33. Bewitched
Bewitched
Liam
She was here. Cerise was here.
In my lap. In my arms. I could hardly breathe, I was so entranced by her presence.
I knew it had been risky pulling her away from the gala. I’m sure she’d pay for it later when her mother berated her for disappearing. Maybe I was a bad influence and this wasn’t the way to go about things, but at this moment I didn’t care.
I couldn’t bear to see the expression she wore earlier tonight in the ballroom. The pasted-on smile, hiding a world of pain and stress. The pressure I knew she was putting on herself to maintain her perfectly coiffed exterior. I had to do something. Had to rescue her from herself.
And if my impulsive need to whisk her away came back and bit me in the ass…well, I would figure it out then. Like I always did.
Cerise still sat on my lap, sipping her second ale. We were both tipsy and I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that she had no panties on—because they were still in my pocket.
She shifted as she cheered, watching the current competitors dancing around one another in the ring. But I wasn’t watching the fight.
I was watching her.
The unbridled joy. The way her head fell back with laughter. The ‘whoop’ she let out and then caught herself, cheeks flushing as if she shouldn’t have yelled.
The hand I rested on her thigh moved higher ever so slowly, my thumb brushing closer and closer to her bare sex. She shivered, looking at me with flushed cheeks. “Not here, Liam.”
I leaned in, brushing my lips slowly along her shoulder. “Then we should leave soon, because I don’t know how much longer I can have you sitting in my lap without reaching under your dress and making you come again all over my hand.”
She gasped, goosebumps peppering her skin, pupils blown.
Cerise seemed to enjoy my proclivities in the bedroom.
It made us so sexually compatible I could hardly function.
Her need for someone else to take control and my penchant for being the one to do so fit each other like two puzzle pieces finding their way together.
It was interesting how our roles were reversed in life versus behind closed doors. I didn’t care about order or control in most areas of my life, but there was something about Cerise doing what I told her that turned me on.
But it was so much more than sex. Coen was absolutely right. I was in love with her. Was I going to tell her? Absolutely not. At least, not right now. Not when I had just coaxed her back to me.
Show her how safe of a person you are, Coen had said. So I would. I would prove to her that she could rely on me. And we were perfect for each other.
My thoughts were interrupted by shouting in the crowd. “Police! Raid!”
“Liam? What’s happening?” Cerise’s eyes were wide with panic.
“Time to go. That’s what’s happening.”
I lifted her off my lap and we stood, the crowd now pushing each other as everyone scrambled. “Are we going to be in trouble?” she shrieked.
“Not if we don’t get caught!” I pulled her after me, weaving through the throng of people to the back door.
“Oh gods, this is terrible.”
“It’ll be fine. Stay close to me,” I encouraged, gripping her tightly, worried she’d get yanked away from me in the crowd.
Cerise was wearing heels, making it difficult for her to move quickly.
At last through the people, I pushed the door open and scanned the alleyway as patrons fled alongside us.
A group of law enforcement rushed toward us from our left.
I turned away and picked up the pace, holding Cerise’s hand as we ran.
“Liam! I can’t…these damned shoes!”
I stopped, bent over, and lifted her over my shoulder, taking off again as she yelped, my shoes echoing against the stone streets.
“I’m too heavy!”
“You’re not heavy. Just tall…which makes carrying you awkward, but also gives me easy access to this.” I pinched her ass and she squealed.
We turned a corner, stopping in another alley. This one was empty, quieter.
Setting Cerise on her feet, I looked around. “I think we’re in the clear.”
Seconds later, the sound of running grew louder, closer. My eyes darted across the dim space around us and caught on a door.
“Come on, sunshine,” I said, pulling her after me and shoving the door open.
It closed with a soft click and we both released a breath at our near escape, now in a dark hallway.
I turned to Cerise. The smile on her face nearly lit up the space around us. “I can’t believe we just ran from the police.” She shook her head, stifling a laugh. “Liam Pendragon, you get me into so much trouble.”
I took three steps forward and caged her against the wall. “I wonder what other kind of trouble we can get ourselves into.”
Then, I kissed her. Hard. When my tongue teased the seam of her lips, she opened, welcoming me in. Pressing closer, I moved a hand to the side of her throat while I used the other to tug her head back, deepening the kiss.
She tasted like sunshine and ale and everything good in this world.
I groaned into her mouth, releasing my grip on her hair and running my hand down the side of her body, tracing the dip of her waist, the curve of her hip.
I grasped her thigh and pulled it up through the slit in her dress, grinding my hard cock against her core.
She whimpered, her breathing speeding up as her hands clutched my shirt.
I wanted to bottle that sound and remember it forever.
She broke away, eyes wide. “What’s that noise? Do you hear that?”
I paused, listening. There was a rhythmic kind of thumping coming from deeper within the building. A few random cheers. Clapping. More thumping.
“Wait here. I’ll go see what it is.”
“Be careful,” she whispered.
With a deep breath, I adjusted myself and ventured down the hallway to another door. I pushed it open and peeked into a large room where patrons were laughing and having a grand old time.
Oh this is going to be a blast. Absolutely perfect for Cerise to let go.
I turned around and made my way back to where she was still pressed against the wall. Her lips were swollen and I wanted to bite down on the bottom one and tug, just to see what type of sound she would make. Would she whimper again? Would she moan?
Later. Later, I would make sure she screamed my name. Because now I had a new adventure for her.
“What is it? What did you see?”
“Ax-throwing. And we are going to join.”
She stiffened. “What? No. I am much too old to be throwing weapons around.”
I tilted my head. “Don’t be silly. You are never too old to enjoy throwing a sharp object at a target. I’m not done with you yet. Let’s go.”
I interlaced our fingers again and led her down the hall.
Moments later we emerged from a side door into the main room. Customers were spread among dozens of wooden booths, targets in the center to practice throwing different sized axes. Iron sconces lined the walls as candle-covered chandeliers hung above each nook.
I led us to the desk near the front of the establishment and stopped before the man behind the counter. “Oh. I'm sorry, I didn’t see you two come in the front door!”
My mouth quirked. “We were quite sneaky. Sorry about that.” I pulled out a wad of money and set it on the surface in front of him. “Two of us for an hour rental.”
“Good, good. Have you ever thrown an axe before?”
“No,” we said in unison.
“That’s perfectly all right. Fill out these waivers, please.”
We quickly filled out the forms. Well, I did. I barely read it. But Cerise was poring over each detail like it was a binding contract. “It basically just says we won’t hold them responsible if we maim ourselves,” I murmured, resting my chin on her shoulder.
“I need to read all of it. Just in case. Did you even read yours?”
“Not one bit.”
She sighed. “I’ll try to hurry.”
“It’s okay.” I trailed my fingers down her shoulder. “Take your time.”
Five minutes later, after Cerise seemed comfortable with what she was signing, she finished and handed the form back to the man. “You two can have that empty booth.” He pointed to the far end of the room. “I’ll send someone to meet you there in a few.”
We made our way to the three-sided cubicle.
Cerise looked at me. “Does it bother you that I do that?”
“That you do what?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. That I must thoroughly read everything? That I have to know exactly what it says? That I often crave structure and routine?”
I brushed her hair behind her shoulder and looked into her violet eyes. They reminded me of the end of a sunset, when the last blush of pink transitioned to purple as the night encroached.
“Of course it doesn’t bother me. Every quirk I discover, every nuance that is revealed, renders me even more bewitched with you.”
She swallowed and I couldn’t help but follow the movement of her throat with my eyes. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”
“What things? Nice things?”
She shrugged, vulnerability on her face.
“Cerise, stop getting in your head. I say things because I mean them.”
“What if this doesn’t work out?” she asked quietly.
“Then it doesn’t work out. Let’s not concern ourselves with what might or might not happen and just enjoy tonight, yes? Can you do that?”
She took a deep breath, pressing her lips together and shaking out her arms. “Yes. All right. I’m ready to throw some deadly weapons.”
I stepped behind her, wrapping my arms around her and pressing my lips to the curve of her shoulder. “Good girl,” I murmured into her skin.
She shivered and I smirked.