Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Liam
As I leave the bedroom, determined to head to the gym and clear my head, I find Audrey staring at her phone in frustration. She’s perched on the edge of the sofa, her body tense and her shoulders hunched, as if she’s trying to make herself smaller.
“Everything okay?” I ask, my voice soft with concern. I take a step closer, my hand itching to reach out and smooth away the worry lines that mar her beautiful face.
She nods but doesn’t look at me, her gaze fixed on the screen in front of her. “What’s happening?” I press gently, moving to sit beside her on the sofa. The cushions dip under my weight, and I can feel the warmth of her body radiating against my side.
“Lucy,” she mumbles, her voice barely above a whisper. “My cousin Lucy is just being a bitch. She can’t believe you and I are together—you’re a ten and I’m a three.” Her words are laced with a bitterness that makes my heart ache, and I can see the self-doubt that flickers in her eyes.
Without thinking, I pull Audrey onto my lap. My hands grip her waist as she straddles me, our faces inches apart. “Babe, you’re an eleven,” I say firmly, my gaze locked on hers. “I’m not worthy of you.”
Audrey’s cheeks flush, her lips parting slightly. God, she’s stunning. So fucking beautiful and she’s here with me, in my arms letting me hold her. How did I get so fucking lucky?
My heart pounds in my chest as I drink in every detail of her face.
“Do you believe me? Because I’m telling you the truth.”
“Liam . . .” she breathes out my name, sending desire coursing through me .
She’s tucked against my chest, her curves molding perfectly against my body. The heat blazes through me with each ragged breath that escapes her parted lips.
“If you’ll allow me,” I murmur, brushing my lips along her jaw, “I can show you how beautiful you are.” My mouth travels to the sensitive spot below her ear as I whisper, “How much you turn me on, pretty girl.”
I feather kisses along her jaw. “Such a fucking pretty girl .”
A shudder runs through her and she angles her head, giving me better access. “Show me,” Audrey replies, a sweet mix of confusion and innocence in her tone that sends white-hot need spiking through my veins.
My mouth presses against her, it’s a slight peck at first. Then, my tongue darts out, tracing the seam of her lips, seeking entrance. Audrey responds instantly, parting for me with a soft moan that ignites a primal hunger deep within. Our tongues duel in an age-old dance of passion as I press myself flush against her.
Exploring her mouth is like uncovering a new universe, each sweep of my tongue revealing delicious secrets meant only for me. The taste of her, the silky heat, is utterly intoxicating. I savor the moment, reveling in the way she clings to me, lost in the rapture of our kiss.
When we finally break apart, gasping for air, Audrey gazes up at me with heavy-lidded eyes. Her lips are swollen from my ardent attention, cherry red and glistening with the evidence of our heated exchange. Sunlight filters through the gauzy curtains, illuminating her face in a warm glow that sets her fair skin aglow.
“Liam . . .” She breathes the word. Her nails rake deliciously through my hair as the husky timbre of her voice resonates through me like a physical caress.
I’m utterly transfixed, a willing captive under her spell. Ducking my head, I blaze a scorched path along the elegant column of her throat with open-mouthed kisses. Her pulse flutters wildly against my lips as I murmur fervent words of worship into her satin skin. “God, you’re so beautiful, babe. So goddamn perfect . . .”
An aching need like I’ve never known spreads through me. This level of intimacy is new territory—raw and blazing hot. I’ve never kissed like this before, every fiber of my being consumed by an all-encompassing hunger to cherish her, to lose myself in her welcoming embrace.
Her fingers twist in my shirt, pulling me closer as she arches against me with a soft whimper. Heat lances through me at the press of her curves. I cup her jaw, tilting her face up to deepen the kiss that probably is stealing all the air from my lungs—maybe my soul.
Little moans escape from deep in her throat. This is so wrong—she’s Max’s baby sister for God’s sake—but I can’t pull away. Not when she feels so right.
I should stop this. Put some distance between us. Cool things down before they go too far. But every time I try to lean back, she chases my lips with hers, hungry and insistent.
“Liam,” she breathes, and the sound of my name on her lips is my undoing.
My hands skim up her sides, bunching the thin fabric of her shirt. When my fingers graze the underside of her breasts, she arches into me with a gasp. Emboldened, I cup one lace-covered mound, rolling the peaked nipple between my fingers.
“Fuck, Audrey,” I groan against her mouth, the guttural sound ripped from my chest. She whimpers, hips grinding shamelessly against me in search of delicious friction. The scorching heat of her, even through our layers of clothes, has me achingly hard and straining against my sweatpants.
A war rages within me. The responsible part knows I need to put a stop to this forbidden temptation. But the primal, selfish part doesn’t want to stop. It wants to map every soft curve and swell of her body with greedy hands and an insatiable mouth until she’s writhing and calling out my name in ecstasy . . .
Our kiss turns desperate, all-consuming. But the spell shatters with the sound of Max’s voice booming from behind the door. “Liam? Aud? You in there?”
We freeze, hearts pounding. Audrey’s eyes are wide, lips swollen from our heated kisses. Chest heaving, I drag in a ragged breath, trying to compose myself before Max walks in on this compromising scene. Slowly, regretfully, I disentangle myself from her embrace.
“Go take a shower,” Audrey says, her finger trancing my rock hard cock, making me almost come. “Get that under control. But I promise that after he’s gone I’ll take care of it.”
“As you wish,” I say, kissing her one last time before I have to go to shower again or do something with my dick.