Monthly Bonus Content #1—Tall Tail (Mason version) (Patreon)

“Are you at least going to wear a bunny tail?” Mason asks, leaning against my desk with a growing smile.

I shake my head as I tidy up the messy patchwork of files covering my keyboard. “I’m not wearing any kind of costume. I’m just going to show support for the town’s events. In this case, the easter egg hunt.” My gaze flicks up with a smile of my own. “Sorry. I mean we are going to show our support.”

He rolls his eyes and almost topples back.

I chuckle, walking out around my desk and making to grab my jacket. “Not looking forward to it, sunshine?”

“Spending hours surrounded by stuffy officials, screaming children, and a crowd of strangers? What do you think?” he snarks, twisting around to perch against the edge of my desk.

I tug on my jacket and step back towards him with a flutter of concern in my chest. “If it’s going to be too much, then you don’t have to go.”

“But you’re going to be there,” he states, standing up and strutting towards me.

“As we’ve established,” I reply with a half-smile.

He draws in a long breath, stops an inch in front of me and then slides his hands into the pockets of my jacket to tug us close together. “Then I’ll be there.”

“You’re going soft in your old age,” I comment with a soft laugh.

He leans close, his lips almost brushing against mine, and holds my gaze. “Then it’s lucky you can make me hard again easily, sweetheart/handsome.”

I’m about to shake my head at the crass innuendo when his lips envelop mine.

I moan into the kiss, the smoky taste of him exploding inside my mouth as his tongue runs across my bottom lip. My fingers twist into his hair, deepening the kiss, our breaths mingling as though unwilling to draw away for even the slightest second.

My mind is blank to anything but the feel of him: the softness of his lips but the firmness of his kiss, his fingers gripping at me through my coat and guiding our hips together, the slight desperate groan that escapes him as I pull away a little before he softens again when I meet his kiss once again.

When we finally draw apart, I almost sway on the spot at the headiness of the moment, a sprinkling of colourful stars flashing across my vision.

He takes a step back, rolling his lips together, his eyes glazed.

“What was that for?” I ask, my voice husky not only from the kiss but the lack of breath, my heart thundering inside my chest making it difficult to breathe for a moment.

“Do I need a reason?” he asks.

I eye him carefully before chuckling. “Well, usually the reason is to get me into bed. So, I’m guessing you’re trying to postpone heading over to the easter egg hunt for a while?”

A pinch of a frown tugs at his features before he smooths out the expression.

He wraps an arm about me and tugs me towards the doorway. “Let’s go.”

I arch a brow but don’t protest, only enjoying his continued touch against me as I return the motion.

“Is everything all right?” I ask as we reach the glass doors of the station.

His usual cool has returned, a familiar smirk even easing onto his lips. “I’m still just hoping you’ll have to wear a bunny tail.”

I laugh as we walk together out into the warm spring sunshine.