“I was. I want to thank you, Liam.”
“Why?”
“You were right. I shouldn’t let other people rule my actions. I shouldn’t…hide.”
He came to a stop next to the refrigerator and looked at her.
“You’re right. You’re the last person on the planet who should ever hide.”
She shifted restlessly when she noticed the way Liam was staring at her mouth.
“Do you want anything?” he asked, his stare unwavering. “Some cold water?”
“No. Not cold water.”
Her heart started to pound in double-time when Liam didn’t move. Something told her he wanted her to go to him, wanted her to make the first move. She stepped forward and looped her arms around his waist.
It might have been the most difficult thing she’d ever done in her life to date. Liam’s nostrils flared slightly as he looked down at her, his expression rigid.
“You. I want you.” Her voice had never sounded stranger to her own ears and yet…never truer, either.
His pressing body tensed before his mouth swooped downward. Natalie met him halfway for the kiss, feeling a shock go through her at the impact as the coil of their combined restraint sprung free.
His low, vibrating groan thrilled her. His kiss consumed her.
His hands lowered to her hips. He lifted her. She continued to kiss him as if her life depended on that electric, ephemeral thread lacing them together. Her bottom hit the kitchen counter with a gentle thud. He slid her along the slick surface toward him. His mouth felt hot on her throat. His gruff voice penetrated her awareness. He sounded a little desperate.
“Natalie, I want to be careful with you, I want to go easy, but—”
“I don’t want easy. I don’t want careful. Please don’t hold back. I need the opposite from you. I need it so much.”
It wasn’t until that moment she realized it was true. Liam’s attraction toward her, his need, had brought her to life somehow…sanctified her.
She seized his mouth with her own. The increasingly familiar fog of sensuality encapsulated her, and she forgot everything but Liam…
Everything but this.
Liam threatened to keep her hostage in bed instead of attending the Family Center fundraiser the following afternoon.
“Don’t be selfish,” she remonstrated as she’d pulled free of his arms, reluctant as she was to do so. “Mari would be disappointed if you didn’t go.”
“She’d be disappointed if you didn’t, as well.”
She glanced back at the sound of his low rumble. It’d been nothing less than an amazing experience being intimate with Liam during this sensual feast of a weekend. He was at times a gentle lover, at times demanding…always masterful. Her wholehearted responsiveness amazed her just as much. It was difficult to say who was more pleased by her tendency to lose all self-consciousness when making love: Liam or herself.
He lay there in bed, one arm resting on the pillow behind him. He wore nothing but the leather woven bracelet around his wrist, the heavy-lidded look of a well-satisfied man, and a sheet, which succeeded in covering pretty much nothing. Her gaze lingered longingly on the expanse of his ridged, sleek torso.
She turned away with difficulty.
“I don’t attend these functions, usually. Mari wouldn’t miss me, but she’d miss you. So come on, slacker,” she teased, pulling on the sheet that barely draped Liam. He leaped out of bed like a lion, nabbed her, and sent her into a fit of laughter.
What’d followed had delayed them getting ready for the fundraiser by a half hour, but Natalie wasn’t complaining.
“Liam?” she called as she walked down the stairs after her shower, running a brush through her hair.
She heard him talking in the distance, but it wasn’t to her. As she neared the kitchen, she realized he was on the phone. A notebook and his laptop sat before him on the kitchen table. She hesitated in the entryway between the dining room and kitchen, unsure if she should disturb him. He looked up and saw her standing there. He beckoned to her with his hand as he continued to talk.
“You don’t need to apologize, Ellen. I just appreciate you calling back. I hope you had a good trip.” He gestured to his iced tea with upraised eyebrows while Ellen spoke, but Natalie shook her head and sat at the table across from him. “I figured that as his administrative assistant, you were the best person to ask about anything that stood out as unusual about my dad during those last days.”