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“She looked good, Liam. A rough start, but she owned the stage,” Angel tells me.
I knew he was watching. Lily’s social media presence has made it easy to market her. I knew someone would stream this. More than one someone, if I had to guess. It’s why I worked hard to get her on this card tonight. It might just be a bar, but it was a well-known hotspot for artists, both new and established, looking to perform for a more intimate crowd. Traditionally, the place was geared more toward the country scene, but over the last few years, recent acts in Outlaw Country have attracted a harder sound to this place. Now, it was a mixture of country, pop, and rock that passed through these halls.
“She looked better than good. You gonna tell her you watched?”
“Damn right, I am. Then maybe she’ll let me hear the rest.”
“You’ve already heard the rest,” I deadpan.
“I don’t get why she doesn’t want me to listen.” The sullen pout is clear in his voice as he huffs like a child. I hear his little girl in the background chattering away, asking him why he’s upset, and I have to bite back a laugh. His broodiness has kicked up a notch the last few weeks, butt hurt his sister didn’t come to him with her musical aspirations.
“Think about it, Angel. You’ll figure it out.”
“I’ve got an idea, jackass. You tell me. Consider it… uh… an apology for fucking my sister behind my back.”
“Which you knew about for how long, again? And never gave a hint you knew?” I turn back toward the barroom and scan the crowd for Lily.
“Fine. Then for breaking her heart and making her run back to Cali.”
“Which you also know the truth about but never tried to set her straight.”
“Because it needs to come from you,” he huffs, making Tallulah laugh.
I finally spot my raven-haired firecracker and some dickhead trying to grind against her. My grip on the phone tightens when his hands grip her hips. “Exactly. She’ll tell you when she’s ready. Look, I gotta go break some guy’s hands.” He says something else, but I don’t hear.
My boots echo through the hallway as I stomp my way toward the barroom. As I shoulder through the packed crowd, earning several dirty looks and a few curses, I see Lily slap the guy’s hands away, giving him a disturbing glare that would make a sane man retreat. This guy isn’t because he grabs her again, this time with force, and that wickedly innocent expression slides across her face. She steps into him with sweet seduction, luring the guy in closer, then brings her knee to his crotch. When he doubles over, she does it again, landing a blow to his face.
It doesn’t deter the moron, and he grabs at her again just as I reach them, intercepting his attempt. I haul him to his feet and plant my fist into his already aching face. “How many ways do you have to be told no, asshole?” My fist slams into his bloody nose again. “Her knee breaking your limp fucking dick wasn’t enough?”
When my arm draws back a third time, it’s halted. “Liam, stop.” I look over my shoulder, meeting her worried eyes. I lift a brow, and the worry gives way to a slow, slinky grin. “It’s over, Lancelot.”
I look around and notice phones are in everyone’s hands, recording the entire thing. Looks like her performance won’t be the only thing going viral.
“Fuck,” I hiss, shoving the guy away and dragging my hand down my face as I turn to Lily. My fingers wrap around her arm, and I haul her away from the attention. “We need to get out of here.”
No publicity is bad publicity, but it can be unwanted. And this is definitely that.
Ten minutes later, we’re in the hotel elevator headed to our rooms. She turns to me, her lips twitching with a mix of arrogance and amusement. “All of that was unnecessary, you know. I handled the situation just fine.”
“He was reaching for you after you handled it.” I couldn’t hide my anger if I tried. The image of that guy’s groping hands all over her is playing on a loop in my head.
“And I would’ve handled that too. You didn’t need to save me.”
My head jerks her way. Something in her tone—in the lifted brow and the twitch of her mouth—makes something inside me snap. I spin, wrapping my hands around her waist, and push her until her back hits the elevator wall. Releasing her waist, I lift my hand and bury my fingers in her hair, tugging until her face is tilted up toward mine. My teeth grind as I stare into those eyes that are always filled with so much confidence and determination, and I let the truth spill free. “I have always known you don’t need a goddamn savior, but when I am standing there, you have one anyway.”
Before she can argue, my mouth crashes to hers. She tries to pull away, but my grip on her hair keeps her in place. Her tiny hands shove at my chest in a feeble attempt to push me away, so I grab them in one hand and push them over her head. When her knee comes up in her favorite move, I wrap my fingers around her leg and hook it over my hip, then pin her body with mine.
Metallic coats my tongue when she bites into my lip. I pull back and stare into those near black eyes full of lust and loathing with a grin. Her chest heaves as I roll my tongue over the crimson trickle. A feral growl rumbles, vibrating her chest and up her throat before it spills from her sexy, pouty mouth. Then her lips are back on mine. Her hips move as she tries to grind herself on my thigh. I let her hands drop, and they go to my shoulder, her nails biting into my skin as I grip her ass, lifting her until both of her long legs are wrapped around me.
The elevator doors slide open, and I walk us down the corridor to my room. Without setting her down or breaking our tangled mouths, I reach into my back pocket, retrieve the key card, and open the door. I carry her through the suite, not setting her down until I reach the bedroom.
Her shimmery handkerchief of a shirt is split in half. The bandage she calls a skirt pools at her feet. I spin her on her hooker boot toe and force her over the arm of the sofa at the foot of the bed. A high-pitched yelp bounces off the walls as my red palm print blossoms on her bare ass cheek. I give her a matching one on the other side before ripping the lace G-string from her body.
My middle finger slides between her glistening lips. “So pretty,” I mumble, watching her drip down her thighs.
“Liam.” She shudders when I dip inside her wet cunt.
“No foreplay right now, baby. You’re wet enough, and if I don’t get inside you, I might actually die.” I unfasten my jeans and pull my heavy cock free, sliding the condom over my length.
