“I can’t help but think this must change things for you.”
He pulled back to stare up at her, shocked.What is she talking about?“Why would you think that?”
“I’m damaged goods,” she whispered with a grimace.
“Stop.” He closed his eyes tightly and pressed his face against her middle again, his fingertips digging into her waist. “Do not finish that thought. You arenotdamaged goods. You are strong. You are brave –”
“Even though I won’t report him?”
“Yes. Even then. This changes nothing between us.” He would prove it to her. Rising to his feet, he gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Tell me what you need, contessa.”
She dropped her eyes, but he tightened his hold on her chin and she obeyed the silent command, meeting his gaze again.
“No hiding, remember? Tell me what you need.”
She swallowed hard and lifted her chin, a whisper of her dignity returning to her stance. “I need to know you don’t see me any differently,” she said.
“I don’t.”
“Then show me,” she said, guiding his hand to press against her breast.
He arched an eyebrow. “We don’t need to have sex to prove anything, Min,” he said gently.
“I know.” She bit her lip before she continued. “I want to rewrite the memories in my body with ones I choose. And I choose you.”
His heart warmed. He would give her anything she asked – everything she asked. “If you change your mind, if it’s too much –”
“I’ll tell you. I trust you. Please, Liam.”
He kissed her, dropping his hands to snake around her hips, his touch gentle. He knew nothing had changed – the assault had happened before they’d started seeing each other – but he couldn’t help wanting to protect her, to keep her safe from not only the outside world but also from his own animal urges.
But Min would have none of his soft touches and gentle kisses. She sucked his bottom lip into her mouth, dragging her teeth across the sensitive flesh as she dug her hands into his hair, pulling and tugging. When he didn’t match her roughness, she made a little frustrated noise in her throat and he couldn’t help but smile against her mouth at how fucking adorable she was.
“Something you want, contessa?” he said between languid brushes of his lips against hers.
She broke away from him, her eyes blazing and her nose scrunched up. “You’re holding back.”
“I’m not.”
“You are,” she said. “I don’t need you to be gentle, Liam. I need you to fuck me.”
He growled, clenching his fist in the fabric of her shirt. How was he supposed to restrain his basest instincts when she said things like that?
Min pressed herself against him, her breasts flattened against his chest. “Please,” she breathed.
Who am I to deny her?
∞∞∞
Liam kissed Min roughly before grabbing her ass with both hands as he walked them around the side of his desk. A little squeal of delight escaped her.Yes. This is what I want.
“Do you remember that night on the quad?” he asked between kisses. “I wanted you so badly. Reading Shakespeare alone in the dark,” he groaned, his voice growing huskier by the minute as his teeth wandered to tug at her earlobe.
She vividly remembered that night– the way it felt to sit and talk with him again after weeks apart, how sure she had been that what they had was real.And look at us now.
“I wanted to throw you over my shoulder like a caveman. You and your Shakespeare and your pouty little mouth,” this last as he dropped hot kisses along the column of her throat.
She moaned and arched into him, on fire for him all over again. “What took you so long?” she asked. Liam pulled away to look at her, surprise on his face. She wound her hand around his neck, scraping her nails against the hair at his nape. “From the moment I saw you, I wanted you.”
