Played (Manhattan Ruthless #4)

by Sadie Kincaid

“You have no idea of the fucking tornado you are, do you, Mason James? You blow into people’s lives and turn them upside down before moving on like nothing happened.”

I survived the Worthingtons before, and that was when I was a scared kid. Now, I am Mason fucking James, and nothing and nobody will ever make me feel weak or less than what I am ever again.

“Never pretend to be less than who you are to please anyone, my boy, especially not your parents. And never let them stop you from finding love.”

“The only thing that makes me feel sick, Mason, is imagining anyone’s hands on you.” I slide my free hand over his cock and suppress a growl at finding it semi-hard already. “Anyone’s but mine.”

“You taste like cheap brandy,” he murmurs. I kiss him again. “You taste like mine.”

I lied to Mason eighteen years ago when I told him that I never loved him. I loved him more than anyone or anything in this whole goddamn world. The truth is I still do.

“Tell me what you want, King. Consent is very fucking important to me, and I need to establish yours.”

“I’ll let you in on a secret. The best relationships are the ones we have to fight for. The people who challenge us most are the ones who make us the best version of ourselves. Loving someone is easy, but staying with them through the ups and downs of life—that’s the tough part. But it’s also the part that knits your souls together.”

We can’t always choose who we fall in love with, but we can choose who we allow to let into our hearts. Only you can decide whether he gets to be a part of your life. That power is all yours. If he stomps all over that, or if it fails because of some other reason, it doesn’t mean you failed. And if it does fail, what have you lost? A little time? A little pride? A little piece of your heart? But god, wouldn’t it all be worth it for a few days, weeks, or years of the kind of happiness that lights you up from the inside?”

“I want you, Mase. I can’t stop thinking about you. I want to spend every second of every day with you, and it scares the shit out of me.”

“You are the only person I have ever loved, Mason James. And I don’t see anything ever changing that.”

“But I lost you once, Mase,” he says quietly. “And I’d rather become a fucking monk and live the rest of my life in solitude than lose you again. I loved you then, I loved you all the days in between, and I still love you now. So fucking much. You deserve so much more than I have to offer, but if you’ll let me, I promise to give you the best version of myself I can be.”

King Blackthorn is my obsession. My darkness and my light, and all the shades in between.