Chapter Thirty-Four
We ran across the square, ducking under the canopy of the library.
Our dash across had only felt like two seconds, but we were completely soaked.
My hair had begun to frizz up already. I laughed at how ridiculous we looked.
Rain covered my face and dress. Liam’s face was covered too, rain running down his cheeks, his hair flattening on his forehead.
He tried to push it back, but it was no use.
The rain hit harder, pelting on the pavements.
‘Does it always rain this bad?’ I shouted. It was a downpour – April showers.
‘You’ll have to get used to it.’ He grinned and pulled me closer. ‘Are you cold?’
I smiled back. His smile was infectious. ‘No, I’m fine.’
Liam opened his coat. ‘You’re cold. You look cold.’
‘Okay.’ I smiled as Liam pulled me into his chest, his head resting on the top of mine.
I looked up at him, seeing raindrops on his dark eyelashes.
‘What’s next, boss?’
‘Don’t call me that,’ he rumbled.
‘What’s wrong with boss?’ I asked, grinning. I knew exactly what was wrong with calling him boss.
‘I’d stop now, or you’ll find out,’ he said as he pulled me closer. I could feel how much it had affected him. It had affected him big time.
He leaned into my hair. ‘You smell so good. It used to drive me mad when we were working on the house. I could smell your perfume in whatever room you’d been meddling in.’
‘I didn’t meddle!’
‘Hmmm. Sure.’ He smelt my neck, planting a kiss there. We were basically mounting each other in the middle of a city. I looked around. St Peter’s Square was quiet. It looked like everyone else had the same idea – duck under something to keep dry until the worst of the rain was over.
We stood there for a moment, sharing warmth. I leaned up, meeting Liam’s dark eyes.
‘Can you take me home?’ I didn’t want to be in a city teeming with people. I wanted to go back to Everly Heath. I wanted Liam’s eyes on me and nothing else.
Liam gave me a smirk. ‘Sure, Red.’
*
We stumbled through the front door, kissing, and Liam had me up against it in seconds, my legs wrapped around his hips.
My green dress had ridden up, leaving my thighs exposed.
I could feel the draught from the door as Liam slammed it close with a hard push.
He pressed himself against me, and we moaned.
Liam trailed kisses everywhere, my neck, my collarbone, my lips, while he ground against me; that coil of pleasure wound tighter with each movement.
I pulled on his hair. I wanted to make sure he knew how this was ending.
I wasn’t being teased anymore. I didn’t care about taking it slowly. I needed him. Now.
‘Upstairs,’ I panted. ‘Now.’
I was going to have him tonight if it killed me. Liam let me go, and I slipped down him. I looked up to see a hungry expression in his eyes.
‘Liam. Let’s go. I swear to god, if I’m not in your bed in the next five minutes, I’m going to die.’
Liam laughed. ‘Yes, boss.’
He pulled me into a fireman’s carry, making me squeal in surprise.
‘Liam, this isn’t what I meant.’ I held on tighter as he took us up his stairs. I couldn’t believe he could climb a flight of stairs with me in his arms. I was not exactly light.
‘You should be more specific, then,’ he said as he gave a gentle bite to my neck.
‘Just concentrate on where you are going. I swear – if you drop me!’
‘I won’t drop you,’ he said, walking down a long hallway to a bedroom at the end. He kicked open the door and dropped me onto his bed, shifting across me to flip on the lamp beside his bed.
‘Can we keep the lights off?’ I asked. I rarely had sex in the light. It wasn’t my body image or anything like that. It was more it felt strangely… intimate.
‘No fucking chance,’ Liam said, his voice gravelly. ‘I’ve fantasised about this too many times. I need to commit the real thing to memory.’
‘Liam, I’ve been in this bed a million times,’ I said, still baffled.
Liam leaned over me, annoyingly fully clothed.
‘Yes, but that was before I knew I was going to get to keep you.’
He cradled my cheeks, then pushed his hands into my hair.
Our lips met again, soft at first, then all tongue and teeth, competing for who could make the other moan louder.
My hands began to wander first, under his T-shirt, over his abs and his broad back.
I pulled at the fabric, and Liam got the message and pulled his T-shirt over his head.
My eyes went wide. I would never get over seeing this guy topless.
Liam chuckled. ‘You look like a Disney character again.’
I glanced up. Liam was looking way too smug. He knew he had that lived-in physique, built more like a rugby player than a model. You could tell he worked with his body every day. He had strong arms, a wide chest and a trail of dark hair going down into his jeans.
‘You keep looking at me like that, and this isn’t going to last very long.’ He bit my earlobe. ‘And I want to drag this out as long as possible.’
His kisses continued down my cleavage. I felt too hot and claustrophobic to be dressed. I pulled my dress over my head and reached for my bra.
‘I’ll do it,’ Liam said, taking a strap and kissing my shoulder. ‘Stop rushing me.’
I wanted to complain, but Liam’s expression was…
reverent. So, I held back my complaints.
He pushed down the bra first, taking a nipple into his mouth, making me arch off the bed.
Liam hummed and then moved over to the next.
He reached behind me and had my bra off in an instant, even quicker than I’d manage.
I didn’t know whether to be jealous or thank the previous women he’d slept with at this point.
He kissed down my stomach.
Gently, he bit at the softness of my hips.
‘These have driven me mad, your hips. The way you move them. When you squeeze past me at the house. When you get up to get a drink at the bar.’ He nipped and then kissed the other. ‘I just wanted to grab them. Then I could, but only in private. Now, I’m going to touch you whenever I want.’
‘That will scandalise – oh.’
He reached for my underwear, a plain black thong, but he didn’t pull it down like I’d expected. He planted a delicate kiss on me, making me fist his bedcovers.
I lifted my hips. ‘Stop teasing.’
‘It’s only payback, love.’ He planted another kiss. ‘Payback for driving me mad. For making us wait for this.’
The third kiss he gave me had me moaning, and he took mercy on me, pulling the strip of material off me.
‘You. Are perfect,’ he said before he lowered his mouth onto me, and everything went taut. With each swirl of his tongue, soft and then harder, I wound tighter and higher. At some point, my hands ended up in his dark hair, pulling at each decadent lick.
‘Yes. There.’ I moaned as he hit the right spot. He focused there and sped up slightly. Just enough to have my hips rising off the bed. I babbled something about being close and glanced down. Liam’s head was down, not looking up at me, focused on me and me alone – a slight smile on his smug face.
One more second of his tongue sent me over the edge, and I moaned his name as I came hard. Liam lessened his pressure and stroked my thighs as I came back down to earth, panting. I was a mess – the good type. All languid and undone.
I could barely put a sentence together, but I gestured for Liam.
‘Come here,’ I said. ‘I need you.’
‘We don’t have to do anything else, Kat. I just wanted to do that.’
‘Stop being so fucking perfect and come here.’
Liam didn’t need to be told twice. With a cocky smile I wanted to wipe off his face, he lowered himself over me. He was still dressed.
‘Off,’ I demanded, trying to undo his belt but failing.
‘So pushy,’ he said, kissing me and then pulling back to undo his belt. He had his jeans off and then hovered over me in his underwear.
I reached inside and felt him. He was hard, with precum already wetting his cock. I gave him two tugs, making him moan from above me. With two hands, he grabbed mine and put them above my head.
I pouted. ‘What? I can’t play, but you can?’
‘Playing could finish this.’ He kissed me hard again. ‘Not letting that happen.’
‘Fine.’
He kissed me some more, but I was getting impatient. I wanted Liam. I wanted him so fucking much. I wanted him, even when I shouldn’t. Even when I’d suppressed it for so so fucking long in a misguided attempt to protect myself. Liam must have sensed my impatience because he pulled down his boxers.
‘We can stop at any time. Just tell me,’ he murmured in my ears, kissing below them.
His gentle offer, even as he stripped down, was enough to make me melt.
It was rare for any man I’d been with to even care enough to make the boundaries of consent as clear as Liam had.
I battled the emotions swirling in my chest but focused on the physical.
While I was impatient and demanding, Liam seemed focused on savouring this.
He kept kissing my cheeks, my lips, and my neck, oblivious to the fire raging inside me.
I’d already come, but Liam hadn’t yet.
How was he so calm?
‘Condoms?’ I panted.
Liam leaned across me to his sidetable, half of his weight landing on me, forcing a strange noise out of me, making me laugh and setting Liam off apologising. Liam rolled on the condom and hovered over me, careful not to put his full weight on me this time.
‘Are you sure?’ Liam asked, his eyes earnest. Was I sure?
My body was screaming yes. There was a bit of my brain, underneath all the lust and urgency, that said we wouldn’t be able to come back from this.
It said that this wasn’t casual. It warned that I would end up being destroyed by Liam, not just physically.
But I wasn’t going to let that hold me back.
I needed this. I needed him. We both needed each other.
I could see it in Liam’s face as he looked at me now with gentle affection.
‘Yes.’ I pulled him by the back of his neck to kiss me.
Liam pushed into me, and we both moaned at the delicious sensation. As he pushed in further, I winced a little.
‘Are you okay?’ Liam asked, pushing his hands into my hair.
‘Yes. So good. Keep going.’
Liam pushed to the hilt, then pulled back and slammed back, making me gasp again.
Oh shit. This feels fucking amazing.
Liam picked up the pace, lifted my legs, and he hit a perfect spot. He had his eyes shut, his breath coming quickly.
‘Kat.’ He moaned in a way I’d never heard before. It sounded amazing coming from his mouth. Liam’s hands came to my hips, rocking me harder, and I tightened my legs around his waist, needing him deeper. He slammed into me, and the air whooshed from my chest.
Fuck.
‘Too much?’ Liam asked, a frown forming.
‘Perfect,’ I gasped back as he repeated the movement.
I continued to pant as Liam changed up the angle and the tempo, slowing down slightly to kiss me, his face close to mine – a look of adoration.
I knew at that moment that this was the most intense sexual experience I’d ever had, and it wasn’t even over yet.
‘God, you feel perfect,’ Liam growled between thrusts. His forehead was on mine, and we stared at each other, emotions passing between us. We were so, so close. I couldn’t see where I started, and he began. I felt a ball of emotion rise in my chest, threatening to spill over.
‘Kat,’ Liam murmured. ‘I—’ I shut him down with a hard kiss, wrapping my legs tighter, digging my heels into him to get him deeper. I knew what he was going to say, but I didn’t – no, I couldn’t – hear it right now. I couldn’t hear it again when I couldn’t say it back.
Sensing a shift in my energy, Liam moved and lay on his back, pulling me with him. ‘Get on top.’
I didn’t need to be told twice. I lowered myself onto him, making us both moan again.
Using the headboard for support, I rode him, and it felt so fucking good that I couldn’t help but close my eyes and throw my head back.
Liam used this angle as an excuse to touch my breasts, then drew them into his mouth, intensifying the feeling up, up, and up.
‘I’m close.’
‘Come for me. Please.’ Liam reached between us and gently rubbed my clit in circles, somehow at the perfect pace.
It threw me over the edge, and I moaned as I came in waves.
I could feel Liam come with me as he held my hips down, thrusting into me hard, before we both came to a stop, panting.
I fell forward onto his chest and felt his heart still racing.
‘Christ,’ he said.
‘Yeah.’ I was smiling, boneless. Eventually, I dismounted with a fair amount of grace, all things considered, and Liam took care of the condom before joining me back in bed, pulling me against him. He was so fucking warm, and he smelt so fucking good. He kissed the top of my head.
‘I love you,’ Liam murmured into my skin.
I wanted to open my mouth, to say the words back, but I couldn’t. Time, I just needed some time, and Liam was willing to give it to me. I didn’t feel suffocated. Liam’s breath was evening out, and his heart rate was slowing.
Then the overthinking kicked in.
It always got worse at night.
I thought of Mum’s disappointed face when I told her about another career change.
I thought about the stress line between Willa’s eyes when she recruited another graphic designer.
Or worse, the relief she’d feel that I’d gone of my own accord.
Where would I live here? I could move into my dad’s house, so Liam and I weren’t moving too fast. I could enrol on the interior design course while doing some freelance work for Willa to keep afloat.
Mum and Graham would think I was losing my mind.
Liam’s breath hitched in his sleep, and he pulled me tighter.
What was I doing? I had Liam. Liam, who loved me. Liam, who wanted me to stay. Liam, who looked after me when I was spiralling. Together, we’d be okay.
I sunk deeper under the covers.
Tonight, I was going to enjoy this.
Tomorrow, I would worry about the rest.