“No, thanks.” She slips back into her armor of confidence. “I'd rather get blisters with these heels to the point of amputation,” she replies with a forced smile, grabbing her shoes and sliding them on with practiced grace, and I swallow an imminent laugh.
Damien looks like he's about to argue, but he clenches his jaw and agrees once, a glint of disappointment in his gaze.
Artemis walks over to me, pulling me into one last hug. Her lips brush against my cheek in a quick kiss. “Call me tomorrow.”
She heads toward the door and taps Liam's shoulder with surprising familiarity. Her voice drops to something meant only for him, but still loud enough for me to hear. “Don't fuck this up.”
Damien follows her out and closes the door behind him.
Gosh, I want to run to the window and take a peek, but when my gaze falls on Liam, my curiosity cuts short, my mouth goes dry.
When I look at him, I see a man standing tall, unafraid, untouched by the gravity around him, the tough exterior harboring a softer, broken side that now I understand his reluctance to open up. When you’ve had to be so strong all your life and someone has burned you, you reach a point where letting anyone in feels like a curse, yet it is also your only salvation.
His gaze is burning so hot into me that I forget how to breathe, pinning me in place as effectively as if he'd used his hands.
The door has barely clicked shut behind Damien and Artemis, but Liam's already crossing the room toward me with predatory grace, all lean muscle and focused intent and I freeze into disbelief of how handsome he is, his dark hair spilling over his forehead, briefly shielding one of his glacial blue eyes that restrains me to the spinning room. I’m mesmerized by his strong angles, the stubble on his jaw that my fingers burn to trace, his mouth that I hungrily want to bite if no other than to remind my core how he belongs to me.
He belongs to me.
Even though I trust him more than anyone else at this point in my life, there’s still that menace about him that tangles with pure lust, desire and danger in all the right places, making me tremble. He closes the distance between us, firm hands grasping my waist and pulling me against him with such urgency that I gasp. He steals my breath with a kiss, and I’m surprised at how desperate I am for his lips. We’ve spent days, discovering each part of our bodies and confiding in one another but it’s as if we were apart for too many of them. My body is in withdrawal over this beautiful man bringing me to my knees for him. Hetastes like coffee and mint and something uniquely Liam that I'm addicted to.
His hands slide up my back, one tangling in my hair, angling my head to deepen the kiss even further, and I'm drowning in all the traces of stardust I’ve followed that has brought me to him, which I can no longer look back with regret. This connection is rare, I feel it, I know it. It’s not something many people encounter in their lifetime, and I’ve prayed for this, to feel so close to someone you’re almost certain you’ve encountered them in another lifetime.
A soft moan escapes me as he walks me backward until my back hits the wall and I gasp, he takes advantage, his tongue exploring my mouth with possessiveness, lacing with mine.
He lifts me up into his arms, and when he whispers, “I need you in my bed, now.” My body complies. His fingers dig into my thighs, bruising and claiming. “I want to feel you surrender everything, every piece of yourself until there's nothing left that isn't mine, Sara.”
My whole body vibrates against him, if I could crawl inside someone and still not feel close enough, this would be it. The urge to be well-behaved for him coils low in my belly, a sweet submission that makes my breath catch. I want to give him everything he wants, everything he’s ever deserved, to watch his eyes darken when I surrender, and how much I'll take of him until we're both agonizingly shattered and deliciously remade.
In a few strides, with my legs around him, we step into his bedroom, and he throws me onto his bed. I look up at him approaching me like an animal craving every inch of what’s right in front of him. Every day becomes more and more intense, and he dissolves the few times I’ve died inside, the nights I’ve stayed wide awake, the loneliness that rusted my bones. His soul carries a language that unburied and freed me from shackled storms.
I scoot back on the bed, careful not to disrupt his slow stance and make him snap. The way he looks at me is dangerous, but I’ve never felt so safe under the pressure of brutal darkness, and his is beautiful and captivating.
I crave him inside me, I’m shaking and eager to come all over him and he must see the hunger in my eyes because he drops to one knee, hooking his thumbs into my leggings and underwear together and dragging them down my thighs in a single pull. I step out of them, already reaching for him, fumbling with his button, his zipper, shoving the denim open and wrapping my hand around his cock and pulling him toward my entrance. He grips my hip with one hand and drives forward in one long, unbroken thrust that fills me completely. My head snaps back and a sharp cry tearing out of my throat, my inner walls stretching around him. My fingernails dig into his shoulders as the sting radiates outward and dissolves into a deep, pulsing pressure that rolls up through my stomach.
He stays buried there for a moment, his chest pressed to mine, his breath hot against my neck, and I feel every inch of him throbbing inside me. I tilt my pelvis, trying to pull him deeper, my thighs trembling against his hips, my body already clenching hungrily around him before he even begins to move.
“Fuck…”
His hand moves my shirt up, and I arch up into his next thrust as his mouth finds my nipple, and it feels like I could float away. My hands run through his hair, pulling his face to mine, and I kiss him like a dying woman. He pulls out and I want to scream at the loss of contact.
He steps back and takes me in, looking at me naked as he swipes his thumb to his mouth, and he abruptly spins me around on my fours, nudging my legs wider and thrust inside me until I see stars. His hand tightens around my throat, pulling me to his chest as his pace grows mercilessly, and I’m consumed by him.
“I need… The way I need to fuck you right now, Sara, might look like I don'tvalueand treasureyou as the most precious thing in my life, but I swear to God I fucking love you,” he growls in my ear, and my entire body seizes around him, my eyes find his instantly, and I kiss him, our tongues relentlessly licking, sucking.
“I love you too. I love you so fucking much.” I smile against him, and his hand finds my hair, pulling it back, and a moan breaks when he bites my neck, claiming every molecule that makes me his.
“I’m the one who tells you when you can come.” He bites my earlobe, thrusting inside me, over and over again.
I dig my nails into his hand at my throat for balance, and I scream when his hand slaps my ass, and another one. It stings, tears run down my face, my knees are shaking, and I’m breaking apart. I’m so close, I reach to touch myself, but he rips my hand away.
“If I say you can’t fucking touch yourself, you won’t, Sara.” He bends to bite the side of my breast, soothing with his tongue, and the pain blurs my senses and how much I need his violence. It makes me feel alive. It heals me in ways and reaches the dark pits of my soul that begs to be appeased and bended around his palm.
His pace is unforgiving, and I push forward, gripping the bed for leverage as I meet each of his thrusts with my hips.
“God… baby. You’re going to make me lose my mind,” he says, cupping my chin, with his chest at my back.
As my body craves release and I can no longer support myself, he hits that spot inside me multiple times, and as I reach my limit, his hand finds our connection point,
