CHAPTER ELEVEN
JESSIE
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I ran from Frank Bonito and into Liam’s arms only to be hurt in a different way. I know he was going to reject me, as he always does, but for some reason I need him more than ever.
Let’s go find out, shall we?
What does that mean?
I’m way too drunk to work it out and feel like maybe he’s up to something. Getting me away from these hot guys most likely.
Not that any of them are anywhere near as handsome as Liam.
I just wanted to drink the night away. Being with Savannah today was a stark reminder that if I want another job in this industry, people are going to want references. She was interested in High Tops and knew who Frank was.
It made me sick.
I might have to give up my dreams because he’s a sick pervert.
I didn’t want to go home and face Liam and his constant rejection. Here, these California men love my accent and are interested in me as a woman.
Don’t you feel anything?
No.
Yet he stands before me now, telling me he wants to take me home, with desire in his eyes. The worst part is, I’m drunk enough to believe it. Drunk enough to want to believe it.
“Get your purse,” Liam purrs into my ear, and my thighs clench together. He smells so manly, like oil and spice. Like mountains and oceans. I want to wrap my arms around him and feel his lips on mine.
Will I ever?
As my eyes start to narrow, wondering about this turnaround, he startles me by patting my bottom. I jump and let out a giggle as his nostrils flare.
Oh boy.
“Get your stuff,” Liam growls. “If another one of those guys looks at your ass one more time, I’m going to start dropping bodies.”
Swoon!
Fine, I will go with him. It’s not like I could ever say not to him, anyway.
Liam follows closely behind as I get my things.
“You leaving with this guy, sweetheart?” Cam, the guy in a Hawaiian shirt, asks.
“She’s not your sweetheart, and I need you to take a step back,” Liam growls.
Whoa.
“You’re a very stern captain,” Cam laughs.
“He doesn’t have a tugboat, Cam. He was in the Air Force.” I try to step between them, wobble, and Liam pushes me behind him.
“He was, and he is armed and trained, so go find someone else to take home tonight. This one is spoken for,” Liam growls.
Spoken for?
Am I?
“Hey, come on, man. We were just having fun,” Dominik, one of the others says, trying to break up the confrontation.
This isn’t the first time Liam has interfered and scared off men who show an interest in me. It’s the downside of having a big brother in the military.
Or is it another reason?
Liam claims he’s protecting me for my own good...something about guys only wanting one thing.
What if a girl wants that one thing...with him?
This one is spoken for.
He’s saying strange things tonight, and I want to know what he means. To fast-forward to the bit where Liam is touching my bottom again, preferably at home in private.
“Let’s go, Lim.”
“Lim? What sort of fucked up name is that?” Cam spits.
I groan, dropping my face into my palms as Liam’s fist smacks into Cam’s face. The bartender and security launch across the room, breaking the fight up.
In seconds, Liam has me wrapped in his arms and out of the bar thirty seconds later.
“Did you need to do that?” I ask as he grabs my hand and leads me down the sidewalk.
He grins.
Like big time grins.
Oh my god, he loved every second of it.
“No, but it was fun.” He wraps his arm around my shoulder and laughs like it’s the most fun he’s had in ages.
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WHEN WE ARRIVE home, after singing Hotel California without music all the way there, Liam seats me at the kitchen table with a big glass of water and a burger that we picked up at the drive-thru on the way home.
I launch into it.
Perhaps the sexy stuff can wait a bit. I had four vodkas over a couple of hours so some grease can soak it up.
Liam plows into his own burger, and we eat in silence.
“Sore hand?” I ask, wiping my mouth with my napkin when I’m finished.
He shakes his head.
Liar.
The skin is red, so I head to the freezer for a pack of peas and a tea towel. When he licks his fingers and tosses the wrapping of his finished burger on the table, I take his hand and fumble trying to wrap it.
Stupid alcohol.
I twist my body and end up landing in his lap, giggling as I almost fall right over.
“Jess,” Liam groans and grips my hips as I position the peas.
But he doesn’t move me.
“We need another—” Turning my head, I realize how close we are. How close our mouths are. My eyes lift then dip again, and suddenly I’m making a huge, irreversible decision. One based on the way those big gray eyes are glistening at me hungrily.
Without hesitation, I slam my mouth on his.
The peas fall to the floor.
Then, after the longest second of my life, Liam wraps both arms around me, clenching me against his body as our lips part and his tongue slips inside my mouth, greedily taking mine.
A roar of desire explodes inside me as his thick, muscular arms envelop me, and I melt.
I don’t know who is moaning.
Me. Liam. Or both of us.
The table is pushed away and dishes crash as he lifts me, both of us gasping for breath as Liam lays me down on the wood.
“Don’t talk,” he rasps.
I obey completely, nodding as he cups my breast, nudging his thumb over my hard nipple.
“Fuck,” Liam curses, tugging the material down and, oh my Jesus fucking Christ, his mouth clamps over my nipple.
Pleasure roars like a freight train inside me, drowning out the world.
Pressing my eyes and lips tightly shut so I don’t make a sound, I wrap my legs around his body and feel his thick, hard cock.
I swear I’m going to die from happiness.
Finally.
Trembling at the arousal rushing through me as Liam feasts on my nipple, I thread my fingers through his hair.
Please don’t stop.
My pussy is pulsing, soaked, needing—
Liam slides his hand between my legs and rips my panties.
Oh lord.
Lifting his head, I’m faced with his raw carnal desire that rips the oxygen from my body. If I thought this man was beautiful before, I had no idea.
No fucking idea.
I could die happy right now.
The way all his barriers are gone and the desire for me is right there in his eyes, the way his lips are wet, and his jaw fiercely determined.
As our eyes remain locked, his fingers slip through my pussy.
“Jesus, fuck Jess.”
I stay silent, terrified I’ll break this spell and he’ll stop.
I almost come as his talented fingers pleasure me, gliding through my flesh, rubbing my clit and then dipping the tiniest bit inside me. Arching into his touch, I force my eyes to keep watching.
“You’re fucking dripping. My cock will just slip inside you.”
I doubt that. I can feel how big he is, and while the memory of my rapists are knocking at the corners of my mind, I don’t let them in. I’ve waited forever for Liam, and nothing is going to destroy this for me.
“Do you want that?” The timber of his voice and his words have my pussy throbbing.
“Yes,” I moan and then cry as Liam forces two thick fingers inside me.
He drops between my thighs and licks the length of me as he pushes my legs apart wider.
The wood under me is painful, but I wouldn’t change a thing. The boy I loved, the man who became a pilot because I said I didn’t want him in the army, is licking my pussy.
My heart misses a beat, realizing Liam Rutherford, now Captain Rutherford, had done as I’m asked. He’d listened. He’d... he’d chosen his career based on our conversation outside that night.
Now, Liam’s face is between my legs.
I’m terrified I’m dreaming.
“Oh God, Liam,” I cry, gripping his hair.
Sucking on my clit, he pumps his fingers into me, and my heart rate races as he fucks me faster. When he reaches for my exposed breast, I fall right over the cliff. My orgasm blasts through me, and I’m not quiet about it.
I arch, pleasure blasting through every cell in my body—
I open my eyes.
Why has he stopped touching me?
I lift my face, my breathing labored as Liam stares at me like I have an alien where my vagina is.
Angry eyes lift to mine.
“Jessie.” I watch him shake his head, wipe his mouth on his arm, then glare back at my sex.
“What’s wrong?” I half sit, but his hand is firm holding the inside of my leg.
“Who did this?” Liam growls. “Who fucking did this to you?”
Oh.
Standing, he runs a hand through his head and paces the room, and that’s when it clicks.
My bruises.
It’s been well over a week now, but they’re still there. I stupidly didn’t think about it. Damn alcohol.
Sitting and covering myself, I watch Liam simmer in fury as I seek an explanation. I can’t tell anyone, especially Liam or Jayden. They’ll lose their goddamn minds.
A little like what’s happening now.
“Nothing. No one.” I climb off the table and straighten my clothes. “Liam, it’s nothing. Just bruises from the gym.”
He spins.
“Stop. Stop lying, Jessie. Who did that to you? I want a name.”
Wrapping an arm around myself, I shake my head. I can’t. I just can’t. He’ll want to know what happened, and I’d rather just forget about it.
Just fucking forget it.
“Christ. I shouldn’t have touched you. I fucking saw—” He walks to me, takes my shoulder and lifts my chin. “Forgive me. Jesus, Jessie. Get your bags, I’m taking you home.”
My eyes fly open. “To Texas?”
“Yes, to Texas. Your mom and dad are worried about you. Why didn’t you tell anyone you were coming here?”
Because I needed you.
“Jayden is worried, everyone is worried. You can’t be so irresponsible—”
I push him away.
“Stop. Stop it Liam,” I cry, tears pouring down my cheeks. “You just had your tongue in my pussy. Stop treating me like a child.”
He wipes a hand over his mouth, and all I see is regret. A crack in my heart begins.
“Who did that to you? Please, Jess.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It fucking matters to me,” he growls, closing the gap again. “Do you think I’m going to just accept some guy hurting you and not do anything about it.”
Whispering, I shake my head and slowly lift my eyes to his once more. “You have no choice.”
Pulling out of his hold, I walk softly down to my bedroom and sit on the end of the bed.
Liam has been my north star all my life.
I always thought when we finally found our way together it would be magical and passionate. That I’d see the love in his eyes. That he’d quickly propose, because why wait, we’ve known one another forever.
I believed we belonged together.
Now, I just feel dirty.
The judgement and disgust in his eyes, at my body and the bruises from obvious abuse, have told me everything.
The regret.
That hurts the most.
Christ. I shouldn’t have touched you.
The very foundation of what I thought my life was going to be is shattered.
I lie down and curl up, letting the tears fall. I don’t know who I am anymore. I have no career prospects, no home, and the man I’ve loved forever doesn’t want me.
I was right, he only wanted sex.
Seeing that someone else used me and left bruises is clearly a huge turnoff.
If he tells Jayden, I will never forgive him.
I close my eyes. Tomorrow I will work out what the best way forward is. Right now, I just want to sleep and forget.