Monthly Bonus Content #4 - Leave it in Dust (Mason Spring Scenario) (Patreon)

I’d almost forgotten what sunshine looked like until the rain finally broke. It’s been a four-month deluge since the beginning of the year and to see anything other than thick, choking grey cloud is a blessing.

But now glorious Spring sunshine melts away the storm and spreads a spotlight of gold across my living room.

It also illuminates the dust that has lingered too long like an untouched film across my apartment.

“Here,” I say, shoving a duster in Mason’s direction.

He stares at the item as though I’ve just offered him a bottle of poison. “What do you expect me to do with that?”

“Dust, obviously,” I reply. “You did say you’d help.”

“That was two days ago.” He eyes the living room in all its messy glory. “My offers tend to come with time-limits.”

I flick my gaze to his. “How long are your limits?”

He smirks at me. “About an hour, if I like the person.”

“Does that include me?”

He takes the duster from my grasp, his eyes sparkling just like the sun through the grey clouds. “You’re lucky I seem to really like you.”

I allow myself a small triumphant smile before turning to set to work on gathering up the clothes that had somehow become strewn over the entire room. It’s easier to be motivated when the sunshine is out, though I notice Mason stick to sidling around the shadowed corners of the room as he dusts—or does what I guess is his idea of dusting.

“You’re doing a great job there,” I state, waggling a finger up at the ceiling. “The spiders will be thrilled you managed to miss all of their webs.”

He turns on me. “Spiders are beneficial creatures.”

I eye him up and down before smiling. “Nat tell you that, did she?”

“A long time back. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d ever use that boring bit of information in my life,” he replies through a low chuckle. He waves the duster about, spreading about the dust he’d just swept up into a grey cloud. “Why are you bothering cleaning anyway? You spend more time with us at the warehouse than here these days anyway.”

I purse my lips. He does make a good point.

I shake my head and move towards him. “It’s still my home. And it would be nice to have it tidy enough that I don’t grimace every time I walk inside.”

He peers around me. “It’s not that bad.”

“It’s bad enough,” I comment, taking the duster and instead passing him the clothing. “Could you manage to throw these in the laundry basket instead?”

He nods, grasping the bundle into one arm as he heads for the bedroom.

A few minutes pass where I’m about as efficient at dusting as Mason before I hear, “What’s this?”

“What’s what?” I call back, turning slightly away from the window I’m trying to clean to look at Mason slouched against the doorframe of my bedroom. He grasps a small book.

The sight of it instantly makes my heart sink down into my stomach.

“It’s…apparently it’s a diary,” I mutter, unable to walk any closer and holding the rag in front of me as though it might shield me from the memories. “My father’s.”

Mason nods. “Oh.” He glances from the cloth-bound, slightly moth-eaten book back to me. “Have you read it?”

I shake my head more fervently than I mean to. “No.”

“Why not?” he presses further, moving to take a seat on the sofa.

The temptation of his comfort draws me in until I’m sat sidled up beside him. His body against mine soothes the ache of hollowness in my chest.

“Because it’s not mine,” I say finally.

“Then why do you have it?”

I shrug. “I could see it was too painful for my mother to keep with her, so I brought it here.”

“So as it can pain you instead?” Mason asks, setting the book down on the table and draping an arm across me. For a moment, I get the urge to link my fingers into his but resist as I don’t want to break the comfort he’s already offering.

“What I don’t know can’t hurt me,” I say before pointing to the diary. “And I don’t know what’s in there.”

“Sometimes not knowing can be the thing that hurts the most,” he states with a frown.

I flick my gaze up from my lap to meet his gaze. “Talking from experience?”

His lips quirk into a half-smile as he taps a finger to his temple. “Sweetheart/Handsome, the last thing I want to do is remember anything from my past. Why get stuck there when we have now?”

“And what about the future?” I ask. “Do you think about that?”

He shrugs, the motion settling him even further against me. “Why? I can only be here. Now. What’s the point in thinking forward where I won’t be until I get there?”

I chuckle. “That’s a rather…refreshing point of view.”

“It’s hardly a point of view, sweetheart/handsome. It’s just living,” he states. “Not something I thought I’d care much about until—” His voice cuts through with sudden thought.

I arch a brow. “Until?”

He turns his head to look at me, examining the confused expression on my face. His fingers smooth over my shoulder. “Until you changed everything in my life.”

“Me?” I huff out. “I think you’ll find it was the other way around. I was simply living my life, day to day, when a group of vampires strutted in and threw me into a whole new world.”

He lifts his other hand to trace his fingers across my jawline. “You don’t sound like you regret it.”

I swallow down the flutter which lightens the grief that had previously smothered my lungs. “No regrets about it at all. But sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming to think where my life will go.”

“Then don’t.” He leans even further against me, nuzzling his face into the crook of my neck and planting a kiss against my throat. “Live in the now. With me.”

The request is purred against my pulse, which beats hard in desperation for him.

“So much for cleaning,” I murmur as I bring his lips to mine, tasting the sweetness of his kiss.

His hands tug me flush against him as he gazes into my eyes, temptation flashing in them like lightning. “Did you honestly expect today to turn out any differently?”

I smile. “It’s turned out exactly as I hoped.”

We lost ourselves to another kiss which I indulge completely in. Being only in the now. With him.

Only him.