Page 48 of Under His Control

If I could be honest, I’d admit that the idea of having it all with him sounded like heaven.

But I’d be damned if I'd beg for it.

17

LIAM

She wasn’t doing anything but holding Olivia, but it changed my entire perspective of her.

Gone was the icy woman from the party who looked down on me for being so different and undressed, clearly not from the upper crusts of society.

Gone, too, was the woman lusting after me and game for naughty talk and getting aroused when I called her a bratty slut in the closet.

With Liv sleeping peacefully on her chest, she looked serene and confident in a new way. Like she could adjust to life’s curveballs with me and make everything look effortless. Her determination to succeed and overcome any odds was sexy as hell. A smart woman was the ultimate turn on. A brave woman to take on a fussy baby and get her to relax was somehow my kryptonite.

My phone rang, jarring me from this reflective moment of admiring her like this.

Eva jumped a bit too, but she caught herself from moving too much and waking Liv.

I grabbed the device from the table and scanned the message that had come in. “Franco,” I told her. “He says the situation isunder control. Both Giovannis and Devil’s Brothers have been captured.”

Her breath of relief mirrored the one I exhaled.

“It still wouldn’t hurt to stay inside for the night,” she said.

In here? With me?I nodded. “Probably wise.”

She locked her gaze on me again, and I felt every bit of the pressure that hung over us. The palpable sexual tension that I didn’t want to avoid anymore.

“Would it be wise for me to stay?” she asked, unafraid to speak up but delicate with her tone. Not bossy, not demanding. Simply inquisitive.

“I think it’s becoming foolish to pretend this connection between us is going to fade away,” I admitted.

“I never thought I’d be in this position,” she replied.

“What position?”

“Of wanting you so bad but knowing it can’t work.” She stood, seeming too anxious to sit there so close.

“What if we can make it work?” I rose and gestured between us. “You and me?”

“As…?”

“Partners.” I gently eased Olivia out of her arms to carry her to the crib. She didn’t wake, and once I slowly and carefully stepped back toward Eva, I turned and took her hands. “As lovers.”

She leaned in and kissed me, weakening under this pull that drew us together.

I framed her face, pouring my heart into the sweetness of pressing my lips against hers, relishing her sweet, minty taste and the hint of the wine she might have had earlier.

“It might have started as just sex,” I told her as I guided her toward the bed. “But that’s far less than what I want with you now.” Keeping my voice low, whispering as I moved her further from the crib, I relished the promise of a challenge in her eyes.

“Oh, yeah?” she taunted, whispering as well. “And what do you want?”

I tugged my shirt off, then pulled on hers. As she lifted her arms over her head to allow me to peel the garment off, I grinned before kissing her. She wasn’t wearing a bra, probably having changed into loungewear when she came home earlier. I lowered my hands to cup her heavy breasts, weighing their plumpness and groaning lowly at the warm, soft globes filling my grip.

“I want you.” It was the simple truth, and I intended to have her.

She sighed as I kissed down her neck, tasting her sweet flesh and feeling her rapid pulse.

---