Page 43 of Master

Rolling back on top of me, he presses me into the mattress with his weight. He leans down, stopping a breath from placing his lips on me. His playful eyes soften, replaced with adoration. “There are no limits to what I would do for you”—his confession blows over my lower lip—“to help heal you the way you’ve healed me.”

Lifting my head from the mattress, I press my lips to his, and the two of us melt together. Liam presses his tongue between my lips and massages it against mine, his hand pulls my leg over his hip and settles him between my legs. Lacing my fingers through his hair, I break our kiss and stare up at him for a moment. “Sir…” I slide my palm along his stubble-covered cheek and confess, “You’re going to make me fall in love with you.”

“Good.” A slow, broad smile spreads across his face as he hovers over me. “Because I’m fucking enamored with you,mo mhuirnín.”

His lips crash back into mine, and I can feel every bit of his love as his tongue sweeps through my mouth. Running my hands down his back, I slip my fingers beneath the waistband of his sweatpants and push them over his firm ass.

“Are you sure,” he asks against our kiss.

I lift my hips to rid myself of Liam’s pants. Wriggling my leg free, I hook my knees over his hips as he rests the thick head of his cock against me. I wrap my legs around his waist and pull him against me, inching his long, thick length into me as I groan, “I’ve never been more sure ofanything.”

CHAPTER FORTY

SASHA

ABOUT THREE WEEKS LATER

“Can you pull over at the corner?” I ask Liam as we approach his building.

“What for,mo mhuirnín?” He squeezes my upper thigh as we approach the corner market.

“I just need to grab tomatoes for dinner.”

His eyes dart back and forth across the busy street, and he shakes his head. “There’s nowhere to park. The closest garage is nearly at our building. I’ll call Harry. He and Patrick can run down here to grab them.”

“Don’t be silly.” I place my hand over his and squeeze his hand. “Double park in front of the store and wait for me. I’ll be in and out in two seconds.”

“Two seconds,” he gruffs, flipping on his hazard lights and pulling to a stop beside the car parked in front of the store’s entrance.

“Probably more like two minutes.” I smirk and pull the handle to open my door. Slipping from the SUV, I promise, “I’ll be fine.” I jog across the sidewalk and briskly make my way through the grocery store to the tiny produce section at the back.

Lifting a tomato, I give it a light squeeze to make sure it’s ripe but not too squishy before dropping it into the small plastic produce bag. I add two more to the bag, and as I reach for the fourth, I startle when a hand brushes my shoulder. Dropping the final tomato into my bag and tying a knot, I slowly turn around and tease, “I thought you were waiting in the car. Did you miss me that quickly?”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end when I’m met with a set of dark eyes instead of Liam’s stormy blues. “We’veallmissed you,malen’kaya printsessa,” he purrs. His eyes hungrily roam over my body, and a devilish smile ticks at the corners of his mouth. “But you apparently aren’t so little anymore, are you?”

He runs his tattooed fingers along my jaw, and I pull from his unwanted touch. Swatting his hand away, my voice cracks when I snip, “I don’t know you. Don’t touch me.”

“But I know you.” He smirks, stepping toward me. I step backward to keep the distance between us, but my retreat is halted by the produce stand at my back. He leans forward against the stand, boxing me in between his arms.

My heart thumps in my ears as I begin to panic. I open my mouth to scream for help, but no sounds come.As much as I need Liam’s help, this can’t be how he finds out. He won’t understand, and he’ll never forgive me.

Fuck, I wouldn’t forgive me.

I already hate myself for not telling him. It didn’t matter when we met. When he took me on as a student, I told myself he didn’t need to know.Because he didn’t.We were temporary, and that part of my life—the one I had long before Viktor pushed me into this lifestyle—had no bearing on the years of training he wanted to correct. As I fell for him, I knew I had to tell him. But with all the time that passed, I couldn’t. This insignificant secret wasn’t nothing anymore.It was suddenly a massive fucking betrayal…A bomb that would implode the only relationship I’ve ever had with a genuinely good man.

A great fucking man…With a family I could have only dreamed of.

It’s been years—nearly six of them—since I’ve seen a single person from that part of my life. The last thing I ever expected in a city of eight million people was a chance encounter to be the thing that outed me.

I’ve been in here far too long, and I fully expect Liam to come barreling into the store like the white knight he is within seconds. Taking a deep breath, I place my hand on the burly man’s chest and shove him from me. “I said I don’t know you.”

“That may be so, but I definitely know you, Alexandra.” He no more than finishes the name and my stomach flops. I swallow the bile rising in my throat and try desperately to hide my reaction as I walk from him. He calls after me, “I’ll be sure to tell him you say hello.”

Curiosity getting the better of me, I stop in my tracks and turn to face him to ask, “Who?”

“Your br?—”

“Sasha?”Liam calls as he makes his way into the store. When I don’t answer, his voice carries a tinge of worry. “Mo mhuirnín?” He spots me, his frantic gaze quickly softening when he finds me unharmed.At least physically.

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