Page 54 of Persuading Liam

Fin takes a few moments to lift herself back up to a sitting position and it hits me that she was truly worried about her first article and fully doubting her writing skills. She has nothing to worry about—she has a bright future ahead of her and an incredible teacher in Marley.

“Thank you for saying all of that,” Fin finally gets out, her voice thin with emotion.

“You’re welcome. Is there anything else I can do?”

Marley hands a laptop to me. “Can you run it on some of the more obscure browsers? I have a feeling there are people in this town that still use some dinosaurs.”

I chuckle and flip the machine open, happy to settle in for work. “Of course.”

It dawns on me that I feel truly happy. Not because I’m supposed to be, but because I actually am. When Redpoint opened and succeeded, I made happy faces. I told everyone I was happy, but I didn’t really feel anything. Not like this. Not the simple joy of sharing a room with someone, of watching them succeed and stand in the light.

Nor have I felt still like I do now. In a good way, as if I’m exactly where I need to be with the person I’m supposed to be with and as my heart swells with love for Marley beyond what I ever imagined, I finally get why my father was so devastated when my mother died.

And more importantly—why it’s worth the risk. Because even these quiet minutes just being near her fill me in a way I never thought possible. And to live my life without knowing the warmth of her, ofus, would be worse than never seeing her smile again.

Is it terrifying? One thousand percent. Does my throat close off when I think about the possibility of losing her? Absolutely. But the thought of not experiencing any of it, of missing this. Is worse.

Gus is right. I have a lot of work to do in therapy. But for the first time, I see a road through my pain. I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I see hope.

And though I’ll never put away my running shoes, I think it’s very likely that I’ll never run because I have to, but because I want to.

39

MARLEY

“One hour,” I announce, pacing back and forth in front of the couch in just Liam’s t-shirt. “We go live in one hour.”

“It’s going to be perfect,” Liam drawls from where he’s sitting naked on the sofa with just a throw over his lap.

I chance a look at him and get caught up in the rise and fall of his abs and the thought of how he tied me up over the sofa last night to take my mind off the stress. The way his hard thighs… I shake my head.Sex later, focus now.

Tearing my eyes away from him, I glance at my phone again. “Fifty-nine minutes until I find out if my life is ending or starting.”

Liam chuckles lightly. “Baby girl, the paper is going to be a hit. You have nothing to worry about. You put in the hard work, and so did Fin. Everything is ready. Mr. Schuster is going to be so thrilled.”

My throat tightens when I think about Mr. Schuster’s reaction. I offered to send him a link to the site before it went live, but he ‘wanted to be delighted and surprised’. But what if he’s disgusted and disappointed? After all the money he put intobringing me here, starting everything up, trusting me with Fin…. “I’m going to throw up,” I moan.

Liam reaches out and snags my hand, pulling me down on his lap and the second my skin touches his, I feel calmer. “No, you’re not. You’ll sit here like a good girl and let me kiss you.”

A thread of desire winds its way through my core as I feel his cock harden beneath the blanket. I straddle him. “And what if I don’t?”

He runs his fingers through my hair before gripping it in a tight fist and pulling my head back to expose my neck.

That thread explodes into fireworks as he drags his hot tongue down my neck, pausing to say—"I’ll just have to get the Shibari rope back out, Baby.”

I shiver against him and in a few deft moves, he’s removed the blanket and positioned me over his cock.

“Tell me you want me inside you Marley.”

I struggle to force myself down onto it without his help, but his hands hold me just above him like steel. “I want you inside me, Liam.”

His grin feels like sin and he takes all the breath from my lungs as he plunges upwards, filling me so full I let out a scream before he pulls out.

“Again,” I pant, breathless with the need for him to stop my brain from spiraling, to make me feel anything other than panic. “Please.”

He growls and plunges upward again, stretching me to limits I did not know I had.

“That’s it, beautiful,” He growls, gripping my ass before plunging all the way in yet again. “Come all over me, let out all the stress. Ride this cock.”

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