked his forehead forward. “Making me choose like this…”

Excuse me? I lifted my hands, beyond insulted. “I haven’t made you choose anything. Have you ever once heard me ask you to make any kind of decision? I understand completely why you do this. You don’t have to choose.”

Mason closed his eyes and snuffled out a bitter sound. “Except I already have. I have declined every offer I’ve gotten lately because the only person I want is you.”

Hearing him openly admit it lit up my hope like the Griswold house at Christmas. “S-since when?”

Emotion swam in his eyes as he shook his head and glanced at me. “Since the night before we almost kissed in your apartment during Eva’s party.”

I gulped, overwhelmed with joy.

It was official then. He was no longer a gigolo. He’d quit. For me.

I stepped away from the wall, but he croaked, “It might not last,” as if saying that threw up some kind of force field to keep me away.

Strangely enough, it worked. I stopped in my tracks. “What do you mean?”

Grief filled his face. “I tried getting out a year ago. I refused everyone for four months straight. But it didn’t change how people treated me. Then the bills started piling up. Not as bad as they had been before. But it worried me, made me fear that our lives would plummet again. Then one day, this client got so desperate, she offered me double my price to keep me from refusing. So…I agreed. And everyone else began to pay that price. Before I knew it, I was all the way back in again.” He looked at me and shook his head. “I want to say I’ll never go back to it, but I did before.”

I shook my head, maybe denying the whole situation, or maybe I was just that sure he wouldn’t go back.

Mason glanced at me, looking restless and edgy as he jiggled his knee. “I never should’ve told you how I felt. When I learned he was going to take you out, I should’ve just gritted my teeth and kept my mouth shut. At least we’d still be friends.”

I gave a small, helpless shrug. “But then we never would’ve kissed.”

His gaze lifted, and he actually smiled. “Yeah.” Except now he sounded more depressed than ever.

I pushed away from the wall and went to him, opening my arms and hugging him. He exhaled and wound me tight in his embrace, burying his face in my hair. “You are the most amazing person I’ve ever known. I love your spunk, your crazy thoughts on life, your caring soul.”