“Good,” I managed to answer, forcing myself to turn my back to him and start walking toward the area where he needed to work on the flooring.
“I miss you.”
I turned around. Had I just heard those words? “What?”
“I miss you,” he repeated, more clearly, louder. I could see his hands clench by his sides as if he, too, were struggling.
“I miss you, too,” I admitted quietly.
“Listen, I know I may have screwed everything up here. I’ve done everything wrong.”
“You’ve done a lot wrong,” I had to admit. “But not everything.” He made it sound like he’d committed a crime.
“I’m just trying to be a good guy. I thought that meant staying away from you. Only…” He removed his baseball cap, raking his fingers through his thick brown hair. I wanted to do that, too. “Only it’s like you’re in my blood. I feel like I’m going crazy. I can’t stop thinking about you.” He stepped closer, his eyes yearning, veins pumping along his corded forearms.
“I can’t stop thinking about you, either,” I admitted, meeting his gaze with heat of my own.
“I want to try, Sophie. I’m not perfect. Far from it. But—”
My phone rang in my back pocket, startling me it was so loud. “Sorry,” I apologized, reaching for it. I meant to just turn it off but then I saw it was Theo calling. Theo, whom I remembered was planning on stopping by that afternoon. Maybe I could I reschedule.
“Hey.” I turned my back to Liam and walked a few paces away. Theo told me he was about to head over and he’d made reservations at a few restaurants for us that night.
“You can tell me what sounds best to you,” he offered.
“Oh, that’s nice of you. But maybe not dinner tonight.” I spoke quickly and guiltily, darting a quick glance back to Liam who was watching me like a hawk.
“You promised.” Theo sounded genuinely disappointed.
“I don’t remember agreeing to dinner tonight,” I answered honestly.
“Well, I’ll see what I can talk you into,” he agreed to disagree. “I can be very persuasive. You’ll see.”
The call ended and I turned back slowly to Liam.
“Who was that?” he asked, an edge to his voice.
“Theo.” I didn’t see any point in trying to hide it. Liam had told me to spend time with him, after all. And, damn it, I hadn’t rescheduled his plan to stop by so it looked like he’d be over soon for a visit. “He’s about to head over to see the studio.”
“Is that right?” Liam’s eyes glittered, angry and jealous. “Are you a couple now?”
I had to roll my eyes at his about-face. “Isn’t that what you told me you wanted?”
“I want you, Sophie. That’s what I was about to tell you. I want you.” He stepped forward, grasping my hand.
“Then you’d better show me,” I warned him, thrilled at his words but still hurt by the way he’d been pushing me away.
“You belong with me,” he insisted. It’s what I felt, deep in my bones, but this hot after his cold still had me reeling.
“Then don’t just say it. Make me feel it.”
His eyes darkened. “You want to feel that you belong to me?”
“Um…” I hesitated, taken aback by the swift change I could sense in him. He held his body rigid and tense, as if he had energy coursing through him, pumping through his muscles. But the answer was clear, no matter the risk. I responded from my heart, “Yes.”
“This is your chance, Sophie,” he warned. “If you want this over, tell me. But if you want to be with me,” his voice darkened and grew lower, more stern and controlled. “Go upstairs. Get naked and wait for me.”
“Wait, what?” I asked after him as he walked out of the studio. He didn’t respond. He knew I’d heard him. It wasn’t a question of comprehension. It was a question of compliance. Maybe that was his intention, to test how serious I was when I said I wanted to feel like I belonged with him. But then he’d changed that statement, hadn’t he? He’d made it belonged to him. I shivered, feeling a throb in my core. It didn’t make rational sense, but it connected to something primal within me. It did feel like I belonged to him.
I walked up the stairs, more feeling than thinking, and took off my top, my shorts, my bra and panties. Then I lay on the bed, waiting for him, no idea what to expect.
He didn’t take long. He opened the door to my apartment, locked it after him, and strode over to me in the bedroom. His gaze locked on me as he saw me sitting, waiting for him. I’d stripped naked as he’d told me to, but then I’d pulled the sheet up over my breasts as I sat and waited. I felt so vulnerable.
“Take the sheet down.” He stood at the foot of my bed, waiting. He’d taken off his baseball cap and stood in a thin T-shirt, stretched across his broad shoulders and thick arms. The man was so strong.
Moving slowly, I pulled the sheet down, stretching out my legs so I reclined before him, completely naked.
“You’re so beautiful, Sophie,” he murmured, looking me over from head to toe. So exposed, I felt how much he loved every inch of what he saw. “I’ve been thinking about you all the time. What I want to do to you. So many things.”
I bit my lip as he kneeled at the foot of the bed.
“Come down here.” He patted the bed right before him. Shyly, I scooted down until I was sitting in front of him, inches away. “Lie down,” he told me, “and spread your legs.”
His hands guided me on my hips, moving me closer to him, my legs open and stretched down on either side of him. I lay back down, my heart beating fast. He slid his hands, palm-up, underneath my buttocks and brought his face right up close to my pussy.
“You know how many times I’ve thought about tasting you?”
“No,” I whispered, knowing I’d thought about it around a million times.
“I can’t stop thinking about it. Can I taste you, Sophie?”
He looked at me so lovingly, so passionately, I just about cried out my answer, “Yes.”
He fell on me as soon as the word left my mouth, a long, slow lick to begin then soft, sweet kisses on my inner thighs, making his way slowly up to my throbbing clit. He used his hands to part me, tilt me up and he settled in, licking strong and slow, swirling around my clit, starting in a rhythm as I began moving my hips.
“Liam.” My head fell back against the mattress, hands clutching the bed sheets. No awkward fumbling, no moments of, “um, maybe a little higher?” The man knew exactly what he was doing. He zeroed in on the most sensitive part of me, the spot that made me sing with need, sparking a fire that began licking through my limbs.
“So good,” I moaned as he lifted my hips, eating me like I was a rare delicacy. He groaned into my pussy, licking up my arousal, fucking me with his tongue, then back up to my clit making me twist and gasp.
But then he stopped. He pulled away, leaving me gaping, writhing and so close to orgasm I could nearly see stars.
“Wha—?” I began to shamelessly protest.
“You don’t get to cum yet,” he informed me, and I could swear he had the hint of a grin on his face. Damn him. He had gotten me close to orgasm in under five minutes. And it would have been a blisteringly amazing one, I could tell. Panting, frustrated, I watched as he left the room, then returned with something he must have brought back with him before.
“I’ve got something for you.” In his hand, he displayed a large, black rubber…thing. I had no idea what it was.
“Um, thanks? Is it like a…?” I searched my mind for what possible kitchen appliance he could be presenting me with. I couldn’t see how it could be used.
“It’s a butt plug,” he explained, matter of fact. “And you’re going to keep it deep up inside of you while that fuckwit Theo stops by this studio.”
“It’s a what?” I sat up straight, clutching my knees up to my chest. “That’s way too big for what you just said it is.”
“It’s a lot smaller than my cock and that’s going up your ass,
too, someday soon.”
“Hey, so, wait.” I scooted away from him on the bed, nervous as hell but still, yes, I had to admit turned on. No way in hell could I take that huge black thing up inside my ass, but his dominance, the hungry, possessive way he looked down at me? That made me even more wet, and I was already dripping.
“Flip over.” He motioned with his finger for me to lie on my front. I bit my lip and looked at the plug. “Do you trust me, Sophie?” He fastened his eyes on mine.
“Yes,” I agreed in an instant. He’d been hot and cold with me, but somehow instinctively, the answer with him was yes, always yes.
“Then lie on your front.”
I did it, turning over, presenting my backside to him. He grabbed a pillow and put it under my hips, propping my ass up for him.