“Great. You apologized. Now get out.”
Crawling closer until he was suspended above me and we were nose to nose, he grinned at me. “Not a chance. You might still be mad at me, but I’m not leaving. Not ever. I made that mistake once and let you walk away from me. Never again.”
“You’re missing one important piece of information,” I growled, abandoning the bitch approach since she was no help at all. I had to go full Rambo. “I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore. I feel nothing when I look at you.”
“See, now I know you’re lying.”
“Oh yeah, and how is that?”
He pressed the tip of his index finger to the space between my brows, the light touch rippling through my body. “You get a crease right here every time you lie.”
I slapped his hand away, the sheet dropping at the sudden movement, exposing one of my T-shirt-covered breasts. It was an old, threadbare, and almost see-through shirt that I shouldhave thrown out ten years ago. But it was soft and only had a few holes—and none in important places.
Smirking, he brushed his hand over my nipple. A gasp escaped me, no matter how much I wanted to appear unaffected.
Pushing against his pecs, I wriggled up the bed. I realized my mistake when my breasts made it in front of his face and he dropped down, trapping me underneath him and burying his face in my chest.
Huffing out a loud growl, I tapped his shoulders. “Get up.”
“Not a chance.” His voice was muffled, his lips caressing me through my shirt with every word. Another shiver racked my body, this one impossible to mask or ignore.
Placing a kiss on each boob, he pushed back up on his forearms, taking his weight off me but not giving me enough room to escape.
“Whatever game you’re playing, I want out,” I pleaded. Panic crawled up my spine.
Liam caressed my cheek, running his thumb along my cheekbone.
Working hard not to lean into the touch, I gritted my teeth. He wasn’t playing fair. My body still craved him. Probably always would. But I was smarter than to give in to my baser instincts.
“No games. I just want to talk.”
Raising a brow, I turned my head, and he dropped his hand. “And we have to talk while lying in bed?”
“I want your full attention and no chance of you running away.”
“That must be some talk you want to have.”
Kissing my nose, he took a shuddering inhale. “I’m no longer engaged.” He put a finger on my mouth when I opened it to say something. “There was no way to get out of the contract unless I was willing to start a war. Something I wanted to avoid at allcosts since it puts everyone I love in danger. So Gabriel took over as head of the family. I’m only his second now. Which means he also takes my place in the marriage contract.”
Watching me for a reaction, he trailed his finger over the edges of my mouth, the caress tentative. “You are everything to me. I don’t want to go through the rest of my life without you.”
Silent tears trailed down the side of my face, and Liam wiped them away with his thumb.
“I want to believe you,” I said, my voice wavering. “But I don’t know if I can trust you again. Finding out that you were engaged broke me. I trusted you. Loved you. And you betrayed that trust and made me feel worthless.”
Studying his hand that was twirling a strand of my hair around his finger, he nodded. “I’ll do anything to gain your trust back. All I’m asking for is another chance. To prove I’m worthy of you. To prove you mean everything to me. To prove how much I love you.”
I would have given everything to hear him say he loved me when we were together. But now I questioned his motives, not sure if he just said it to placate me or really meant it.
Interpreting my expression correctly, Liam leaned down, his hands coming to either side of my face, caging me in. “I know it’ll take time for you to trust me again, but I’m not going to give up. And I’m not afraid to fight for what I want. And what I want most is you.”
My walls crumbled with each word, and by the end, a tiny flicker of hope ignited within me that we might get through this.
“What now?” I asked, letting out a breath, releasing some of the tension I’d been holding in.
“Now we sleep.” He rolled off me and pulled the blanket over both of us. “Do you need to take more pain pills for your arm?”
He’d been watching my bandaged arm, making sure not to brush against it.
