It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t tentative. It was fierce and claiming and exactly what I needed. I hauled her closer, one hand tangled in her hair, the other splayed across her lower back, and I kissed her like I’d been starving for her.
Because I had been. Nine days without her taste, her touch, her voice in my ear had been fucking hell.
But this moment right here was heaven.
And even though I had no idea what came next, I knew one thing for sure.
I was done running.
TWENTY-NINE
We barely made it through the barn door before Liam was kissing me again, and the tenderness of it stopped my brain completely. This wasn’t the hungry, urgent way he usually kissed me. Instead, his hands cradled my face like I was precious and fragile andhis, and his mouth moved over mine so slowly it felt like a question he’d been too afraid to ask.
For the first time, this had nothing to do with the list.
Finally.
I moaned as he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into my mouth. He groaned low in his throat before pulling away, dropping his forehead to mine, our breaths mingling between us.
“Ava.” My name sounded like a prayer.
I closed the distance between us, rising on my toes to kiss him again. His arms wrapped around me immediately, pulling me flush against him, and I could feel how much he wanted me—the hard length of him pressing against my stomach and his heart racing beneath my palms where they rested on his chest.
But it was the way he was holding me that had my heart practically leaping into my throat.
He was holding me like he never wanted to let go.
His hands found the hem of my crop top, fingers sliding against bare skin, and I shivered even though the night was warm. He pulled back just long enough to tug the fabric over my head, and then his mouth was on my neck, my collarbone, the swell of my breasts above my bra.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he murmured against my skin. “Every time I look at you, I forget how to breathe.”
I wanted to make a joke—something sarcastic to cut the tension building in my chest—but I couldn’t. Not when he was looking at me like that. Not when every touch felt like a confession.
My fingers fumbled with the hem of his shirt until he took pity on me and pulled it over his head himself. I’d seen him shirtless countless times, but this time felt different because this time he was really mine. This wasn’t just an arrangement. It was real, and my gaze roamed over the landscape I’d memorized as if I was seeing it with fresh eyes. The broad shoulders, the tattoos, the defined chest, the trail of dark hair that disappeared beneath his waistband. He was beautiful, and he was here, and he wantedme.
I’d told myself not to hope where Liam was concerned. But the hope was already there, blooming in my chest and completely out of my control.
Liam’s hands worked the clasp of my bra, and then his mouth was on my nipple, hot and wet, and I gasped as pleasure shot straight to my core. His tongue circled the sensitive peak while his fingers teased the other one, and I arched into him, my hands fisting in his hair.
“Liam—”
“I’ve got you, Sunshine.” He walked me backwarduntil my shoulders hit the rough wooden beam behind me. “I’ve always got you.”
He kissed me again as his hands made quick work of my shorts, pushing them down along with my underwear until I stood bare before him. His gaze raked over me, hungry and reverent all at once, and I’d never felt so desirable as a woman. Or so wanted.
Like when he called me Sunshine, he meant I was actually his sun. That’s what his gaze did to me—it made me feel like the sun to his earth.
His fingers found me already slick with need, and the low groan of satisfaction he made sent a fresh wave of heat through me.
“Always so ready for me,” he murmured, two fingers sliding inside while his thumb found my clit. “Always so perfect.”
I clung to his shoulders as he worked me the way only he could. Liam had learned my body in a way no one else had, and every stroke, circle, and press of his fingers hit exactly where I needed.
“Liam, I need?—”
“I know what you need,” he growled before kissing me hard.
Then he stepped back just long enough to shed the rest of his clothes and roll on a condom. When he came back to me, he lifted me easily, my legs wrapping around his waist as he braced me against the beam. The head of his cock pressed against my entrance, and he paused, his eyes finding mine.
