Let Me Go (22 page)

She was exhausted, her body sated, but knew
she should clean up and make sure she had put everything away in
the kitchen – wouldn’t want to burn the place down. She looked over
at Mason, sleeping peacefully next to her. She kissed his temple
before she slipped out of bed and walked to the kitchen.

She made sure everything was off; she put
the rest of the food in the fridge and cleaned up the last of the
mess she made from earlier. She walked over to the door to grab
Mason’s jacket and bag from the floor where he had dropped them,
but as she made it to the door, she stopped short and gasped. The
door was ajar, just slightly, barely noticeable, but it was clearly
open. Mason must have not closed it all the way when he was
distracted by her.

This was her chance, this was her ticket
out. All she had to do was slip out, and voila, all her problems
were solved. She just had to take few more steps, turn the knob,
step through the door, and walk away for good. She told herself
this over and over and yet her feet weren’t moving. She was in
shock. That had to be it. She was in shock, because her chance to
escape was finally here. Any moment now, her body would wake up and
respond, and she would get out.
Any moment.
But she never
moved. She looked at the door, the open door, her savior, the thing
she had been wanting for months and months, and she couldn’t walk
to it. She couldn’t walk to it because Mason was in the other room,
caring for her, wanting her, needing her, and waiting for her.
And Goddamn it, but she wanted him too! Fuck! When the hell did
this happen?
She couldn’t pinpoint the time when she wanted to
be with Mason as more than just seduction and pleasure, when
helping him heal was more important than her escape.
Damn! She
knew it!
Her damn heart knew it all along, but her mind refused
to listen. She started caring about him, truly caring about him,
the day he had the nightmare and opened up to her. She understood
him in a way she hadn’t wanted to before.

Yes, he was her kidnapper, but she
understood why he had done it. She didn’t like it, not one bit, but
she got it. And she wanted to help him. She wanted to help him find
the real person behind all this. She wanted to stay with him so she
could be there for him.
Hell, who was she kidding?
She
wanted to stay with him for herself. Yes, she wanted her freedom,
but what good was that for her and Mason if she stole it. He needed
to give it to her freely, because he cared about her the way she
cared about him.

If she walked out that door, she would never
know. And it killed her to think he might never love her enough,
but she loved him enough.
Damn it! She loved him!
She loved
his eyes and how they truly were the window to his soul, she loved
his body, damn, and who wouldn’t love his body. She loved the way
he joked with her; she loved the way he talked back and made snide
comments when he was upset; she loved the way he’d look at her like
she was everything he could possibly ever need and more; she loved
the way he held her, with gentle care, but a passionate fire raging
underneath. She loved him. Plain and simple, somewhere along the
lines, her stupid plan backfired and she fell for him. And because
of that, she couldn’t walk out that door. She took the few steps
needed to reach the door and closed it with a sigh. That could have
been her only chance at freedom, but she would take the odds. She
needed Mason more than she needed herself. She wanted him, every
wonderful and horrible part of him. Even if he didn’t set her free,
she would still choose him. She leaned against the door, processing
her thoughts for a few more minutes and then finally grabbed his
things and made her way back to the room. Mason was still fast
asleep. She traced her fingertips along his jaw before setting a
kiss at the edge of his mouth.

“I love you,” she whispered, happy he
couldn’t hear her and turned to snuggle into his body before
falling asleep.

*****

Mason woke up when Kat kissed his temple,
but was still too groggy to ask her what she was up to when she got
out of bed. After hearing the clattering in the kitchen, he figured
it out. That woman wouldn’t let anything go. She could just clean
up in the morning, but that was her. And then time passed and the
noise stopped and Kat still hadn’t come back to bed. He wondered
what was taking her so long. He missed the feel of her body pressed
into his; he missed how safe she made him feel; heck, he missed
her
and it had only been a few minutes.
Damn! He was a
goner!

He got up and made his way to the bedroom
door where he stopped short at the sight in front of him.
Damn
it!
The fucking door was open and Kat was staring at it like a
bear when they see honey. He couldn’t remember how the hell he had
left it open. Oh yeah, he may have been distracted by the beauty
who was now staring at the damn door. He wasn’t sure what he should
do. He could easily have called out to her, distracted her, and
told her not to leave. He could have run and shut it before she
even knew what was happening. But he was rooted to his spot. He
needed to see what she would do; he needed to know if she would
walk out that door. He knew why he needed to know that answer to
that. Because this was a test, a test he hadn’t even meant to set
up, but it happened, so he was rolling with it. If she walked out,
everything about them was a lie. Surely she wasn’t just a normal
human being who liked being a prisoner. But what did it mean if she
stayed.
What did that say about her? What did that say about
them? And more importantly, what did it say about him?

He watched her, but she hadn’t moved. The
minutes ticked by, but still she hadn’t moved. His heart was
pounding in his chest and then she walked over to the door and he
wanted to shout out, begging her not to go, asking her not to
leave, but he clamped his mouth shut. And then she did something
that shocked him to his core, she closed the door. She had her
ticket out, she had her easy way to escape, but she stayed. He
wanted to cry, but he wasn’t sure what the tears would be for.
Because he was so damn happy she stayed. Because he was so
relieved. Because of the possibility she almost walked out and
maybe turn him in and then it would be back to prison. Because he
had been the biggest asshole to her and yet she didn’t leave.
Because he had taken away her freedom, broken her down, and she
chose this life over one without him. One thing was certain, he was
over the moon happy she hadn’t walked out that door, although God
knows he probably would have chased her down and begged her to
stay. But this was a test she just passed. It seemed like maybe it
was his turn now.

Before he could think anymore, he slipped
back into the room and lay back so she wouldn’t know he had just
witnessed all that.

After another few minutes, the bed dipped as
she climbed in. He felt her trace his jaw with a featherlight touch
and then she placed a kiss on his lips before she whispered words
he didn’t even know he was dying to hear. “I love you.” He fought
the urge to open his eyes and make sure he wasn’t imagining it. Her
words sent a jolt of electricity right through his core. It was the
most insane feeling he had ever felt and he loved it.
What this
woman did to him…wow!
When she moved her body closer to his, he
was truly in heaven. She loved him, she chose him, and she wanted
to be with him.
Life was fucking great!

Chapter 34

The next couple
of weeks were the same as before, which were pretty darn great for
Kat, especially now that she had come to terms with her feelings
for Mason. He was still kind, gentle, and wonderful with her. He
kept opening up to her and showing her small gestures that led her
to believe that he loved her too. But she couldn’t help the tiny
feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her she had given up
freedom for uncertainty. He hadn’t told her he loved her, but
neither had she. The difference was that she had chosen him over
her own sanity, even though he didn’t know that. She really thought
that if he truly loved her, he would be willing to set her
free.

She wondered if maybe he was afraid that if
he let her go, she’d run, fast and far. Or maybe he didn’t want to
lose her. Or better yet, she just needed to give him a little more
time. Whatever it was, it was too late now. She made her choice,
and she was sticking to it. It’s not like she had any choice in the
matter since her heart had already given in.

But now, Mason had been acting weird all
day. He was back to avoiding her, and he left the place a few times
without letting her know. He came back with bags and was being
incredibly secretive. He had even been shooing Kat away, finding
excuses to get her out of the living room and out of his room.

Then she heard Mason talking to someone and
he seemed animated. She may have been eavesdropping when she heard
Mason say something about having to go get ready for a hot date and
her heart dropped. Now, it all made sense. He was preparing for a
date. A fucking date.
How could he?
She thought they had
something special going on, but she had no claim to him. He was
technically still the man who wanted revenge on her. Well, if this
wasn’t the biggest revenge of it all…Get her to fall for him and
then break her heart.

She wanted to know who the hell this woman
was that he was treating to a date. But more importantly, she
wanted to know why.
And what would he do with Kat? Lock her in
her room? Or tell the woman she was the crazy sister again?
She
cringed just remembering that night. She fought back the tears that
threatened to fall and somehow stumbled her way to her room and
closed the door behind her.
God!
She couldn’t just stand by
and watch Mason take some woman on a date. Or if they stayed here,
she definitely couldn’t listen to him laugh and flirt with someone
else. She felt like her heart had been ripped apart. When she heard
Mason finish his shower, she did the only thing she could think of
and rushed to the bathroom to hide her tears behind a curtain of
water.

Kat took the longest shower known to man,
but she couldn’t help it; she didn’t want to face Mason and her own
heartache. And the darn tears hadn’t stopped pouring down either,
so she stayed until the water became cold and then some. But, when
she finally came out, Mason was standing outside the door, almost
as if he was waiting for her. He had a gleam in his eye and was
smiling broadly, making him look younger and it hurt that much
more. He was happy, and it was killing her.

What was worse was how he looked. He was
dressed in a suit, a clean cut silver grey suit, fitted to
accentuate his amazing body. His hair was cut and styled and he had
shaved. She could smell his woodsy cologne. She wanted to pull him
toward her and melt his body with hers. She wanted to stake her
claim and force him to stay with her. But if he didn’t want her,
she couldn’t force him. He wouldn’t love her and she had blown her
damn chance and now she was stuck loving a man who didn’t want her
back.

She took him in and then looked in his eyes
where she caught a moment of nervousness before he frowned as he
stared back.

“Kat? What’s wrong? Is it the suit?”

“No.” She couldn’t help herself and reached
out to straighten his jacket and tie, “You look quite handsome, I’m
sure the lucky lady will approve.” She tried to hide the disdain
and hurt in her voice, but she knew she hadn’t succeeded. She felt
the tears sting her eyes, and she turned to run into her room. She
couldn’t let him see her like this.

“I don’t understand,” he called out after
her, confusion lacing his voice.

She opened the door to her room, the tears
falling freely and then stopped short. There, on the bed, was a
stunning lavender gown with thin straps, a gauzy material covering
the breasts with a keyhole for sex appeal. The rest of the gown was
satin that flowed down. It was beautiful, and she knew it would
look great on her. Beside it was a single red rose and on the floor
was a beautiful pair of strappy heels.

Her face grew flushed as she turned to
Mason, who was staring at her, an unreadable expression on his
face. But now he was holding the rest of the rose bouquet in his
hands.

“I’m your hot date?” she asked, but it
sounded more like a squeal.

“I hope it wasn’t presumptuous of me to
assume you’d agree to a date. But I wasn’t planning on taking no
for an answer.”

“But you…I…but I thought…” She couldn’t get
any words out. And then she realized his tie matched her dress. She
almost giggled at how thoughtful he had been and how she felt like
she was in high school where all the guys matched their ties to
their dates’ dresses for the endless dances she never got to go to.
This was so much better than a high school dance though.
His
date was with her? His date was with her!
He had planned a
surprise date for her.
It wasn’t some other woman.
And now
she cried again, silent tears, but this time, they were from more
than joy, they were from elation.

“Oh God, Kat, please don’t cry.”

“No, no, these are good tears. Thank
you.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been a little sketchy today,
but it’s hard trying to plan a surprise when you are right here
seeing everything. Now the cat’s out of the bag and I hope you’ll
join me for our date. So please go change. Do whatever it is you
girls like to do and I will be waiting for you in the living
room.”

She nodded, unable to speak. He smiled
widely and turned, letting her get ready.

*****

Mason sat waiting for Kat in the living
room. He was nervous and was tapping his foot. After his birthday,
he was on cloud nine and rode that wave for a few days until he
realized how big of a step Kat had made. It was his turn to do
something just as drastic. He had immediately told Benny what had
happened.