“What? My sex swing? Didn’t you hear the part about me being celibate for eighteen months?”
“On your own, I meant.”
“I’m pretty sure it isn’t meant for solo use, but I brought it along in my move in case . . .” I shut up before suggesting testing it out together, because this was aone-night stand, which meant that come morning, Liam and I would be going our separate ways.
“You moved?”
“Out of my house and in with Niall. I’m actually six doors down from you now. My walk of shame will be short and not too shameful.”
“When did this happen?”
“Friday. When you come back from Alaska, I’ll give you a grand tour of my hundred-square-foot haven. If you still feel like hanging out, that is.”
The night was just beginning, and I was already sad about it ending. Hopefully, he’d be a mediocre lover.
“What’s with the pout?”
“I don’t pout.”
He ran his thumb over my lower lip as though to prove it somehow protruded more than my top one.
I sighed. “I’m hoping you’re a terrible lay.”
His thumb froze, and he blinked. “Why in the world would you hope for that?”
“Because if you’re any good, I might want to do it again, which would defeat the whole concept of one night.”
He went very still, probably second-guessing his second-guess . . .third-guessing himself. “You’re incredibly honest.”
I scrunched up my nose and slung my gaze onto the brown suede armchair in the corner. “One of my many flaws.”
He pinched my chin between his fingers, angling my head back toward his. “Honesty is not a flaw, Nikki. As for your many other flaws, you’ll have to point them out, because I have yet to find a single one.”
I rolled my eyes. “Wait till you see my mangled knee. It’sreallyugly.”
“Perhaps I should be worried what you’ll think of my body then.”
I frowned. “What’s wrong with your body?”
He released my face, hooked the hem of his black T-shirt, and peeled it off. As he flung it onto the armchair, my jaw loosened, because the man was spectacular. So spectacular that I doubted painting him could do justice to his stacked abs, bronzed skin, and dusting of dark hair that thickened and tapered beneath his navel.
He pivoted, and I sucked in air. A myriad of scars crisscrossed the expanse of his back like railroad tracks. All were old, healed, the skin white and stiff like the one on my knee, except on Liam, none spoiled his beauty. If anything, they made the male even more fascinating, told a story of survival.
I reached out and traced the smooth edges of a scar that wrapped around his shoulder, coaxing goosebumps onto the patches of uninjured skin. “What happened to you?”
A beat. Then, “Cassandra Morgan and her silver-tainted blood happened to me.”
I gasped, my fingers halting along the nastiest scar. “These are all from the duel?” His skin must’ve been in ribbons.
He turned back around. “Are you disgusted?”
I shook my head.
He skated his callused hands back around my waist. “I showed you mine; show me yours?”
Ice filled my stomach. “My bra’s way more interesting than my scar.”
He released a soft snort that smacked the tip of my nose. “You do realize I’m going to get you entirely naked very soon?” His short nails raked back around my waist toward my belly button, eliciting a full-body shiver from me. “But I’ll take you up on that offer.” His fingers moved over my suspenders and lowered them, then inched back to the hem of my top. “May I?”
