“Liam,” I begged, tugging harder. It was no use. He lavished my tight, aching nipple with his tongue, his fingers tugging at the other, until I was crying out, arching into his mouth, wondering if I could come from this alone.
“Please,” I begged again, certain I couldn’t take any more of his erotic assault. I had never felt anything like this, not with any other guy. There was something magic in Liam’s possessive touch, his demanding lips and tongue lighting me up from the inside. I shifted in his lap, desperate for some friction in my aching center.
He finally released my nipple with a loud, wet popping sound and he grinned up at me, his eyes dark and flashing. “You taste even better than I imagined.”
“Let me take your damn shirt off,” I growled, and his grin grew wider.
“So impatient.”
“Liam,” I groaned, and he relented at last, pulling his shirt over his head.
And then I was staring at a broad expanse of muscle. The skin of his chest was smooth and tanned, bringing to mind images of him playing and working outside in the summer. There was a scattering of golden hair between his pecs, running down over mouthwatering abs, darkening slightly as it disappeared into the waistband of his jeans in a trail I longed to follow with my fingers.
“Gracie,” he said, his voice full of smug enjoyment. “You’re staring, sweetheart.” I snapped my eyes up to his face to see his smirk. “See something you like?”
I didn’t even care that he was teasing me. “Your body is unbelievable,” I told him plainly.
A sudden wave of insecurity hit me right in the gut and I moved my hands to cover my breasts without even thinking. What on earth was a guy like him doing with me?
“Hey.” All the laughter slid from his face as he reached for me, taking my hands in his much larger ones. “Don’t hide yourself from me, Gracie. You’re beautiful.”
I tried to push the self-doubt away. Body insecurity was something that I had struggled with as a teenager. I never felt quite comfortable in my own skin, never felt like I measured up to the girls I would see fluttering around Liam in the hallways at school, the girls who would hang around the hockey arena hoping to get a shot at my brother.
When I reached my twenties, particularly after moving to Austin and developing my first real female friendships, I had made an effort to love my body just the way it was. Did I sometimes wish my hips weren’t so wide, to be delicate like Rosa? Sure. Would it have been nice to be leggy and tall, like Peyton? Of course. But I had been determined to give up the constant comparing of myself to others, hiding behind baggy clothes, wearing my shyness as a suit of armor.
It was a hard-fought battle to get to the mostly healthy place I was in now, and I hated the idea that I might revert back to my old ways. But I had never been with a guy like Liam before, and the contrast between us had wedged into my chest with a stinging ache.
Liam squeezed my hands in his, looking right into my eyes. “You were everything I wanted back then and you’re everything I want now.”
I swallowed, overwhelmed. It absolutely blew my mind to hear him talk about wanting me back then—I still wasn’t quite sure I believed it. But one look into his eyes made it clear he wasn’t lying about wanting me now. I didn’t think any man had ever looked at me with so much desire, so much pure, unapologetic need.
I took a deep breath, reminding myself that my self-worth didn’t come from a guy like him desiring me. It came from a place deep inside me. I may have been making out with a flawless hockey god, but I wasn’t about to let doubts or comparisons ruin this.
I took his face between my hands and kissed him again, relishing the sound of his moan when my tongue pressed against his. He let me take charge of the kiss for a few moments before his hands tightened on my waist and I knew his restraint was reaching its limit. Liam was not a man to give up control for long.
“I want to touch you,” he rasped. I was confused for a moment—his hands already seemed to be everywhere, caressing and squeezing my hips and thighs and breasts. But then he moved one hand up my leg, brushing the hem of my skirt, fingers tentative as his eyes searched mine for permission.
I didn’t have to think twice. I nodded quickly, burying my head against his shoulder, and trying not to shiver too much when his strong hands pushed under the material of my skirt. He didn’t waste any more time teasing, going straight to the edge of my panties and pushing them aside, his fingers exactly where I needed him most.
We both moaned when his thumb ran up across my slit. “You’re so wet for me,” he ground out, sounding desperate. “Fuck, Gracie.”
“Please touch me,” I whispered into his shoulder, too consumed by my desire to feel embarrassed by the needy words.
“I couldn’tnottouch you,” he growled, pressing his thumb against my clit, making me writhe on his lap. “You feel so good. So hot and wet and perfect.” A finger slipped inside, pushing slowly, and the noise Liam made was possibly the hottest thing I’d ever heard in my life. “I’ve imagined this so many times but your pussy feels better than I ever dreamed of. I want to feel it wrapped around my cock.”
His words sent a shudder of surprised desire through me. Liam O’Conner had a dirty mouth. And I loved it.
He slipped another finger inside and began to pump them, slow at first then picking up speed. All the while his thumb circled and teased my clit, hot throbs of desire and pleasure wracking through me.
“Look at me,” he demanded, his free hand slipping under my chin to force me away from his shoulder. His eyes were so dark, so intense and filled with satisfaction and lust. I felt like I might implode if I looked at him for a second longer so I pressed mylips against his again, needing something to distract me from how good this felt, how completely overwhelming it all was.
But there was no distraction in his kiss. His tongue thrust into my mouth, mirroring the motions of his fingers between my legs, and the noises he made were enough to light me on fire. He sounded completely lost in this, the same way I was. Desperate and held hostage by all-encompassing desire.
“Want you, Gracie,” he panted into my mouth, thrusting his fingers faster. “Fuck, I’ve always wanted you. Come for me, sweetheart.”
As if my body had been waiting for permission, I felt my core tightening at his words, heat gathering low in my spine and spreading out into my limbs. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think straight. All I knew was the hot rush of pleasure and the way everything inside me seemed to grow impossibly taut before finally breaking open in a rush of white-hot light and relief.
My entire body shook with the climax, my eyes squeezed shut tightly against the onslaught of pleasure. It was a long moment before I finally registered the word Liam was whispering in my ear, over and over again.
