Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Jenna
Liam’s foot gave a small push to keep the swing going. I snuggled closer and breathed him in.
“You good, Firefly?”
“Mm-hmm.”
He chuckled, his chest rumbling under my cheek, sending electricity zinging through parts of me I’d just discovered.
His chest, covered with ridges and valleys and muscles, felt even more impressive now that I’d seen it.
And his tattoos…I’d seen them peeking out of his shirts, but they were so much bigger—and sexier—than I’d imagined.
A flag on one shoulder, an eagle arcing across his back and curling around the other, dancing along his golden skin, alive with the movement of his muscles.
How could I feel so satisfied and replete and so on edge and desperate at the same time?
He’d awakened something inside of me, and I was greedy for more.
The thought of more sent my heart into overdrive, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it. “You built this swing?” I asked—a random, easy, nonsexual question.
“Yes.”
“I love it.” Okay, maybe not so easy and nonsexual. Not when what I really meant was that I loved everything about tonight. About him.
“Me too. I love this.” His voice was so gruff, so serious.
I looked up at Liam. He held my gaze, his eyes heavy with emotion, and he caressed my face, and I was completely lost in him.
I twisted, sitting up and reaching for him, and he held me tight against his perfect chest, and we kissed for I don’t know how long.
Minutes, hours maybe. I poured every bit of emotion into kissing him…
all the feelings that were too big to put into words.
The magnitude of what just happened…feeling comfortable in the bikini, in the hot tub, in his arms…
the orgasm. The seismic, earth-shattering, life-changing orgasm.
The peace of being here in his arms. The wonder of kissing him like this, feeling his intensity in return, in this bubble where time ceased to exist. Where the whole world outside of us ceased to exist.
Eventually, he broke away and looked out into the yard. A long moment later, he said, “See the ledge around the firepit?”
“Yeah?” I blinked, trying to come out of my Liam-induced daze to focus on it.
“The outside will stay cool, even with a fire lit. I thought that would make it safer for Thor.”
Oh my God. This man. “You did that for Thor? You want him to come here?”
“Of course. I—” He stopped himself, and then finished with a simple “Yes.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask what he’d been about to say, but I didn’t. His answer was enough. “He’ll love it here. I do too.”
He tightened his arms around me. With a contented sigh, I snuggled back into him, curling my feet up on the swing beside me.
Liam ran his hand down my back, over my hip, and down my leg, his touch both lulling me into relaxation and setting me on fire. His fingertip traced the curlicue-covered infinity sign on my ankle. “Why this tattoo?”
I sighed and gripped his arm. I loved my tattoo, but I hated to bring up any reminders of Brian now.
“At my elementary school graduation, the principal spoke about how no matter what path your life takes, you’ll never lose the experiences you gained during those years…
that you’re shaped and molded from those early years and the fabric of your being has been set and will continue within you forever. ” Liam’s arms tightened around me.
“It devastated me.” That sounded like an exaggeration, but it wasn’t.
The idea haunted me and mocked me for so long—maybe, in some way, until I got the tattoo.
“I wanted to lose everything from those years, but eventually I realized there was some good in them, too. The curls coming off the infinity symbol are like exit ramps symbolizing the power to hold onto the good and let go of the bad.”
Liam traced the tattoo again and pressed a long, sweet kiss to my temple. “Firefly, you truly are the light in the dark, too bright for anyone to dim.”
I squirmed in his arms. After the hot tub, I’d only put on my skirt—no leggings. Now, under the spell of Liam’s caresses, I wanted him to keep sliding his hand higher up my leg. To touch me where I’d never wanted to be touched before.
I looked down at his lap, at the bulge in his sweatpants. I tentatively reached out and traced my finger over it. His penis—cock—jumped and swelled. I laid my hand over it, mesmerized as the size and shape changed under my hand. Liam’s cock didn’t feel anything like Brian’s penis.
“Is this okay?” I asked without looking away from his crotch.
“It’s good,” he croaked. “Really good.”
I rubbed my hand over the erection tenting his sweats, his cock hard under the soft fabric. “Do you want me to stop?” Was it unfair to start this when we both knew I didn’t have any intention of finishing?
“Only if you want to.”
“I’m not ready to—”
“I know,” he interrupted. “No pressure. Ever. You do what you want, and you stop when you want.”
I closed my eyes, letting his words, and just…him, everything about him and how amazing he was, wash over me. I closed my hand around his cock the best I could through his pants and squeezed gently.
I felt powerful. Nothing like when I’d done this to Brian. My body thrummed and pulsed. I rubbed his cock in time with the beat pulsing through my core.
“Jenna,” he breathed.
Oh, the need in his voice. I slid my hand up and down his shaft and around the head, acquainting myself with his cock. Exploring it.
Liam’s chest heaved. “I’m going to come,” he said in a rush.
“Come.”
“Stop now if you don’t want me to.”
“I want you to.” I did. I wanted to make him feel as good as he made me feel. I wanted him to feel how much I cared about him.
“Firefly,” he groaned. His hips jerked, and I realized it was the first time he’d moved, surely for my benefit.
And then his arms tightened around me. His whole body tensed, his cock twitched under my hand, his breath whooshed out heavily against me, and a little pool of warmth and wetness spread across his crotch, darkening the fabric—and I still didn’t panic!
Liam relaxed back into the swing, bringing my hand up to rest on his chest. His other hand smoothed over my hair and caressed my face. His heart pounded under my cheek as he tilted my head up to meet his eyes. “You good, Firefly?”
“Yeah. I’m great.”
“You’re amazing.” Then he kissed me, long and sweet and languid. I tangled my tongue with his, need spiraling out from my core, and I clung desperately like I might fly off into orbit without him.
“What do you want, Jenna?” His voice was like gravel, rough and gritty.
I moaned against his mouth.
“I need you to tell me.”
I pulled away and looked at him, confusion washing over me. “Make me come again.”
“How? What do you want?”
“I…I don’t know.” I just wanted relief from the pressure building inside me.
To experience more of that mind-blowing euphoria I had in the hot tub.
But we couldn’t get into the hot tub every time.
And I knew he wasn’t going to have sex with me yet.
Being touched had never felt good, but then again, neither had touching a penis before.
He held my face. “You like the penetration of sex, right?”
I nodded.
“What if I use my fingers, but only inside? I won’t touch you anywhere else. Do you think that would be okay?”
Would that be okay? I had no idea. But the way he was looking at me and the way I felt, I was willing to try almost anything. “Maybe. I’ll try.”
“Promise you’ll tell me immediately if you don’t like it.”
I nodded.
“Say it.”
“I’ll tell you if I don’t like it.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Immediately.”
“Let’s go inside, okay?”
I nodded my agreement.
“Couch or bed?”
Not the bed, not yet. A tiny tingle of apprehension crept in, but I pushed it back. “Couch.”
He led me to the couch, and I sat in the corner before popping back up. “Wait. I need to take my skirt off. I don’t—I don’t want you to go under it.”
Liam’s jaw tightened.
I reached up and held his face. “I want this.”
He nodded and forced out a sad smile, and then he kissed me, his hands gripping my shoulders. “Take your skirt off,” he whispered against my lips without breaking the kiss.
With shaky hands, I quickly—eagerly—slid my skirt off, and my panties with it, his lips and hands still on me, keeping our connection.
“Shirt?”
I pulled back to meet his gaze. “You take it off.”
Heat flared in his eyes, thank God. I needed him to enjoy this too. Not to have his head back there. He grabbed the hem and pulled it over my head, his rough hands skimming over my skin.
“Bra too,” I said.
He unclasped my bra and pulled the straps down my arms, discarding it behind me. “You’re beautiful, Firefly,” he murmured.
His thumbs brushed over my nipples, and I arched into him, craving more. He palmed my breasts, gently tweaking my nipples, and electricity shot through my body.
A breathtaking smile spread across his face. “Sit down, Firefly. Let me make you feel good.”
I sat in the corner of the couch, bracing for him, but to my surprise, Liam kneeled on the floor. I’m not sure how I thought this would go, but this was good. Better than I’d hoped. He kissed me, long and deep, caressing my breasts and driving me wild. Driving every thought out of my head.
He trailed kisses across my jaw and down my neck and then, oh God, on my breast. He closed his mouth around my nipple and sucked gently.
“Liam!” I grabbed his hair and held him to me. “More.”
He licked and sucked and nipped, looking up to hold my gaze with the hottest look I’d ever seen. My body was on fire. “Open your legs for me, Firefly.”
This was it. Please be good. Please don’t freak out.
I spread my legs, and with my nipple in his mouth, his hand in my hair, and his gaze holding me just as firmly, I felt his finger at my opening. A second later, he pushed into me.
I gasped, my hips coming up and every muscle in my body freezing.
Liam froze too. “Look at me,” he said gently. His face hovered above me. “Is this okay?”
“I think so…I think it feels good.”
His lips whispered over mine, and his finger flicked inside me. “Yeah? You like this?”
“Oh! Do it again.”
His finger moved inside me again and my hips rocked on their own accord, seeking more. He slid his finger out and pushed two back in. In and out.
It felt good. Thank God, it felt good. So good.
“Liam!”
He kissed me, his hand moving down to my breast, teasing and caressing me and then he pinched my nipple and his fingers inside me twisted and bent and holy moly, they found a spot.
I grabbed onto him, moaning into his mouth, my hips thrusting with his movements. Inside, I pulsed around his fingers. Pressure built up in my head, in my body, like I was going to explode into a million pieces.
“So beautiful, Firefly. So perfect.” He rained kisses all over my face. “Let go and come for me.”
“Liam!” The pressure washed over me, shattered me. I called his name over and over. No thoughts. Just feeling. Nothing but the feeling of his hands and mouth on me. So good, so incredibly good.
The room slowly came back into focus, and I blinked up at him as he smiled at me. “I love watching you come apart for me.”
“I love coming apart for you.”
We smiled lazily, tenderly at each other for a long moment before I realized Liam was still kneeling on the floor, and that couldn’t be comfortable. “Come sit,” I said, tugging him up. He hesitated, and I suddenly remembered I was naked. “Um, I’ll get dressed.”
He stood and turned away, walking over to my clothes. He stood there stiffly, his back to me for a long moment before he picked them up and slowly carried them over.
Did I do something wrong? I felt even more naked if that was possible. “Liam? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
His eyes roamed over me, and whatever he’d been hiding fell away and concern took over. “I’m sorry. Nothing’s wrong. I just needed a second.”
He gestured toward his crotch, his gray sweatpants tented with his impressive erection and marred with a wet splotch from when he came outside.
“Oh. I think I’m alright with that now. I did that.” I pointed proudly to the wet spot.
Liam grinned. “You sure did.”
I laughed. Nothing was particularly funny. But I was just really, really happy.