Meant for Me (A Second Chance standalone) (6 page)

The elevator doors closed and we were off to the Cypress
suite on the fourteenth floor, which I knew was going to have the most
phenomenal view. “So,” Mason began, “you think I would’ve gotten a room with
one bed, huh?”

“Yep, which is why I got one with two,” I told him, trying
to hide my smirk. “Now that I think about it, maybe I should have gotten two
rooms. I might go back down there and do that.”

Mason chuckled and turned to face me, a gleam sparkling in
his eyes. “Are you afraid of something, Claire? Perhaps maybe afraid of what
you might do being in the same bed with me.”

“Now why would I be afraid of that? I don’t have to worry
about it since we’ll be in separate beds,” I challenged. He stepped closer, but
when the elevator doors opened, I rushed out and walked briskly down the hall
until we came to our suite. Maybe I should’ve gotten a room with two beds. The
only thing I was afraid of was falling too fast and getting hurt again. He said
he wanted me back, but I needed to know for sure he wouldn’t leave me the way
he did before. It was hard to give value to promises these days.

Mason sidled up to my side, leaning against the wall, and
brushed a strand of hair away from my face. My skin tingled where he touched.
Softly, he murmured, “Actually, I think I’m the one who’s afraid. Sharing a bed
with you would be like waving alcohol in front of an alcoholic. The temptation
to take a sip of that sweet burn would be too much to bear with it being so
close yet so unreachable at the same time. I would have no restraint, and I
fear of what that would do to me to have you only to have you go back home to
someone else. I meant every word I said in my letter, Claire. Please … give me
another chance to show you how much I love you.”

My breath hitched in my throat and immediately my eyes
misted over with unshed tears. I never thought I would actually hear the words
come out of his mouth, but there they were. Mason was not a man of words; he
was a man of action. To hear him say such things to me were beyond his comfort
level, but he knew that was what I wanted to hear … needed to hear.

Knowing he was taking a risk, he leaned down and kissed my
lips gently, unsure of how I was going to take it. I moaned at his touch and
opened my lips, inviting him in. More firmly, he cupped my neck, pulling me
even closer and slipped his tongue between my lips, tasting me.

“Claire,” he whispered, resting his forehead to mine, “what
are we doing?”

Smiling, I licked my lips and put the key in the door,
opening it wide. When he pulled away, he looked into the room and his eyes went
wide before lifting a curious brow my way. He carried in our bags and I
followed him through the suite to the king size bed that overlooked to the
exquisite fountain below.

“There is no going back, Mason, and I don’t want you to show
restraint,” I murmured heatedly. “You said you wanted to show me how much you
love me. Well, here’s your second chance. Show me …”

“I can’t allow myself to do that, Claire. Not when you
belong to another man,” Mason argued. “I’m an honorable man and I fight fair.
Doing this behind Cooper’s back was never my intention. I was selfish before
with you, and believe me I want to take you right now and feel every ounce of
your body around me. I just can’t do it this way.”

Well, there went my plan.

When he’d asked earlier how Cooper took my leaving, I never
gave him an actual answer. I just told him it wasn’t any of his business. What
really happened was that I made my decision and let Cooper go. It hurt to let
my friend go, knowing that this break up might have ruined the friendship we
spent years building, but I had to. Even though I hated Mason for leaving me
before, I couldn’t deny how much I still cared. I loved him.

Turning away from me, Mason gazed out the window and let out
a frustrated breath. There was no way around it; I had to tell him the truth.
“Cooper and I aren’t together anymore, Mason. I ended it before I left. I chose
not to tell you when you asked because deep down I wanted you to suffer, but in
all reality I guess we both suffered while we were apart.”

There, I said it.

He turned around abruptly, furrowing his brows with a smirk
on his face. “So what you’re saying is that you ended things with Cooper for
me?” he asked craftily.

Smiling, I bit my lip and moved closer. “Maybe. Does that
mean you’re ready to show me what I asked for?”

Without another word, Mason closed the distance between us,
fisting my hair in his hands and pulling me tight against his lips in one quick
second. Everything burned with his touch like I was on fire; my lips, my skin,
and most definitely the spot between my legs rubbing against his thigh. He
lifted up my dress and cupped my ass, earning a strangled moan from deep in his
throat when all he touched was bare skin. Months of not being together came
crashing down on us in one scorching second, with need being the driving force.

“That is so fucking hot,” Mason whispered, holding me firmly
against the hardness between his legs.

When he met my gaze, he grasped my face in his hands and ran
his rough, calloused thumbs across my cheeks. “I know we don’t have much time
together before you leave, and even then there’s still that chance I might not
make it back home after this, but—”

“Stop,” I cried, putting a finger to his lips. “Let’s not
talk about that right now. We have today and that’s all that matters. Forget
about everyone and everything other than me and you right now. Nothing else
exists.”

He rested his forehead to mine. “Nothing else exists,” he
repeated, whispering across my lips.

He lifted me in his arms and I linked mine around his neck,
straddling his waist with my legs as he carried me over to the bed and set me
down on the edge. He lifted his T-shirt over his head and unbuttoned his jeans,
letting them fall to the floor. I slid further back on the bed and got to my
knees, watching him stalk closer. He was hard and ready, and by the dampness on
my underwear and the throbbing of my clit I knew I was ready, too. I was past
ready.

Mason lifted my dress up slowly, and as he did he kissed my
bare flesh as he exposed it, going higher and higher. His tongue traced lightly
from my stomach on up to the mounds of my breasts, which were still confined in
my bra. However, it didn’t stop him from biting my nipple through the fabric,
resulting in a strangled moan from my lips. It hurt, but it felt so erotically
good in the process. Every single inch of my body felt hyperaware of the man
before me. Each little touch or kiss made my insides feel like they would
explode. I wanted him inside me; wanted to feel his hands on my body and
kissing me with those lips I had craved but thought I would never feel again.

After throwing my dress on the floor, Mason wrapped his arms
around my back and unclasped my bra, groaning when my breasts became free. He
pushed me back onto the bed and slid my underwear off quickly before doing the
same with his boxers. His large hands, the ones he would soon be using to fight
with, clasped my thighs and spread my legs apart as he moved closer.

“You are so beautiful, Claire. You have no idea how many
times I dreamt of you beneath me, making love to you,” he said, his voice deep
and husky.

I gazed up into his stormy, sea green eyes. “It probably
doesn’t nearly compare to the times I dreamt about you.”

Settling himself between my legs, he lowered his head to my
breasts, first kissing along the mounds before licking one of my sensitive
nipples with his warm, wet tongue. Moaning, I arched my back off the bed and
squeezed him tight with my legs. He chuckled and decided to tease me with
rubbing his cock along my opening and pushing it in just a tiny bit. It was his
turn then to grow impatient.

Mason growled low in his throat, “You have no idea of my
restraint right now. All I want to do is go hard, to hold you in my arms while
tasting and kissing every single inch of you.”

“No one’s stopping you,” I muttered breathlessly. Taking his
hand, I placed it on one of my breasts while I reached down and wrapped my
fingers around his cock between my legs. He squeezed and massaged my breasts,
sucking and biting my nipples, while I pumped his cock up and down with my
hand. The harder I stroked, the harder he sucked.

“Please, Mason. I’m so close and I want to come with you
inside me,” I cried.

His gaze never left mine when he pushed himself completely
inside my body as far as he could go. He only had to thrust in and out a couple
of times before I exploded around him, raking my nails down his back as I
screamed out his name. When the fog cleared, and after the tremors of my orgasm
subsided, Mason slowed his pace and smiled down at me.

“Damn, that was fast. I don’t count that one so let’s see if
I can give you another one,” he uttered humorously.

Breathing frantically, I grasped his face and pulled him
down to my lips. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”

I licked and sucked his lips, rocking my hips along with his
until I could feel him getting closer to his release. Wave after sensual wave
rocked through me from his penetrating thrusts, and another orgasm slowly
started to build. I could feel his cock throbbing and pulsing inside my body so
I clenched as hard as I could, feeling him come inside of me as I gave in to my
own release. I had craved this intimacy with him for a long time and that time
had finally come. I prayed that my happiness wouldn’t be taken away once the
reality of the situation finally kicked in.

Mason brushed the hair out of my face, and kissed me softly
on the lips, still hard and erect between my legs. “That felt so fucking good,
and it’s only the beginning of the night for us. I have four months to make up
for.”

Oh hell,
I thought to myself.
I’m not going to be
able to walk tomorrow.

But I sure was looking forward to it.

It was eleven o’clock at night, and while the city below was
vibrant in colorful lights and people looking for a good time, Claire was
passed out on the bed, sound asleep. We ordered in room service and watched the
fountain show a couple of times before making love again … and again. I was
pretty sure I lived up to my promise to make up for the past four months lost.
She fell asleep in my arms, but I was too riled up to relax. The folder in
front of me was a stark reminder of why I was in Las Vegas to begin with.

There was a list of places where the dead fighters had been
seen last and a list of names of the people they were associated with. The only
one who didn’t have connections in Vegas was Austin.

Quickly, I dressed in a simple black T-shirt and jeans with
a solid pair of black boots. Those boots were known to knock out many teeth on
several occasions when I’d use my MMA skills while on duty. In case Claire woke
up and found me missing, I scribbled out a letter to let her know I was going
out scouting and that I would be back soon. I wasn’t sure if she’d be pissed at
me for leaving her alone, but she had to realize I had a job to do.

I left the room as quietly as I could, and when I got off
the elevator on the first floor, I headed straight outside to hail a cab. The
first stop for the night was about two miles away so it wasn’t far.

The cab pulled up at the curb and I jumped in. “Where to?”
the driver asked, gazing back at me in the mirror. He was a scruffy little man,
probably in his late forties, with graying hair and a voice that was gravelly
from most likely smoking.

“I need to go to The Labyrinth, please,” I said, shutting
the door. The Labyrinth was the number one spot on the list so I thought I’d
try it first to see if I got lucky.

The driver nodded and started the timer on his dash to
calculate the miles. It didn’t take long to get there since thankfully the
driver avoided the strip traffic. When we pulled up, I groaned looking at the
line of people backed around the side of the building. It would take me at
least two hours to get inside.

“Is it always this crowded?” I asked the driver.

“Yeah, usually. You need to have connections to get in. It’s
not a place for just anyone,” he informed me.

“What kind of people do you have to know?”

“Not sure, son. All I know is I’ve had to take many people
home after they’ve been turned down. So if you don’t know anyone to get you in
then you aren’t going in there.”

“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath. The one place I was sure
to find some answers was the one most unattainable. I’d figure out a way …
somehow. For now I would just go to my next choice. Surely I’d be able to get
into that one.

After three hours of searching through the crowd for the man
with the dragon tattoo on his neck, I decided it was time to give up for the
night. It was three in the morning and I smelled of cigarette smoke and cheap
perfume from all the women trying to rub their shit on me. The night was deemed
unproductive for me other than the time I spent with Claire. I planned on going
over my notes with her later in the day to see if she knew of the places I
needed to go. Hopefully, with her experience in the big city she’d be able to
help and direct me in the right directions.

When I got back to the hotel, I took a quick shower and
climbed into the bed beside Claire. She was still sleeping peacefully and it
wasn’t long before I passed out along with her.