My breath caught in my throat. I didn’t drop his gaze, didn’t let mine rove over his body. That would be utterly foolish. This was a predator. There was no stopping his advance.
Liam lifted his bloody palm. Plunging two fingers in the wound, he gathered the heathen ink. It had to hurt like a motherfucker, the skin stretching where he dug into the cut, buthe didn’t wince. I wondered if he was even capable of feeling pain.
But conscious thought flitted from my brain a moment later. Liam stretched out his hand and brushed the tips of his fingers over my forehead.
That ancient language, fluid and mysterious, murmured around us as he spoke.
He repeated the gesture on my lips.
Then my chest.
Catching my fingers, he took a step and then another. His scarred right hand bled over my left. The dark, sticky mud stained my skin. While it would probably wash off easily, there was an essence I didn’t think I would ever escape. Fixated on touching his broken body, something he never let me do, I didn’t realize we’d stopped before the stone seat. As he sat, he held me there. A captive? A trophy? I was trapped for the throng to see.
“She should have bowed and kissed the ring like us,” someone muttered on the far side of the fire.
There was a low gust of air, a thunk, and then a muted groan.
But the Irish mobsters were already lining up, starting behind the doctor. Sean Ryan knelt before Liam, clasped his left hand in both of his, muttered five or six words, and then kissed the knuckles.
Liam was silent. Deadly silent.
He didn’t move or acknowledge the oath of fidelity.
The doctor rose and moved around to the far side of the fire, disappearing through the trees. Every other soul present repeated the process. A few flicked interested glances in my direction, but no one was bold enough to voice an opinion.
It wasn’t until the blood and earth was nearly dry between us that the last man, Connor of all people, knelt, swore his oath, and then left. Another timber fell onto the coals, sending sparksshooting in celebration. They danced to the starry sky, leaving me completely alone with the monster.
Chapter 35 – Gabriella
There had been times in my life where I didn’t know what to say. They were all pale, silly even, compared to this. Whatever the fuck had happened seemed holier than church, yet the quiet that invaded the stone circle was calmer.
Liam seemed to wait with nature for me to react.
I lifted our joined fingers, gingerly peeling my palm away from his but not unclasping our fingers. Fresh blood leaked from where the cut had scabbed and dried to me.
“Does it hurt?” I whispered.
Liam turned slightly, looking as if it were the first time he’d noticed the mess. “Aches like a bitch.”
I barked a rough laugh. I would have expected a big, bad mobster to not chicken out over a scratch, but the wound did seem pretty deep.
“Here, hold it like this.” I flipped his palm over, letting the blood rain on the stone bench next to his thigh. Giving his fingers an encouraging squeeze, I let go of his hand. The rip of the skirt sounded odd in the eerie silence. But the moment thestrip of cloth was free, I bound it tightly over the wound. “There. That should hold till we can clean you up.”
Liam brought his hand in front of him, staring at it as if it held all the answers.
He didn’t meet my gaze.
He’s frightened.
Something about that realization gave me the courage to act. He knew what his broken body looked like. It had to be a horrendous ordeal. But he was bare to me. No more hiding behind the mask.
And all I wanted to do was make him feel safe. So, I showed him the only way I knew how that what he looked like didn’t bother me.
Stepping in front of him, I fluffed the skirt and dropped to my knees. His dick twitched, and I wanted so badly to smile. If his mind was tormented, at least his body realized I craved him.
Unlike the others, who’d only kissed his left hand, I caught both in mine. I bowed my head and pressed my lips to each, letting them linger a moment longer over the right side.
Tipping my head back, I stared into his face.Finally. He was looking at me.
