CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
LIAM
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I pace outside the door, which I left ajar so I could hear Jessie crying. Never in my life have I felt so hopeless.
Running a hand through the front of my hair, I grab a handful, tug it, and curse.
Fuck.
Hurting her was not my goal. I don’t even know what I was trying to do. I lost my mind seeing Noah kiss her.
Seeing her kiss him.
Which she denies.
I shouldn’t care. So why am I acting like this?
I was supposed to be gaining her trust, to find out who has harmed her, not becoming a damn caveman possessive boyfriend.
Instead, day after day, night after night, I’ve opened my pants, lowered my zip and watched her sexy mouth swallow my cock.
I’ve spread her thighs, ignored those now-fading bruises and speared my tongue inside her pussy until she shuddered with orgasm after orgasm.
I don’t want you touching me. GET OUT!
What did I do wrong? I know I was being rougher, but she was reacting, her body was reacting, right up until that point.
She loved my dominance until now. My firm hold, my dirty talk and demands. It’s had her dripping wet.
Pacing the hall, I go over the things I said, searching for the moment she snapped.
Look at this black cock, teasing your cunt.
Do you like that? Being fucked and licked at the same time, dirty girl.
Then I stop dead on the hall mat and stare blindly ahead of me.
Have you had two men before?
“Fuck,” I whirl around and stride back to Jessie’s room. Pausing for a second, I almost second guess myself, then push the door open. “Jess.”
She’s sitting up, her knees still tucked up with the cover pulled over her legs. Pained, red eyes meet mine.
“Liam, I—”
Fuck this.
I cross the room and sit on the bed, laying my hand on her knee. “It was them, wasn’t it? Who caused those bruises?”
Terrified eyes meet mine.
“Jess, tell me.”
She does this hiccup sob.
“Tell me or I’m jumping in my car and driving to fucking Fort Worth, and I won’t stop until I find out who could’ve hurt you.”
I mean it.
I mean every goddamn word.
Letting out a cry, she falls against my chest, and I wrap her in my arms, saying a prayer of thanks that she’s trusting me. At least a little bit.
I run my hand over her hair, shushing her, giving her my strength.
Those motherfuckers. Whoever they are, they are dead.
Trembling, Jessie’s sobs soften, and I lift her face.
“Give me a name.”
“I can’t,” she whispers.
“Did they rape you?”
Jessie nods.
“Two of them?”
Another nod.
Fury blasts through me, and my body tenses, preparing for a battle unavailable to me in the moment. I tug her against my chest again so she can’t see my expression. The one showing my own pain and grief.
Jesus, it can’t have happened long ago if those bruises are any indication and I had my goddam mouth on her.
Why didn’t she stop me?
Every victim reacts differently. I know this from my military training. Plus, I’m not a stranger. I’m a man she has known her entire life. A man she trusts and desires.
She shouldn’t trust me.
I was lying to her.
I’ve also hurt her because I lost my mind over Noah and decided to exert my dominance over her body. Claiming it as mine.
I have no damn right.
Perhaps it would have been okay to do if she hadn’t been raped recently and I intended to make her mine.
I don’t.
I can’t.
“Please don’t tell anyone,” Jessie says softly, glancing up with pleading eyes.
“We need to file a complaint. I’ll fly back to Texas with you, take some time off.” I run my knuckles across her wet cheeks.
“No, no. I don’t want to go back.”
“Jess,”
“No, Liam. I...” She trails off, then looks me dead in the eye. “I came here because I feel safe with you. Please don’t make me go back.”
Me?
Not Jayden?
Shit.
I nod gently and climb under the covers with her. Peppering kisses over her hair as my hand caresses her shoulders, I wait until Jessie is fast asleep, then let myself drift off.
This isn’t over.
I will give her some time to think about it, while I work out what the hell I do about my out-of-control feelings for her.
Jayden is home in under a week.
I have until then to clean this up. After all, now that I have the information I was after, there is no other reason *cough, excuse, cough* to be sexually active with her.
I never fucked Jessie. It seems inappropriate to pat myself on the back for that, but when I tell her we can only be friends, she’ll be glad she never took my cock.
I’m not sure I can say the same.
I have to let this woman go, and I tell myself it's because I care deeply for her.
The problem is, I’m not sure what the truth is anymore.