Chapter 17
seventeen
MAYA
“Favorite color?”
“Red. Favorite holiday?”
“Fourth of July. Favorite movie?”
“The Parent Trap. I always wished I had a long lost sister. Favorite book?”
“None. I’m dyslexic.”
“Right, sorry. Favorite place?”
He slides his cheek down the plane of my stomach until his head rests between my bare legs.
“I thought that was obvious.” He nips at the crease of my thigh, his hand tugging my leg wider.
“Liam!” I shout through a swarm of giggles. My cheeks are sore from how much I’ve been laughing tonight. Who knew sex could be so fun?
“Just one more taste,” he murmurs, pulling my thong to the side. His tongue finds flesh in an instant and I moan through the sensation. It’s been like this for hours now. Sex, laughter, food, random questions, sudden orgasms, more laughter. Liam is…
“Oh, god,” I cry out, my muscles coiling tighter.
He replaces his mouth with his hand and slides up my body, his fingers keeping the same rhythm.
“Maya,” he breathes, right before he kisses me. It’s deep and searching and almost sends me over the edge. “Tell me this isn’t just tonight. I don’t think I can handle the thought of not seeing you again.”
His words do the work for him. I’m falling, tumbling, crashing down, sparks igniting across my skin.
His lips move down my throat as I ride each wave. I can’t remember ever being this loud when I come, but I can’t help it. Liam makes me feel things so much more . He’s like magic.
“Fuck, I love watching you do that.” His emerald eyes glimmer and he leans in to kiss me again just as he settles himself between my legs, his erection finding me wet and ready.
“Good,” I rasp, wrapping my legs around him. “Because you’ll definitely be seeing me again.”
Liam is kissing me.
His lips trail over my neck and across my chest as his weight falls over me. He sinks deeper and—wait. No he’s not.
I grasp at the fading dream, but cracks of sunlight sever me from sleep.
How did dream-Liam feel so real?
I force my eyes to stretch open in an attempt to break the delusion.
But it’s not a delusion. Not all of it. Liam is here, nestled behind me, his hand resting on my hip.
The events of last night come back into focus.
Poppy luring me into her dad’s bed, that little traitor. I know I fell asleep here, but I have no idea how I became tangled in Liam’s arms.
Were the kisses real? The sex? I think I know it was a dream, but it was so vivid, I can still taste him on my lips.
I have to get out of here, figure out why my head is messing with me. I try to slip out unnoticed but as soon as I move, his hand tightens around my waist.
“Don’t,” he murmurs against my hair, shocking me still. “Not yet.”
I’m frozen in place, each limb locked tight, no idea what to do. Did I initiate the cuddling? Did he? Where the hell is Poppy? For a second, I wonder if I rolled over on top of her in my sleep.
Liam seems so relaxed, the way he’s curled around me like this is how we wake up every day. I almost wish it was. A part of me so badly wants to sink into the feel of him and take every little bit of comfort he offers me. But I’m still reeling from that dream. I need to get out of this bed.
“I umm…need to…shower.” I sit up and find Poppy laying on the floor with Penguin in the dog bed. They’re back to back, both sleeping heavily. A laugh bursts through my nose.
“What?” Liam stretches over me to see what I’m looking at and has a similar reaction. “Well, that’s new. Can’t say I’m mad about her leaving us the bed though.”
His arm still rests over my waist, the feeling so comfortable that I feel un comfortable.
I slide off the bed, tip-toeing past Poppy and Penguin so as not to disturb them.
Looking back at Liam, he has this dazed grin on his face. I wish I knew if it was for me or his daughter.
“I’ll see you later,” I whisper, and head upstairs.
What the fuck .
No matter how hard I try, I cannot clear these images out of my mind. Liam’s head between my legs, Liam’s arms around my naked body. Liam’s lips, Liam’s tongue, Liam’s teeth. Liam’s ink?—
He had tattoos in that dream. Ones I’ve never seen before. Vines crawling up his legs. Could that be real? Or just something I designed in my head?
I turn on the shower, feeling like I need to be cleansed. But the water raining down on me does nothing to dispel the oh so vivid fantasy of me and Liam in bed together. If anything, I’m turned on more from the droplets on my skin and the steam filling the air around me. My hand wanders between my legs before my brain can decide if it’s a good idea. I let my mind replay the dream again and again until I finish.
Maybe a little self-care is all that I needed. As I towel off, I try to remember how long it’s been. Too long. My fiancé sure as hell wasn’t getting the job done.
But could a dream like that really come from sexual frustration? What about all the details? The sounds, the smells, the taste of him. Those vine tattoos that I still see so vividly I could draw them.
And then it hits me.
Am I starting to remember?