the air is so tense in here you could cut it with a knife. seth nods stiffly before turning his dark stare to me. "are you ready?"

i step toward seth, but mason's voice stops me from making it all the way to him.

"seth marc," he spits seth's name like it's venom on his tongue and it startles me. "this is the guy you're seeing?"

"that's none of your business." seth cuts in for me. all of his features are drawn into tight lines and i see him working his jaw.

"seth, don't." i mutter, stepping closer to him.

i let my fingertips soothingly graze his wrist. mason ignores seth's aggressiveness and his blue eyes square in on me.

"seth is the reason i moved to portland." he tells me.

my brows knit together as i recall mason telling me he moved to portland after the divorce with his wife of twelve years.

"c'mon, olivia." seth demands as he takes me by the wrist and turns toward the door.

"olivia," mason calls after me. i've never heard his voice take such a dangerous edge before. it's chilling, deep and it stops me in my tracks. seth drops my wrist and snaps back to mason.

"what the fuck is your problem?"

mason stands an inch or two taller than seth, but i've seen seth in action. mason wouldn't stand a chance. "i'm looking out for her."

"why?"

mason's blue eyes flick onto my terrified face and seth follows his sight. seth smiles that over-confident smile before turning back to mason and i swallow hard.

"you want her?" seth assumes and when mason's hard gaze falters at his assumption, seth's smile widens into a wolfish grin and his large frame slips behind me.

the hard front of his body presses against my back. seth's hands slide down my waist to my hips and he grips them tightly, pulling me harder against him. my gaze skims over my desk, across the plain white wall and then onto a small silver clock above mason's door. i look everywhere but directly at mason's blue eyes.

"i don't blame you." seth begins as his hands slide up to my waist.

my body jumps to attention as heat begins to pool between my legs. i cringe. now is not the time to get aroused by his touch. seth chuckles darkly against my ear when he notices my breathing become shallow. "she sure is something."

"seth." i snap in an urgent whisper, but he ignores me and ducks his face into my hair as his hands slide north until his thumb glides over the base of my breast. he inhales and moans, sending hot ripples of desire through me as well as tipping my anger meter to boiling point.

"trust me when i say she tastes as good as she smells."

mason storms forward and seth yanks at me, tucking me safely behind his back.

"what are you gonna' do, mas? fight me?" i can hear the sardonic chuckle in seth's voice. "do it. i dare you."

seth and mason are face to face and neither looks like they are going to back down any time soon. my heart thuds uncomfortably in my chest as a smirk tugs at the corner of mason's lips and he says, "you know, one of the perks of being a psychologist is learning how to get inside people's heads and figuring out what makes them tick."

i feel seth turn to stone.

"you wanna' know what made your father tick? what his biggest disappointment was?"

my heart stops cold. was mason seth's dad's psychologist in seattle? it sure seems like it. talking about seth's dad is a big no-no for seth. he's hardly spoken about him to me and he trusts me. i can only imagine what it's doing to him to hear mason mention it.

"seth, let's go." i say, tugging on his shirt. he takes a step back. now all i need is three or four more of those and we're out the door. i continue to tug on him and as i reach for the door. mason says it-the words i've been praying for him to keep to himself.

"you. his biggest disappointment was you."

chapter eleven

surprisingly, seth didn't launch himself at mason and somehow i made it in between the two men, pressing my hands firmly against seth's chest. under my hands, his muscles were coiled, waiting to spring themselves at mason... but thankfully, they never do.

"you're not worth throwing away the competition." seth snarls. "but if you do speak to your ex-wife again, tell her i said hi."

he turns and storms from the office and i shift my attention to mason. "his dad? really? that's low, mason."

"no, dating someone like seth is low." mason marches to his office and slams the door. i waste no time in chasing after seth. he's outside pacing the sidewalk with his hands in his hair. his face is flushed, almost like it's too hot to touch. a few people strolling by dodged around him warily, like he's going to break at any moment.

"seth?" my voice comes out quieter than i intend. "we can have lunch at my house...away from people."

he throws me his car keys and i follow him to his car without another word. in the car seth keeps his eyes out the window.

"seth," i say, breaking the silence.

he doesn't acknowledge me.

"i didn't like that. don't use me against people ever again."

still no response and i don't mind as long as he knows i'm not okay with what just happened. i peek sideways at seth. his chest rises and falls quicker than normal and his fists remain clenched. what mason said has really done a number on him and i'm not sure if i can help this time.

when we get to my house, there's a note on the door from selena saying her dad called her into work and she borrowed some clothes. i reach under the busted potted plant and retrieve the back up key. it's marked with dirt because i haven't used it in a long time. i open the door and put the dirty key in my pocket. as i make my way into the kitchen to make sandwiches seth sits on the couch, leaning his head backwards. his eyes are closed, giving him a vulnerable edge. i kick my shoes off in the middle of the kitchen and make my way over to him. as i linger above him, he snags his bottom lip between his teeth in thought. he's still mad... and i'm scared that he'll get in his car and go back there.

"what he said... don't pay any attention to it." i tell him.

"he's right." seth replies without opening his eyes. "my father was disappointed in me." his eyes open and my heart tightens at their sad gleam. "i couldn't do anything right... so i made it my mission to do everything wrong. i'm not a good person, o."

i grab his face between my palms, forcing him to look at me. "i think you're a good person."

"one girl out of the millions of people i've met thinks i'm good." he shakes his head. "those odds aren't comforting."

"but at least it's something."

he pulls his face from my hands. "don't get the wrong idea about me. don't let me charm you into thinking i'm good because i'm not."

i refuse to budge. "you are."

he makes a frustrated noise at the base of his throat and sits forward. "i slept with mason's wife when i lived in seattle, years ago. that's why they got divorced. i went with my dad to one of his sessions and i walked into mason's office to see if he was there, but his wife was instead. she provoked me, teased me until i gave in. i fucked his wife on his desk and my dad and mason walked in." he shakes his head, disgusted with himself. "i'm not a good person, olivia. i destroyed a marriage-hundreds of marriages, probably."

his story leaves a bitter taste in the back of my throat. i picture everything and in my head i'm jealous that even someone who was meant to be married has had seth. he doesn't look at me as he slumps back into the couch. he takes my hands, puts them back on his warm face and closes his eyes.

"i need you to distract me. tell me something-anything and then i'll get out of your hair."

without giving it much thought, i slide over his legs, straddling his thick muscles between my thighs. his eyes shoot open and i caress his smooth face with my thumbs. all of his lines of worry disappear and as i lean forward, pressing my lips to his, i feel his body tighten and he pulls back. "what are you doing?"

"distracting you." my hands slide up his face and into his hair. i tug on it, pulling his lips back to mine. he's trying to fight me, i can feel it. he won't open his mouth so i take his bottom lip between my teeth and i bite down on it. he gasps and his mouth opens. i stick my tongue in and run my fingers through his hair as i rock my hips slightly. almost immediately i feel him bursting at the seam of his jeans beneath me.

"olivia," he growls in a low tone as he attempts to lean away from me, but i don't let him.

"please." i whisper in his ear.

he shifts me so i'm looking directly into his eyes. they're filled with too much emotion-lust. passion. hate. fear.

"please." i say again, running my hands underneath his shirt and up his chest. his muscles tremble and i grow a little wetter. i'm willing to tend to him and give him what he needs right now. i don't know what has overcome me. there's this surge of electricity pulsing through me and i can't stop. i need it. i need it like i need air.

"you want this?"

i take his hand and push it down the front of my underwear, answering his question. he tilts his head back, releasing a groan from his throat. i shiver as his fingers shift into position and the rough pads of his fingertips twitch against my sensitive flesh. his dark stare is on my face, trying to analyze my thoughts and slowly, i begin rocking my hips against his hand. seth's lips crash to mine and i moan as he plunges his tongue into my mouth and manages to stand. i wrap my legs tightly around him as one of his arms crushes me to him while the other still caresses my wet center. when we get into my room and without taking his mouth from mine, he kicks off his shoes and we fall onto the bed. he lies between my legs, stroking me ruthlessly now and i'm panting and moaning as i instinctually flex my hips towards his hand. a painfully-amazing sensation builds up in my core and as it threatens to spill over. he stops.

"seth." i groan, breathlessly. "please."

his face hovers directly above mine and he's smiling that god damn smile. he dips a finger inside me and i whimper, and then shudder as he goes back to circling my center. i feel my stomach begin to twist uncomfortably and as i barrel towards my climax, he stops again. i groan and he chuckles, the low sound causing a sudden flash of heat to shoot down my spine. he brings his mouth to mine and catches my bottom lip between his teeth. he bites down and i wince as his fingers push into me, forcing my hips to thrust upwards. seth releases my lips and before i know it i'm begging him to keep going in a desperate pant and he curls his fingers, pressing them against the roof of me. suddenly, there's an overwhelming need to pee and i try to slide backwards-to get away from it. chuckling oh-so sexily, he rolls most of his weight onto me, pining me down on the bed as the tips of his fingers relentlessly brush against that spot. with whatever voice i can muster up through the breathlessness, i beg for him to stop, but he pulls me into him instead.

"you're fighting it." he rasps at me. "let it go."

i clench my teeth down on his shirt as an orgasm rips through me. the heat of my climax envelops me, claiming every inch of my body both inside and out. i scream and moan into his shoulder and he doesn't stop moving his fingers until i'm panting and leaning lazily against him. when the arousal subsides and i look into his eyes, i flush. i've never orgasmed in front of anyone before, let alone one of that calibre. he drags his fingers from me and i watch as he trails one along his bottom lip before sucking the tip of his index finger into his mouth. i stare in disbelief.

"well," he says, tugging his shirt over his head and throwing it across the room. "i was right about one thing."

"and what's that?"

"you do taste as good as you smell."

he slides off the bed and unbuttons his jeans. he yanks on his boxers and they group around his feet. desire pools between my thighs once again when my sight falls onto his large, erect cock. he notices me watching unashamedly and he stands before me a little longer allowing me to admire his insanely beautiful body. "now it's your turn."

he gestures for me to come to him and like a cobra hypnotized by a flute, i crawl toward him. my bare feet hit the carpet and seth pulls me against him. his hands slide into the nape of my neck and he presses his lips softly to mine. i melt into him, running my hands everywhere and enjoying the heat of his skin underneath them. he pulls away, leaving me breathless and turns me around. his fingers unzip my dress and it falls to my feet. he manages to unclip my bra in record time and tug me back around so we're face to face. i shiver at the sensation of the open air brushing against my chest, and i feel my nipples tighten immediately as goosebumps break across every inch of my flesh. seth's eyes flit down to my breasts, and his lips twitch as he takes in my hardened peaks.

"do you have any protection?" he asks, pressing his mouth to my throat. i slip away from him and grab a condom from the top drawer of my bedside table. he takes it from me as his eyes wander down to my chest again. he lays me down on the bed and with both hands he pulls my panties off. my initial reaction is to squeeze my legs together, but he jams his hand between my knees.

"open them."

i don't open them completely, but enough for him to see exactly what i have. he inhales sharply. "that has to be the nicest pussy i've ever seen."