Page 16 of Capricorn

Too much pain.

Too much betrayal.

Too. Much.

I’m tired of thinking. I only want to feel.

Only want to lose myself in the sweet ache of his touch, the featherlight drift of my thoughts, the quiet way his soul reaches for mine.

As I arch into his hand, chasing the friction and dizzying highs, he bows his forehead to mine. Our breaths tangle, my exhales becoming his inhales, while his fingers work their way deeper, venturing as far as my virginity will allow. My hips move in rhythm with each thrust, greedy for the promise of release.

“More,” I plead. “Make me forget.”

His face darkens. “Does this make you want to live?” Liam’s harsh question drips with renewed anger. “My fingers inside you? Does it make it all better?”

“It makes it bearable.”

His gaze falters, and just like that, the bitterness drains from him. I can almost hear his internal struggle, feel the weight of what happens next pressing on his shoulders. He withdraws his fingers and lowers his head to my chest, warmth spilling across my skin, his muscles knotted with restraint, silence louder than words.

Because he wants this as much as I need it.

“Please, Liam.”

“If we’re going to do this,” he says, lifting me into his arms, “it won’t be on the floor.” Then he takes off, heading for his quarters and the place of no return.

6

Liam carries me into his bedroom, and though my legs instinctively wrap around his waist, everything about this feels wrong and forbidden. I shouldn’t want this, and yet there’s no denying the unending truth.

We fit.

We’ve always fit, like pieces from different puzzles, their edges whittled down by time and pain until they have no choice but to interlock.

Setting me on the edge of his platform bed, Liam shoves his flannel pants down toned, muscular thighs, and a chiseled masterpiece stands before me, his skin glowing in the soft light from the lamp on the nightstand.

My attention veers to his erection, and my jaw unhinges. I expect him to take my mouth first, because it’s his thing, a tradition steeped in our strange dynamic.

“Lie back,” he says instead, voice thick with desire.

I blink, caught off guard. “But I thought you’d want?—”

He presses a finger to my lips. “What I want is for you to do as I say.” His command sends a shiver through me, and I surrender without protest, sinking into the mattress.

“Now what?” I whisper, my knees trembling between us.

“Spread your legs.” He nods toward me, and I part my thighs, baring the apex of my glistening sex.

His pupils darken. “You’re drenched.”

“It’s your doing,” I breathe, swallowing the guilt.

“I know. But seeing you like this…” He grips my ass, dragging me to the edge of the bed, and then sinks to his knees. “It makes me want to drown in you.”

His exhales tease my center, making me throb, and I count the staccato beats as I wait for the molten brush of his mouth. I’m so wound up, all trembling limbs and fluttering pulses, that I bite my lip to keep from begging.

Anticipation coils tighter, every second a razor’s edge.

Liam drapes my legs over his shoulders before dragging his tongue over my clit, circling with slow, torturous pressure.

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