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  What would he think of her when he found out she’d been a pawn of a daughter, or that she’d moved countries to escape a man she’d used to get back at her father? Would he still care about her then?

  Did caring have anything to do with the dynamic they had going? Chloe had begun to develop feelings for him almost from the moment she’d had her first orgasm from watching him. But was it the same for him?

  He’d talked a lot over the weekend, as she had. But how much of it was true? For all she knew Mason could have been feeding her with a story to keep her compliant.

  She shook her head. She might not know him that well, but she knew enough. Mason wasn’t like that.

  He had just been frustrated that morning and with little time to talk, a lot of things were left up in the air. Things she hoped they’d be able to clear up soon.

  By the time Chloe arrived at her apartment, she’d had a game plan all laid out in her mind. After a shower and a change, she would go over to his place and get him to talk. If he wasn’t there, then she’d find his office and go there. It wouldn’t be too hard.

  She wasn’t above persuading him with her body either. They deserved that chance, didn’t they?

  Granted, the start of their relationship had been unorthodox, to say the least. But it had been steady and when they’d finally met it was like the last piece of the puzzle had fallen into place.

  At least for her.

  Chloe wanted to see if whatever it was they had would go the distance. Or if like everything else it would crash and burn at the first hurdle.

  She unlocked her door and kicked it shut as usual, but instead of dropping her bags with disgust this time it was from shock.

  Gasping with delight, Chloe slowly walked through her apartment. The curtains were closed to create a cozy atmosphere. As if she was in a world of her own. Candles glowed illuminating flowers of every variety and color that burst from vases on every surface capable of holding them. Tables, the floor, even the kitchen counters were filled.

  Inhaling the delightful scents gave her a warm and fuzzy feeling.

  Chloe ran her fingers over the blood-red petals of a rose and marveled at how silken they were. How perfect.

  “These must have cost Mason a fortune,” she murmured.

  Her veins frosted over when an all-too-familiar voice snarled, “Why would it have cost him anything when I’m the one who bought them?”

  ****

  Mason made a mental note to buy flowers for the receptionist. Hell, the whole building deserved a vacation for what he’d put them through today.

  And Chloe…

  He’d been dithering on whether or not to call her all day long, even had the phone in his hand a few times. But he had to make this apology in person. Grovel if he had to.

  Chloe was too important to let go over something so trivial.

  So she wasn’t an open book. Not everyone was. In fact, if she’d thrown everything about herself at him, he’d be put off. Getting to know her would be like peeling off her layers of clothing and hopefully just as pleasurable.

  But first he had to make it up to her for being an ass that morning. So, he’d called a restaurant and had them send over the best meal he could conceive and had the concierge of his building set up a romantic meal in his apartment. All he had to do now was make sure everything was set up right, then get her to come over. Mason hoped it would work.

  He strode into his apartment and everything had been set up as he’d specified. A space had been cleared with a cozy little table and two chairs, white tablecloth, and a long tapered candle just waiting to be lit.

  Mason took a long look. Would it be enough? Too little and it would look like he didn’t make an effort. Too much and it’d come across as trying too hard. Better to go too big than too little. That was, if she was even interested. After that morning he’d be hesitant if he were her.

  Mason tugged off his tie. He’d just have to go for it and hope for the best. If she rejected him, so be it. She would be another notch on his belt and he’d move on.

  No matter how hard that would be.

  A glance at her windows made him pause and caused his heart to sink. Her curtains were closed. Not a good sign.

  Maybe he should just give her some space. Let her come to him.

  He didn’t know everything about her, but he got the feeling she would appreciate room to breathe.

  It didn’t stop him from staring at the blank windows, however, wishing he could see what was happening on the other side. Then he’d at least have an idea of where her head was.

  One of the curtains rippled, capturing his gaze. Was Chloe there? Was she peeking at him? Another ripple came from the window next to it. Then the next couple as if a gust of wind rushed through the room.

  But when they rippled the other way, his gut tightened.

  What the hell?

  When the outline of a body that looked to be the right size and shape to be Chloe suddenly appeared pressed into the curtain, Mason dashed from the apartment.

  ****

  Chloe glared at her ex, and the sickening realization that he’d been the one to set this up rolled through her. “What are you doing here, Charles?”

  “Trying to make a romantic gesture. Surely even you can see that. The woman without an ounce of romance in her soul.”

  His words were flat, dull. Terrifying.

  For the past little while he’d been absent. There had been no phone calls and no texts. No contact on any level. Chloe had thought he’d gone to leave her to live her life. That is, until this morning when she’d found he’d left a dozen messages over the weekend.

  Why hadn’t she called the police? Because she’d been so preoccupied with Mason, that’s why. And she never thought Charles would go as far as to break into her place.

  Chloe inched back toward her door, knowing that asking him to leave was pointless. She had to get out of there. It wasn’t going to be easy. Charles was much closer to her than the door was.

  “Stop.” His command had no inflection to it but she did as he said, not wanting to set him off. “Don’t you like your flowers? I thought it would be a nice gesture. More than that bloke you’ve had over all weekend has ever done for you.”

  Chloe bit her bottom lip to keep from blurting out that Mason had done far more for her in the past few days than Charles ever had. It also helped distract from the growing nausea over the fact that he’d been watching them.

  “They’re beautiful.” She took another half-step toward the door.

  The smile he gave her was chilling. “Finally, some appreciation.”

  “I always appreciated you.” Chloe was willing to try just about any tactic to get him to leave. “I only broke it off with you because I didn’t think we were suited. That I wasn’t good enough.”

  For a moment she thought she might have been laying it on too thick but he gave her a long considering look. “You aren’t, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want you.”

  And what he thought her father could give him.

  Chloe shuffled another half-step trying to disguise it as self-conscious fidgeting. “I have a lot of hang-ups. You should find someone who isn’t weighed down with so much baggage. Someone prettier and better suited to you.”

  She clasped her trembling hands in front of her hoping Charles didn’t see how unnerving his presence was to her.

  “No. I want you. And I will have you.” Charles lunged for her.

  Chloe grabbed the nearest vase and hurled it at him as she turned to run. She scrabbled away from him when he caught her arm, smashing another vase against him in an attempt to get away. It loosened his grip but he didn’t let go until she hurled a candleholder at him and the wax hit his skin.

  “You bitch!”

  Frantic in her need to escape, she threw more vases and candles at him, everything she could grab. They didn’t slow him. Not enough.

  Charles leapt over the couch and grabbed her hair, swinging her into the windows and knocking
the breath from her lungs. He closed his hands around her neck to pin her in place as he yelled.

  “If I can’t have you, no one will, especially not that loser you’ve saddled yourself with!”

  Chloe clawed at Charles’s hands trying to ease their grip on her throat. Her vision grew dim around the edges and her lungs burned but she wasn’t giving up. One hand trying to free her neck, Chloe used the other to tear at his face as he ranted and raved.

  “You ruined my life! Then just up and left as if it was no big deal. Then to move on to someone new without even a look back at the wreckage you left behind!”

  His fingers constricted harder.

  Chloe ripped at anything she could reach—his hair, his ears, his eyes—until he finally let go.

  Weak from lack of air, Chloe fell to her knees and gasped heaving breaths trying to replenish her lungs.

  Chloe crawled around the couch forcing her reluctant limbs to comply.

  Charles tackled her to the floor, crushing her under his weight and preventing her from moving any farther.

  Using the last of her breath, Chloe screamed for the only name that came to mind and hoped that by some miracle he could hear her.

  It was through a thick dark fog that she heard wood splintering and voices shouting. The weight pinning her down was torn from her almost immediately.

  Curling around the pain wracking her body, she was aware of familiar arms closing around her. Instinct told her who it was even before she heard his voice.

  “I’ve got you, Chloe. I’ve got you.”

  Relaxing into his embrace, Chloe allowed the tears to flow as she gripped him closer.

  In Mason’s arms, she knew she was safe.

  Epilogue

  Mason couldn’t get his legs to move fast enough as he charged up the stairs. He could hear the voices of the men behind him as they followed up to Chloe’s apartment. They sounded cautionary.

  He didn’t give a damn what they thought. Mason knew what he saw. And it had terrified him.

  But the raw fear in her voice when she screamed for him? It was something he’d never be able to unhear.

  Unable to wait for the concierge to find the right key, Mason kicked the door in and found himself confronted with his worst nightmare.

  Amid the sea of burning flowers, Chloe was having the life choked out of her by a wide-eyed bastard who seemed intent on killing her.

  Rage stifled the breath from his lungs as he gripped the man by the back of his shirt and hauled him off her. His need for retribution had to be satisfied with a few blows to the face, incapacitating the man. Leaving his knuckles covered in blood. Whose? He didn’t know. It was all he had time for before dropping to his knees next to Chloe.

  Let the concierge and the authorities deal with him. Chloe was his main concern.

  His heart stopped, gripped in an icy fist of fear. She looked so pale. So still…

  “Mason…” the soft voice drifted into his mind.

  He jerked awake.

  “Mason, it’s okay. I’m here.”

  It took him a full second to realize he was in his own apartment, in his own bed. Cool hands cupped his cheeks and pushed his hair out of his sweaty face.

  Chloe.

  She was okay.

  His lungs and muscles relaxed as he registered the nightmare. The attack had been nearly a year ago but it still ran through his mind with frightening clarity some nights.

  Mason tugged her close and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Did I wake you?” She shook her head, but he knew he had.

  Chloe had moved into his apartment that same night after getting the “all clear” from medics. It only made sense since her place was a smoldering wreck. What pleased him more was that she hadn’t made any mention of moving back.

  She had opened up to him since then as well. And the story that came tumbling out chilled him.

  Her ex. The bastard who had tried to kill her had been her ex. The lousy sack of shit had followed her from London and had been hassling her. Had kept her from trusting him fully even though she had wanted to.

  The blinding rage that burned through Mason when she told him what she’d been through still seethed even though the scum was behind bars.

  If only he’d been a little less focused on his own issues, she might have been able to tell him that morning. It was a fact that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

  Chloe snuggled against him and he could see the tranquil happiness on her face in the predawn light.

  “I really should figure out what to do with my apartment soon,” she murmured against his skin. Repairs after the attack hadn’t taken long, but Chloe hadn’t seen the need to get rid of it.

  “Thinking of moving in permanently, are you?”

  “Only if you don’t mind.” She laughed against his skin when he squeezed her, warming him with her breath. “I’ve been toying with the idea of putting it on the market. Or maybe I should keep it and sublet it. Or rent it out as a holiday home…”

  Mason stretched, enjoying the feel of her body sliding against his. “As long as you know you live here now, you can do whatever you like with the place.”

  “Can I really?” she teased. “I’m so glad I have your permission.”

  He dragged her over him until she was straddling his hardening cock. “You have my permission to do whatever you like to me too.”

  But Chloe was already rocking herself along his length. “Oh, yeah?”

  He gripped her hips, helping her movements and enjoying it every much as she was. “Yep. Because I’m a nice guy like that.”

  Chloe pushed herself up bracing herself with her hands on his chest. She glanced down at him and laughter bubbled out of her.

  He tried hard to look offended but how could he when his woman was riding his cock? “What?”

  “You look very smug.”

  “Shouldn’t I?” Mason rocked his hips, slow and grinding, reveling the little sounds that came from her with such a simple move. “Seems to me I have every reason to look how I feel.”

  Chloe’s concentration was starting to falter as she sped up her movements. “Hmm?”

  Mason grinned up at her as he changed the angle and pushed his hard cock into her. She arched her back and took him in one smooth stroke and with a happy sigh.

  “How could I not look ecstatic when I have the woman of my dreams in my life?”

  With a purr of delight, she slid up and down his cock. “Does that mean I have the same look too? Because I’ve found you.”

  “You have been walking around with a stupid grin on your face lately.”

  The chuckle he gave her when she swatted his chest turned into a groan as she dropped with some force on his dick.

  Considering morning sex was usually soft and quiet, it certainly was a surprise. The warm content feeling that came over him wasn’t, however. It was almost ever-present when Chloe was around.

  He loved her in a way he never imagined possible.

  Mason flipped her under him and got in a few hard thrusts himself. “Feisty this morning, are we?”

  ****

  Chloe grinned up at him, winding her legs around his hips.

  He wasn’t perfect and neither was she, but they came together in a way that was effortlessly symmetrical. The past year had shown her what a good relationship was and she knew Mason felt the same way. She didn’t need to hear the words to know what she could clearly see in his eyes and on his face.

  And she was just as in love with him.

  Chloe had known it a while now and was sure that it came through with every look and touch. But she should tell him…

  She dragged his head down to press her lips against his.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you.”

  His eyes darkened as he gave her a slow smile. “Took you long enough to tell me.”

  “Uh, I think it took as long for you.” She gasped and arched against him when he did that thing with his hips that she loved.


  His strokes turned long and deep. “At least I’ve been planning to tell you.”

  With the pleasure streaking through her system, it was getting harder to keep her thoughts on track. “How do you know I haven’t?”

  “I don’t, but I can prove I have.” Mason tilted her hips and pushed even deeper into her drawing a moan from her lips.

  “H-how?”

  He leaned in close, his lips grazing her ear, as he said, “I have a ring right there in that dresser.”

  Chloe shoved him back by the shoulders. “Did I just hear you say you have a ring?”

  Mason smiled that shit-eating grin of his as he continued to thrust, using the change of angle to his advantage. “You really want me to stop what I’m doing to prove it to you?”

  When she said nothing, he wound his hips causing her body to tighten up. “So what do you say? Marry me?”

  She couldn’t form the words. Equal parts stunned and losing the battle fighting back an orgasm, Chloe gave herself up to bliss. Sparks exploded in her vision as pleasure took over and her heart threatened to burst with happiness.

  Chloe shrieked her delight and was sure there was a yes in there somewhere.

  The End

  www.kaitgamble.com

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  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com