Page 10 of Liam

His words had her smiling back at him as he sat catty-corner to her and stole a strawberry from her plate, popping it into his mouth and chewing. Taamira watched him do it, wondering why she was letting him take such liberties with her. Calling her by a nickname, stealing food from her plate, all things that would never be permitted in her country. In fact, it was not something she’d ever allowed, yet when Liam did these things, far from thinking it was a breach of etiquette, it gave them an intimacy she enjoyed.

It was a silly notion really but every time he did something like that, the gap between them seemed as if it didn’t exist. She was a person and so was he and she was so lonely, craving real human contact and having no way to get it. Would it be so bad to allow him these intimacies? Perhaps it would, but she needed a friend at the very least. Certainly, more than she needed him to adhere to protocol. The fact that her body and her heart wanted more than friendship from him wasn’t something she could acknowledge right now.

“What are the plans for the day, Princess?” He watched her closely as he sat forward, leaning in towards her, his muscled forearms resting on the glass table.

“I have to write this speech, and so far, it is evading me.” She was frustrated as she knew what she wanted to get across, but the actual content sounded pithy and boring.

“You’ll get there,” Liam said with complete confidence. “That was Jack on the phone. He’s sending Mitch and Waggs as back-up. They should be here around three-ish.”

“Oh, that is good news.” Taamira patted her mouth with a napkin and took a sip of her tea.

A silence fell between them which she had the desire to fill but she had no idea what to say. Thankfully, he saved her from doing so.

“I’m going to work out on the balcony while you write. When the guys get here, I’ll go and see Derek and see if we can find out what the hell went on.”

Taamira watched his jaw tighten as he said the words. She stood from her seat and tucked it neatly back in before looking back at Liam who had followed suit. “I will leave you to it then.” She offered him a polite smile before she turned on her heel and went to her desk in the corner of the lounge area.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Liam move to the balcony, leaving the door open as he knew she liked. Taamira loved the fresh air, liking the breeze on her skin. It was the little things that he remembered that gave the warmth an extra glow in her belly, a squeeze in her chest.

Opening the laptop, Taamira signed into her personal cloud storage before pulling up the speech she was trying to write for the conference. She began to read through it, hating every word and inwardly groaning at the clichés. Deleting the entire thing, she sat and looked at the blank page.

She knew what she wanted to say, what points she wanted to raise, the impact she needed this to have, but it was falling short in every direction. Taamira closed her eyes and sighed. Resting her head in her palm, she thought of the girls in her country, of her nieces, who as young teens admired her and followed her example. It annoyed her brother and sister-in-law immensely. Taamira wondered if that was why her brother had thrown her to the dogs when those men attacked her.

Even now, she still struggled with how her family had reacted, blaming her, and turning their backs. Treating her as less than human because she had the audacity to be born a woman in a male-oriented country. Even now, over eighteen months later, she refused to speak with any of them.

They had tried to contact her, but she would not hear of it. Whatever they had to say would never be enough, never excuse the treatment she had received. Perversely, it had been the way the people of Fortis and Eidolon had treated her and been so kind that had changed her outlook on life.

They had put their necks on the line for a stranger, an arrogant one at that. She had thought she could be imperious with her captors and it had cost a man his life. She still saw his face in her nightmares and would carry the guilt for eternity. However, the strangers who’d saved her hadn’t abandoned her; they had rallied. It was that kindness and respect that had woken her to her own failings and selfishness.

Her ears caught the sound of a grunt, and she turned in the direction of the noise to see Liam doing biceps curls. Sweat was dripping down his face and neck, and Taamira watched mesmerised as his muscles bulged. The concentration on his face one of the sexiest things she had ever seen. That was until he stood with his back to her and stripped the wet shirt from his body, flinging it casually to the ground at his feet.

Her tongue touched her bottom lip as she turned more fully to watch, without even realising she was doing it. His back rippled as he went to the ground and began doing crunches as if they were the easiest thing in the world. She knew for a fact they weren’t, having already done hers in the privacy of her room that morning and not getting anywhere near the amount he was doing.

Taamira found herself standing at the door to the balcony. She almost jumped as he flipped and began doing press-ups at an almost alarming speed. His breath was coming fast, and she could hear the effort it took him. Her mind conjured up the same sounds, but in her imagination, he worked her body with the same rigour.

A flush moved across her cheeks at the thought of what a man like Liam could do to her body. She had no experience with men, barely a kiss, and certainly no sexual contact. It was improper for a woman of her stature and title to have boyfriends. Her father had tried on more than one occasion to arrange a marriage for her, but she had refused, not wanting a man forced on her.

She may well be a fool, and God knew she had been called one by her brother many times, but she wanted love. Taamira wanted a man whose whole life centred on her, one who could be her entire world. Not a man who wanted her for her title or her family’s money, or even her own money.

So that meant at her advancing age of twenty-six, she was a virgin. It was embarrassing to admit to herself, and she knew in her heart she’d never have what it took to hold a man like Liam Hayes, but oh, the daydream was sweet.

She was so engrossed in her sexy fantasy she didn’t realise Liam had stopped working out and was watching her.

“Like what you see, Princess?” He was looking at her with hooded eyes.

His voice had lost the typical humour and held a gravelly, growl about it that had her thinking of whispered words and silk sheets.

Falling back on her snark to hide her humiliation at being caught ogling him like a he was a cool glass of water in the Sahara Desert, she bit out, “I have no idea what you mean.”

A twinkle came to his impossibly blue eyes and his lip quirked appealingly. “Of course you do, treacle.”

“I was just coming to close this door. All of this noise and grunting is distracting me.”

“Apologies, Princess.”

Taamira had nothing to say to that, so with one final look she went to close the door but wanting the last word she barked, “And put a damn shirt on.”

Taamira spun and walked towards her desk, but as she did, she glanced back and saw Liam slipping a t-shirt over his head, a grin on his lips as he winked at her.