Before I can close the door, hot muscles swarm my back.
I turn, and Liam is there, filling the doorway, his shadow falling over me.
“Holy fuck buckets! What on earth are you?—”
He steps inside and closes the door behind him.
Eyes wider than the sky, I gasp, “Liam!”
Something slow and wicked crosses his face, and he places his hands on either side of me, caging me against the mirror. “I’ve also a mind to test your promise, Lexie Darlin’.”
A whirlpool of heat swirls inside me.
“Don’t worry.” He closes in until his breath ghosts over my lips. “I’ll not make ye come out of your shell too much. Just gonna see how much we can fog up those mirrors.”
Beyond the door, River squeals, “Get it, girl!”
I want to melt into the floor and disappear.
But I also want him to keep looking at me this way. Like I’m the only thing in the world that matters.
“Liam.” My hands roam along his chest. “We’re in a fitting room.”
“Aye,” he says, his brogue thickening. “And you’re in a dress that’s makin’ it very hard for me to behave meself.”
His hands touch my waist, his fingers brushing the bare skin where the dress dips low. I quiver, my pulse spinning out of control.
“You’re beautiful, mo Róisín,” he murmurs. “Absolutely stunning.”
I bite my lip, my heart racing. “You can’t just?—”
“Can’t what?” His lips hover above mine. “Can’t tell ye the truth? Can’t touch what’s mine?”
“Yours?” I whisper, lower lip trembling.
“Aye.” His eyes lock onto mine. “Mine.”
And then his hands are everywhere.
One closes around my throat—not squeezing, a gentle pressure that makes my lungs wither. The other hand trails to my side, over the sparkling fabric, before slipping under the hem of my skirt.
I grab his wrist. “Liam?—”
“You’re goin’ to be a good girl and stay quiet, aye?” he asks, low and rough.
I nod, my throat too tight to speak.
His lips find my neck, pressing soft, open-mouthed kisses along the column of my throat. His hand moves higher under my skirt, his fingers brushing the inside of my thigh. I have to bite my lip so I don’t make a sound.
“That’s it,” he hums against my skin. “Good girl.”
His fingers tease higher, tracing patterns on my inner thigh, and my knees go weak.
“Do you know what I’m going to do to you at the ball, Darlin’?” he murmurs hot against my ear. “I’m goin’ to find a dark corner. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere no one will see. And I’m goin’ to slide me hand under that pretty pink dress and make you come so hard you forget your own name.”
I whimper, my hips pushing forward, and his hand stills.
“And then,” he goes on, “I’m going to worship every inch of you until you’re beggin’ me to stop. And I won’t, Lexie Darlin’. I’ll be aiming for five tonight.”
