The Trust Ch. 01

He'd been nervous about sitting at the same table with her and Marcus after what had happened that morning, but she had chosen to dress very conservatively and there was no sign on her part that anything was different. So he was able to relax and enjoy the friendly banter.

"So Father," Brigid said, spearing a slice of lamb and holding it up to him, "which one of your girlfriends was this anyways?"

Marcus scowled at her. "The clever one."

"Apparently not clever enough." She returned, stuffing the small slice into her mouth with a wicked grin.

Turning to Mason, Marcus shook his head. "Remember this lad, many a girl has thought herself too clever by half, only to end up over a man's knee with no knickers." Brigid just laughed and went into the kitchen, returning a moment later with the cake followed by two wrapped presents.

Mason reached for one of the presents, hoping he would have room for cake after things settled a bit. He knew it was from Marcus as soon as he opened it. A pair of pink feather weight boxing gloves.

Marcus was grinning from ear to ear when Mason lifted them out of the box. "I figured you might be able to handle those soon." He crowed.

"If you're sure you're done with them." Mason shot back, also grinning. It didn't surprise him any, he and Marcus always gave each other gag gifts. The other gift was something altogether different though, and it gave him a lump in his throat seeing how much work Brigid had obviously put into it. It was a leather-bound photo album of his life. It started out with pictures of Mason and his mom, gradually becoming pictures of his current family. But there were solo pictures of his mother scattered though out. Conspicuously absent were any photos of his father. Laying it aside, Mason went around the table and pulled Brigid out of her chair, hugging her close.

"Thank you." He whispered a second time that day.

He held her for a moment longer, then went to the hall closet and returned with two wrapped presents of his own.

"What's this?" Brigid asked as he handed one to Marcus.

"Just a couple of things I picked up in town today." He told her, as Marcus lifted a striped lavender jump rope from his box. Scowling at it. "That's to make sure your ass doesn't get too big for that new chair." Mason told him. Happy to have gotten the last laugh for a change.

Brigid was shaking when she lifted out the velvet jewelry box, "Mason, what have you done?" she halfheartedly protested as she slowly opened it. Inside was an elegant emerald and white gold choker. "Mase..." she breathed as she lifted it out and held it in front of her. "How..how much was this?"

Mason just smiled at her, "It was nothing compared to this." and he laid his hand on the album she had given him. "Besides, Marcus has told me more than once that every Irish girl ought to have an emerald or two." At which Marcus nodded sagely.

It was Brigid's turn to come around the table for a hug, then turning her back and pulling her red mane aside, she ask Mason to clasp it around her neck.

Later that night, after watching the original Pink Panther movie and 'A shot in the dark' both with Marcus. Mason was lying awake in his room trying to gather the courage to go to Brigid's, when he heard his door open and she came slowly across the room, her pale form sending blood surging through Mason's. He folded back the covers and she slipped in against him. 'Please just hold me Mase." She asked in a small voice, so he did. Lying there awake long after her breathing had turned slow and even in slumber.

***

Mason woke on his side alone, his morning wood propping him up like the kick stand on a Harley. He could still smell her scent on the linen, a mix of strawberries and talcum powder. Rolling to his back, he scanned the room hoping she was still in there somewhere. But the bathroom door was open and the light out. He fought down the temptation to go hunt her down naked, his cock leading the way, still unsure of his footing in this new relationship, if it could be called that. Besides there was always the chance she was having coffee with Marcus and that would go over real well. So he crawled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom instead, maybe a shower would help.

Brigid was in the kitchen, trying to get into her normal routine, but thoughts of Mason kept intruding. She was worried that she had screwed up badly by giving in to her lust, yet the memories of them together were not only good, they were surprising. No one had ever made her feel the way he had, and she was sure it had been his first time. She tried to tell herself it couldn't happen again. She hadn't spent the last decade raising him for herself. He needed to go out in the world and find someone closer to his age. She was almost twice that, it just wouldn't be right. But damn it was tempting. It had been all she could do that morning to leave his bed after the way he had simply held her all night, so gentle and warm.

When he was younger, going about nude occasionally hadn't been a big deal. Later when she realized that he was noticing her, when his eyes almost never left her nipples, she had tried staying dressed more. But she soon had to admit that she missed his looks and the naughty feeling it gave her, so she had revisited her nudism, after all, what was the harm in a little teasing. But now it was like he had become a man overnight. A strong, virile man. And things were a mess. He would be leaving for college soon, probably within the month so he would have a chance to get situated with housing and orientations. And she didn't want to do anything that would keep him from going, no matter how hard it would be on her to stay.

His arms sliding around her from behind pulling her close brought her out of her muddle. She stiffened, until his lips found her neck and she let it all go, leaning back into him. His hands came up to cradle her breasts, thumbs rubbing at her hard nubs through the silk robe. She almost surrendered, almost gave in to the pleasure of being in his arms, but with a gut wrenching effort of will, she got hold of herself and turned in his arms, gently pushing him away.

"We need to have a talk Mase." It was hard, the longing and pain in his eyes not helping, but she told him her fears about what they had done. That she didn't want to interrupt his life just as it should be getting started. "I love you Mase, and I know you love me, but somewhere out there, someone is waiting to spin your head around and turn your life upside down. And she needs the chance... you need the chance to fall in love like that. I'm not her, no matter how much either of us wishes it were so."

"I'm sorry," Mason began, but she silenced him with her fingertip.

"I'm not Mason, what we did was beautiful, and you need to know, that you were more of a man than anyone else ever was." She told him, "That's what makes this so hard, I want it as much as you do. But I know, no matter what my heart says, that it's not meant to be. I need to see you out there, to know that I did right by you and your mother. Please understand." With that, she fled the room, running up the stairs and throwing herself on her bed to weep.

Mason was heartbroken and confused. He was angry but unclear where to direct it. It didn't seem possible that he could be angry at Brigid yet long for and hurt for her, all at the same time. He wanted to follow her, make her understand that she was the one, had always been the one. He wanted to scream. In the end, he too fled, slipping on his running shoes, he ran out the back door.

Mason often ran for exercise, now he ran to escape. The problem was, he couldn't outrun himself. His body fell into old habits and followed his known route, he saw none of it, not even Danny quietly keeping pace with him. The first mile, he raged against the unfairness of it all. In the second, he wept. He let it all out, all the loss he had been served, Brigid, his mother and even his father. Somewhere in the third mile, he began hearing what Brigid had really been saying to him. Not a rejection, but a need grown out of her love for him. And maybe in a testament to all she had done raising him, he began to understand.

The house was quiet when he finally made it back, and when he looked, he saw Brigid asleep on her bed. He needed to talk to her, but was coated with dust and sweat from his run. Freshly showered and in a clean pair of jeans, He stood by her bed watching her, letting go of what might have been. Yet determined to hold on to what he could.

She started awake as he sat beside her and touched her shoulder. But when she went to talk, it was his turn to hush her. "It's my turn to talk." He told her he had worked through what she told him, and knew that she was right, promising that he would keep to his plan and schedule for college, "I'll even try to find that girl you say is waiting out there. But you need to understand that I love you, and that nobody will ever take that place in my heart. She might find room in there alongside you, but nothing will ever replace my need for you in my life. And I'm not willing to give up what we discovered yesterday. I promise I'll make you proud, I will live a life that matters, but I want to be with you until I have to leave." The answer was in her eyes and he covered her lips with his.

Their coupling was slow and gentle for a time, each exploring the other. But as the urgency of their releases built, so too did their ardor for each other. Her nails in his back and her teeth at his throat, Mason began pushing hard and fast, his weight driving her ass into the mattress, the air from her lungs. He continued as she wailed his name and went rigid beneath him, relentless until she wrapped both legs and arms around him and hugged him close, barely able to draw a breath into her lungs. He lay quietly, locked to her until she relaxed again.

"Again Mase." She breathed, looking deep into his eyes, "Give it to me, I want to feel you inside me, feel you spill inside me, please..I need it."

Hooking his arms under her knees like he had seen in a hundred videos, Mason pushed her up until he could grip the headboard, his cock sinking ever deeper as the angle changed and her ass lifted from the mattress. "Oh Gawd Mase...," she screamed as he began pounding her, feeling nothing but her around his cock. Needing to give her what she wanted, needing to spill himself into her, to mark her. And as his seed rushed into her, he let go the last of the anger and fear. He knew in his heart that they would always have at least this.

***

Time seemed to fly by, Mason met several times with Allan. He learned more about his trust and settled the rest of his college plans. Because of the advanced studies Allan had insisted Mason take, he would go right into MIT's undergraduate program and start working towards a dual bachelor's in business management and business law. It was decided he would look for a residence to buy instead of renting, since he would be there for years.

He did his best to stick to his and Marcus' regular workout schedule. Sparing with the old bruiser at least once a week on top of his daily runs. But mostly, he spent time with Brigid. They found a new balance to their relationship, one between two adults who found they really liked each other. It was more than the sex, although that was incredible, it was the freedom to be themselves with each other. By the time it was time for Mason to leave, while it wasn't free of a few tears, there was a comfort in both their hearts that they had forged something that would last a life time, never mind a few years.

Danny watched him drive away like he knew he wasn't coming back this time.