Mase popped up and blocked my way with a wall of muscle. "Hey, whoa. You're not going anywhere."

"Says who?" I asked without bothering to step out of his personal space.

"Says me," he said, curling his lip into an irritated scowl. He held my gaze for several faltering heartbeats before looking away. His voice, his nearness sizzled a fiery energy over my skin, a welcome distraction of the panicked aftershocks still trembling through my body.

He cleared his ...