“Because you’re like a thorn in the palm of my hand that I have tried so hard to claw out. You’re lodged in and I want to heal around you. If you leave, everything I’ve been holding together goes… with you.”
I search his eyes, holding my breath, unable to speak. A decision I feel both of us are on the brink of making, that no matter how much we dance around our fate and try to counter it, we’re like magnets in the most unfortunate field of outcomes.
With a growl that vibrates through his chest and into my fingertips, his eyes flash to my neck, and he reaches for the necklace, ripping as the chain bites into my skin before breaking free. The pain is sharp but fleeting, replaced instantly by the crushing, consuming pressure of his mouth against mine, and I gasp into his kiss with an intensity of relief humming through me.
The back of my legs hit the edge of the jacuzzi as he presses forward, and his strong arms wrap around me. I try to draw a breath that isn't there while his tongue pushes past my lips, claiming me completely.
Liam kisses me with such ferocity that my lungs seize, his lips devouring mine, as if he's trying to brand me from the inside out. I tastehim, so much of him —as my fingers dig into his shoulders for support.
When he finally pulls back, his eyes are wild, pupils blown wide.
“As long as I'm breathing.” His voice vibrates through me. “You will never put yourself in danger like this again. Do you understand me?”
His hands frame my face, thumbs brushing my lower lip as I nod and lean into his hand. The sensual and kind momentwithin the storm that Liam inhabits is as confusing as the fine line between love and hate. Somehow, when I hated him, it felt easier, but nowhere near as meaningful.
“The fine print has changed Sara, I’m not pretending this is just about owning you and your safety anymore.” He pushes me forward to the edge as I sit looking up at him, dark strands of hair falling to his forehead, his handsome face looking into mine and his beauty is so violent, I stare into his blue eyes, as my legs part to accommodate him standing in between them, my soaked silk dress clinging to my skin as his mere presence is pulsing to my core.
“Because I can’t deny this any longer. I tried, fuck I tried to stay away, to push you away, to make you hate me—I even tried to hate you.” His voice breaks. “But I can’t.”
I lay my hand against his, resting on my cheek. “You have no idea what I want to do to you,” he murmurs, his eyes never leaving mine, searching, “What Ineedto do to you.”
“Show me…” I whisper, reaching for his face, my arms lacing around his neck as my lips so tenderly brush against his, relishing in this slower paced moment making me feel like the world is on pause and it’s just us, the voices and pain shuttering with only him as he’s become my quiet tranquility I didn’t know I’d ever fall into, let alone grip to.
Liam lifts me from the edge of the jacuzzi, spinning me around until I'm seated in his lap as he takes my place on the ledge. Water cascades from our bodies, my soaked dress clinging between us like a second skin as he pulls me fully against him.
“Please,” I say, against his neck, as his lips trail fire along my shoulder.
“Please what, baby?”
“Please put my whole world on mute,” I whisper against his cheek.
My body arches instinctively as his powerful arms envelop me completely, one hand tangling in my wet hair while the other splays possessively across my lower back.
His mouth claims mine again, but this kiss is different, still demanding but with a tenderness that makes my heart stutter in my chest. I melt against him, my fingers finding purchase in his damp hair as I shift to straddle him properly. His hands slide down my thighs, gathering the soaked silk of my dress higher with each inch.
“Liam,” I breathe, my head falling back against his shoulder. “Someone could—” as I get a second of lucidity, scanning around me. And while no one is here, the bloodstain remains on the deck from the man’s knee, blown by the bullet Liam ruthlessly shot. Somehow it only makes me cling to him even more. Some heroes could easily be blurred as monsters in the same sentence, but this beautiful monster facing me as I kiss his lips, our tongues entangled, is the only monster I want to call home. Once we get this out of our system, maybe we’ll feel better and go our separate ways, but right now, I’d rather have him than let him go too soon.
“Everyone's gone,” he says against my skin. “There's only us now.” Andusemanates under my skin.
My breath catches in my throat as his fingertips brush against the edge of my underwear, teasing, testing. Our eyes lock, his burning with an intensity that makes me tremble.
The corner of his mouth lifts in a predatory smile as his fingers push my underwear aside. When he slides a finger inside me, agonizingly slow, deliberate, my entire body jolts with electricity. A moan escapes me, unrestrained, echoing across the deserted deck but still hyper aware anyone could see us who’s perched up on their balconies, I should be mortified—we're on a yacht, for God's sake—but I can't find it in me to care.
All that exists is the delicious pressure of his finger curling inside me, finding that perfect spot that makes my vision blur. A blur of lust I’ve longed to feel, to want, and imagined too many times him doing to me.
“Look at me,” he commands as I start to close my eyes from the pleasure building. “I want to see what I do to you Sara.”
He inserts a second finger, stretching me open, and I feel every ridge of his knuckles as he pushes deeper, twists his wrist, and strokes that spot again and again until I’m grinding shamelessly against his hand, chasing the pressure, my hips rolling in desperate need of friction. My hands reach around his neck, desperate to feel him closer, and I gasp with each thrust, biting his lower lip at the same time.
“That's it,” Liam growls, his free hand gripping my hip, guiding my movements. “Take what you need from me.”
I grip his shoulders harder, my nails digging into his skin through his wet shirt as the pressure builds and my mouth finds his, his tongue intertwining with mine. His kiss intoxicating me for the next kiss, and the next one and the next, because I can’t get enough of how he makes me feel. His thumb presses on my clit, circling it with devastating precision until I feel on the edge of more pressure.
“Liam, I—I can't—” I stutter, my hips rocking desperately.
“You can, baby,” he says, his eyes never leaving mine. “You’re doing so good.”
My head lolls back, but his grip on my chin brings me right back to his blazing blue, icy eyes, and the intensity of his gaze ignites something cardinal in me until I shatter completely as a wave tears through me and my walls pulse violently around his fingers.
