“No! That’s not what I’m trying to say.”
“Then what are you trying to say, Liam?”
“I just think that maybe that wasn’t the smartest thing to do.” He could feel himself start to squirm under her stare. “Damn, Chi. If Parker finds out, he’ll string me up by my balls. And if Max does? He’ll gut me. You know I’m leaving in two weeks and I just think…I don’t know.”
He could triangulate coordinates, lead men into battle, and execute directives without even a question. But the five-foot, four-inch, fiery, raven-haired beauty shooting daggers out of her eyes had reduced him to a stuttering teenager again.
Chiara took a slow step toward him, making his breath hitch in his chest.
“Well, Liam, last time I checked, we were both adults. We don’t answer to our big brothers anymore, nor do we have to rush to the church before having sex.”
She had glided across the floor until she was standing in front of him with only a breath of space separating them. Sliding her hands into the waistband of his jeans, she slowly popped the button open. When she slid the zipper down, he thought his heart would explode out of his chest.
“Chi?”
“Shh,” she admonished him, easing to her knees and taking his jeans down with her. He barely recognized the expletive he heard come out of his mouth when she ran her nose up the underside of his shaft through his underwear.
Wrapping her hands around the waistband, she slid them down past his hard erection. Of course it was already rock hard. She had been standing somewhere near him after all. No matter what she thought, he still desperately wanted her. He was afraid now he always would.
Looking down his body, he caught two deep brown pools gazing back as she drew him into her mouth. She watched him as she swirled her tongue around the tip.
It took all of Liam’s concentration not to let his eyes roll into the back of his head. He wouldn’t survive this. The warmth, the friction, the constriction of her throat was all leading up to an earth-shattering orgasm.
“Chiara,” he moaned, his eyes falling closed. “Chiara, I’m going to come.” Cupping his balls in one hand, she gently squeezed them, humming deep in her throat at the same time. Liam was gone. He simply couldn’t hold on any longer.
Light burst behind his eyes as he emptied down her throat. When he was done, she sat back on her heels, pulling his clothes back up. Standing, she ran the back of her hand over her mouth, spearing him with her most sultry look.
“Anything else you’d like to apologize for, Lieutenant Donnelly?” she asked, throwing her hair up into a ponytail.
“No, ma'am,” he stated, trying to regain control of his breathing. With a smirk, she eased him aside, opened the door, and left the room.
Liam stood for a minute, trying to decide when he had decided to take his life in his hands by continuing to see Max’s sister in secret. It must have been about the time his zipper went down. Fuck, he did have a death wish. Well, at least he would die having great sex.
With a shrug of his shoulders, he zipped up his jeans before stepping out of the office.
It didn’t take long after opening for the bar to fill to capacity. The live music scheduled for tonight was a small local group that seemed to be a crowd favorite. Liam sat at the end of the bar, watching as more people filled the room. Chiara worked at a fevered pace to keep up with the orders.
He couldn’t just sit here and do nothing when everyone was drowning, trying to keep up. Parker would never have let him get away with that. He crossed behind the bar and threw one of the extra aprons around his waist.
“What are you doing?” Chiara asked, spearing him with a scowl.
“Helping,” he answered, grabbing two pint glasses from under the bar.
“You can’t just jump in.”
“I got my bartender’s license when I turned eighteen at Parker’s insistence and have kept it current ever since. Do you want me to fill table orders or work the bar?” Chiara stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him. “Really, sweetheart? I grew up being scowled at. I’ve built up a tolerance.”
“Fine. You can do table orders, but don’t get in my way.”
He grinned as he moved to the area where the servers place their table’s drink orders. Andrea was first over, firing her order at a rapid pace. Liam listened as he started pulling liquor off the shelves.
He didn’t need to see anything written down, a skill he had learned from his older brother over the years. Though he was a little rusty, he did pick up an occasional bartending shift on base to keep in practice.
Liam soon found an easy rhythm working around Chiara in something that looked like a coordinated dance. It didn’t slip his notice that he felt an almost obsessive need to touch her every time he went past. He even got a raised eyebrow or two from the regulars when he found his hand resting on her waist as he reached for something.
He would never be able to keep this affair secret for the next two weeks. Sooner or later, the shit would surely hit the fan, then he would have to finish his life ball-less. Well, they were nice to have while they lasted.
By midnight, Liam was exhausted. Basic training could not even compare to bartending on a Saturday night in a popular Irish bar. He was stretching his back when the door opened and the Mercers walked in. They waved at him before Dean led Sam to one of the booths in the back of the room.
