midnight rain | mason mount

xxi

CHARLOTTE POV. 
MAY 25, 2022

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring into space for, well, god knows how long. For a long time, I simply just sat there mindlessly, thinking about all the events of the past year. About an hour must have passed, but soon enough, I heard the lock click and the door open, and footsteps come in. I assumed it was Mason— we were sharing a room, after all. Putting on a poker face, I turned around and said, 

"Hey. I'm sorry I left without saying anything. I just wasn't feeling too well." 

He sat down next to me on the seat and put his hand on my forehead, checking if I had a fever. He was frowning. It was obvious he was worried about him. My gut wrenched at the sight of him looking so concerned. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah. It must've been all the walking we did today. I'm okay now, though." I forced myself to put on a smile.

"You should get an early night's sleep. I asked the staff to wrap up some of the food, just in case you got hungry." He pointed at the takeaway containers that he had brought. "It's not much, but I don't want you to go to bed on an empty stomach." 

"Thank you. You spoil me too much." 

"Deservedly." 

"C'mon. Let's go back outside. I want to go night swimming." I felt bad for leaving him so abruptly at dinner. "I want to make it up to you. I feel terrible for just leaving you like that." 

"You have nothing to apologize for. I don't want you to feel even worse, let's just stay in." 

"I'm fine, Mase. Really." I gave him a reassuring look and added on, "C'mon, let's go. It's just an excuse for me to get to see you shirtless. Give in, won't you?" 

A few minutes later, the two of us were on the hotel's private beach. Maybe because it was pretty late at night, but there was no one on the beach except us. I excitedly ran into the water— it was the first time that I had been at the beach in a long time. As a small wave started coming in it slapped me across the face and I fell face-first into the water, and both of us burst out in laughter. 

"I looked absolutely idiotic, didn't I?"

"Idiotic is an understatement." He replied, laughing. The corners of his eyes creased when he smiled. Now that I think about it, I think his smile is one of the many reasons I fell for him. 

"This is the part where you're supposed to make me feel better and tell me that I looked graceful, or that it wasn't as embarrassing as I think it is!" I exclaimed, pushing him playfully.

"But that would make me a liar, wouldn't it?" 

We waded further into the water, and now, the water was neck-deep for me, and chest-deep for Mason. The waves were shallow and gently but consistent. To avoid being completely engulfed in them, I wrapped my arms around his neck and legs around his waist, and he hoisted me up easily. I was now comfortably above the water. He supported my weight with his arms, his hands resting on my ass. The feeling of his hands on my bare skin made my heart beat faster and made me a little nervous, but not in a bad way. 

Looking at the views around me I said, "This really is like a dream for me." 

"I could say the same." 

I shifted my gaze from the night sky back to Mason, and cupping his face with my hands, I leaned in to kiss him. I wrapped my legs around him tighter to better support myself, and his arms shifted so that one hand supported my ass, and the other arm supported my back. He kissed me, softly at first, but then with a gradation of intensity that made me cling to him tighter. His lips parted my lips, sending shivers down my spine. The feeling of his soft but dominant tongue in my tongue made me arch my back and a small moan slipped from my mouth.